KRRC Fun Steel 3/14/2009

Thanks to our screwed up Washington State government, we no longer have car ferry service from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend, only a small passenger ferry. It would be hard to find a more bureaucratically top-heavy and less capable to do their job state agency than the Washington State Ferries. Thanks to their incompetence I have to take one ferry to get to the mainland, drive maybe fifteen miles, and take a second ferry to get to Kingston on the Kitsap peninsula, then drive from there to Silverdale for the match. It makes a long day out of it, for sure.

Anyhow, I managed to find my way to the Kitsap Rifle & Revolver Club range Saturday morning without mishap. KeeWee had to work, and wasn't to enthusiastic about shooting in the rain, so I made the trek alone. When I stopped for gas I also picked up a box of sugar glazed doughnuts to eat on the way to the range. (Speed secret: Sugar Rush + Caffeine). The weather was not very good, with steady rain and wind. Some snow was still on the ground in places. We got signed in and John ran us through the shooters meeting and going over safety stuff and match specific information. We then gathered ourselves into squads and headed out to the range for some shooting!

I was squadded with John and John M., both excellent shooters, and some of the most fun guys you could ever hope to shoot with. There were a couple of new guys on the squad, and a couple of familiar faces but guys I didn't really know very well. One trade mark of any squad I'm on is how much fun we always have. By the last few stages you can usually hear us laughing clear across the range! After all, we all do this for fun (or at least we should) and if you aren't having fun, why even be there? I wish I could print some of the comments and wisecracks, but since it was an "All Guy" squad, and since this is a family safe blog, I can't! You'll just have to use your imagination.......

It sure does feel good to get out and shoot a match, though! I haven't shot in a match since last September and it showed. I had some reasonably decent runs, and some runs that were truly ugly. The big change I could see compared to last year was the lack of consistency. Laying off for five or six months really takes a toll, and being laid up sick didn't help, either. I can see that I just need to put in a lot of range time, treadmill time, and exercises to get it back together.

Two of the members in our squad were fairly new to Steel Challenge type shooting, although they were both very competent shooters. I really enjoy helping new steel shooters by suggesting things to try in terms of technique. It was great to make a suggestion ,watch them try it, and watch their times improve. As much as I enjoy shooting steel, in case you hadn't noticed, I think helping new steel shooters and watching them improve is every bit as much fun.

It seemed like we had barely started and we were on the sixth and final stage of the day. I really hated to see the match end. Because of the constant rain I didn't take any pictures, but next month I'll try to get some pictures of the match, provided, of course, I don't forget the camera as I often do.

On the way back, the rain, which had actually stopped, started coming down heavily. Driving on the freeway was miserable as the water thrown up made visibility terrible. After two ferry boat rides and some lousy weather driving, I finally arrived back at Castle Completely, tired, but happy that I was back shooting again. I've still got a ways to go to get back to where I was last Fall, but I know what needs to be done, and I'm rarin' to go!