Today was a lazy day for us. However, this was the day of the GREAT Canoe race across the icy St Lawrence! I think these guys and gals are crazy, but they all competed in 9 degree windy conditions to cross the icy, mostly frozen, St. Lawrence River! This is the most important event of Carnival Week! This has to be the most grueling and dangerous sport I have ever witnessed! One canoe did get in trouble and an ice breaker went out to help clear the way. The crew seemed disoriented and was kind of steering all over the place! They did get back safely. When they are in the canoes, they cannot see where there is water and where there is an ice flow. They are not allowed spotters to help them choose an ice free route across the river and back. We are not sure who actual won because we think it is time trials. There were several groups of about 12 canoes that made it across and back! Note how they get one foot out of the canoe when they get stuck on the ice! They all push to get the canoe off the ice. If they are stuck in a smooth patch of ice it didn't look too bad, but when they got stuck in an area that had "rough" ice it was a whole different story ! I can't imagine how they can endure these conditions. There was a very brisk wind, as you can see by the flags! Some of the photos are blurry, but I'm posting them anyway so you can get an idea of what they were doing! We were able to watch most of the race from our hotel room window since we overlook the St. Lawrence ! Wherever you were today, I guarantee these guys were colder then you were!! I admire them, but not sure how much I credit their common sense! And, you will notice, there were women racing too! The race originated years ago amongst local families. The winner was to get the postal contract for delivering mail to the other side of the river!
We return to warm Florida tomorrow so no more blogs until we leave for Australia and China on March 11. Check back in March!! Until then, everyone stay healthy and happy!
The "Race Course"!
The ice breaker helping the group back that got in a little bit of trouble. They cleared a path..
thank you for sharing a fun adventure. loved the canoe race.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back to Sunny Warm South Florida.