Seat racing completed, the fours are back on the rack, and we went out today for an easy row in the eight working run on the slide and ensuring good send every time. It's a game of inches; if we get an extra inch on every stroke, with 240 strokes in a race, it adds up to around twenty feet at the end. This oversimplifies things but gets the concept across well; rowing is a sport where small details can make a dramatic difference.
Made some nice gains on the row and were on our way back in when one of the hundreds of fishermen on the river made a direct beeline from the Willamette Park boat ramp straight towards our two boats at around 50 mph. Waving of arms and yelling on the megaphone got him to stop with about twenty feet to spare. He looked completely clueless as to the danger he was putting us in as he idled by. We're fortunate to have the option of training behind Ross Island in the back channel this time of year; otherwise the river is incredibly hazardous with the number of seemingly careless boat drivers in massively overpowered and over-sized fishing boats.
How many horsepower does it take to catch a salmon? The median answer around here seems to be 250 or so. I'm a big fan of the guy in the small boat with a 5-horse electric motor who seem to catch the same fish.
End of Rant.
Made some nice gains on the row and were on our way back in when one of the hundreds of fishermen on the river made a direct beeline from the Willamette Park boat ramp straight towards our two boats at around 50 mph. Waving of arms and yelling on the megaphone got him to stop with about twenty feet to spare. He looked completely clueless as to the danger he was putting us in as he idled by. We're fortunate to have the option of training behind Ross Island in the back channel this time of year; otherwise the river is incredibly hazardous with the number of seemingly careless boat drivers in massively overpowered and over-sized fishing boats.
How many horsepower does it take to catch a salmon? The median answer around here seems to be 250 or so. I'm a big fan of the guy in the small boat with a 5-horse electric motor who seem to catch the same fish.
End of Rant.
