I KNOW! RIGHT?!?
Buying a single, what the hell am I thinking?!? I don't even know how to scull, I've only done it 3 times and NEVER in a single.... But.... John bought a cabin... :o)
Seriously, John Meehan just happened to bring back 4-5 of his own singles from Buffalo that he was hoping to sell. I figured if I was ever going to get a single, now would be the time. John M would probably give me a good deal, put me in a boat that was good for me and if I had any problems with it, he'd be around for me to go to for help. We talked about it and we had a little money left over from refinancing the house and buying the cabin and my John agreed. So, now I have a single...
Zack has been very good about helping me out, giving me pointers. My first day I went out, he sat on the dock with me and held the stern while I practiced a little bit. He's such a good boy.
After my brief "lessons" trying to build up enough courage to push off from the dock.
Moving very slowly around the cove.
I've been out about 4 times so far. I've made it all the way to Sandy Run and back. Haven't flipped yet. Still trying to decide if I should go ahead and flip on purpose in the cove with John or Zack there or if I should just wait until it happens naturally. When I talk to other people, the opinions are split. For now I'm just waiting on the "natural flip." :o) I wonder how long it's going to take before I feel comfortable enough that I can actually enjoy being out there? Right now, I'm so tense and nervous it's hard to enjoy anything. I can feel myself doing a bunch of things wrong - dragging my blades on the water, pausing at the release to make sure I'm steady - I'm sure it's just because I'm still so new at it. Every day is a little bit better. The challenge has been that I can't, yet, carry it by myself, so I'm dependent on someone, usually Zack, (have I mentioned what a good boy he is) helping me carry it down to the dock and then I text and he helps me carry it back up to the house. I think eventually I'll be able to do it by myself. John and I are looking at getting a cart that will help me, then it will just be a matter of getting it out of the fence myself. It's not that it's too heavy, it's just 31lbs, but it's so long an awkward that it's going to take some work.
Pondering how to "rack my boat"
My brilliant husband spent a whole weekend building me a rack to keep my boat on! It's fabulous and he can keep is kayak underneath it. Win/win! Now I just need to get a cover for it to keep it protected from the elements and animals. For now I'm borrowing oars from Woodbridge, god knows we have enough of them so I'll probably do that until I can't any more. I must admit, it's pretty exciting. I'm already planning a "Summer Camp" outing next summer with my rowing friend Jullie. It's a 4 day, sleep over camp for sculling in singles! So, I'll just stumble along by myself this summer and then get some real guidance and be ready to go!
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