Making headway; maintaining a line; dashing off.

On the water this time the scull reacts more willingly to my direction.  I manage to navigate the four sides of a square around the bottom end of the rowing lake without finding myself drifting into and stuck in the far corner like last week, surrounded and swamped by duck weed.  Likewise I find that I am bumping into the other boats less frequently. Getting out of the boat too is marginally more dignified.  This time I don't have to haul myself out onto the mooring on my knees, staggering like some ungainly colt to my feet.  Instead I situate the blades to balance me, take them in one hand, place my free hand on the rim of the boat behind me and with only a little wobble, stand up and step onto the side. It's one step more towards becoming a proper rower. Back in the boat a little bit later I am told I am ready to row up the lake to the 250 meter mark. There are still moments when the boat pitches sharply and I catch my breath, nervous that the stabilisers won't protect me from a roll, but slowly I am able to knit more and more strokes together that maintain a line and create a sense that I am controlling the boat, rather than it controlling me. I am sorry to have to leave the lesson early to dash over to Loughborough where I am swimming in an inter-counties competition but I look forward to next weeks lesson and the opportunity to row the whole thousand meter length of the rowing lake.     

Lessons learned from rowing lesson 2:

1. The boats might feel like they are magnetic but they are not.  Once you start to get a hand of things all the boats don't end up in a big clump together.

2. Turning 90 degrees to get out of the way of other boats becomes much easier.

3. Keeping your arms straight is key to going in a straight line and getting some speed up.

4. It's possible to get out of the boat without everyone falling about laughing as they watch.

5. It's possible to string a few good strokes together before it all goes to pot again.

6. Becoming more accomplished in the training scull leads to the stabilisers coming off.  Gulp.

7. The stabilisers coming off often runs in parallel with making too close an acquaintance with the surface of the water.  Double gulp.