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Have you ever been in an uncomfortable situation where you thought to yourself… “We just have to get through it. I’m sure we’ll be telling great stories about it in a week from now.” Well that was the case last weekend on our 3rd Annual Catalina Fun Run from Long Beach, CA to Avalon, on Catalina Island. As co–organizer/host with my partners Corey Vodvarka and Daren VanRyte, I had a strong vested interest in a memorable event. With thousands of dollars of my own money invested in T-Shirts, Helicopters and other swag bag items, we also needed it to be a successful one.

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To say it was memorable would be an understatement. With perfect, sunny days 3 weeks leading up to the event, we thought we were going to have another perfect year of blue, sunny skies and deep blue Pacific Ocean on which to speed acrossto the island. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans.

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The night before the event a strong low-pressure system moved in. The marine layer picked up dramatically, and then the winds. With months of planning behind us we were disappointed. But we crossed our fingers, went to bed, and hoped for the best. The next morning was no different. We woke to clouds and wind, but thankfully our guests were undeterred. The plan was to have everyone launched and in the water by 9am. That would give them enough time cruise down the coast and meet with others coming from Newport Beach, at the Huntington Beach Pier, where they would wait for us to arrive in the chopper.

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Except for the weather, everything was on track. The Long Beach fleet had met up with the Newport fleet and were waiting for us by the pier. When Daren and I arrived at the heliport at John Wayne airport, the winds were moving pretty good. I had feared they would cancel the flight and leave the event without a photographer. And if they didn’t, I wondered if we should be fearing the flight itself! I had never flown in such high winds, but the pilot reassured us that it wasn’t a problem… yet. Donning my life jacket, we boarded the chopper and took off toward the pier.

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As we arrived overhead the seas looked nasty. Frankly, I was surprised that they waited for us. Later I learned that several smaller boats came to their senses and returned back to the harbor. And Corey said that he began to feel queezy from floating in the high seas. But without hesitation, and just as we had planned, they spotted us overhead and that was their cue to throttle up and head across the 26-mile channel to Catalina Island.

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The helicopter buffeted around in the wind, and the bad light wasn’t the most ideal for shooting photos. But we pressed on and did what we could. As the fleet picked up speed, we could see that some were having a hard time even getting on plane. And eventually, several more boats decided to turn around and not risk their equipment or their safety.

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For those who pressed on, the ride was relentless. Large swell and huge ocean chop pounded every boat. Even for us in the helicopter flying with the doors off, it was cold and bumpy. Nothing about the day was how we envisioned it – or promoted it for that matter! As we followed the fleet across the huge water, I just kept thinking to myself…. “we just gotta get through it, and we’ll all tell great stories about it later.” Finally, the island came into view and what was left of the fleet finished their harrowing run at the mouth of the Avalon harbor. From above it looked like a brutal ride, and it made me glad I was only watching from the air.

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However… without risk, there is no reward. And in this case, that reward was great photo ops. Beautiful boats on crystal blue water shoot well and are nice to look at. But as a photographer, catching a boat launching off of 4 foot swell and creating splash downs that inspire awe is like the holy grail. And for the participants? Well, many would agree that the reward of catching that rare pic of them mid air through treacherous ocean is a payoff worth the sacrifice.

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As everyone arrived and converged on Descanso Beach Club, our designated lunch stop, the stories unfolded like the veterans of war. Drivers and passengers all telling their versions of the trip across the channel and their close calls with certain death. For those who were staying the night, the drinks started flowing and the stories got more colorful. It was certainly worth the trip over, and my intuition in the chopper had proven accurate. We were all telling great stories.

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This wasn’t the first year with bad weather for the Fun Run. In fact, out of the three years of its existence, only last years event enjoyed a sunny day. Its not surprising though, considering that its held in June – a month notorious in Southern California for “June Gloom”. The first event, which was originally created by Chris Camire of Lavey Craft boats, was socked in with fog. Leaving out of long beach, you could barely see the Queen Mary. And while going across the channel provided smooth glassy water, the visibility was terrible, and definitely dampened the Southern California boating experience.

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The next year, Chris decided that it was too much work to organize while his company was growing so fast, so he abandoned the Fun Run idea. However, so many of us who attended had such a great time, we hated to see it go. That’s when Corey, Darren and I decided to take over the event for ourselves. In that second year (the first for us) we increased the boat count from 19 to a modest 24. But this year, we are proud to report our best year ever with 40 “registered” boats and approximately 80 – 90 attendees. Our event is free to attend, which makes it difficult to achieve exact numbers, and we learned for ourselves that Chris wasn’t wrong about the effort it takes. But we know for sure that even with the bad weather and rough seas, it was our most successful year yet.

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For more information on the Catalina Fun Run, follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @CatalinaFunRun. We hope to see you next year!

Erick Bryner
Fast Loud Photography.