Scouting, Volume 74, Number 4, September 1986 Page: 21
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The Great Cayuco Race
mm
Explorers paddle the Panama Canal in the world's only ocean-to-ocean canoe race.
BY SCOTT STUCKEY
Photographs by Vince Heptig
he crew of the Utmost pivoted for-
ward in unison, set their paddles,
drew back, then repeated. Forward.
Back. Forward. Back. Brows knit,
muscles taut, they sliced through the
choppy waters of the Panama Canal
like a well-oiled machine.
One mile down and 39 to go. On
every 18th stroke, without missing a
beat, the paddles flashed higher above
the boat and came down on the other
side. Water splashed in, but the bailer
scooped it up and shot it out in a
rooster tail arc over his shoulder.
If only the sun weren't so hot and the
humidity so high, this might have
seemed easy, at least for the crew of the
Utmost. But for those out of shape, it
was going to be a long weekend: The
33rd annual Ocean-to-Ocean Cayuco
race had only just begun.
In timed segments spaced out over
three days, more than 160 Explorers
and Advisors from five posts and one
ship would paddle their dugout
canoes, or "cayucos," almost 40 miles
from the Atlantic Ocean through the
Panama Canal to the Pacific.
Behind them, in many cases, were
months of training with the 15- to 25-
foot boats carved from jungle trees by
local Indians. Ahead were hours of
paddling in 90-degree heat. Now it was
just a matter of skill and endurance.
'As far as I'm concerned, this is the
El? ,
Left, at Pedro Miguel,
the second of three sets
of locks, racers line up
their cayucos to wait for
the starting gun. Above,
early in the race,
Explorers in the And
Then What dig in their
paddles for a burst of
speed.
E21
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 74, Number 4, September 1986, periodical, September 1986; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353661/m1/67/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.