16th July 2011... better late than never

Over the last few weeks, I have seriously neglected my blog. Blog, I am so sorry. Really I am. I’m not just saying it. I mean it. I have told you nothing. However, little bloggy, that is about to change. Better late than never.

Well? What have I been doing?

Saturday 16^th July 2011

Well, on the 16^th of July my wife, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and I went to Blackness Boat Club Open Day. This is a chance for the public to get an insight into sailing, rowing and the joys of the sea. To be honest it was not heavily attended, but those of us who did attend had a really good time.

There were many stalls set out, some selling sailing and boating merchandise and some informing you of the wonderful work that the United Kingdom Coastguard and The Royal National Lifeboat Institute carry out.

There was a demonstration on what to take if you go sailing, and how to check your life jacket if you decide to go bobbing along on the beautiful shiny sea. This was particularly useful, as I knew I would be heading out onto the water at some stage.

So after resolutely fortifying myself with a burger or two and a cup of tea (just for the energy you understand), I tagged onto the Queensferry Boat Club and managed to get myself onto their 4 man rowing ‘skiff’ (forgive the technical jargon) ‘The Ferry Lass’.

I have been out in the water before. On a decent sized boat out into the River Forth, on a reasonably sized boat on a loch in Scotland and the most memorable occasion on a small fishing boat off the coast of Cornwall on a bit of a rough day. That one didn’t not end well, in fact I should I say I ended up very un-well.

But I knew it wouldn’t be like that today. On my first trip out that day, I sat in the third slot and listen attentively to the coxswain barking out orders to the really tall guy in the No. 1 seat, the short woman in the No. 2 seat and the medium sized girl behind me in the No. 4 slot.

What we should have done was compare heights. When you have 4 people, all of differing heights, all trying to row in unison, it doesn’t always work. It almost did, but not quite. In addition, the short woman in front of me didn’t always get the oar (never, ever call it a ‘paddle’) out of the water in time. When this happens, it is referred to as ‘catching a crab’ and results in the rower being smacked in the chest by the handle of the oar because the sea forces the oar back the way at high speed. When you ‘catch a crab’ a couple of times, you try to make damn sure it never happens again.

We did quite well though and Mark and the guys were happy enough with the performance. We rowed for a good bit, managed to miss all the other small craft tied up or anchored at the pier or in the small harbour and made it back with no casualties.

Mark asked if I wanted to stay on, but I thought I better give someone else a chance to have some fun. So, after another cup of tea, a sit down on a slightly drier surface than ‘The Ferry Lass’, I headed back down to the slip-way, got my lifejacket back on and took up the No. 3 slot again.

This trip out was much better due to the fact we were all the same size. We rowed like a team. We pushed our way out towards the middle of the water, concentrating on ever stroke of the oar and every word from the coxswain. After 10 minutes, we stopped and surveyed the distant shore and the dark water all around us. When we were ready, we began again to make our way back to the slipway of the boat club.

I’m sorry to say that I didn’t get a chance to help take the ‘ Ferry Lass’ back to Queensferry, but if the opportunity arises I will be there.

As the day drew to a close and the dull white clouds turned to grey, we gathered our belongings, loaded the car back up with our thermos flasks of tea and bottles of water and drove home.

A fine day and an enjoyable day was had by all.