Row, Row, Row Your Boat
We had rowing practice this morning at 6:30, and I could tell it was going to be good when Hannah, our captain, went to put one of our lights on the boat, which we have to have when the sun isn’t completely up or we get fined, and the light wouldn’t work and the tape to hold it on wasn’t really sticky. Before this as we were bringing the boat out, they kept going toward my end of the dock and I’m on the very end, so I couldn’t keep in my place and hold onto the bar I’m supposed to grip or else I would fall into the river. So then when we have to flip the boat over I have nothing to grab onto. And I’m told I’m doing it wrong, but I can’t help it. So then I went to get into the boat and I didn’t really realize that no one around me was holding the boat, so when I put my feet in it started to drift away from the dock thing (they call it a raft, but it’s like a floating wooden dock). So to make sure I wouldn’t fall in as the boat tipped more than I expected at my end, I grabbed onto the raft and broke three nails down pretty far, but only one started bleeding. So I ask Hannah if there are any band-aids, and she goes to look and can’t find a first aid kit, which isn’t good she says. Maybe we’ll have one next time. So she’s really squeamish with blood apparently, so I stop showing her that my finger is gushing blood, and the only thing I can do is suck on it, which is gross. And before I broke it, it was numb from the cold but sucking on it warms it up so it starts actually hurting some. So my hands have blood on them and I’m trying to get my feet into the shoes that are in the boat (we don’t wear our own shoes and the ones in my place are huge so I have to wear three pairs of socks to make sure my feet don’t come out of them). Then Ray, our cox (the person who sits looking opposite us since we’re going backward and tells us where to go and who should row), puts the cox box in, which gives him a mic so we can all hear what he’s saying. And the cox box isn’t working because apparently the battery is dead. I could tell it was going to be an awesome outing.
Which actually it wasn’t that bad. We had some trouble with balance and making sure our slide is slower and when we had all eight of us rowing, we didn’t do too well, but when it was just six they said we were all right. Then we go to take the boat out and they’re pushing me toward the end of the raft again and telling me to walk when the only way I can go is into the river. Hopefully next time Ray will tell people to move toward the other end of the dock, so I’m not about to fall off and I can actually get a grip.
So the reason I’m in the position that I’m in is because I’m stroke, which means I’m at the front of the rowers (if you’re thinking of how we’re sitting) or at the back of the boat (if you’re thinking of which way the boat goes). So I lead the strokes and keep the pace. Which is sort of scary, although it apparently means I have good technique and I’m actually a decent rower, though I’m not feeling that way lately. This weekend we’ll have a tank session where we can actually watch ourselves in mirrors and see what we’re doing wrong, so I hope that will help. So rowing is getting more organized and I still really like it, but this morning’s outing was interesting to say the least. And hopefully my finger will heal fast. We have a sort of race thing next weekend, which will be exciting. Ashley’s going to come and take pictures hopefully. But now I have to go to a lecture, so that’s my entry on rowing to bring you up to date on that part of my life.