This Wednesday turned out beautifully for a day on the water. Just a wee bit of wind and a whole lot of sunshine. ?
With five girls, three instructors, and the help of Chrissy McLean we loaded the boat headed out to the open waters. Grace took the helm as our coxswain and Linnea filled the seat of the stroke oar leading the rest of the mighty girl powered crew in the rowing.
With the tide just beginning to ebb we turned right out of the harbor to begin practicing our rowing. After we determined which rowers were on the port and which were on the starboard, we held some water, backwatered, and gave way, causing us to spin the boat in circles. This maneuver comes in handy when docking and during person overboard drills.
After we got the hang of rowing, we went a bit further down the shore and back, managing to get some good speed up. (see video)
Halfway through our afternoon of rowing we took a singing break. Together we sang Fish in the Sea, a fun sea shanty. After rowing a bit more we took nature break. A nature break is where everybody is silent for a minute and takes time to admire and observe the elements around us. The silence is usually broken with the reading of a nautical poem or saying of the sea. Once we made our way back to the harbor and got the boat safely secured at the dock again, we packed up the gear and headed back to the maritime center.
This week turned out great!