Open Water Rowing

[PaulG]

I had my first open water row of the season on the Merimack from Haverhill down to Merrimacport and back. It was a little over and hour and saw a bald eagle and a harbor seal way up river in freshwater. That's unusual but the beautiful day was not. Anyone looking for indoor rack space in a marina on the Merrimack in Haverhill, MA, send me PM.

Getting ready for the Essex River Race.

Paul

[PaulG]

Sunday I took my second chance at the Essex River Race on the tortuous Essex River in, you guessed it, Essex Massachusetts. Last year was my first time and I had several unfortunate meetings with fellow rowers on the river and various sea shrubberies. This time, with a year of open water racing under my belt, I was determined not to make the same mistakes. There were about 150 boats ranging from fixed seat dories to surf skis and everything in between. As usual, the staging area was very crowded with no real opportunity to warm up. When my heat was called I made my way to the start line with eight other rowers and the previous heat still in sight. My first mistake was not aggressively getting into the first line of starters and staying back with the old ladies in floppy hats (hey some of them can really row) and various old men who looked like they built their 18 ft boats in 16 ft cellars. The gun went off and the first line took off and the rest of us promptly ran into each other. Rounding the first bend of the river I was firmly and solely in possession of last place. Winding through the river I developed a pretty good cramp in my neck trying to avoid the bank, which I did successfully.

As the river opened up into the bay I started to develop some rhythm and speed. My heat had degenerated into the first line that was out of sight and the second line floundering in their wake and the next heat catching up. I was coming into the awkward position of trying to bridge the gap between two groups yet not really sure where the best course line was. As I started come up to south side of Cross Island (look on Google Earth, Cross Island Essex MA) the river narrowed again and we were fighting the incoming tide. I drifted a little to the south into an area of standing chop and was fairly quickly carried out through the narrows. For once I had some luck as I think I hit an outgoing eddy on an incoming tide and shot quickly through the narrows. The course turned to the north as we rounded the east side of Cross Island. I hugged the shore of the island and took a longer course, but avoided a lot of the wind and chop that was bothering earlier heats. Regardless, my back was getting wet from the chop and I could really feel the wind pressure on my oars during the recovery. But I was starting to feel good and pass people.

As we rounded the north side of Cross Island and started back up the river I started to really understand the term “rowing through” people. I was passing everyone and people were urging me on. I liked that. Really. Dories, sea kayaks, doubles, workboats, and a few sliding seats were passing astern and the leaders were in sight. The river narrowed again as we left the bay and entered the final curves to the finish line. I had my sights on a guy in a Peinert Dolphin and was determined to pass him. As I approached him I could see that he was headed to the exact same spot last year were I succumbed to the siren’s call and ran ashore in a dead end section of tidal marsh (see the first post in this thread). Now I was face with an ethical dilemma. Do I call out a warning to him or just let him crash? Navigation is part of the race but I couldn’t let him go so I called a warning. It was not heeded and into the marsh he went. With a clear conscience and after a few more curves I powered through the finish line. I finished in 4th place, only 30 seconds out of third. Grrr. Next year no more mister niceguy. I’m running over anyone in a floppy hat.

[gregsmith01748]

Awesome story! Congrats on a great finish. And I think you made the right call trying to warn the guy in the peinert.

What kind of boat are you rowing?

[PaulG]

Awesome story! Congrats on a great finish. And I think you made the right call trying to warn the guy in the peinert.

What kind of boat are you rowing?

I met the guy after the race and he heard me, but did not understand what I was saying. That really was exactly where I ran into the marsh last year.
I row an 18 ft Echo Islander.

The crowded marshaling area before the start line.



This is the start of my heat with more boats to the right of the picture



Rounding the first bend with me in dead last place.



Crossing the finish line.

[tgf1]

Paul, if there is ever a rowing sit-com, you could be the lead writer You need to row OTW more, so we can read your write-ups.

Seriously, nice effort to go along with the adventure. As someone who is erg-only, this qualifies as exotic. As you say, akin to running a few miles, but with a chance of drowning.

[Yankeerunner]

Great job Paul. Big improvement over last year. I wonder if you had more erging over the winter than the others and therefore better endurance that helped the 'rowing trough' at the end? Third time should be the charm. 1st place next year!

[PaulG]

I probably was in better shape this year compared to last year but the big improvement was in my rowing ability. In previous years I had trouble getting the horsepower to the water because I was so inefficient in the boat. Even now I am regularly bettered OTW by people with slower 2k scores. As we all have heard: "ergs don't float".

Paul

[PaulG]

Paul, if there is ever a rowing sit-com, you could be the lead writer You need to row OTW more, so we can read your write-ups.

Two guys and a boat? How's that for a title?

Today I participated in the Mighty Merrimack River Row and placed third overall. There's another story their if people are interested.

Paul

[Howard N]

There's another story their if people are interested.

Ya gonna keep us in suspense?

Or ya gonna make us beg?

[PaulG]

Sunday was the Mighty Merrimack River Rowing Race in Amesbury, Massachusetts, sponsored by Lowell’s Boat Shop http://www.lowellsboatshop.com/, the oldest continuously operating boat shop in the US, founded in 1793. Their boats are works of art. Take a visit to their website, you may find it interesting and it contains the map for the race. I live only a few miles upriver from Lowell’s but have never participated in their race before. I could have rowed down to the race, but I knew I would not feel much like rowing back after the race was over. So the Echo went on the roof rack and I drove down.

I was the first person to get there and received the ominous bib number 1. Shortly thereafter more people showed up with various rowing boats, primarily different types of dories and workboats, but a few kayaks also. We all looked at each other’s boats and shared admiring comments. I seemed to be receiving more than my share of attention as I had the only sliding seat single there, and one of the few fiberglass boats. Then it slowly dawned on me that with my relatively sleek ocean shell and me in my Concept2 shorts and with a bright yellow biking shirt for visibility with bib number 1, these folks actually thought that I was a rower of some renown. Oh no, the pressure was on. They thought I could win and we all would be embarrassed if I was beaten by two guys in a 150 year old dory. It was with great relief that I saw Craig Wolfe pull up with his racing single and his friend in a Maas Aero. I was never more relieved to know that I was likely to place third at best.
The start was right in front of the boat shop with all the boats on the starting line. I am really starting to dislike these mass starts but now I understand that there is a small minority of rowing spectators that, like some perverse NASCAR fans, come only to watch the wrecks. Well, we disappointed them as it was a relatively clean start and all boats got off with a minimum of collisions, although I came distressingly close to wrapping my starboard scull around a navigation marker. The course was roughly triangular with two laps. We headed downriver with the tide and into the wind towards the Whittier Bridge (Route 95) and rounded a navigation mark and headed back up river into the current and with the wind. The sliding seat boats shot into the front and I was probably in 5th place rounding the first mark. At this point I noticed several of the more experienced rowers were closely hugging the south bank of the river where there was a small natural channel along the banks of Maudslay State Park. Others were out in the main navigation channel. I went halfway in between and found myself in shallow water over a sandbar that ran parallel to shore. The water was flowing like a sheet over the sandbar and as it became even shallower, my blades started to hit bottom. I eventually cleared the sandbar but I knew that I was going to have to come this way again on the second lap and with the falling tide I would have to pick a different route.

I worked my way upriver to the second mark and rounded it in third place. Then it was all the way back downriver to the Whittier Bridge with the tide and into the wind. The river had become a short nasty chop and it was hard to keep a rhythm going into the wind. Turning at the navigation mark at the bridge I started my second trip upriver. The water was very low, but I decided to head very close to the bank and follow the natural channel that I spotted on the first lap. This kept me out of the chop and the wind but I was rowing into a strong current. I could see other rowers in the main navigation channel struggling with the chop so I made the right decision. As I expected, the water started to get shallow, but I hadn’t counted on the sandbar curving back into shore and once again I was gliding over very shallow water with my blades hitting bottom. Soon it was deep again and I struggled upriver against the current, rounded the second mark, turned on the gas, and finished third place overall in front of the boat shop.

One of the challenges of open water rowing is dealing with the hydrography and reading the race course. You have to take many different environmental factors into account and the shortest route may not be the fastest route. And it always helps to have some faster more experienced rowers around that you can follow.

[tgf1]

"now I understand that there is a small minority of rowing spectators that, like some perverse NASCAR fans, come only to watch the wrecks." Well, since they don't get to see puking or falling off into the fetal position, you've got to provide some entertainment.
Good job on the "podium finish", you're going to have a box full of ribbons soon. For our edification, you could show us your trophy/plaque/medal. For motivation and what not.

Keep up the good work, I suppose it must be OTW season, best of luck.

[PaulG]

"now I understand that there is a small minority of rowing spectators that, like some perverse NASCAR fans, come only to watch the wrecks." Well, since they don't get to see puking or falling off into the fetal position, you've got to provide some entertainment.
Good job on the "podium finish", you're going to have a box full of ribbons soon. For our edification, you could show us your trophy/plaque/medal. For motivation and what not.

Keep up the good work, I suppose it must be OTW season, best of luck.

Sorry, no hardware was awarded. However I really did enjoy my free beer and hotdog after the race. We open water rowers are a simple lot.

Paul

[PaulG]

Here's a link to photos of the Essex River Race. At photo 140 or so you can see how close I was to shore to pick up the eddy that took me through the narrows.

http://www.pbase.com/clamflats/2013_essex_river_run

[PaulG]

Arthur E. Martin was the founder of recreational rowing. His Alden 16 was the first sliding seat boat that a beginner could get into and row with confidence. In addition, this stable and fast boat pioneered open water racing and many of the original Aldens are still raced successfully today. His autobiography “Life in the Slow Lane” (Peter Randall Publishers 1990) provides insight into the interesting life of this naval architect. Almost all open water boats, whether they be Echoes, the Peinert Zephyr, the Virus boats or the Little River Boats are at least conceptually based on the Alden 16.
Echo Boats was founded by Arthur’s son, daughter, and son-in law and the tradition of stable, fast, open water boats continues. If you want proof take a look at this video taken in a tidal rip at the mouth of the Piscataqua River in New Hampshire in November.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iPatwA1-zw

She may be shipping a little water, but I think most of us reading would have our pants wet from an additional source if we were rowing in those conditions.
On Saturday July 13, the Arthur E. Martin Memorial Race was held off Kittery Maine, starting in Fort Foster State Park at the mouth of the Piscataqua River. The conditions were nothing like the video above and 3 mile and 8 mile races were offered. Despite the gin and tonics from the night before, and a little dehydration, (hey it’s New England in the summer, we take advantage of it) I opted for the 8 mile race. The start line was crowded as usual with two races going off in different directions in close proximity to each other. The 8 mile race left the river for open water and headed east along the Maine coast to Brave Boat Harbor (an ominous name as neither my boat nor skipper were particularly brave) and then back to the start/finish line. The 3 mile race was rowed by wimps of no consequence and it went somewhere upriver and will not be dealt with further. As usual I got off to a slow start and I was not sure how many boats were in the 8 mile race because everyone was milling around the start line. As we rounded the first bend and headed into open water I could see that I had a dominating hold on… second to last place.

There was a slight glassy swell from the south with little wind and rowing conditions were almost ideal. There was no fixed course, just up the coast around various rocky ledges to a stake boat in Brave Boat Harbor and back. We could leave the many ledges to either side. As I rowed up the coast I lost sight of the leaders and retreated into the slight mist of my own private rowing world. Occasionally, the combination of the glassy swell, angle of the sun, and my polarized sunglasses allowed me to see about 10 ft deep into the gin (there’s those G&Ts again) clear water. The effect was almost vertiginous as I lost depth perception and felt like I was flying over the rocky bottom. Except I was not flying. I was getting soundly beaten by the leaders. My form was good, I was rowing straight, rhythm was solid, and I could see 4-5 puddles from my oars as they faded into the swell. So what was wrong? I got it! Those other folks are better rowers! With that realization I retreated back into the Zen of rowing along and over the rocky Maine Coast.

I approached Brave Boat Harbor from the ocean side and rounded several ledges with water breaking over them and headed in to the stake boat. The leaders had already rounded and were headed back. I could see a 22 ft Alden Star in the lead followed by a double, which meant I was in third place overall. Well, that’s not too bad. Furthermore, they were taking a shortcut back home well inside of the ledges. I rounded the stake boat and did the same. It was pretty clear that I was not going to catch the Alden Star and the double had to be in a different class, so I went back into my private world and tried to enjoy the 4 mile return trip with the wind and current coming astern. When I was finished I was glad to get out of the boat, but had no real idea how I placed. The awards ceremony was a little like kindergarten graduation: awards for everyone. But I did place first in my division, but as is often the case, I was the only one in my division. However, I consider that I beat everyone in the 3 mile race. The camaraderie was good and the memory of Arthur Martin was shared.

[Bob S.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iPatwA1-zw

Now that is my idea of what real rowing should be. Rowing in needle-thin boats that can barely handle a light chop or doing claustrophobic workouts on an indoor rowers just don't compare to the challenge of blue water rowing.

Bob S.