Team Northern Atlantic 2011

Today we swamped the gunning dory to see how she would handle completely full of water. This was a lot of fun, once we realized she would stay mostly on top of the water…

Amazingly, Leven Brown, Ray Carroll, Don Lennox & Livar Nysted (‘Artemis Investments’) have just smashed the 113 year old Harbo and Samuelson crossing record of 55 days by completing their crossing in 43 days, 21 hours, 26 minutes and 48 seconds. What a row!!! Congratulations to these men on board ‘Artemis Investments’ for such a great and historic accomplishment! Of course Mike and I are a bit disappointed that the 113 year old record will not fall to us, but all is fair in the sport of Ocean Rowing. ‘Tis an awesome accomplishment to have rowed the ocean, record or no record. Nevertheless, we will now be striving to smash the new crossing record of 43 days, 21 hours, 26 minutes and 48 seconds and to bring the record back home to the United States of America where she belongs!

As ‘Artemis Investments’ was arriving at St. Marys in the Isles of Scilly, Mike and I were taking our training dory out on the Potomac river for our first training row together (on the water). We left Gravelly Point Park in Arlington, Virginia yesterday afternoon around 4:30pm and rowed up river to Potomac Boat Club and back to Gravelly Point Park. It was a beautiful afternoon and we had an awesome row. This is the first time I’ve had the dory on the water this year. I’ve been working on her off-and-on over the last few months putting bow and stern rowing positions in her, touching-up paint, etc. I definitely spend more time working on the dory than rowing her, but hopefully that’s about to change.

Next weekend Mike and I are making tentative plans to try the row out to Tangier Island to complete the row I did not complete last year. Getting this row done will be a huge psychological boost for me and will be excellent training for Mike and I in preparation for rowing on big water. The row to Tangier Island from Reedville, VA is only about 14 miles, but the route is across some significant open water, shipping lanes, etc., so one never knows what might happen. Right now, we’re planning on rowing to Tangier Island and back all in the same day, so we hope to cover around 28 miles in one day. That’s a pretty heavy lift, but will see how it goes.

For all you wooden boat master craftsmen out there, this post is not for you. Move along. For all the rest of ya, who’ve not got an eye for symmetry nor detail, check out these pictures of the ‘Row the Pond’ Training Dory.

We’re putting cedar floor boards in the gunning dory, which we plan to row across the Chesapeake Bay in July as part of our preparation to row across the Northern Atlantic next year (but in a different boat, which is being built by a professional boat builder as I write).

We’ve got all the cedar floor boards cut now, and have but the sanding and screwing left to do on them. After that, all that’s left to do is to touch-up the paint once more and then we can take her out and try to sink her! We need to see how she performs totally swamped with water before we try to row her across the Chesapeake Bay. That’s one thing I did not do last year that I wish I had, so it’s definitely one milestone on the ‘project schedule’ now.

I am very fond of cedar. I think cedar floor boards in a wooden boat are a classy touch – they look and smell great. My nostrils and lungs are full of cedar dust now, hopefully to soon be replaced by the light July sea breezes of the Chesapeake Bay!

Mike and I are going sailing this weekend. If interested, watch the tracking section on our website for a near-real-time map of our location. Not much wind is forecasted for this weekend, so we might not be sailing far, but we’ll see.

Launch FineMeSPOT Map

Launch sat2twitter Map

My Dad told me about an article in this weekend’s Parade Magazine about Tangier Island. It looks like a nice place. The thought of fresh crab makes my mouth water. Mike and I are planning a summer row cross the Bay in the gunning dory once we get her ready for two rowers. Stopping over at Tangier for a crab dinner sounds like a sweet plan.

http://www.parade.com/news/our-towns/2010/0516-an-island-refuge-remakes-itself.html

The November/December 2009 edition of WoodenBoat Magazine has a really good article on ‘Oars, Oarlocks, and Rowing’ in traditional wooden rowing boats (page 4). I love this magazine, by the way! I referred to this article when putting the rowing positions in my gunning dory. I worked on them some more this afternoon and got them mostly roughed in. The epoxy and wood need a bit more sanding, some painting, and a touch of varnish and then we should be about ready to put her on the water again. I can’t wait.

While Mike and I try to sort out our ocean rowing vessel for our transatlantic crossing next year, we will be using my Marblehead gunning dory for some open water training expeditions this summer and fall. What’s a Marblehead gunning dory, you ask? Gunning dory’s are beautiful, double-ender boats designed for duck hunting and surf launching in the Marblehead, MA region. I mostly restored a roughly ten year old gunning dory last year with the intent of her only being rowed by me. With Mike onboard as my ocean rowing partner, however, I’ve decided to modify my dory for two rowers so that we can use her for some open water training while we sort out what our ocean rowing boat will be.

