Carolyn has been a great help in compiling a list of rowers and when we are available. If you have not given her your times, please drop her a line to add you to the list.

The 2011 RowBOC Handbook is here. All members are required to read it. Please take some time with the protocol section as a refresher. If you see anything there that is confusing or incorrect please let me know, this is a document that we can all contribute to.

“Check it Out Day” is in May from 10-12 pm. Tim will be on hand to talk about the sport to anyone interested in learning more before they commit to a clinic. Invite your friends, they will be able to get in and out and maybe try some strokes.

As I reach the end of 2010, I am pleased to say that I met my goal: I have biked 365 km this year, I have rowed 365 km this year and I have run 365 km this year. Not bad, if you don’t mind me saying, for a 53-year-old guy more comfortable in front of a screen or sitting with a book than hanging out in the locker room.

In the end, a rather non-athletic writer was able to meet his goal by being consistent, but not over-strenuous, and by keeping a careful tally of his ongoing achievement. So why not set a goal for yourself for the 2011 rowing season? All you have to do is take O’Brien’s advice:  “Don’t think about all the reasons why you don’t want to do this. Just get moving.”

Just down the street, UMass was celebrating the holidays by honoring former student-athletes and US National Champions Michelle Whitcomb-Borkhuis and Wendy Wilbur during a boat dedication ceremony in December. A press release from the university explained that “both women were instrumental in providing the building blocks for what makes the Massachusetts Rowing team successful today.”

All members are expected to help pull the docks and close up for the winter on Sunday, November 14, starting at 9 am. Please bring a ke, gloves, shovel, tools, and a friend. RSVP to Anne Latchis if you cannot make it.

The docks out day for Putnet Rowing Club is Sunday, November7.  RowBOC members are encouraged to participate as a show of solidarity.  The docks out event starts at 9 am. RSVP to Patty.

Considering this spotty on-screen record, it was a pleasant surprise to discover that the “The Social Network”  consulted with Dan Boyne, Harvard’s director of recreational sculling when trying to portray Olympians Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Boyne, in turn, provided a rower’s view on the project via a series on row2K.The lengthy articles offer an amusing take on how much effort, planning, and sheer suspension of disbelief is required to create a Hollywood blockbuster. Describing a scene where the Winklevoss twins are supposed to be practicing in a tank room, Boyne writes:

It was the first time I’d been on a real movie set before (the river didn’t really count) and it was indeed like entering a world of illusion. In this case, the illusion was that the BU tanks had been made to look like the Harvard tanks.

Art director Don Burt came straight over to me and explained the problem.

The big debate was about how the idle tank oars should be positioned in the oarlocks – feathered or squared, shipped in or extended. That was it. This is what had created the whole kerfuffle.

I tried to keep a keep a straight face as I examined the oars, shifting them around a bit while I said “hello” to Armie and Josh. They’d been sprayed with glycerin to look like they were really sweating, but of course their hair still looked perfect.

To read the rest of the series, “Rowing and the Art of the Social Network,” click here.

Plenty of members are rowing each day so use phones and email to get together. Dock are coming out in a few weeks (probably the 13th/14th November). Safe Rowing!

Here are a couple of tips for cold water rowing:

• Before you row, check the water and air temperature.
• Store a set of warm, dry clothes at the boat house.
• Always row with a buddy or a lunch
• Take a cell phone or noise maker with you on your row.
• Keep an eye out for debris, it may be an indication of some larger snag.

Anne
Brattleboro Outing Club – Rowing Program Director

It was during just such a day that I met Karen Becker of www.vermont-weddingphotogrphy.com. While I went on a short jaunt in the Curtis, she took pictures of the sunset over the water. After my row, we sat on the dock and talked. The next day Karen sent me these two photographs:

Just goes to show you that, if you spend enough time on the river, you never know who you’ll meet (or what wonderful sights you’ll see).