Team Northern Atlantic 2011

Soutaja, one of the Finnish Rowers planning a row from Florida to NYC up the intracoastal waterway next year, checked-in today to let us know the most recent news of their trip preparations: http://www.rowthepond.com/?p=140#comments.

So my 9/19/09 Chesapeake Bay Row Challenge is swiftly approaching.  In fact, as I write, September 1 is only 1 hour away!  I’ve registered for the Wye Island Regatta on 9/12/09, which I am looking at as a good functional test for the sea worthiness of my dory.  The Wye Island Regatta is a 12.5 mile course around Wye Island.  It should be a good workout of both rower and equipment (but hopefully not safety equipment .

Here’s a short video showing my dory renovation progress thus far.

This past week I was happy to find three new sponsors for my Chesapeake Bay Row Challenge.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is endorsing my row, and I am hoping my row will raise awareness and support for this organization and their vital mission to protect and preserve the water and wildlife of the Chesapeake Bay. I love rowing and I love being out on the water. People who enjoy water sports, such as rowing and kayaking, probably know better than most people the state and health of the water they workout and play on. It is also this class of sportsmen who are most aware of the need to preserve and protect the cleanliness of our water and the preservation of the life beneath it. For this reason, I am really excited to be working with the CBF and look forward to helping make a positive impact on the preservation and protection of the Chesapeake Bay and watershed regions.

Smith Point Marina is sponsoring my launch and return from/to Reedville, Virginia. Smith Point Marina, operated by Dan and Jeanne, is located on the Little Wicomico River, just 5 minutes off the Chesapeake Bay where it is joined by the Potomac River. Historic Smith Point Light is just outside the marina, which is one of the waypoints on my journey. I am very grateful to have the support of Smith Point Marina!

My friends at Alexandria Community Rowing have graciously offered to sponsor my hand-held VHF Radio. The VHF Radio is a critical piece of safety kit. It not only allows me to monitor the ever changing weather situation out in the bay, it also allows me to communicate with nearby boats and larger vessels, like those huge container and cruise ships you see out in the bay every now and then. I’m really grateful to ACR for offering to support my row in this way.

Just A Little More Help Needed!

I am still seeking sponsorship for a small campsite around Saxis or Sanford Virginia the night of 9/19. Saxis and Sanford are on the other side of the bay from Reedville, VA – approximately 25 nautical miles away. I am also seeking a monetary sponsorship of $100 to pay for my SPOT satellite tracking service. My SPOT device will allow me to send near-real-time location updates to friends and family (and possibly my web site) during my row, and will allow me to send a 9-1-1 alert in the event something goes really wrong while out in the bay. The SPOT is a handy device out at sea because it uses satellites to relay messages, as opposed to directly to cell towers, which may be hard to reach out in the middle of the bay. If you are interested in sponsoring any of these things, or are interested in providing other types of support, please feel free to contact me: solo@rowthepond.com.

Thanks to all who have generously agreed to support my Chesapeake Bay Row Challenge thus far!! This adventure would not be possible without it! Here’s to a cleaner and healthier aquatic environment!

I saw this video over at the Rowing for Pleasure blog and thought I’d re-post it here.  I actually considered buying an Adirondack Guide Boat for my Chesapeake Bay Row late last year when I started contemplating the crossing.  These wooden boats are indeed beautiful; however, the gunnels look too low to me for handling rough open water.  I hear they’ve been rowed often in the BlackBurn Challenge, however, so I’m probably totally mistaken on that point.  I don’t really like the lines of these boats as they look too much like canoes to me.  Nevertheless, this video snippet is a really nice insight into how these wooden boats are manufactured and an awesome plug by Martha Stewart for the Adirondack Guide Boat Company.

Blinded Veterans seek healing through water sports.

On The Water (OTW) Safety.  I’ve been thinking about this since day one of hatching my little plan to row across the Chesapeake Bay and back.  I obviously want to do this row safely, soundly and even triumphantly.  There are many hazards to contend with on such a long row: huge container ships, cruise ships, fast moving motor boats, rapidly changing weather conditions, high seas, strong wind, fallible equipment, poor planning, LochNess Monster-like sea creatures (I’ve heard stories…!) etc.  I’ve been seeking advice on safely rowing the Bay since this past April when I started taking a Boating Safety Course offered through the Power Squadron.  I’ve also discussed the issue with a number of open water rowers.  Here’s a list of safety equipment I’m collecting and planning to take with me on my voyage:

• SPOT Satellite Tracker
• HH VHF Radio
• Signalling Mirror
• Flares
• Dye
• Whistle
• Bearing Compass
• GPS
• NOAA Chart
• PFDs
• Rapid Ditch Floatation Bag
• Bilge Pump (manual)
• Bucket
• Anchor and line
• Float Plan

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it covers the major safety equipment items, I think. Having the proper safety gear is one thing; knowing how to use it, and being to do so in a tight spot, however, is another.  For example, I have never used a VHF radio before, but have read about how to use it, the protocol for doing so, etc.  There is a bit of a learning gap between reading about doing something and actually doing it.  The flares are another good example.  I only have four flares and have no intention on shooting one off just for the motor memory experience.  Reading the instructions will have to do for now.