This Summer, we hope to row across the Chesapeake Bay, from Reedville, VA to possibly Crisfield, Maryland. We are also hoping to participate in the Blackburn Challenge on July 17 as well as the Wye Island Regatta on September 11.

Today, we worked on fortifying the gunwales with some of my left-over white oak so we can put two additional rowing positions in the boat.

One of the rowers from Finland, who are rowing the Intracoastal Waterway from Miami to New York, checked-in today to let us know how they are doing. Here’s what he said:

“March 22th boat was at Georgetown (SC). Expedition (1 permanent member and 17 rotating crew members) was able to cross the Cape Fear River and advance up to Wrightsville in Wilmington (NC), which was the location at 27th of March. In generel, the expedition has been challenged with low temperatures during the over night rows and frequent (if not constant) head winds. At times it has been also challenging to manage with the tidal currents, which is fairly uncommon extra “spice” of rowing for the Finns. Approximated current location would be close to Cape Lookout (NC).”

He also forwarded me some pictures to share of their journey…

If you read our blog with any regularity, and who doesn’t?, you will recall this post regarding the plans of these guys from Finland who are trying to row their traditional Finnish Rowing Boat up the intracoastal waterway from Florida to New York. Based on the schedule they previously supplied, it looks like they are a bit behind schedule so far. But who cares? I recently got an email from a guy named ‘Rick’ who claims the team have left Bahia Mar Marina in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, last Thursday, February 18th, 2010. Here are the pictures Rick sent me of the crew preparing their boat for departure and them rowing off into a new rowing adventure.

Their boat looks big and stable. Let’s hope she’s seaworthy if not comfortable. Here’s to the journey men!

Sepi Soutaja and Crew Prepare to Depart Bahia Mar Marina, Ft. Lauderdale (2/18/2010)

Finnish Rowing Team Prepares Boat for Departure from Bahia Mar Marina. Taking in a little fire water to get their mojo up, no doubt.

Guy Steering the boat has the best seat.

Finnish Rowers full steam ahead.

Sepi Soutaja recently checked in to let us know his team’s boat is on her way to the USA and due to clear Port Everglades in Florida on the 21st of January.  Seeing other adventure rowers put their adventure rowing dreams in motion continues to give me hope that I too will one day be able to pull it off – and keep my marriage!  It’s a high tightrope we married adventure rowers walk when entertaining rowing on the high seas.  But I digress…

Soutaja emailed a copy of his project itinerary.  They do not have a website, nor do the have any kind of tracking enabled, but perhaps we can meet up with them at one stage of their journey?  They plan to row for five days on, two days off.

One of the best ocean rowing books I have ever read, ‘Daring the Sea’ by David W. Shaw, was also the very first ocean rowing book I ever read.  This book immediately swept me away in the adventure of it all; I could not believe it was a true story.  Moreover, being a rower myself for many years at the time, I was completely amazed I had never heard of George Harbo and Frank Samuelson: two humble American immigrants from Norway who decided to try to improve their way of life by being the first to row across the North Atlantic.  It’s a tremendous story of superhuman achievement, dashed hopes and dreams.  Just like America today

But my real point in discussing this duo is to share my confusion about some of the professional ocean rowing web sites which make reference to Harbo and Samuelson as George Harbo and Gabriel Samuelson.  Is ‘Gabriel’ Norwegian for ‘Frank’ or something, or is this just a typo that has gotten propagated?

According to Wikipedia (and Shaw’s book, ‘Daring the Sea’), Samuelson’s first name was Frank, not Gabriel.

So why do so many ocean rowing web sites call him ‘Gabriel’?  Here are some examples:

http://www.oceanrowing.com/statistics/Atlantic_W-E.htm

http://www.around-n-over.org/boat.htm

http://www.rownetwork.com/events/7593

http://www.oceanrowevents.com/index.php?page=pacific

Oddly enough, I’m really curious about this.  If anyone knows whether Frank Samuelson also went by ‘Gabriel’ or not, please post a comment.

