First Time On Water

[[old] neilb]

After 5 months erging I attended my local rowing club's beginners course last night.<br /><br />Following a very informative and friendly introduction to the club and a rowing safely video spent 20 minutes on an erg learning technique. Instructor said that girls pick it up much quicker and then almost immediately moved me into the girls group! <br /><br /> I am hoping that the only reason for this is that in my 1.3 million meters so far I have managed to pick up some reasonable technique!<br /><br />We were then introduced to the water! Not for very long but it was brilliant. We were put into an old wooden boat (nice and wide, solid and probably less expensive to repair!) rigged as a double scull and practised getting in, getting out, sculling (arms only) and turning.<br /><br />Covered no more than say 500 meters (not in straight line) but even so this was enough to appreciate how much pleasure and enjoyment there is to come. (As well as opportunities for getting wet, cold, tired, lost?, confused...).<br /><br />I found that the best benefit that carried over from my indoor rowing is having the patience to learn the technique before you try to row to hard. Even first time out a (poor) attempt at reasonable technique without trying to apply power got the boat moving/gliding along and it felt so good. I imagine that as I improve and graduate onto more sleek boats this feeling will get even better.<br /><br />We will be doing sweep? rowing later but I can now see why so many people on this site wax lyrically about rowing on water and sculling in particular.<br /><br />Sorry to bore those who have gone before me but to anyone who has started indoor rowing and is curious about trying it on water then give it a go.<br /><br />Neil

[[old] jfisher]

Excellent!<br /><br />I'm going to be doing a rowing camp in September. It will be my first time on water as well. Now I can hardly wait<br /><br />Jeff

[[old] PaulS]

Nice comments Neil! (For a girl)

[[old] kwadams]

I'm also a newbie on water rower this season and agree it's been a blast. I've rowed sweeps about 4 times now--actually got hooked into my first regatta (if you could call it that) last Sat for 1000m and our boat came in first (don't ask me our time!). Last night I went out in a single for the first time and tried hard to get wet, but managed to stay dry. All I can say is that it's not much like erging! I think the erg teaches you some basic motions, but nothing really like balancing the boat, learning proper hand height, etc. You get away with so much on the erg that can make for a rather unpleasant experience in a single. While I was out there last night, a young High School sculler went by--just fast and smooth--and I told our coach that's what I want to do. So, it'll take time, but I'm going to keep at it and hopefully make progress this summer.<br /><br />Kevin<br />

[[old] gorow9]

You'll have plenty of fun to come... your first big crab, collision, maybe flip and many more great experiances like almost getting run over by speed boats hooked on fishing rods and crashing into odd looking water "art" <br /><br />Yes this is the voice of experiance although I haven't flipped yet and I wish you the same luck!! I'm sure that erging really did help a lot because you're framiliar with the basics and are in shape to actually get something done as well framiliar with the sore butt and blisters after a nice long row.<br /><br />Good luck<br />~Sara~<br /><br />Also in sweeps make sure to look at the body of the person infront of you and not their oar... I know that sounds weird but it really helps- or you could just row stroke.

[[old] neilb]

<!--QuoteBegin-gorow9+May 20 2005, 01:53 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(gorow9 @ May 20 2005, 01:53 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><br />Also in sweeps make sure to look at the body of the person infront of you and not their oar... I know that sounds weird but it really helps- or you could just row stroke. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Sara,<br /><br />So right you are. I happened to be in the stroke position in the two man scull and as I tried to balance the boat first time out the 20 year macho guy behind tried to yank the blades as hard as possible, and made a complete hash of it first time out! <br /><br />Then when we were supposed to row together with me as the stroke he kept hitting my blades. This was with me keeping steady (ish) rhythm and again him ignoring the need to learn technique and trying to simply pull as hard as possible <br /><br />I found myself, 5 minutes after starting on water, telling him to relax, concentrate on technique not power, stroke smooth, follow my rhythm whilst trying to work out what the h*** I was doing. <br /><br />Perhaps the coach was right and I do have the commonsense to learn quickly just like a girl.<br /><br />Neil

[[old] ancho]

For those of you interested in erging AND on-waterrowing, take a look at this:<br /><a href='http://concept2.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=2047' target='_blank'>http://concept2.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=2047</a>

[[old] ancho]

Love hearing from ergers who switch over to water rowing. <br />The sensations have nothing to do, even if both are great!<br />I think best boat to learn basic technique is the single scull.<br />Try doing everything very smoothly, and take your time to just make some balance excercises on the water without rowing (move blades up and down, keep balance, move and feel confortable)<br />Don't want to row hard until your stroke is absolutely sure, which should take some days/miles!<br />If you know hot to row in a single scull, team boats and sweeping become much easier.<br />Be carefull with your teammates and surroundings, don't hurt yourself or others.<br />You will see, when you start feeling and "hearing" the boat, it's just great!<br />Have fun!

[[old] The Matinator]

It is great to here that ergs are joining clubs and getting out on the water, because that what the sport is really about getting on the water and having fun. All you newbies have a number of rites of passage to go <br /><br />Your First Crab<br />Your First Capsize<br />The First Time your Out in A fine Boat <br /><br />and of course the big one your First Regatta Race <br />For Me this Came in a single at the busa (british university sporting association) regatta at the holme pierpiont, for those for you who don't know holme pierpoint is a 2000m made lake in nottingham where it is almost always windy and the condishions are normally less than favourable.<br /><br />And finally winter training, being in boat thought wind, rain, slet, snow not to mesion the tempuratures <br /><br />These no need to rush to start with just take it light pressure and focus on techinque as this will really help your tbalance, which i presonally believe is the key to being able to row on the water

[[old] neilb]

3 weeks on and it keeps geting better.<br /><br />So far apart from work in the boathouse on ergs I have been out on the water in a rowing in a 4, sculling in a 4, rowing in an 8 and yesterday a single scull.<br /><br />Plenty of challenges and experiences. The atmosphere and teamwork both on the water and at the boathouse is great and has filled a gap that has existed since I stopped team sport that erging could not do.<br /><br />The time on thereg has been really beneficial in terms of developing good technique and base fitness. Also core strength and stability through pilates and swiss ball has helped with stabilising a boat, particularly single scull.<br /><br />Rowing in a 4 with other beginners is good, the 8 was great even though first time out we mainly rowed with six with two steadying the boat (we did row with eight but the rocking of the boat highlighted the lack of timing) but single scull was awesome.<br /><br />I seemed to manage the levelling of the hands fairly well so stability was no so bad first time but still a challenge. I actually managed to put together about 10 good strokes and the feeling as the boat glided over the water was fantastic.<br /><br />I was almost run over by the womens second 8 who had decided to sprint the last 500m to the boathouse but their crash stop initiated by the guy coaching me and some cool instructions to me (right hand on top two strokes with right hand, left hand on top two strokes with left hand) saw disaster averted as they slowed almost as quickly as I side stepped them.<br /><br />I can see now why sculling is so addictive.<br /><br />Sorry to bore all you guys who row on water already but as a 47 year old with a whole 6 months experience on ergs and 3 weeks on water I just feel then need to share with people the really great feeling of being on water.<br /><br />Neil

[[old] Bufflehead]

Hi Neil!<br />I understand your excitement. Today I "graduated" from our novice class. I'll be moving on to the open rowing program for the summer. I have a lot to learn yet, but I really love being on the water. <br />I'm excited and a little nervous at the same time, because I am going to Craftsbury Sculling Camp the end of this month. I just hope I can stay in the boat!<br /><br />Keep up the good work!<br />Sue

[[old] kwadams]

Neil and Sue--<br /><br />I'm a newbie on the water this season, too, and have found it very challenging and rewarding. I caught my first crab last Sat in the 4 (with 3 experienced women who were understanding with me!). It happened so fast and thankfully only my pride was hurt. I had been rowing for over an hour and fatigue had set in. As best we could tell, I just got lazy on the recovery and didn't pop the oar out of the water before I feathered it. It felt like someone was pulling the oar to the bottom of the river! As much as I love erging, you really get away with so much on it, i.e., it doesn't punish you for your sins like rowing on the water does.<br /><br />Anyway, I've been out in a 4 several times, and a single and double scull. I really want to work towards sculling full-time, but will keep up on the sweeps for the teamwork emphasis, too. I'm also planning to go to Craftsbury this summer, but probably not until July. Sue, are you going for a whole week or the long weekend? I don't think I can fit a whole week in to my schedule so will do the weekend. Hopefully, that's enough to get the basics and maybe I can do a second weekend later in the summer.<br /><br />Kevin

[[old] ancho]

Crabs happen, that's part of the fun of it!<br /><br />Enjoy your rowing!

[[old] Bufflehead]

Hi Kevin -<br />I'm going for the long weekend session. I will be meeting up with one of the other "Ducks", so it should be a great weekend! I'm just hoping I don't make a fool of myself! <br /><br />Sue

[[old] kwadams]

Hi Sue--<br /><br />I talked to the coach for our club and he said the whole week would be intense, but the long weekend would be a great start. He said they'll give folks individual instruction based on their skill level. Oh, and I understand from talking to others in our club who have gone that the first thing you do is put on your bathing suit to do the "flip test." I haven't done that yet, so it should be interesting! One of the ladies in our club told me it took her 7 trys to get back in the single, but she made it and had a great time. In fact, she said that by Sunday, she was ready for a break.<br /><br />Have a great time and let us know how it goes.<br /><br />Kevin