Back in the Saddle (errr, Seat), Waves, and Repairs

Alarm went off at 7am this morning. While we're getting into summertime highs, the humidity hasn't quite locked in yet to make the overnight lows in the upper 70's (or worse). This morning started at 65 and continued with high clouds the whole time we were out. We were on the water by 9:15am.

The conditions were wonderful: air temp and clouds already described ... even better, no wind, glass calm water, and only a few fisherman out. We went back to the cove by Kathleen's parents but by a more roundabout way through more open water. Rowing on this kind of calm water is amazingly easier than on chop. We were cruisin'. We even did most of it without our version of a count. (silence, silence, "3", "4", "5", "catch") Kathleen just tried to match my rhythm. Not having rowed in almost 3 weeks, we took it easy.

Not counting worked pretty well. We did find ourselves out of synch a bit more often. Kathleen's stroke is shorter than mine. I don't notice anything if I start driving earlier than she does - but I bet she does. If she catches early, I'm still recovering (sliding forward with my seat) and her early catch drives me "forward" faster. (It actually sends me towards the stern faster.) After we talked about it, she adjusted and we were back to it. We need to figure out how to give her more angle at her catch - it seems to shallow to me. We'll work on the foot rest adjustments tomorrow.

One really nifty result of the incredibly calm water: we were frequently surprised by waves when no boats were passing us. I can only figure that whatever wakes were created were traveling far and reflecting off the shores. Their wavelengths seemed to be longer. I'll have to check around.

One bummer thing happened on our return leg. I noticed that my left heel kept moving. The foot pads on this recreational boat are nothing to write home about. I'm hoping we can replace them with tie-in's before long. It may be sooner rather than later. Each foot pad has a bolt at the heel and at the ball of the foot which goes through the pad and the tube that then bolts into runners on the shell. The lower bolt had sheared off. After disassembly, it's just an 8-32 flat head 2" machine screw. Lowe's longest stainless steel screws in this thread were 1.5" so I've got a cheapo zinc screw in place now. I hope it holds. I'll have to keep an eye out for rusting.