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On Saturday 7th May, a team of six North Berwick rowers drove south in anticipation of the first Skiff circumnavigation of Lindisfarne.  The haar was all around us, and the further we travelled, the more unlikely the trip looked.

On arrival across the causeway , we were greeted by the friendly crews from Dunbar, Amble, Alnmouth, and Eskmouth. There was much discussion as to the route, given the poor visibility. Eventually, we all agreed that the most prudent action was to row inland....the Tweed.

Thereafter the journey was much like Tweed expeditions from the last few years. We waited until half tide on the flood, and had a rewarding 4 mile row to the landing near Paxton. The scenery was stunning and we were surrounded by flocks of swans, swifts and herons; amazing!

A relaxed lunch, accompanied by much friendly banter made for a brilliant day in the spirit of Coastal Rowing. 

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As is often the case when rowing side-by-side, no one likes to be beaten, and on the return journey, it became a 4 mile burst to see who could make it first to the pier at Berwick. Not quite what we intended, but satisfying for NB nonetheless! (credit to Finlay, Elisa, Sandy and Sheena for their stamina; also Rachel and Phil for the rousing sea-shanties to keep the spirits up). 

Our thanks go to the Amble Rowing club for organising the event; and we hope that next time we will do Lindisfarne

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Well it certainly looks like summer, and the red tideline on my otherwise blue arms, says we must finally be here. We had mixed and ladies crews training hard for competition, we had social rowing for allcomers (open to anybody on a Sunday afternoon, book your seat for the next Sunday session here) and finally when the boys' hangovers had almost lifted they got out too. 

Cracking day..

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An NBRC crew, coxed by David Davidson, spent a couple of chilly hours of the evening of Wednesday 11 May working with an RNLI crew, led by Simon Cowan, on techniques that could be involved in the rescue of a skiff by a lifeboat. A small but hardy bunch of members braved the biting east wind to watch from the quay wall.  

RNLI exercise
RNLI exercise
RNLI exercise

This is a summary of what we tried.

Long tow (the skiff is pulled by the lifeboat on a long line)

  • The skiff crew shipped oars when the lifeboat came alongside
  • One of the lifeboat crew came aboard the skiff and secured their line through the drainage hole in the rib under the bow seat
  • Once under tow, the skiff cox needed to steer, following the lifeboat

Short tow (the skiff is secured alongside and manoeuvred by the lifeboat)

  • The skiff crew shipped oars when the lifeboat came alongside
  • The lifeboat crew tied to the skiff fore and aft, holding the skiff tight against the lifeboat
  • This enabled the lifeboat to move the skiff forward and turn to port or starboard

Manoeuvring to person overboard (assuming the cox falls overboard and can't be recovered with a few backing strokes)

  • Stroke moves to cox' seat
  • Bow watches and points continually at the person in the water, calling out the approximate distance (most important)
  • New cox uses 2 and 3 to row and turn the skiff
  • Skiff approaches the person overboard upwind, to control the speed

Recovering person from the water

  • Bring person in the water midway along the boat, between stroke and 2 oars, or bow and 3 oars
  • 2 and 3 rowers try to keep their weight central in the boat while reaching to pull the person in the water into the boat
  • All others remaining in the boat move to the opposite side to counterbalance the person coming out of the water
  • If pulling somebody in head first is difficult because of their weight or their legs are wrapping under the boat, try to get them to lie back in the water and put their legs into the boat
  • The effort for two people to pull somebody in is much less because the legs aren't dragging and the body is supported by the water

Letting off a smoke flare

  • For the exercise, the RNLI notified the Coastguard , who then notified the local emergency services that they did not need to respond
  • The bow rower took the flare from the safety bag
  • The flare must be held at the base (the top will be very hot), at full arm's length (away from the face), downwind (so the smoke blows away from the crew) and over the side of the boat (so it can be dropped if it malfunctions and when it expires)
  • The smoke is released by pulling the cap at the top and lasts about one minute
  • The cap came off the flare easily, but the cord inside was awkward to pull

 

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First decent evening of the year, better late than never, there wasn't a woolly hat in sight and we had boats on the water from 6:00pm until dusk...starting with juniors, then a mixture of crews with some training for the forthcoming World Skiff Championships at Strangford Lough and other crews out for a leisurely paddle on a calm evening

May 5th
May 5th

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We started the junior rowing for 2016 last night, the future of NBRC is right here. Some of the youngsters had rowed a little before but most had not been in a rowing boat so, after covering the essentials of safety and a little technique, we took them into the bay to start them off on the basics of rowing...in future weeks we'll be able to get our to Craigleith and see the puffins and seals, and once they get used to rowing we'll be able to get further.

Junior rowing at NBRC is open to all children aged 14 or over, contact <a href="mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">David Davidson</a> if you are interested in joining in.

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