COEUR d'ALENE - They are playing it by ear, but they are playing it well.

The first day of the 2013 Coeur d'Alene Diamond Cup hydroplane races started out a little shaky, but things began to smooth out by midday.

A steady stream of school buses hauled thousands of spectators from the North Idaho Fairgrounds down to the Silver Beach race course all day long.

Buses left on five minute intervals and took about 12 minutes to reach the course. A steady stream of returning buses left no one waiting, but a few wondered how long the bus service would run.

Michele Kirby, of Coeur d'Alene, asked her bus driver how late the buses would run, and he couldn't tell her. Neither could the people at the front gate.

"I've asked the bus driver, and you'd think he would know," she said. It took a few minutes, but she got her answer.

The buses would be running until at least 8:30 p.m., and longer if the demand is still there after that, said Craig Walker from Durham School Services, which provided the buses.

Keith Allen, one of the lead volunteers, said organizers have had some challenges, but nothing they haven't been able to work out.

"We just solve the problems as they happen," Allen said, as he helped unload $1,000 worth of Home Depot trash cans that they had overlooked until Friday morning. "Unfortunately, sometimes it ends up being a major problem, but we have been able to solve them all so far."

Allen pointed to the transportation challenges as an example. At the beginning of the day buses were simply dropping people off at the gate and heading back to the fairgrounds.

By mid-day they had a handicap bus shuttling spectators all the way down the 2.5-mile spectator's area. They are also planning to run regular shuttles down the course today.

Walker said they were running 20 buses on Friday, but today they will step it up to 37 buses. Some of those buses will be used to shuttle spectators from the downtown area as well as the Riverstone area.

"John Stone put that together," Walker said, adding the Downtown Association and Hagadone Hospitality have helped with transportation as well.

Roy Bennett, a local volunteer, suggested using the bus system. He parked his car along Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive and got a call from a sheriff's deputy saying he was going to be towed if he didn't move it.

Kootenai County sheriff's Captain Andy Boyle said there will be no warnings other than the "no parking?? signs along the entire stretch of road that warn violators will be towed.

They didn't tow anybody on Friday, but today will be different.

"Parking is the main problem we saw today," Boyle said. "So we will be putting up more signs and we will be towing."

Boyle said alcohol is being served and people are walking back and forth across traffic. Also, he said, fire conditions are high and they don't need hot cars parking on tall dry grasses beside the road.

As for traffic, Boyle said they are a little concerned about boaters wanting to access the Higgens Point boat launch.

"If you are just driving through to Higgens Point, you should take I-90 to Mullan Trail exit. Then take Mullan Trail to Sunnyside and that will take you to Higgens Point, and you can avoid the delays," he said, adding overall that everything seemed to be running smoothly.

Diana Ehli, who has been involved with hydroplane racing for 34 years, said the Coeur d'Alene Diamond Cup organizers did an excellent job for a first-year event.

"It's fun watching something like this giving birth," she said. "They've done a great job with the boom out there. It's nicer than Seafair's."

Ehli is manning a patrol boat this weekend, which is something she and her husband, Nick, do at Seafair as well.

"The Diamond Cup folks have been talking with all the right people," she said. "They have been talking with the people who have the experience to get this done."

She said they have a few problems with boats but the community has stepped up to help whenever they need it.

"It's just going to get better and better," she added.

Boyle said he was planning to meet with organizers Friday evening to debrief the day's events and get better organized for the crowds they expect today.

"It's our first time," he said. "This is a learning process."

If you go

- Buses will be leaving the North Idaho Fairgrounds starting at 7 a.m. and will run into the evening until the crowd has dispersed. Cost to park at the fairgrounds is $10.

- Downtown shuttles will begin running at 8 a.m. They will stop at the white and red building across from the Spokesman Review Building on Northwest Boulevard, the North Idaho Museum, Third and Sherman, Sixth and Sherman, the Coeur d'Alene Public Library, and travel down Mullan Avenue to the races.