Well I’ve just about warmed up and dried out from this mornings row. Windy, wavy and wet could be 3 words to describe it. Daring, exciting and crazy could also be used – and that’s just for getting the boat in and out of the water!  I’m hoping that John or Louise will pop up with photos later as I was mostly too busy hanging on to my oar to take photos! (I do have one photo – but it’s when we were taking a rest in a sheltered corner of the harbour and doesn’t really reflect the exciting nature of the sea today!  ) Don’t let it be said that we only row in good weather and calm seas,  as today was neither! Bloody good fun though!  (Chris and I were wearing hats – but the wind blew them off – Says it all really! )

20th June 2015 saw the second ever Forth Midsummer Challenge regatta, co hosted by Newhaven Coastal Rowing and Corrinthians Yacht club – incorporating a relay race with 9 skiffs, 9 yachts and 9 enthusiastic runners. We even managed to get some decent sunshine. For the full race report and some amazing pictures of the day – head over here. Keep an eye out for plans for next year – its promising to be bigger and better (and hopefully sunnier!)

So things have been a little quiet on our blog over the past few years. There has still been much rowing happening – but in all the excitement of rowing,  both socially and competitively, keeping up with the blog seemed, well, not as quite exciting as splashing about on the water!

But we have all been busy and Newhaven Coastal Rowing Club is as active as ever.

We do have a new and shiny Facebook group so please pop over and join our group for current goings on and photos.

So, watch this space – photos, stories, news. ..it’s all coming soon!

A huge depression hanging over the Atlantic was going to cause more rain in a weekend than in the past 3 months. So not a good day to go to South Queensferry to take part in their Regatta. Sunday morning the drizzle was relentless and damp. The Regatta formed part of the RNLI open day and as such the racing was going to be interrupted by helicopter displays and big smelly dogs going for a swim and rescuing their owners. Each to their own!

First race was Men’s Open and after the skiffs turning under the bridge it was difficult to see who was in what position. The drizzle mist was dense and only silhouettes were visible. A skiff with shining gunnel was in third place on the home straight, surely not The Wee Michael! Even using binoculars it was difficult to tell until the skiffs raced over the finish line. Yes, at last a Victory for Newhaven- a bronze! What an achievement after 2 years of racing, especially considering the club is still growing.

In the Ladies 45+ we came a respectable 5th position, even after dropping an oar metres from the line and the stroke taking a flyer backwards. S. Queensferry was close on our tail and with metres to spare we pipped them on line by just staying ahead.

The Mixed 45+ we came in 4th position, we were literally behind the second and third skiff. A photo finish decided the result.

Newhaven was now celebrating their achievements, stuffing faces with chocolate cake, delicious home baking courtesy of SQ ladies, thank you.

On rolled the Mens 45+ A jostle on the start line then off. Cox shouting her head off and egging us on. We were battling with Portobello who were on our outside. The turn to the first bouy came up and we held our course, Porty had to give way and we slipped around the bouy in first place. Full power around the bridge and on the home straight. Porty chasing us and gaining. The dogleg bouy came and we headed for the red lighthouse. Porty took a turn and decided that straight down the river would be a faster route. Gaining all the time Porty was catching up. With a boat length to spare we crossed the line in first position. Goodness me, not the result we expected!

Well done to the full team that turned up to make this our best Regatta yet.

Roll on Portobello Regatta on the 28\29th July.

 

After a busy day at Ocean Terminal manning the stand on the top floor and the skiff at the entrance to Ocean Terminal,  we were informed that we were one of the winners of the £eith Decides competition. It looks like we are in the top third on the leaderboard and successful in our bid to secure £1000 worth of grant funding.

Skiff outside Ocean Terminal

Thank you all for voting for us, it was great to chat to so many people that came to our stand (gave donations, expressed interest in having a go) and of course gave us the 5 points that has made this such a great success.

Special thanks go to the team manning the stands and the children who patiently hung around for 3 hours helping out where they could.

The grant funding will go towards purchasing a wee’er skiff kit so that children can have as much fun as the adults are having.

After a year of rowing “The Wee Michael” was well in need of a wash and, courtesy of Forthside Autovalets, she got a good scrub and hot water hose down. Special thanks go to Archie (age 6) for helping so well and getting stuck in.  Best fun he has ever had! 

The cleaning of the skiff now shows up the dents and scratches very well, but these will be fixed very soon when the skiff goes in for it’s annual service and MOT.

