I am now in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, after a stressful drive down from Memphis. Martha and I left home just after 9:00 AM amid strong southwest winds, and once we were on I-55 south frequent gusts caught our boats and threatened to take them right off our car. Finally, just south of Batesville, the front crossbar jarred loose and the bows blew up, planting the sterns on the trunk.
I have never had much confidence in the Yakima Q-Tower style racks on our 2005 Corolla. I think I blame the auto industry more than I blame Yakima. I never had a problem with the Yakima racks that clipped onto the exterior rain gutters that cars had prior to 1995 or so, but the internal rain gutters on virtually all later-model cars seem to defy the best efforts of Yakima's designers.
Anyway, I managed to pull the car over into the emergency lane without any damage to the boats. Martha and I removed the boats and reattached the rack, using some duct tape to keep the clips from coming undone. After reloading the boats, we drove until we saw a truck stop, where we bought some rope for bow and stern tie-downs. (Yes, I should have put such lines on the boats before we left Memphis, but I didn't.)
We drove slowly. Once we were south of Jackson, the wind seemed to abate some. We arrived in Ocean Springs at about 4:30 PM. I put my boat in the water and paddled for about a half-hour, doing four 12-stroke sprints.
It's time for bed. The race starts at 10:15 AM tomorrow. After paddling mostly by myself for the last two months plus, I finally will enjoy the company of some other paddlers. Yippee!
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