Team Northern Atlantic 2011

I was thinking about Harbo and Samuelson this morning – the two friends who decided to set out across the North Atlantic from New York to the Scilly Isles in the Fox, a boat not much larger than mine.  How were they able to pull this feat off?  They must have been really hard men – men with a strength and courage you don’t find much of any more.  I reconsidered their feat this morning as I thought about my failure to make it to Tangier Island yesterday.  The wind out of the East and waves were just too strong for me to contend with.  In contrast with Harbo and Samuleson, two men who made a living digging for clams and rowing the coastal waterways day-in and day-out, I am a soft, computer nerd who sits in a cubicle all day.  Most of what I knew about coastal rowing up to this point was learned from reading books and the internet.  Experiencing the reality of rowing a boat, like the Fox, in relatively light conditions, as far as the Bay is concerned, taught me a great deal, and gave me an even deeper respect for what Harbo and Samuelson were able to accomplish by rowing from New York to the Scilly Isles.

I failed to make Tangier Island for several reasons.  For one, I was spending so much time trying to get my boat painted and ready that I neglected other things like gathering proper waypoints, studying the weather and tides and spending time gathering more ‘intelligence’ about the Bay.  Several people suggested taking the Ferry to Tangier Island to get a better idea of what that stretch of water was like.  Others suggested I capsize my boat in a local lake to get a feel for how the boat behaved when completely swamped.  I just did not have time to do all of this and still make my self-imposed deadline.  In addition, the weather conditions on the Bay yesterday were OK, but not ideal.  Waves of 1-2 feet and winds from the East at 5-8 knots is good weather for a motor boat or sail boat, but in a row boat like my Dory, you will be in for a good challenge!  In order to make the 15 mile row from Reedville to Tangier, I will need wind less than 5 knots, or winds going in my direction to and from; moreover, I will need a boat that can average 5mph or better, otherwise, I will end up spending too much time on the water.  In a 5 mph row boat with 15 miles to row, the ‘happy path’ scenario is a 3 hour trip, and on the Bay, the ‘happy path’ does not exist.  By the time I got out to Smith Point Lighthouse, I was doing about 1.4 mph against the wind and waves – and that was taking a significant effort.

Also, I did not fully understand nor appreciate the importance of knowing the tide schedule for each port of call.  It was just dumb luck that I was running 3 hours behind Friday morning making last minute preparations.  It just so happened that I got to Smith Point Marina just as the tide was starting to go out.  This was a really important consideration because rowing out of the Reedville Channel would have been nearly impossible had I left when the tide was coming in.  I know this because the tide was still going out when I came back in and I felt like a Salmon trying to swim upstream.  I was rowing as hard as I could and was barely making progress.  My speed was about 1 mph rowing into the channel back to the marina.  I almost did not make it in.  So know the tides in each location you are going to and plan accordingly.

The good news is I made it to Smith Point Lighthouse and back, alive, and without requiring support or help.  I now also have a better idea of what to expect and how better to plan this trip.  I question that my boat is the right boat to make the trip, but when considering Harbo and Samuelson, maybe it’s just the rower.  I think also that for the next attempt, I will try harder to recruit a partner.  I consider myself fairly strong, but the Bay brought me to my knees, so to speak   I live to fight another day.

So, my current plans are to focus on the Fall Head Racing season again.  I’ve let my team down a bit in missing practices trying to get this project going.  I’m thinking next summer might be another time to take a shot at this row.  Maybe I can take a week off to row completely across the Bay and back stopping at Tangier and the other islands along the way.

I left Smith Point Marina around 1230hrs and returned about 1700hrs. Total distance rowed was roughly 9 miles.

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.

I sanded most of the hull down to the wood today. In the process, I discovered an area of soft wood which I began to push on with my finger. The okoume ply quickly revealed an extensive 5″x3″ hole that goes all the way through the hull and into the white oak stem of the bow. This is the most extensive wood rot damage I’ve found so far, and lucky me, it’s in the hull at almost the lowest part of the water line. I sanded the hole real well and tried to pick out as much bad wood as possible. I then filled the hole with CPES. I’ll let it air-out a day or two before filling it with thickened epoxy and covering it with fiberglass and epoxy resin.

Here is a video taken this summer at the Wooden Boat Show in Mystic, Ct.  I found this demonstration of how fisherman used to fish for halibut from the Grand Banks Dory really interesting.  The audio is hard to hear, but basically, the person giving the demonstration is showing how the flat-bottom Grand Banks Dory is rather ‘tippy’ by design, and how they become more stable as they become laden with halibut.

Here’s a quick video showing the current state of the gunning dory.  She’s ready to flip over so work can begin afresh on her hull.  I love sanding.  Sanding just never gets old.

Ok, I wanted to have the inside of my dory all wrapped up by today, but I’m just not quite there yet. I’ve gotten her insides painted (Seattle Gray), and the end deck areas have been sanded, painted (Sea Green) and varnished as of tonight; however, they still need one or two more coats of varnish and the portholes need to be installed (screwed in and sealed). I should be able to wrap this work up by tomorrow evening, at which point I will then turn her over to finish up the hull work I started back last April/May?!?! Holy cow that was a while ago. I can’t believe how slow I am at boat work! My work is not as neat as I’d like it to be either, but it’s not horrible. As long as she’s solid and floats – that’s what’s most important to me. So far, she seems solid as a rock, which is comforting.

In the remaining 8 days leading up to Wye Island, I have to accomplish:

• Finish-up the inside as far as paint, varnish and end deck porthole installation.
• Hull fiberglassed and painted yellow with a Sea Green strip from sheer down to start of first strake.
• Floor boards finished.
• Old whale boat oars have been cut to 9’2″; need to cut handles in to 8.5″, sand, strengthen with epoxy and
• fiberglass, and varnish. Then attach leathers and button on each.
• Thwarts need primer and put to paint. Then need to screw in place.
• Install oar locks and rowing position. Make it comfortable!!
• Paint sponsor urls/my url and attach stickers to hull.

Thankfully, Labor Day Weekend is this weekend, so I should have all day Monday to work off my punch list. By Thursday night, I should be ready to trailer her Friday evening so I can drive up to Maryland’s Eastern Shore for the Wye Island Regatta early Saturday morning.

Think I will make it?