But before that, “The Wee Michael” was spruced up as it is going to be on display at £eith Decides, a competition to be held at Ocean Terminal on the Saturday 25th February 2012 1-3pm.  The public will vote which Leith community groups deserve grant funding to take their project forward.

What is our project?  We intend to build an “Even Wee’er Michael” so that children can enjoy a row in a more suitable skiff and have as much fun as we adults are having.

Please come and vote for us.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

£eith Decides – Local Money for Local Projects by Local People.

Come and Vote for Newhaven Coastal Rowers:

date: 25th February

time: 1pm to 3pm

place : top floor – Ocean Terminal

Newhaven Coastal Rowing Club is fundraising for an exciting new project to build a smaller rowing skiff, “The Even Wee-er Michael”, to give children and young people a chance to take part in the coastal rowing project.

The project has been short-listed to receive a grant and Club members will be at the Leith Decides Decision Making Event on 25th February  from 1pm till 3pm to explain our project and drum up support. The event will be on the top floor of Ocean Terminal where we will have a display and a stand. We also plan to show off “The Wee Michael” outside the shopping centre. Please come and talk to us – and vote for us!

Please circulate our Vote for Us pdf to your family and friends to encourage them to attend the £eith Decides event and vote for the Newhaven Coastal Rowers: Newhaven Rowers – Vote for us

 

Sunday 20 November for Newhaven Coastal Rowers witnessed some lovely autumn sunshine and 9 new recruits who arrived bright and early for their first row in Granton Harbour.  We are pleased to report that all the new recruits survived and we look forward to seeing them again both at Wednesday evening fitness training (6.30pm every Wednesday by the statue in Victoria Park) and future Sunday rows.  Having enjoyed letting some new people man the oars the Wee Michael then let some ‘old hands’ on board for a leisurely trip to Cramond.  The outgoing crew enjoyed beautifully calm conditions which made swapping positions in the boat easier meaning almost everybody go to to have a go at coxing and the stroke position which sets the pace.  It should be noted that ‘stroke’ is really hard work and serves as a reminder of why we need to do Wednesday night training to get fit for the 2012 Regatta Season.  
 
Not wanting to be too late for the next crew an attempt was made to beat the tide and nip through the gap in the causweway rather than rowing round the whole of Cramond island – this strategy was not entirely succesful and the Wee Michael did get a bit stuck for a few seconds.  An attempt was then made for the beach rather than the pier but some rogue sandbars meant that the crew had to disembark into the chilly November water and walk the Wee Michael in to swap crews.  Legend has it that the last crew had to wade for about half an hour to get enough water under the keel for the journey back to Granton but eye witness reports are conflicting on this issue.  Wading aside I am sure all the teams agree that messing about on the water in the autumn sunshine is a great way to spend your Sunday afternoon and that we look forward to seeing a similarly strong turnout on the next training row. 

There is a social row together with other skiffs up the tweed on Sunday 25th September 2011. Crews for this row have now been selected, but you are welcome to join us for a picnic and day-out and possibly have a row once the skiff arrives at Paxton House.

Launch at Tweedmouth 9:00 – Crews to meet at the RNLI station, Dock Road in Tweedmouth.

Total distance to Paxton is about 5 miles, and although the row up will be with the tide, the flow of the river will in part counteract that particularly as we pass over the shallower sections.

Non-rowers to make their way to paxton house for about 12 midday. Bring own picnic \ refreshments. Paxton House also has a tee shop where lunch can be purchased if so desired.

To get to Paxton house by road, take the B6461 from the Berwick on Tweed bypass (A1), which takes you directly to the gate.
For details on Paxton House click on this link.

Essential Rowing\Parking Permit documents are below:
Tweed Parking Permit

Tweed Briefing Instructions

Inchkeith and Inchcolm have been conquered and the Newhaven Coastal Rowing flag raised. Inchkeith was reached after a rather wild row in a 3-4 North Easterly. Large waves made the row a bit unpleasant with rowers lifted from their seats time and time again. The 5 nautical mile crossing took 2 hours, but only 55 minutes on the return journey.

On a different weekend (Sunday 20th June) Inchcolm was reached at 9pm in the evening in completely different conditions. The weather was fair, sea calm and a slight breeze from the West. This was the second stage of an evening’s row having changed crews at Cramond. Shipping caused a delay in us reaching the island as we had to wait for them to pass before we could cross the shipping lane. Some seals swam very close to the stern of the skiff wondering if we had any fish onboard. No such luck. We returned to Granton at 10:30pm and were very lucky to find some water left in the harbour. The skiff was carried across thick ouzing black mud back up the slipway. The stuff certainly stinks!