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Port Ed rolls out red carpet for Alaska boat racers

Oregon veterans complete gruelling competition in pursuit of healing
guardian-port-ed
The Guardian Sailing crew pull their boat out of the water at Port Edward June 24.

A gruelling 10-day race to Alaska came to a comfortable conclusion for a group of American veterans in Port Edward June 24.

Guardian Sailing, a non-profit organization founded by Afghanistan veteran Michael Tieman and based in Eugene Oregon, works with veterans to heal post-traumatic stress through sailing.

This year they took on the daunting Race to Alaska (R2AK), a 710-mile (1,143-kilometre) journey through the Inside Passage from Victoria to Ketchikan, AK.

"It’s like the Iditarod, on a boat, with a chance of drowning, being run down by a freighter, or eaten by a grizzly bear," the R2AK website explains. "There are squalls, killer whales, tidal currents that run upwards of 20 miles an hour, and some of the most beautiful scenery on Earth."

The race includes two stages. The first stage is a 40-mile (64-kilometre) open-water crossing from Port Townsend, Washington to Victoria. Not part of the race itself, Stage 1 is a qualifier for Stage 2 and a standalone event for teams that don't want to or can't do the full race.

At high noon on June 12, 32 teams of racers set off from Victoria in various classes of watercraft (anything without an engine is eligible) with the hope of "$10,000 if you finish first, a set of steak knives if you’re second, cathartic elation if you can simply complete the course," as the organizers put it.

Guardian faced quite of bit of hardship along the way in their J24 sailboat (the most common keelboat design), including no wind at times. For those still times, the boat is equipped with peddles. They did a lot of peddling, Tieman said in social media posts chronicling their adventure. 

They also had to dock in Bella Bella for a bit to make some repairs.

On June 20, however, a couple of days behind their original estimated time of arrival, they cleared the breakwater in Ketchikan, the 12th team to do so and 7th place in their vessel class.

A racing blog on the R2AK website described their arrival:

"6:16 am in Alaska and a bass-slapping groove pulsed from Team Guardian Sailing’s J24 as it appeared around the Ketchikan breakwater to fishing boat horn-blasts and cheers from the dock. Fans, friends, and recently-arrived and sleep-deprived racers roused themselves for the TGS victory." 

No set of steak knives, but a great welcome and worthy accomplishment nonetheless. 

The journey wasn't entirely over, though. There is no way back from Ketchikan for a boat, so the crew had to hop back on board and sail and peddle back to Prince Rupert to clear Canadian Customs then on to Port Edward where they had prearranged to have their vehicle and boat trailer dropped off June 13.

In May, they had contacted the Port Edward Harbour Authority (PEHA) asking for some in-kind donations. 

Tracey Nelson from the PEHA said the harbour was more than happy to roll out the red carpet. They paid for the storage of the truck and trailer, provided hot showers and paid the fee for the boat to be lifted out of the water.

Tieman was very grateful.

"The crew at #portedward were absolutely AMAZING at hooking up #guardiansailing. Cannot thank you enough. And with that, we are headed south!" he said in a Facebook post.



Thom Barker

About the Author: Thom Barker

After graduating with a geology degree from Carleton University and taking a detour through the high tech business, Thom started his journalism career as a fact-checker for a magazine in Ottawa in 2002.
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