Gabriola Island woman competes in gruelling 48-hour paddle boat race

Armed with nothing but her paddle board and some essential supplies, Johns hit the water at 7 p.m. to start her journey, alongside 128 teams in various watercraft.

With her husband watching from the shore and providing moral support, ‘Salty’ started her solo journey from Tacoma to Port Townsend Washington on Friday, May 31 at 7 p.m., with 48 hours allotted to complete the 70-mile journey. (Submitted)

Johns managed to travel about 43.2 miles (69.6 kilometres) in 16.5 hours when she decided she had enough, making the call right before noon on Saturday, June 1.

Contestants had to navigate the busy waters of Puget Sound, including avoiding ferries and other large vessels, something Johns noted she didn’t have the energy to safely handle.

“We have to make a good navigation across without getting in their way. So I decided to pull myself out just over halfway because I didn’t feel confident that my decision-making at that time was still in a good place.”

Jeannie Johns, team ‘Salty Current’, where she ended her Seventy48 journey just passed the halfway point of the race, in a time of 16.5 hours. (Seventy48.com, Airbus, CNES)

Her nearby husband used Johns’ GPS coordinates to locate her, and help pull herself and her paddle board out of the water.

After a change of clothes, she quickly fell asleep as they travelled to Port Townsend to watch others cross the finish line.

It’s a challenging race both physically and mentally, Johns said.

“You can’t have a crew on land meet you somewhere and give you water and food or supplies and a place to sleep. You’re completely on your own. They can monitor you and you can check in with them, but you can’t have any support unless that person is willing to support every person on the water.”

Johns started entering paddle races two years ago with her son and his father-in-law, with her kids gifting her a trip to France to compete in her first official paddle boat race.

From there, she got a trainer and began taking paddling more seriously, entering races in Victoria and along the B.C. coast before hearing about Seventy48.

“This year was my first year, my goal was to go right through. I paddled through the night and on one landing I think I landed for about five minutes then I took off again, and then I landed for probably about twenty minutes and I should have taken a nap there and I probably would have completed.”

She’s now back at home on Gabriola recovering from the race with her mind already on how she plans to go even further next year.

“Within two days I think I was pretty much back to normal, which was a good thing, and after a little bit of sleep and food I was already planning next year, and just a wiser way of doing it.”

Supported by her kids and grandchildren (pictured) Jeannie ‘Salty’ Johns is ready to take on the 2025 Seventy48 challenge. (Submitted)

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by Jordan Davidson

Gabriola Island woman competes in gruelling 48-hour paddle boat race

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