Let's start of with the Houseboat. We arrived in Cochin and met our driver for the weekend. He started off down the highway from the airport and after about an hour, he turned down some narrow lane, which endded us up at the houseboat docks. Here we were afforded a welcome drink (tender coconut of course) and after a couple of formalities we were off. There were two guys on board who did the sailing and the cooking and everything else.
We motored around the narrower waterways. Obviously meeting and following other houseboats. 
It was a great time to relax and just enjoy the slow pace of life there on the backwaters. We did also get to see a few sights along the way. 
We saw a couple of the boats being prepared for the races and people going about their daily lives, 
like this two waiting for the water bus.We ate way too much on the boat. They served us a late lunch, snacks, dinner, and then breakfast the next morning. We moored along side of a waterway overnight and slept to the gently rocking movement of the boat. But it was truely gentle, almost imperceptible.
We arrived at the race venue at about 9:30 in the morning. We had been told by the travel agent to get there early. And the driver was in a hurry to get us there early too. I guess he had his instructions. The place was completely empty. Slowly we started to see things happen.
There were practice runs. And some failed practice runs. 
This team managed to sink their boat, not once, not twice, but 3 times. I don't know if they ever actually raced in the competition. The gunwhales were so low to the water they would tip a bit and just swamp the boat.In a while we started seeing a lot of floating advertisements.
Some were blatant ads, others brought a bit of religion or entertainment along with them.
We didn't understand till after we arrived there that no food would be served there and we had to bring something, so off I went with the driver. This was probably the only downside to the trip. He took me to a hotel, which didn't offer any Indian Snacks, only chicken sandwiches. They turned out to be pretty bad. Usually we stay away from the western food as we find the chefs don't really know how to prepare it, and it isn't so good. Oh well.
The races started about 3, after President Patil showed up by helicopter/boat. We had fun and then got tired after a few hours and left about the same time that she did. A couple of us got good sunburns, despite the fact we were under cover all day. We went back to Cochin for a night, and then home the next day. A quick trip but fun. More pictures here. And here are a few fun pictures from the races themselves. Note that the guys in front are sitting on a narrow prow, with their feet held in place. The bigger boats have several people in the middle counting time and cheering the team on. And then there are several in the back who are steering, or paddling along with very exaggerated full circle strokes.
Some of the teams were obviously well sponsored and all wore jerseys etc advertising their sponsorship. Others were just a group of locals.
All in all it was a real party atmosphere.
As you can see from this boat which was moored next to the viewing stand just opposite from us. Even the police seemed to enjoy it.