I’ve never rowed with any of this equipment ever before, so all of this stuff seems like overkill!  However, on my way back from the beach last weekend, I paid special attention to the distance from one side of the Bay to the other, when crossing the Bay Bridge.  The distance is about 3+ miles.  You can see across to the other side, on a clear day, but only just.  The distance I will be crossing is roughly 8x’s that (25 nautical miles).  There will be times when no shore will be in site, and it will seem like I really am out at sea.  Alot can go wrong out there, so I think in terms of safety preparation, there is no such thing as ‘overkill’.  Here are some good motivational statements to prepare by:

• ‘Semper Paratus’ (‘Always Prepared’).
• ‘Prepare for the worse, hope for the best!’
• ‘Hope is not a strategy!’
• ‘Semper Fi!‘ (‘Always Faithful’)  – just an overall fine piece of Latin phraseology to help one motivate.

I got the seat risers in this evening, but not before much angst, cursing and gnashing of teeth.  The seat risers, which I only recently learned, are 3-4″ pine boards on either side of the boat, which are screwed into the perpendicular oak frames to support the thwarts, or seats.  The first seat risers went in without much ado.  When installing the second seat riser, however, my measurements were an inch too far down the side (what an idiot I am!!), which I only discovered after I had made sure every screw was in as tight as they would go (what an IDIOT!!).  Just when I thought I was done with the seat risers, I suddenly had increased the amount of work that had to be done tonight twofold.

As a result, I had to take the seat riser out again (which was almost a total disaster as one of the screw heads was nearly completely stripped), fill the holes with thickened epoxy, work on other things for a while to let the epoxy set up, then re-install the riser, hopefully this time in the correct place.  This was a very painful and frustrating exercise.

The frustration and anger I felt, I later reasoned, is probably not unlike that which is felt by folks who row an ocean.  Some days it’s possible to make good forward progress only to have that progress completely wiped out the next day due to strong head winds and current.  It takes incredible patience and resoluteness to get up early the next morning to try to overcome such dissappointment, I am sure.  Soon, the pain and frustration is a distant memory and you are making good forward progress again, and as long as you’ve got a level rowing position to sit in, it’s all good!

Saturday morning I made some headway making end decks for my Dory.  I also took a stab at making a breast hook for the bow of the boat.  The breast hooks are going to be made out of red oak.  I know red oak is not the best wood to use in a boat, but I think it should be fine material for the breast hooks.  The end decks are made out of okoume ply.  I plan to finish these bright and paint the inside of the boat a light Seattle Grey.  Hopefully, CLC will get their back-orders in quickly so I can keep moving forward – they’ve back-ordered the paint and primer I recently ordered.  I bought a duck overlay from CLC which I plan to position on one of the end decks.

Bow End Decks and Breast Hook

Portal and Duck Overlay Positioned

Well, the weather, as it were, changed all too quickly.  I took a hard look at the rigging required for a sliding seat rowing position to be feasible and concluded, hopefully once and for all, that the cost to benefit ratio is too high.  Like any good Project Manager, there comes a point where getting ‘er done must be strictly weighed against the cost of doing so, and it’s a really tough balancing act, I am learning.  Here’s what I was looking at:

