What would you rather be doing at midday on New year's day? The chosen few donned extra layers, launched all three skiffs ( very impressed with new combo) and set off in a bit of a swell to warm up before the dookers dooked.

We headed upwind towards the Lamb before surfing back into the bay to lay anchor and await the rebels....mulled wine and mince pies on the out going tide, then with midday fast approaching the count down began. I always find this emotional....takes me back to the chimneys  coming down at Cockenzie. 
 
 
The splashing as the hundreds took to the water with the sun in the background was an amazing sight, and extremely vocal as well...the odd few, well not that odd, made it out to wish us happy new year, with the RNLI casting an eye over the proceedings.
 
 
We were proud to be part of this amazing community and it's very special landscape and people.
 
 

Monday evenings 6:45pm is junior rowing, open to any s3-s6...learn to row, get some exercise, see some wildlife.

If you're interested, or want to know more, drop me an email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or signup here for next outing.

Try 3 sessions for free, then annual subs for juniors are £20, no special equipment needed.

"Row the Tyne", an indoor rowing event to row the length of the River Tyne, well how hard can that be? I'm not even sure it's East Lothian's longest river, starting just South of Haddington. But I was soon disabused of my complancency as apparently there is a longer River Tyne in England near Newcastle, in fact 118KM of it.

The event was for 50 teams of up to 6 people, rowing on a Concept2 machine continuously for 7 hours in a race - brilliant, my idea of heaven :-)

Bizzarely, when I tried to recruit a team there appeared to be a lot of clashes with previous commitments, suffice to say that weekend there were a lot of freshly painted toenails in NB.

But we got a team of 5 entered with Ian Baird, John Irvine, Andrews Dalley and Andrew Hunter.



The event started at 8:30am and, it being Newcastle, by 8:35am the shirts were off and the tats were oot. Most of the teams were Crossfitters. These were serious hard bodied athletes who were absolutely pounding the ergo, the team in front of us were crushing sub 1:30 times. Even Big John was compelled to say that if this was back in '78 (before the laser treatment to remove his Dragon Tattoo) he'd have peeled down his all-in-one to show off his abs and ink.

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We settled into a strategy of 3 mins on, in rotation and managed to maintain a sub 1:50 pace for the whole piece which was bang on our target, finishing in 7hours and 11mins. Of the 49 teams that started, we finished in 17th, but were promoted to 12th on the weight adjustment because we only have 5 members.

David Davidson


After what has at times felt like a lifetime, 1st January saw skiffs on the water. I repeat skiffs on the water.  This is not a drill people!  

10 hardy souls plus one "potential" dooker tried to shake off any excesses of the previous evening by heading for the far side of the Lamb and back via Craigleith. 

With the aid of plenty of healthy banter and Old Mrs Wightman's traditional fruit scones, we made it back in time to watch the annual NB Loony Dook. The aforementioned "potential" dooker then saw sense and decided to watch the mayhem unfold from the relative warmth of the skiffs. 

Viewing the dook from this vantage point was a great experience as we were able to get a sense of the sheer numbers of participants and spectators massed on the West Beach. One hardy dooker even made their way out to the skiffs for a New Year kiss and a mouthful of scone before turning round and swimming back to shore. Extreme Dooking indeed! 

So here's to a great Skiffy 2018 and may all your rows be as fruitful as the scones. 

 

https://flic.kr/s/aHskzPjrfa

 NBRC had great fun at our candlelit quiz night on 24th Nov.

The quiz teams were challenged on their knowledge of musicals and current affairs, and wracked their brains on the colours of international flags, as well as local questions (who knew the number of golf courses in E. Lothian?). Then for crucial extra points the Teams had a speed-eating donut competition. 

Many thank to our Quizmaster Steve for serving questions and keeping everyone in order and congratulations to Craig and his team for extending their winning streak.