|
There we were, thought they were going to die... Imagine 25 people climbing into a "boat" with a beam of
about three feet and about three inches of freeboard, and close to 100 feet long! I loosely call it a "boat"
because it is an inanimate object that floats (if there are no ripples on the water!). Actually, a "scull" is
defined as, "a light, narrow racing boat for one, two, or sometimes four rowers, each equipped with a pair of oars".
The big one they had on Saturday had 24 rowers and a coxswain (a guy who yells at the crew,
not unlike our own Coxswains). The normal sized sculls were impressively fast! It was truly amazing
to see how quickly they flashed down the race course.
The CG Auxiliary was requested to do a perimeter patrol. Since they only have a few inches of freeboard, the sculls needed the quiet waters of early morning, with no power boats throwing up wakes around them. To accomplish the early morning part, we launched at about o’dark thirty. We had one patrol vessel with Coxswain Danny Collins and Jim D’Errico as Crew (both 9-11), and a jet ski (who had to wait for first light, of course) by Janet Houston (9-12). Jim Frei (9-11) provided his patrol vessel from Crosswinds Marina with Linda Oltz (9-12) as Crew. Mike Levandoski (9-8) was in Jordan Lake Radio at New Hope Overlook. Baskin Cooper (9-8) was at the Marina for the launch of the sculls. (I hope I didn’t miss anyone?) It was truly Division event! There was a sculling team from Raleigh, made up of students from all different high schools (orange and black). There was another team from Carolina (guess what color? Carolina Blue), and a "local" team, that might have been understood to mean, from Crosswinds (no matching colors yet, anyone want to sponsor a team?). Don’t ask who won. I don’t think anyone knew. It was a practice race. But certainly, a fun time was had by all! Pictures by Sankey Blanton and Jim D’Errico. |