UKC Update 58

The Hazel Brothers mystery solved...

Hazel Brothers - The Ride

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The Hazel Brothers new to the UKC (actually only the Manistee 1/2); met up paddling with Dan a few weeks ago on the way down the grand river and learned about the upcoming UKC.

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The Brothers threw caution to the wind and joined up Friday night at the Manistee camp on 72. They checked status that night on the Mark, Jack and Dan and then talked with the crews in the morning. After hearing that Dan was dropping out due to illness and talking to is nephew Brian, it seemed they better get headed down river or we wouldn't make it by Tuesday.

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They Did It!!

Hazel's are now off the river and completed the Manistee at approximately 3:40pm Tuesday. The boat they traveled in is a 1977, Sawyer Charger, Kevlar layup.

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Andy considered giving up on day two. His wife gave the updates from the web blog and spot tracking and saw everyone, they thought, pull ahead and beyond reach. They had no intention of racing but felt they were falling to far behind to catch up.

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"It took another day for us to figure out that only Mark had paddled past us in the night and Jack and Brian were still back a bit. We had hoped they would catch up so we'd have some paddling buddies but it sounds like rudder trouble slowed them. Determined to finish we started earlier and paddled latter and topped our 34 mil first day with 40+ mi days. Our stops to camp were Sat) M-66 abandon campground; Sun) just past Harvey bridge and Mon) half way down Tippy pond.

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I did not register ahead of time but would be happy to after the fact if you do that for Half a UKC participant. The money's for a good cause so just let me know the best way to contribute.

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Thanks for the inspiration to push my limits!" - Andy