Syracuse.com - Local 7-paddler team finishes second in grueling, 444-mile canoe race in Canadian Yukon

[HuntingNY-News]

They finished second in their division -- fifth overall. Their time was 46 hours, 25 minutes - a feat that earned the team certificates, finishing pins and $600.

A team of seven paddlers -- the majority from the Central New York area -- placed second recently in their division of the Yukon River Quest, a 444-mile canoe race that took competitors through wilderness areas of the Canadian Yukon.

Touted as "The race to the midnight sun," the Yukon River Quest was held June 26-30. The local team competed in the Mixed Voyageuer Class, 7-person canoe.

The local team, using a 28-foot, wooden canoe made of beech, consisted of Jon and Ashley Vermilyea, of Syracuse; Holly Crouch, of Syracuse; Lorraine Turturro, of Watertown; Kerry Newell, of Heuvelton; Paul Repak, of Boonville and Teresa Stout, of Warren, Pa.

Vermilyea said his team finished 5th overall in a field of 67 canoes and kayaks. They did it by keeping a grueling pace, finishing in 46 hours, 25 minutes. The feat earned them certificates, finishing pins and $600.

He said his tea varied in age from 29 to 65. They broke the race into three stretches. They started off by paddling more than 20 straight hours, covering nearly 200 miles.

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"We were on the water from noon to nearly 9 a.m. the next morning," Vermilyea said, adding they stopped for seven hours afterward at Carmacks, a small village, where they ate a meal and got some sleep.

They left Carmacks at 3 p.m. that same day and paddled until 6 a.m. the next morning to Kirkman Creek, a safety checkpoint.

"We stopped there for about three hours and pretty much just talked and ate. Only two to three of us caught any sleep," Vermilyea said.

The team paddled 100 miles for the final stretch, leaving at 11 a.m. and staying on the water until 8:25 p.m. that evening.

The days were long and sun-filled, Vermilyea said.

"The sun would set and come right back up. There was only about 3 to 4 hours of dusk-like light each day. Other than that, the sun was out - and it was relatively hot (about 85-90 degrees ). Several teams dropped out as a result of the heat," he said.

Apart from the meals eaten at the two stops, the 7-person crew downed snack food, power bars and cans of Ensure meal drinks while in the canoe, Vermilyea said.

There were few, if any potty stops while on the water, Vermilyea said. They carried "a device" to urinate in, which was used by both male and females in the boat.

"For anything else, we basically just 'held it,' " Vermilyea said, adding. "Yeah, we're pretty nuts."

The crew received help from a support crew of Vermilyea's father, Terry; Pam Repak (Paul's wife), Reana Inez (Kerry Newell's wife) and friend Kitty Leonard, of Syracuse. They prepared meals at the stops and drove the team's vehicles from the start to the finish line.

Vermilyea, 43, a registered nurse at St. Joseph's Hospital in Syracuse, said there was one scary incident during the competition.

"The second night we came across this tremendous lightning storm," V said. 'We considered pulling out of the water, but didn't. We were in a section with steep canyon walls and stayed close to them. It was pretty eerie."

For more on the Yukon River Quest, see yukonriverquest.com.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog