(May 3) Outing #2

After sleeping in like normal, and coffee ingestion has produced desired effect, we start out again. This time we shift the dolly back a bit so that I can stand straighter and the other end doesn't come so close to scraping the ground. It's a bit heavier to lift but actually more comfortable. On the uphill, Kathleen grabs onto a rigger and pulls too. Well, first time she pushed - which includes a downward component to the force vector. She changes her position after my outcry.

We get to the access ramp. This time, being wiser, we point the bow of the point towards the lake (!) not the cove. We get the oars into the oarlocks properly this time - oarlocks pointing to the rower's feet. And, most importantly for me, my hunch about the previously incorrect orientation of the sliding seat contraption is spot on. Now, my calves don't hang up on the durn thing when my legs are fully extended.

We're a little shaky getting started but we are soon going out into more open water on the very first attempt. Water is calmer. We talk through which two points, near our cove, that we want to go back and forth between and we starting working on our turning technique. We're improved enough to give us confidence. We head out with our "my turn, your turn" strategy for getting the hang of it. Kathleen does good. I'm doing better than before. My left hand is still does whatever it wants. We go back and forth a bunch of times and are actually enjoying ourselves.

It's quite fun to be so close to the water. Temperatures are pleasant and the clouds keep heat and glare down. We go beyond one of our endpoints on some of our passes; uneventfully, until the wind picks up suddenly. Now, we're back to struggling to go forward. We can't manage to turn around properly and keep getting pushed towards the shore. Our attempts to turn here don't get us far. Finally, we're almost on small rocks that line a transition boundary between neighborhoods. We're "discussing" whether to go for a dock and grab on. When Kathleen's end starts bouncing on the rocks, that settles it. I get out. (N.B. Kathleen's end is the front of the boat. So, we weren't having much luck pointing ourselves in the right direction.) I re-orient us to point outwards and get us away from the rocks. We take our time to settle down and get re-focused. I get back in the boat and we power ourselves straight out into the lake in no time. We go straight into the wind and don't try to turn until we're way out and have plenty of room to have the wind help blow us back towards our cove.

Back in the saddle, we go back and forth several more times before deciding to turn in. We head back to the access ramp. We try to go in forward but drift into the dock and Kathleen's oars start getting hung up. I "push" us in reverse out. We decide to go in backwards. We turn and reverse to get back in. I imagine Carl laughing his head off if he saw us. Kathleen checks her watch. We've been on the water for over two hours.

Much happier, we arrive home, get the shell upside down onto the saw horses, and discover small cracks on the bottom near the front. Bah-buh-bump-bump!