• Roughly $420 for D-Sleeves, oar locks and outriggers from Shaw and Tenney.  Whitehall Rowing sells the same for about $475.  I could almost buy a drop-in Piantedosi rowing unit for that much.
• At 58″ beam, I was having a hard time coming up with a great design for installing the foot stretchers.  As of last night, I thought I had an OK design, which entailed building a box out of white oak that would be screwed and glued into the 4th frame with support 2×4′s radiating out from the 5th frame, but it did not seem like it would be sturdy enough.  I did not relish putting screws through the bottom of the hull into the box either.  In addition, after having just removed the motor well, I did not like the idea of having another big 10″ high wood box in the middle of the boat.
• If I want to row in the Blackburn Challenge next year, a Dory with a sliding seat would most likely put me in the open category, which is just asking for a good ‘ole fashioned butt whooping.
• Moreover, there’s the echo of constant reminders from the sea salts I’ve consulted who have counseled me on sticking with fixed seat rowing positions for rough open water, including the man I bought my gunning dory from, Don.  Don has rowed open water in both fixed seat and sliding seat boats.  He noted that sliding seat rowing in rough open water can take a toll on your lower back as the boat is constantly being hit and redirected by wind and waves.  I considered that and thought I could build in a mechanism for locking the sliding seat as necessary, but then I think about…
• …the sailing option.  If I put in fixed seats now and get my Chesapeake Bay row under my belt next month, then I can spend the rest of the winter building-in a centerboard box, rudder, spars, etc, so I can get some sailing in next Spring.

So, I spent this evening putting some final touches on the frame repairs I am making due to wood rot, and got started making my breast hooks and marking up my last sheet of okoume for the end decks.  By the way, I think I know why they are called breast hooks – once you make them and sand them really well, you just can’t stop rubbing them.  Is that too risque to say?  Rubbing my new breast hooks is helping to take my mind off the rowing position conundrum for the moment.  Besides, earlier today I ordered horn oarlocks and oar leathers from Shaw and Tenney – hardware most suitable for fixed seat rowing.  It’s a done deal now, unless a hurricane of an idea hits me tomorrow.

I’ve ‘evolved’ my Dory renovation plans from sliding seat, to ‘hey, I think I also wanna sail her!’, to ‘man, building a centerboard box blows!’, to ‘I think fixed-seat rowing might be the easiest (in terms of skill level to build-out)’.  Tonight, however, I’m back to working out how to build-in a sliding seat rowing position.  I might still snap and go back to fixed-seat, but as I stand at the moment, I’ve got most of the sliding seat problems worked out in my head and the measurements sketched out in the boat.  The counsel I’ve received from most somewhat anonymous folks online, who appear to be much saltier sea salts than me, have said fixed seat rowing with a centerboard is the way to go.  They may be, and probably are, entirely correct.  Nevertheless, I just cannot imagine rowing any boat without my feet strapped into a good ‘ole pair or Vespoli foot stretchers, and the (mostly) smooth feel of rollers gliding under by butt.  Moreover, I just cannot imagine rowing for five or more hours straight without being able to put your leg muscles – the largest muscle groups in your body – into each stroke.  So, I feel a bit guilty for not heeding the counsel of those much wiser and learned than me, but I’m choosing to march to my own drummer on this one.  At least for the moment…My mind is wont to change faster than the weather on the Chesapeake Bay.

This is pretty interesting.  Team Orchid, who were trying to set a speed record for the fastest 4-man crew to row around the British Isles, got side-tracked yesterday when a small plane went down in their vicinity.  The crew decided to abandon their record attempt in order to help the pilot out.  Here’s a link to the story:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6793919.ece

Jamie Fabrizio, a master boat builder and proprietor (along with Emily Adkin) of Global Boat Works, in Devon, UK, has recently posted a video tour of one of his solo ocean rowing vessels. These boats are really beautiful pieces of work.

Got two coats of Primekote Primer on the Dory’s insides this afternoon. She’s much nicer to look at now. I still have a considerable amount of epoxy and wood work to do on her insides, but things are slowly moving forward.

I can’t explain how double-minded I am about my sail vs. row decision. I’m not sure why I can’t make up my mind?!? I think one reason is because building in a sailplan will cost me about another $500 to $1000, when I add in the cost of mast, spars, sails, etc. Plus, I’m anxious to get my Chesapeake Bay row in this year, and I don’t really want to be renovating a boat the whole year without getting any on-the-water action. I wouldn’t mind getting the experience building in a centerboard though. Interesting mental challenge.

I quickly messed-up the White Oak I bought at Mystic, CT and carted home.  I was hoping to make bedlogs for my centerboard box out of this wood.  Crestfallen, I had just about totally given up on the idea of installing a centerboard box in my dory.  Then, I discovered a cragislist ad for white oak lumber in a lumber yard out in Catharpin, Virginia.  Russell, the proprietor of the lumber yard, had a wide variety of wood to choose from, including White Oak, Cedar and Mahogany.  I bought some White Oak and Cedar from him and the centerboard box was back on my radar screen.  I’ve already cut the okoume plywood sides for the centerboard box, so I am committed to the task. The Cedar, by the way, is going to be used for the floor boards of the boat. I think Cedar is an awesome wood to have in a small wooden boat like this – it looks and smells great.

Here are some pictures of recent progress: