rowing Archives - Small Boats Magazine

SALISH 100

Overnight stops along the route are Henderson Inlet, Longbranch, Gig Harbor, Blake Island Marine State Park, Kingston, and Port Ludlow Marina before reaching our final destination in Port Townsend. Due to the Salish 100’s length and challenging waters an application must be completed prior to joining the event. Information: Salish100.orgfacebook.com/groups/285180382147515/ and for questions please email directly at [email protected]

The fleet of small boats range from SCAMPs to Whitehalls, wherries, sharpies, melonseeds and flatiron skiffs; this includes a variety of smaller production sailboats and dozens of home-built sailing and rowing boats.

Along the route, small-boat skippers from across the states and other countries will experience everything the Salish Sea has to offer: currents racing through narrow channels, tide rips, sandbars, rocky shores, wonderfully protected anchorages, wind conditions ranging from flat calm to small-craft warnings, encounters with wildlife , and some new friendships that’ll last a lifetime. Many of the participants come from inland states to experience saltwater boating—tidal ranges of up to 14 feet—for the first time. Others drive thousands of miles to attend.

The Cruise works its way from Olympia to Port Townsend at 10-16 nautical miles a day, with overnight stops at:

  • Henderson Inlet
  • Longbranch, Filucy Bay
  • Gig Harbor
  • Blake Island State Park
  • Kingston
  • Port Ludlow

The final day of travel brings cruisers to the victorian seaport of Port Townsend.

More information can be found in the Cruise Information Packet.

Sulkava Rowing Race

Sulkava Rowing Race is Finland’s biggest rowing event that has gathered in its best years over 10 000 rowers and over 20 000 visitors. In most categories the route is approximately 60 km, except in two days tour rowing, it is 70 km. These two routes take the rowers around the Isle of Partalansaari where the rowers can enjoy the beautiful Finnish nature while competing. 30 km Stadium-Linnavuori-Stadium offers good alternative for 60km route for those who prefer shorter distance.

During the weekend there are starts where rowers can participate in small boats, special boats and Sulkava long boats, in addition the Finnish Championship -starts will be rowed. There are four different categories which are: Single, Paddle Sculling (one pair of oars and a paddle), Double Sculling (two pairs of oars) and team of rowers (special boats and Sulkava long boats). Please note, these are all wooden boat categories. However, canoes and kayaks are also welcome!

Sulkava long boat crew consists of 14 rowers and a cox who paces them. Each rower has one oar and rows on a seat with slides. The cox also steers the boat and cheers the rowers to their performance. The event always ends on the second Sunday of July.

TIPS FOR NOVICES AT SULKAVA ROWING RACE
ACCOMMODATION
RENT A SULKAVA LONG BOAT

Seventy 48 Race

WHAT

SEVENTY48 aka 70 miles in 48 hours.
Rules are simple: no motors, no support, and no wind. That’s right. HUMAN POWER ONLY. Pedal, paddle, or row. We don’t care. It’s up to you. (And this is a boat race. Leave your 10 speed-towing-a-canoe idea at home.)

WHEN

Race Start:  May 31, 2024
Application Open: November 15, at noon
Application deadline: April 1, April fools day baby
Registration deadline: April 21, 2024
Gun goes off at 7:00 PM, and teams have 30 minutes to cross the start line. (And PM is not a typo. We know what it means and so do you.)

WHERE

Tacoma to Port Townsend
First find Tacoma, Washington. The race starts at Tacoma’s Thea Foss Waterway from The Foss Waterway Seaport. Next find Port Townsend. That’s where you hope to end. Only one checkpoint is required: The Port Townsend Ship Canal. Here’s the route map.

Wellfleet Rowing Rendezvous

Announcing the 7th Annual
Wellfleet Rowing Rendezvous

Mayo Beach, Wellfleet, MA 02667
41o55.81N/70o1.92W

We are proud to announce the SeventhAnnual Wellfleet Rowing Rendezvous, to be held Saturday, September 21, 2019, at Mayo Beach, Wellfleet, 1 to 5PM.
The purpose of this free event is to promote rowing, and to be able to try and compare different boats. We will have boats to row, and you are invited to bring your boat for others to row. Last year we had 17 different boats. Boats can be launched for free from trailers at the boat ramp at the Wellfleet Marina, next to the beach, or hand launched at the Town landing right next to the commercial pier. Please bring PFD’s and an anchor for your boat. This event is FREE, but please register via email or phone if you are planning to attend. More details will be available as we get closer to the event.
Register: [email protected] or phone, 508-349-2383
More info will be posted at www.oldwharf.com and on the Old Wharf Facebook page.

Sponsored by: Old Wharf Dory Co., South Shore Boatworks, and S.N. Smith & Son, with special thanks to the Cape Cod Chapter, TSCA, and the Town of Wellfleet.

2019 Small Reach Regatta

The idea of the SRR is to gather together small sail-and-oars boats for sailing, with the same kind of camaraderie and appreciation that the ERR has established. We will sail on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This year, we plan a one-way sail from Herrick Bay to the waters off the campground, where we’ll anchor, so secure anchoring ability is especially important. The next day will be a return to Herrick Bay. Final haulouts, trailering, and departure will take place on Sunday, July 28, vacating the campground before noon and the boatyard as soon as possible.

Click here for full details about the event and how to sign up.

Boating safety is always a priority at the SRR, and the fleet is accompanied at all times by a chase fleet, usually six fast powerboats. Participating boats are required to meet a checklist of safety equipment. Our safety demonstrations in years past have included a firing of emergency flares and a deliberate capsize and self-recovery. We take safe seamanship seriously.

E-mail is our preferred method of communication. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can. We hope to see you this summer on the coast of Maine!

For more information, contact

Tom Jackson <[email protected]>; or
David Wyman, <[email protected]>.

Gathering of Traditional Small Boats at the Wilson Museum

A Gathering of Traditional Small Boats

rowboatsIt’s a boat show!

No, it’s a ribbon-cutting!

No, it’s a program with speakers!

No, it’s a yummy food event!

Actually, it’s ALL OF THE ABOVE!

The Downeast Chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association is pleased to sponsor the dedication of the Wilson Museum’s new Antique Boat Exhibit and Boat Shop on July 3, 2019 beginning mid-morning. This will be a great opportunity to see a wide variety of small boats and chat with their knowledgeable and enthusiastic owners.

At 11 a.m. Penobscot Marine Museum Curator, Ben Fuller, will give a talk entitled On Matinicus It’s a Double-Ender about small peapods.

The aromas from the outdoor bake oven will entice attendees across the street at noon to sample Museum-made bean-hole beans, pulled pork, blueberry buckle, as well as a variety of smoked fish (mackerel, alewives, or smelt) from the Downeast Salmon Federation’s smoker.

Wood ShopAt 2 p.m. take part in the Exhibit and Boat Shop ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony followed by Tom Jackson, senior editor at WoodenBoat, giving a talk entitled Modern Small Craft: Building on Tradition about the current use of traditional small craft. Then, to top it off, there will be a showing of the WoodenBoat video The 2015 Small Reach Regatta provided by Small Reach Regatta.

This event is free and open to the public! It’s a boat-enthusiast’s dream day—don’t miss it!

 

At Home Rowing Regatta Fundraiser and Salvage Sale

At Home will have its first annual Rowing Regatta fundraiser held at Hinckley’s on Saturday, June 15, 2019. All proceeds from the event will support the guaranteed nurse visits. There will also be a marine salvage sale from 9-2. Click here and scroll down for registration forms and more information.

At Home is a non-profit, member based, volunteer supported, medical model that provides elder residents of the Mount Desert Island community and the Blue Hill peninsula with essential services empowering them to continue to live safely in their homes as they age.

For more information please call the main office at: (207)374-5852 or send us an email: [email protected]

Any human powered boat
Food will be available for purchase

Thank you to our top sponsor, First National Bank. www.thefirst.com 

Head of the Charles Regatta Level

Hinckley Company, Southwest Harbor

Stanley Subaru, Trenton

Henley Royal Regatta Level

Machias Savings Bank, Bar Harbor

Australian Rowing Championships Level

Carroll Drug Store, Southwest Harbor

National Park Canoe Rental, Mount Desert

Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors, Rockland

Maine Holiday Wreaths, Ellsworth

Mount Desert Island Lions Club, Mount Desert Island

 

NOAA Releases New Version of Chart No. 1

The chart of charts has been updated. This article at NOAA’s website details the revisions that appear in the new version.

As always, the chart is available for free download through NOAA’s site, and they say that you can buy the new printed version through four approved printers and distributors. Chart No. 1, “describes the symbols, abbreviations, and terms used on paper NOAA nautical charts and for displaying NOAA electronic navigational chart (NOAA ENC®) data on Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS). The document also shows paper chart symbols used by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and symbols specified by the International Hydrographic Organization.”

NOAA Office of Coast Survey

Chart No. 1 as a booklet. Image courtesy of NOAA.

Cape Cod TSCA Spring Rendezvous

small boats with rowers in cape cod watersHere’s your chance to try rowing a number of New England traditional small boats! CCTSCA members will be bringing their own boats, many owner built. The boats will be available for short rows, and assistance will be available for beginners. Boaters will get their feet wet, so plan accordingly!

No sign up, no fee, just fun.

KALMUS BEACH, HYANNIS
The Cape Cod Traditional Small Craft Association

The Cape Cod Maritime Museum
Free parking in the lot at Kalmus Beach
At the end of Ocean Street

More TSCA events at: http://tsca.net/events/

The Dramatized History of the Bantry Bay Gig in Camden

At Camden Library’s Amphitheater, Mick Delap, a writer, historian and avid sailor in retirement after a career in journalism at the BBC, and Apprenticeshop founder Lance Lee will host an interestingly presented history of the Bantry Bay Gigs of International Atlantic Challenge fame.

Delap, with a cast of actors, will perform a theatrical version of important moments in the gigs’ history accompanied by a duo from Belfast, Maine who will play Irish music on authentic instruments.

Following that, Lee will describe the modern history of the gig after it was “rediscovered” in 1944 and he’ll talk about the beginnings of the Atlantic Challenge and its mission to further international camaraderie among sailors. Following his presentation, he will invite the audience for a close look at a model of a gig that he will bring for the Q&A session.

 

FMI:
Email Cayla at the Camden Public Library [email protected]
Email Heidi Kaufmann at [email protected] or call her at 207 326 9386.

6th Annual Wellfleet Rowing Rendezvous

The purpose of this free event is to promote rowing, and to be able to try and compare different boats. We will have boats to row, and you are invited to bring your boat for others to row. Last year we had 15 different boats. Boats can be launched for free from trailers at the boat ramp at the Wellfleet Marina, next to the beach, or hand launched at the Town landing right next to the commercial pier. More details will be available as we get closer to the event.

OkoumeFest 2018

Chesapeake Light Craft will present its 20th annual small boat rendezvous, OkoumeFest, on Friday and Saturday, May 18-19, 2018.

“Okoume” is the plantation-grown African hardwood used in tens of thousands of CLC’s build-your-own-boat kits. OkoumeFest features an open house with technical seminars on Friday at the CLC plant in Annapolis, and on Saturday an on-the-water rendezvous at Matapeake State Park on Kent Island. This event is RAIN OR SHINE. Please note that if thunderstorms are detected nearby we’ll bring the boats off the water.

The Friday seminars are informative and fun, but the highlight of OkoumeFest always comes on Saturday, when we bring virtually everything in our shop over to the beach at Matapeake for our friends to paddle, row, sail, and generally put through their paces. We also encourage fellow boatbuilders to bring their homebuilt watercraft to show and compete for best-in-show honors and various awards.

