Return to Coalinga

Posted on 27 Feb 2014 by WH

Dawn broke on Thursday morning and the team once again woke up (albeit not incredibly fresh) after their late arrival back at the Harris Ranch. It seemed we'd spawned some new members overnight too, as the new arrivals from LAX were sampling the delicious local coffee (a one time mistake).

Your diarist was surprised, delighted and a wee bit horrified that Ian Shaw had decided to blow the cobwebs out (after only competing in Phoenix, AZ a few weeks ago) and join the tour with the others to take Sandy Gill's place on the team. Ian's vast experience in shooting in the USA would undoubtedly be invaluable to the team; his choice of export strength gin should also prove to be an asset.

Today's programme would be fairly laid back as it was to be a practice for the Palma format match against national and state teams the following day. Each team member got to shoot alongside both Matt and Hamish as coaches at 800, 900 and 1000 yards. Of course, Ian had decided to bring the British weather with him and the range couldn't have been more different from last week. The wind had picked up slightly but long-awaited rainfall (the precursor to Hurricane Titan) had began to precipitate, making the range go from dust bowl of the Great Depression to a muddy mire.

Teams for the following day were selected by Matt, Richard & Iain in the early evening before we embarked upon dinner. Once again, dinner wasn't a straight forward affair. 'Los Reyes' Mexican restaurant was the hot ticket in town; finally just opened after three years of development, according to the Coalinga Record (every Wednesday, 50 cents). With the whole team together for their inaugural dinner, expectations were high. Alas, the food was nothing worth writing about and the waiting staff had clearly been to the same hospitality college as Andrew Sachs before filming Fawlty Towers. One young team member was so appalled he could wait no longer before jettisoned his dinner into the facilities. I'll say no more on that front.

Friday would be the big day as it was the first time the team had to be on form, disciplined and accurate, as one well-oiled machine and not just a bunch of nodding donkeys. Full match reports to follow tomorrow...