Our boat driver today is Doug Kirkbride of Beaver Falls, N.Y., and this gentleman has quickly put himself into contention for boat driver of the year. That's a little something I keep track of to recognize the important work these guys do to enable us to cover the Elite Series.
This morning I forgot one key piece of equipment. My rain suit. Roommate Steve Wright was up at 4:30 this morning. I figured I didn't need to be up until 5:30. So I rolled back over and went back to sleep. Next thing I knew it's 5:55 and Steve Bowman is waking me from a dead sleep with a gruff, "Let's roll man."
To shorten the story, we've been in a pouring rain on the St. Lawrence River for the past hour. That's Doug in the photo. If he looks like a wet rat it's because he loaned me his rain jacket and he took the bibs. I've only known him for 3 hours now and I've already put him into my top 5 boat drivers of the year.
Thanks Doug!