Cascajun

I rowed out to the Lummi Island DNR Campground on Thursday and spent two nights, returning this morning. Here are a few photos.

The All American Rowing Camp is coming to Bellingham, WA with a team of elite college rowing coaches to hold a Master’s Rowing Camp at the Bellingham Bay Community Boating Center on Friday 11 July 2008 through Sunday 13 July 2008.

Don’t let “Master’s” or the awesome credentials of these coaches intimidate you! They are excited to work with newer rowers in flat water or open-water craft. You learn in your own boat or you may rent one. If you have enough hours in your rowing craft to be comfortable and are able to focus on refining technique, this is the perfect venue to increase your enjoyment of rowing.

Instructors are:

• Jim Dietz, Head Rowing Coach at the University of Massachusetts, six-time Olympic team member; and
• Mark Wilson, National Collegiate Champion, National Elite Champion, and Director of Rowing Development at Oak Ridge Rowing Association.

Instructors will use video footage to work individually with participants on their personal goals for rowing. The camp includes group rows, individual coaching, class instruction, potluck dinners and lots of comraderie and fun.

Here is a side by side comparision of my 2007 DHC speed profile (left) and my 2008 DHC speed profile (right). The differences are largely due to wind. There was a 9 mph wind from the southeast in 2007, so half of the race was into the wind and the 1 foot chop it was whipping up. We had no wind and flat water in 2008.

I participated in the 2008 Dan Harris Challenge and finished first in my class of rowing shell: 1X-R1 (Rec 1, length less than 21 feet). I was also the only entry in my class, but did better my time over last year by about 15-minutes. The rowing conditions on Bellingham Bay were excellent.

Sue Dandridge and Robin Clark completed their trip from Ketchikan, Alaska to Anacortes, WA on July 4th. The total trip time was only 34-days! The previous day they rowed 60 miles in one day, from Nanaimo, BC to Roche Harbor, WA.

The linked photo was taken by a kayaker from Santa Fe, NM who is paddling from Anacortes to Ketchikan and crossed their path in the Grenville Channel.

Two women from the Puget Sound region, Robin Clark and Sue Dandridge, are rowing the Inside Passage. They departed Ketchikan, Alaska on June 1st and were last reported rounding Cape Caution in British Columbia’s Queen Charlotte Strait. You can follow their progress at www.backwardsfromketchikan.org.

I spent a few nights at Clark Island State Park two weeks ago. The island is located in north Puget Sound, west of Lummi Island and east of Orcas Island. A popular destination among sailboaters and paddlers of the Cascadia Marine Trail System, the entire island is a Washington State Park and accessible only by boat.

Click the map link on the left to view detailed metrics for the trip including time, distance, and speed.

I left Fairhaven Boatworks around 10:30 in the morning on Thursday, 5/31. The conditions were not that favorable, with winds from the south-southeast at 9 mph against a strong ebb tide. I decided to give it a try, despite the conditions and warnings from a discouraged boater at the dock who said he couldn’t get past bouy #2 in his power boat.

I soon realized the difference between a 4-day load and 2-day load in terms of weight and how it affects my boat’s performance. I didn’t have the bouancy and freeboard to take the 2 to 3 foot chop I began to encounter. Water was slopping in faster than my self-bailing valve could remove it. I decided it wasn’t going to happen when the water level in my boat was touching the bottom of my sliding seat rig’s I-beam. I turned toward shore, got to a little clamer water, and bailed my boat free and took a southernly course towards Chuckanut Bay.

Nearing the north end of Chuckanut Bay, I again tried heading west across Bellingham Bay. The results were no better than my first attempt. I soon turned back to the south, tucked into a cove at the north end of Chuckanut Bay, and again bailed the water from my boat. It was apparent that I would have to wait for the early afternoon slack to cross the bay. So, I headed over to Chuckanut Island (Dot Island?) and spent an hour or so there for lunch.

Sure enough as the tide slacked the chop settled down a bit and I was off on a beeline for the southern shore of Eliza Island. As I approached Eliza I could tell the flood tide was beginning and could see the rips and eddies forming up as the incomming tide pushed around the island. I passed between Eliza’s south shore and the large rocks there and spotted a sea lion there basking in the sun. What an enormous beast! I was able to clearly see it’s sillouette even after I was a half mile away.

After rounding the southern tip of Lummi Island I got a visual on the west end of Lummi Rocks to my north and fixed a course for them. I soon noted that I was rowing in some ‘confused water’ as it seemed to be going in a variety of directions. Looking further out, I could see there was a better flood current and adjusted my course to bring me to it. Sure enough, as I moved out away from the Lummi shoreline the current became stronger and my speed increased. The winds were calm and I was soaking up the scenery, basking in the sun, and really enjoying a beautiful afternoon on the water. I couldn’t have asked for better conditions to cross the wide open and busy shipping lane in Rosario Strait. I got a visual on Clark Island, adjusted my course, and continued on.

Soon I was near the turning bouy that’s near the center of the intersecting shipping lanes between Orcas, Lummi, and Sinclair Islands. I was impressed with how much the bouy was leaning to the north and could hear the sound of water rushing past it even though I cruised by a good 500 yards to the east. I checked my speed on my GPS and was impressed to see I was going over 7 mph! Wow, what fun I had as I got into a smooth cadence. Fun is good, but it nearly distracted me into making a big mistake. I glanced around to check my position and realized I had quickly covered much more north distance but had not gone far enough west. I was running the risk of overshooting Clark Island, my destination, and rowing north out into the Strait of Georgia where I could see no land all the way to the horizon….

My mood suddenly changed as I became concerned about my situation. I even started feeling foolish. What if I don’t have the energy to pull myself, cross-current, the mile west I stll must make? I had already covered 18 miles in an single day and didn’t know how much I had left. I mustered the energy, changed course to due west and gave it all I had.

I was pretty proud of myself when I reached the calm waters between Clark and Barnes. After a short rest selected a campsite and settled in for a quiet evening. The late afternoon and evening views of Mount Baker to the east are spectacular. I took this photo of a south bound oil tanker and it’s tugboat escorts as they passed between Clark and Lummi Islands.

More great photographs of the 2007 Dan Harris Challenge are available. Click the image on the left to see them. They were taken by a local amateur photographer with a Canon EOS 20D. Because he feared the rough water would cause a lot of blurred images, the photos were shot with the camera in burst mode. Apparently he ended up with several hundred images and may upload more to the gallery when time permits. If you like what you see you should check back in the future.

Frankie Dammann, a member of the New Whatcom Rowing Club, took some great photographs of the 2007 Dan Harris Challenge.

Take a look at them for yourself - http://www.esplor.com/dhc/dhc.html.

I participated in the Dan Harris Challenge today. The weather was beautiful and the turnout for the race was great. I placed 2nd in my boat class, 1X-R1 (Rec 1, length less than 21 feet).

The race course is advertised as 9-miles. My route today was 9.9 miles. We had a 9 mph wind from the southeast, so half of the race was into the wind and 1 foot chop it was whiping up. And what a difference the wind makes. My GPS data shows my average speed against the wind was between 4 and 5 mph. My average speed with the wind was about 6 mph.

The wind effect is also clearly illustrated in the graph below showing the time and distance distribution. The wind was particularly gruesome at the halfway point in Chuckanut Bay, where I averaged less than 4 mph until I rounded Chuckanut Island. After that I had the wind in my face, which is perfect for rowers! I let the wind help me along and worked on timing my strokes with the chop, which when done right can produce some fun surfing action.

This was my second year to participate and I think I’ll consider it an annual event for me from now on.