We took ‘Chessie’, my row boat, out on the Occoquan Reservoir early this morning to do some fishing. It was 44 degrees in the sun, and the wind was gusting up to 20 mph. I got a bit of a workout rowing my Dad and son around the river, even though we did not catch anything. My son says I am bad luck when it comes to fishing. I keep trying to prove him wrong, but to no avail. Rowing back to the put-in point was difficult as I had to row into the wind.  Chessie does not steer well into a strong head wind.

When we got home, my Dad and I pushed the boat and trailer into the back yard and carried Chessie into the ‘ole boat shed where she’ll rest for the remainder of the Winter.  Chessie seems to be getting heavier – either that or I’m getting weaker (or my carrying partner(s) are getting weaker) . My plan is to work on building-in a sliding seat rowing position this Winter using parts donated by West Potomac High School Rowing. I’ll need to procure a pair of Concept2 oarlocks and sculls, which I’ll hopefully get to test out next Spring. I also need to work on ways to increase boat flotation and test her row-ability when completely swamped. I’m looking forward to this Spring!

I have not cleaned out my shed since my last feverish flurry to get my boat ready for my first Chesapeake Bay Row attempt. The inside of my boat shed has been caked in inches of wood and fiberglass dust since then. Today, I finally decided to clean it up a bit. I donned my ventilator mask and goggles and set about blowing the dust outside. From without, it looked like someone set off a smoke bomb inside.  In addition to the dust, half filled cans of paint, containers of epoxy and resin, pieces of White Oak, Okoume and Cedar littered the floor – all contributing to fond memories of this summer, which continue to feed my desire to get out there on the open water in my wooden row boat again. After awhile, the inside of the shed starts to look somewhat clean again.  I feel like it’s about time to dust off those old Chesapeake Bay row plans and begin anew for next year’s attempt.

Last night, my parents and I went to hear Colin and Julie Angus speak at a National Geographic Live sponsored event.  Colin and Julie talked about their adventures riding their bikes and rowing their custom designed (and built) row boats from the top ‘o Scotland all the way down to Syria.  When they were unable to row, they rode their bikes, towing their boats behind them on custom made boat trailers.  When they rowed, they disassembled their bikes, stowed them in their boats, and went rowing.  It looked like an amazing way to travel through Europe (which included the UK, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Turkey, etc.) and to see the country-side.  Their trip took them about 7 months to complete.

They had one of their boats on stage and I got to take a pretty close look at her after their talk was over.  It looked like a stitch-and-glue ply construction with a single sliding seat rowing position built-in (the rowing position was conspicuously closer to the stern than the bow).  The bow section was used for stowing their bikes and other gear, so I’m sure getting the weight distribution correct was not easy to figure out.  The boat has a wing rigger, which seemed to be constructed of wood.  I wish I could have taken a picture of it, but Nat Geo Live!, sadly, do not allow pictures. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT!!!!

All-in-all, I came away from this talk excited about future adventure rowing possibilities.  I think this winter I will build-in a sliding seat rowing position in my dory for my next attempt to row across the Chesapeake Bay – an adventure that seems like child’s play comparatively speaking, so I need to get ‘er done.

Here’s a video lifted from AngusAdventures.com:

Here’s a video, recently posted by Shaun Quincey (rowing from Australia to New Zealand in November of 2009 – next month), providing a really interesting background to Shaun’s solo rowing project.  Of particular interest is Colin Quincey’s boat: she appears to be a flat-bottom dory with a fixed seat, mostly covered with decking.  I found this to be a really interesting video!  Thanks for sharing, Shaun, and best of luck with your row!

Yes, she is coming to D.C. just to see me…ok, so maybe she doesn’t know it yet. Roz Savage will be giving a talk about her row across the Atlantic for the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C. The event will be on October 19 at 7:30pm. You can buy tickets here. I’ll see you there!

Looking at the projected weather forecast for the weekend (as well as listening to wx01 on my VHF on the way to work), it’s looking like Saturday/Sunday morning out on the bay is calling for 10-15 knot winds to the N-NE, with 2-3 foot waves. This makes me a little uneasy; too uneasy in fact. In looking at options, my window of opportunity for a bay row is small – subsequent weekends will take me into fall head racing season with ACR, starting with Head of the Potomac on 9/27. So, it’s do-or-die this weekend, so to speak.

One bright spot is Friday. The weather forecast (for around the Reedville, VA portion of the bay) is calling for light winds, 5-8 knots, blowing Easterly early in the morning and then changing to SE later in the day. 0-1 foot waves are expected. This might make for a fairly nice day row from Reedville to Cheeseman Island (just South of Smith Island – trying to keep the destinations in Virginia!), and back, for a total day trip row of around 23-26 miles. I think that’s totally doable; I think I’ll sleep on it.

