San Diego Dragon Boat Festival

Enter the DRAGON BOAT RACE
I was down in San Deezy to compete at the San Diego Dragon Boat Festival in Mission Bay with my team the AERO DRAGONS!
I used to go to SD all the time but at some point I stopped so this was a real treat for me! Now I’m NOT one for surprises but in my experience they are mostly someone else’s idea of what THEY THINK you’ll like and I usually don’t BUT when Junebug decided to fly in all unannounced to come to visit me and come to my race I wasn’t sad AT ALL! YEAH ME!
The race is both Saturday and Sunday and includes teams from SD and LA and OC. It’s NOT a huge festival but it is certainly FUN! They have various vendors there the sale dragon boat paraphernalia such as paddle bags, paddles, t-​shirts, hats, jewelry, etc and there were a few FOOD TRUCK vendors as well for the teams and spectators which is REALLY NICE in case you forgot to bring food, snacks and drinks.
I of course wanted to get there early to find where my team was setting up and check out the lay of the land so to speak. Several peeps were doing there morning run, walk, or riding their bikes. SDDBT was the sponsor and they had volunteers out setting up tents, putting together those cardboard trash cans for recycling so there was NO NEED TO toss your crap n the ground when there was a trashcan 5 steps away and getting the area together for all the teams.
The dragon boats were lined up like soldiers ready for battle on the water. Extra PFD’s and paddles were also available for anyone that needed to borrow one which is REALLY cool because sometimes travelling with gear can be cumbersome and you might forget something.
All the teams were SUPER DUPER NICE and HELPFUL with one another. There was of course trash talking as always which just makes it MORE FUN because once you hit the water you gotta PUT UP OR SHUT UP!
There were college teams from LA and SD both racing. Those kids/​young adults were going all out. There were Team Survivor form SD who paddles for cancer survivors and is also made up of cancer survivors! Those women gave of REALLY GOOD RACE! By NO MEANS are they weak and they totally KICK BUTT! Some other AWESOME team was BlindStart from LA made up of blind and visually impaired peeps. They were so AWESOME and walked away with a metal. If they can do you so can you so spare me the whoa-​is-​me, cry me a river, LAME AZZ excuses… SAVE IT FOR OPRAH!
It was a PREFECT DAY. NO ONE ACK’d a FOOL (Yes I do mean ACK), they was plenty of parking from what I saw and all the teams walked away with one or more metals in one race or another. It was SUCK a GREAT WAY to EXPERIENCE my FIRST ACTUAL DRAGON BOAT RACE where I was competing.
THANK TO SAN DIEGO for putting on this race and supplying all the boats, extra PFD’s, paddles and race site! Also thanks for keeping everything ON TRACK for those that came from a distance and rove in!
See you on the water!

I was fortunate enough to participate in the 8^th edition of this festival this past Saturday as a part of Team Taiko. It is put together by the San Diego Alliance for Asian Pacific Islander Americans.
There were 32 teams participating in two boat heats (double elimination). Big thanks go to San Diego Dragon Boat Team and UCSD Dragonboat for supplying the equipment and facilitating the races.
There were performances going on most of the day by different cultural groups that were entertaining and kept a great atmosphere between races. A lot of groups decided to potluck but there was some spicy Thai food along with a few other booths.
Overall our team got in four total races which was not bad because about it was an introductory experience for about half of us. If we get a team together next year, I’d gladly go back!

Go Team RAPA-​NAAAP!!!
What a fun and energetic event! As a member of NAAAP (National Association of Asian American Professionals), I was invited to be part of the Dragon Boat Team.
There are many companies, schools, and associations/​organizations that were part of this festival as well as activities, performances and food. Local political leaders and community activists also attended the event.
The Asian-​American professional community in San Diego is prevalent, and this was a great way to network, team build, let loose and just have fun! Very well attended.
I participated in 1 dragon boat race, but with that 1 race, we defeated our competition. The adrenaline was AWESOME and now I’m addicted!!! Unfortunately, I had to leave early, and I heard that we lost our last two races.
The camaraderie within our group and amongst the other professional associations were positive and well-​worth it! This was a great way to spend a nice day in SD — with good friends and yummy food.
I will definitely do it again next year, unless I’m on a team for the SD Dragon Boat races in October!