MANVIL

Even in the easy-going mindset of the Northwest, every race has somebody who came in either first, second, third or somewhere thereafter.

Hopefully not DNF (Did Not Finish) because that can lead to somewhat severe problems in a frigid water race.

I’d rather be DFL (Dead Freaking Last) than take my chances floating in mother nature’s cold Northwestern rivers.  Even a super slow boat in a race is preferable to death by hypothermia or the seasonal fishermen who ply the waters of the Willamette like meth dazed survivalists in tin bathtubs. (BTW: Hat’s off to the US Coast Guard for shadowing the racers)

For the motivated and the strong of will there are these simple awards for their efforts and displays of paddling prowess. First. Second. Third.

Perhaps we could make an award for DFL, but hopefully, with more practice and some luck, they can get next year’s awards…

A few weeks ago we put the idea for the Rusty Iron together, and yesterday the designs were accepted and will go into production en mass.

The design, simple enough with only slight distress, was accepted, but colors… oh the colors.

Clients like having options, and we believe that the more involved the client is, the more satisfied they might be with the final product… but there comes a time when the client’s vision for the product must be guided, and perhaps even railroaded.

Case and point?! The chosen garment, a burnt orange tee shirt, will look great, we all agreed on that; it’s somewhat faded (on purpose) and the cut is great fit for paddlers. The problem arose when it came to choose ink colors. The clients (it’s a team you know) all had a lean towards certain print colors, we were able to but the final choices down to blue hues. Then the final decisions were put forth to the squad as a blind vote. If ever there were a 33% to 33% to 33% draw… this was the case. So we at MANVIL did the best thing we could, we removed the options and are moving forward with a design that best suits the client: Looks.

Here’s the shirt, these are the colors, and we’re moving forward. We’re lookig forward to the results.

For the last three years the Rusty Iron has continued to gain prominence as a great venue for the Pacific Northwest’s Hawaiian Canoe Paddlers to race their first long distance run of the season. The awards provided to winning teams in any class were stickers. Although this does seem like a bit of a let-down for paddlers used to earning bronze, pewter or gilded metal awards, like I did as a kid, times have changed. The Rusty Iron is a distance race, traditionally the first one of the year in the Northwest. It is put on by Pacific Outrigger Canoe Club, a small cadre of enthusiastic, yet none too green-behind-the-ears paddlers. The race runs from Cathedral Park in St. John’s, down to buoy 12, then back up to the Rail Bridge, and back down to Cathedral Park.

On the last Saturday in April, the weather can be as calamitous as anything in the Northwest. We’ve seen rain, sleet, snow, fog, lightning and pure unadulterated Northwest Sunshine. It’s a great race, and this year, if you place, you get one of these fine tributes. I look forward to seeing you there, I’m the bearded guy with the scowl, the binoculars and the stop watches. Cheers!