I barely made it to the Wye Island Regatta.  I was up late the Friday night before making final boat and oar modifications in order that I could do the ‘race’.  I made it up there and my boat stayed on top of the water the whole time, so that was a great achievement.  However, the race was not without ‘friction’, as Clausewitz might say.

First of all, the oars were nearly unmanageable for a sweep rower like myself.  Most sea salts will tell you that oars should not have buttons on them.  I have to disagree at this point.  My oars were sliding like crazy through the oarlocks, and I could not keep the protective leather strips centered in the oarlock horn.  This was an unbelievable pain, and I believe the constant movement of me having to readjust my oars to keep the leathers in the oarlock horns caused too much vibration and pressure on them so that my port oarlock screws started breaking and coming loose!

Lesson #1: Put the leather button on the oars.

Secondly, the distance of 12.5 miles of the Wye Island Regatta was manageable in my dory, but only just.  It took me 4.5 hours to cover that distance.  My original Chesapeake Bay Row plans called for an approximately 30 mile row on Saturday and back on Sunday.  Now, however, I think this is a fool’s errand.  I’ll be completely decimated before finishing the first half of the first day – and that’s if the weather is perfect, which it won’t be.

Lesson #2: Trim the scope of the project.  Cut the distance down to about 13 miles each day.  That makes a day trip out to Tangier Island from Reedville on Saturday and back on Sunday look like a new reasonable objective.  Maybe one year when I have more time, I can do the Reedville to Sanford row and back over four days – two days, I feel, is just too optimistic for covering 50-60 miles.

Thirdly, the seat is really uncomfortable.  Fixed seat rowing over that distance is really a pain in the butt, literally!  I can barely sit now.  I tried rowing with a floatation seat for part of the row, but: 1) it made me sit too high, and 2) it kept sliding out from under me.

Lesson #3: Try buying some soft foam and tape it to the thwart to protect my sensitive butt.

With about two miles left in the race, screws started breaking and coming loose in my port-side oar lock.  I’m not sure why, but I do know they were under alot of pressure from me constantly jamming them back and forth in the oarlock horn to keep the leathers centered in the horn.  This caused me to gingerly row the last two miles in order to prevent the last remaining screw from coming out, at which point I would have needed a tow across the finish line.  Thankfully, I just made it across on my own power.

Lesson #4: Fortify the gunwhales with additional wood and fiberglass, use bigger screws, and drill slightly bigger holes so the screws are not under as much torque and external pressure.  I will also take some spare screws, a screwdriver, and drill with me on my row.

I am very glad I was able to row in the Wye Island Regatta as it really helped me shake out and identify some key issues related to my boat and project plan.  In addition, I’d like to thank the kind folks on the Wye Island Regatta Support Staff who patiently waited for me to cross the finish line and for giving me a tow back to the put-in point.  All-in-all, it was a valuable and fun experience!

Time waits for no man.  Tonight I put the third and last coat of epoxy resin on the hull of my dory.  I also gave my oars a good sanding, filled some holes with thickened epoxy, and gave them a cursory coat of varnish.  Tomorrow, I need to sand the oars some more, give them another coat of varnish, and hopefully put the leathers and collars on them.  In addition, I want to put at least one coat of primer on the hull before trailering her up to Wye Island.  My dory won’t be done by this Saturday, but it is my hope she’ll be in rowable condition so that I can determine 1) if she floats; 2) is she sea worthy as-is; 3) is she comfortable to row over long distances.  I’ll then have a little under a week to rectify these and other problems as they arise.  Friction always happens, especially with tight deadlines, so I’ll be on alert.

On top of all this, my rowing team got a 4+ entry in the HOCR, and they are calling for 5k erg tests tomorrow morning to see who gets a seat, which means I need to get my stuff in a pile and get to bed.

And on top of that, it’s crunch time at work as we try to get our first software release out the door.  So it’s stress upon stress right now.  Life is good!

Tonight, I sanded last night’s fiberglass I put on the hull and applied a second coat of epoxy resin.  Looking to the rest of the week, I don’t think it’s possible for me to do a nice job of primering and painting the hull, along with everything else I need to do to prepare for this Saturday’s regatta; therefore, I plan to put one more coat of epoxy resin on her hull tomorrow night, paint the thwarts and varnish the oars, put on the oarlocks and give it a go.  If she floats on Saturday, I should be well positioned for the long weekend row on 9/19.