The Great Quy Nhon Basket Boat Race - September 20, 2008

Alan, Pat and Adeline at our practice

Ann and Yup (sp?) a volunteer from "Old Zealand" - Holland

Some things on the beach were not so great. We could not decide if this crab was dragging this dead rat into its hole or trying to get it out

Standing around wondering if anyone was going to turn up for the race

I was keen for us to include some activities for the kids

The fisheries team lining up for first prize. We tried to persude them to spead themselves between the different teams but they would not consider it - they were there to win

The Great Quy Nhon Basket Boat Race - September 20, 2008


Today we had our long planned basket boat race. The idea began some time ago when we were talking about how we could arrange to have a turn in the fantastic little basket boats. Somehow it turned from that into a grand plan in which we would organize a race for the volunteers, staff, the people we work with and friends. It has taken a couple of months to acquire the necessary permits, to hire the boats and to arrange all of the other details. We had arranged sponsorship from the NZ commissioner. He and his wife agreed to travel from Ho Chi Minh City to attend and some local officials were arranged for the event. It was impossible to pin down the locals as to whether or not they would participate so last night, when it started to pour with rain while we were doing the tasks like making flags and certificates and assembling prizes, we were almost positively anticipating that this would save us from the public embarrassment of organizing an event to which very few people turned up.

When we got up this morning at five o’clock the weather was still uncertain but we made our way down to the beach to anchor the buoys, set up umbrellas and tables and bury cards for a treasure hunt. As the designated start time of seven arrived, with still very few others present, it seemed as though our fears had materialized but gradually more and more people turned up although many were still saying that they would just watch. Eventually we started to gather into teams and amazingly we had almost fifty participants in five teams and lots of watchers. Ann and Nugyen tried valiantly to explain the rules of the relay which included, running for flags, paddling around two buoys and gathering balls which were to be dropped into a hoop while carrying a team member, but their attempts were fruitless. Some of the participants, particularly a crew from fisheries, were dead keen to get started and only part way through the translation of the explanation, amid a fair amount of chaos, they set off and the race began. We were all completely outclassed by the fisheries men who could have gone around twice and still beaten us but with a lot of laughter and a fair amount of cheating the team I was in finished very well.

People wanted to continue so we had an impromptu second race then the treasure hunt and sand sculpture competitions for the children. The kids loved having things to do and enjoyed their prizes and the adults stayed around quite a while for beers (at 9:00 on the morning!), certificates and prizes. Despite a lot of disorganization it was a great day – a completely new event for the locals as well as us and well worthwhile.

I only have a few photos of the event because I was too busy to take photos once it began but I have included some of us having a sneaky practice last week. The practice did not do me any good – I tried really hard but only managed to spin in circles which meant that it was possible to get dizzy and seasick at the same time! During the race we used two oars, rather than the traditional one, and managed to propel ourselves in a haphazard fashion through the water. One of the things that I was really pleased about was that, much to my surprise, my counterpart Ms Thuy came and joined in the race.

The VSA volunteers plan to run the event again next year - I feel quite sad that I will not be here to participate