Sculling

a few observations about my recent experiences with sculling.

These are the recordings of a newbie.
While I had been in, and operated,  skiffs and rowboats previously, some years back, never in a racing boat.
Nor had I ever hung out at a rowing place.
My familiarity on the water has been in runabouts, canoes, kayaks, small sail boats, windsurfers and yachts.

Well, for me the familiar became foreign.
Things are all backwards.
It starts with language and related concepts.
You face the stern, rather than the bow
The  bow points in the direction of travel.
Normally you face the direction of travel. Not with sculling.
It's like a sport that requires you to walk, or worse run, backwards.

Port, normally on your left hand side is now on the right.
It took long enough to learn port from starboard corresponding with left and right.
Now reverse it.

And then there is the mechanics, with levers (oars) and fulcrums (the pivot or pins).
Move your hands toward your body, and the blades go away from your body.
Move your hands up, and the blades go down.
Totally counter intuitive.

Better to teach young'uns this sport, cuz the mature have a lot of long learned leanings which must be overcome.

Then there is the whole balance thing.
These craft are narrow. And tippy.
How narrow and tippy?
Well the closest prior experience was as a kid, playing in the water, with a big ol' log.

Ever try sitting on a log in the water.
In short, it is not easy. Damn near impossible.
A doubles racing scull ain't much different.

Next consider the movement of the two oars handles in the typical stroke.
The idea is that the left and right oars describe a symmetrical pattern.
This creates a mirror image with the axis being the long center line of the boat.
The two oars handles ought to move in a fluid pattern, first away from you, then towards you, preserving the symmetry.
Imagine your hands over a big table. The right hand makes a big imaginary letter 'C' on the table in one smooth away stroke. The left hand does the same only in mirror image. Now do it at the same time with both hands. First a stroke away from your body, then a return stroke towards your body.
But here's the rub.
Or should I say smash.
When the oars are perpendicular to the boat, the symmetry can not be maintained.
That's because the oars are too long to allow then to avoid smacking into each other.
Where the letters come closest together, in fact there is an overlap.
You must either make one higher than the other, asymmetrical, or one in front of the other, asymmetrical.
Or alternatively feel the smash.
Smashed hands (usually the thumbs that cover the end of the oars) are a common place rookie experience.

For all the obstacles though, there must be some net benefits.
Elsewise, why would some folks  persist, and persist they do.
That's cuz when it's going right, it is a thing of beauty.

Beauty, and an awesome sense of the power of muscles moving the craft along the water's surface.
And of course, it is a healthy workout when done right.

For me the learning continues.
I don't expect to see the best of the  benefits for some time.
I shall have to be content with taking comfort merely from the fact that I (my brain and other body parts) am learning.

more later.