OkoumeFest is also a special chance to try some of the boats, such as PocketShip, that they can’t usually take on the road with them. You’ll also be able to try out new designs, such as the Jimmy Skiff II, Tenderly XP, and the Waterlust Sailing Canoe. Attendance is free on both days this year, but please RSVP so that CLC can plan for the hordes.

Friday [schedule] features an open house at the CLC factory with shop tours, boatbuilding seminars with experts, and a cookout. Everything in the CLC store will be discounted, including boat kits.

On Saturday [schedule] the event moves to Matapeake State Park on Kent Island, where nearly 60 CLC boats will line the beach. They welcome you to try out boats all day long, or bring your own to show off.

Drake Raceboat Plans and Kits Are Now Available

Christopher Cunningham takes the Drake Raceboat for a spin.

When we reviewed the Drake Raceboat in our September 2017 issue, designer Clint Chase was studying the prototype, putting the finishing touches on the plans, and preparing to produce kits. The boat is now available both as plans or as a kit.

Those of you who enjoy rowing a go-fast boat might enjoy the Drake Raceboat. Our review pointed out: “The boat is quite easy to accelerate; a half dozen strokes and it was off and running. I did some speed trials in a marina where there was neither current nor wind. With a lazy, relaxed effort I easily maintained 3-3/4 knots; a sustainable exercise pace brought the speed up to 5 knots. Fluctuations in GPS speed readings… in the lightweight Raceboat spanned at least 1-1/2 knots—I’d estimate that the boat’s sprint speed averages out around 6 knots. It’s a fast pulling boat. While the Drake Raceboat is designed ‘for the greater speeds in race conditions,’ you don’t have to compete to appreciate the boat. It will give you an exhilarating workout and reward improvements in your stamina and technique, but it’s not so high strung that you can’t take it out for a relaxing outing.

With winter coming on, it’s a good time to retreat to the shop for a boatbuilding project. By spring you could have a Drake Raceboat ready to row. You can now order plans or kits from Chase Small Craft.

The Drake Raceboat’s sprint speed averages out around 6 knots. “It’s a fast pulling boat.”

From the review: “The Drake Raceboat kit includes all of the computer-cut plywood parts for the boat as well as engineered wood panel pieces for the building forms.”

2017 Small Reach Regatta a Success

What a turnout and what a variety of boats this year at the Traditional Small Craft Association‘s Small Reach Regatta, held in Brooklin, Maine. The gathering is a labor of love for WoodenBoat Senior Editor Tom Jackson, who returned from a small boat raid in Sweden wanting to have a similar event here in Maine. They’ve been at it for 11 years now.

Here’s a look at the end of their lunch stop on Babson Island as the boats got underway:

The Downeast TSCA’s website explains, “The idea of the SRR is to gather together small sail-and-oars boats for sailing, with the same kind of camaraderie and appreciation that the ERR has established. The boats typically sail courses of 5 to 15 nautical miles on three successive days (Thursday through Saturday) starting from the waterfront anchorage each morning and returning each afternoon. There is no racing, but participants always show keen interest in how their boats perform against others. Many of the boats were built of wood by their owners themselves, and last year seven of them were even designed by their builders.”

Rocking the Boat, Rocking Manhattan

Registration is open for rowing teams to support Rocking the Boat at their Rocking Manhattan event. The 30-mile circumnavigation, planned for Saturday, September 23, is a fundraiser, and their goal is to ultimately raise $300,000 for their programs.

Rocking the Boat says they, “Empower young people from the South Bronx to develop the self-confidence to set ambitious goals and gain the skills necessary to achieve them. Students work together to build wooden boats, learn to row and sail, and restore local urban waterways, revitalizing their community while creating better lives for themselves. Kids don’t just build boats, boats build kids.” They’ve amassed a fleet of more than 50 student-built boats. Below is one of their latest, the recently launched Whitehall they named KALEIDOSCOPE.

20170603-DSC_0842.jpg