In The Same Boat

Rowing harder doesn’t help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction.- Kenichi Ohmae

We get into the boat one at a time: I sit in the first seat in the back of the boat; the “one seat”. One and two seat make up the “bow”. Next are the three, four, five, and six seat. The last two seats, seven and eight, make up the “stern”. In the front sits the coxswain, serving as the navigator and coach. We are in a “sweep” boat where every seat alternates, starting with me paddling on the left side or the “starboard” side. Those paddling on the right are the “port” side.  We push off the dock. Out on the water, we begin rowing in pairs.

The coxswain speaks, “Row in one, two, three ..” I push my seat forward as I lift my paddle on top of the water. My hands are resting on the soft green grip at paddle’s end, wrist flat and knuckles up. My arms are straight, forming a wide “V”. My feet are strapped in. I watch the rower in front of me. I mirror her as she pushes her seat back and buries her paddle in the water, pushing it forward. As her shoulder blades pinch to pull the oar back, so do mine. We repeat the motion several times and soon it becomes mindless.

 The other rowers join in in pairs. All eight oars dip into the water at the same time for “one catch”. The paddles skim flat on the return. It sounds like tiny pebbles skipping across the water . We paddle underneath a bridge where a man looks down at us from above.

“Bow seat drop out in two.. one,  two and ON THIS ONE..” I “feather” the blade by flattening it on the water. I scrunch my body forward until I am holding the oar still between my stomach and knees. I look up towards the front of the boat and watch as the long paddles crash into the water, pull the water forward and then skip flat along the water on the return. The sun is signing brightly and reflects like a million tiny diamonds on the river.

When rowing, I rely on myself to keep up the pace but I also rely on the other paddlers to keep the boat steady. Even if I am rowing with all of my strength, if the boat is not kept steady it will tip. I must trust that the person in front of me is staying in rhythm so I can follow them. I may be able to row faster but I must hold back because the speed comes from the rhythm.

The pairs of paddlers drop out till everyone has their oars flat on top of the water ” One and three paddle, eight and six hold water.” Eight and six put their paddle straight into the water. The boat spins then we paddle gently back to the dock. The starboards exit first then the ports. Ports undo the oars and starboards carry them to the grass.

The team stands next to the boat. We receive our first command from the coxswain, “Hands on”.We reach our left hands across to the other side and hold the other side with our right hands.”Waists high”.  We lift the boat to waist high then flip it overhead. We then alternate, each to a different side of the boat and lower it down onto our shoulders and carry it up the ramp toward the boathouse . When there is enough space to swing the boat the call is given, “Clear, bows to the right. “ The team walks it to the boathouse and to places it gently on the racks. “Watch the riggers!”  The starboards then hang the oars as the ports wipe down the boat.

We left the dock as a team and returned as a team. Each crew member carries their share of the weight, a 250 pound boat to be exact, on their shoulders. Our strength comes from our unity.