December 11, 2001
By Susan McKenzie
Polypropylene underwear may be on the Expedition BVI mandatory gear list, but it's unlikely anyone will actually need to put it on over the course of Expedition BVI. The temperatures have hovered well above the 80 degree mark, and the evening low varies only a degree or two from the daytime high.
But it's the humidity, that strength-sapping, dehydrating wet heat that will be one of the athletes' biggest foes during this race. Mike Kloser of King Oscar/AdventureRacing.com went out for a run Sunday morning and learned this first-hand.
"I was fine running but then when I stopped, I really felt it. I was sort of surprised, because it wasn't even the heat of the day, I wasn't carrying a big pack or anything." A few hours later Kloser was back to normal, but it was a clear warning to every team: even the best will need to keep a watch on their water intake, especially on the open water.
The members of NYFIX/racingahead.com arrived in the Caribbean a few days early in the hopes of hastening their acclimatization. They spent a few days on St. Thomas, adjusting and training and Tracyn Thayer also did her first ever open water dives.
Perhaps the only team that needed no acclimatization was the local team Caribbean Star, four residents of Tortola. Perhaps that's just as well, since Murray Todd, Laurens Bok and Antony Spencer all had to work yesterday. While other teams were packing gear, plotting maps and resting, Caribbean Star was in meetings and making phone calls.
Still, their local knowledge may help this rookie team, whose members only began training for EBVI one month ago. That, and the fact that the sweltering heat is par for the course for them. They may in fact find the weather a bit on the chilly side, since December is typically one of the coolest months of the year.
"This is not really that hot," laughs team captain Carolina Pettigrew. "Come in July - that's hot!"
All twenty-four teams got a good taste of Tortola's changeable weather this morning. As they boarded the open safari busses to drive to the start at Lambert Beach, the rain pelted down, soaking their gear and their feet. Even as the sun came up, the rain showers continued on the beach, but the low winds meant the surf was virtually non-existent when the teams kayaked out to sea shortly after eight this morning.
Today's race will wrap up at Foxy's Bar, where each team will have to perform the first of several secret activities across the course. More on that later, but let's just say the more limber racers will perform better.
