The story so far…
July 9 2020 Pesky wind continues…
This week, much like last, gave us a few corker windows of light wind, but was generally a ‘no outing zone’ as wind was too high.
Sessions on Tuesday morning (crackin’ Learn to Row ) and Thursday night’s social (four seasons in one hour) were all very positive and the rest of the week gave more time for admin/ planning and collecting our new ‘team kit’!
Rowing Adventures Ltd Zone 3 Parka Robe…very snuggly
WH Aerial Media finished editing our JLARC session and we love his results. Still relatively new to drone filming, Will is proving to be learning quickly!
This weekend and into next week sees the return of the sunshine and light winds and we are BUSY!!
Saturday kicks off with an Explore; adventure from Lymington with breakfast at Hurst Castle, returning to Lymington on the rising tide. We hope to catch http://www.onshouldersofgiants.net out on the Solent water training too. Keep an eye out for them.
The rest of the day we are very excited to get lots more new learners out on Try Rowing Taster sessions and some continuing on their L2R programmes.
Jane and I are taking Sunday to trial run a new adventure spot, soon to be unleashed…
We’re using these long rows to start our preparation for an event in September called Viking 100 in Denmark. 100 is the clue! More to follow on this over the coming months….
I trialled New Forest Yoga Trapeze today with my 18yr old daughter, was suitably challenged and we both absolutely loved it! I We’re both booked into beginner slow flow sessions with Katrina at the Lawerence Boxing Club as part of our new training plan. Coupled with Pilates and specific rowing training, the sling is going to really help look after my hip flexors, posture/ alignment and general strength. It feels like a mix between TRX training and Yoga/ Pilates. I recommend giving it a try…
Next week, the wind remains low and the sun is back for a bit… and Jane is now available for sessions through the day too. Be sure to check both of our calendars when looking for a slot
…hope to see you out there soon.
July 2 2020 Pesky wind makes it mostly a week of admin.
This week the wind has been 20mph+ so no sessions planned accordingly.
We finalised our logo design and have it ready for Charlotte @ www.RainbowCopy.co.uk who is helping us with our staff clothing and some Rowing Adventures Ltd branded clothing which we will offer on our web shop. We hope you like it- its a simplistic nod to the sunrises and sunset coastal adventures we offer made using Illustrator- every day is a learning day!
On Saturday, Jane and I met Justin, one of the http://www.onshouldersofgiants.net crew that will race in this year’s https://www.taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge.com/ as they are based in Lymington, keeping their boat at the Haven. Justin and the team will come and join us for some adventuring to support their training programmes. It was fab to climb aboard and see just how ‘condensed’ these boats are and to learn about the logistical planning behind a hopeful winning formula. This particular boat competed last year and was the winner- no pressure boys! Look out for Justin, Ruarhi, Mark and Dan and be sure to give them your support and well wishes.
Only Thursday evening saw a break in the gusts, just long enough and perfectly timed for our Junior Lymington Rowing Club session. All 20+ Junior crew rowers stepped up their learning with advanced Omnium skills and the Capsize and Recovery drill.
J16 Boys heading from LARC pontoon up to the lagoon for their session
Lagoon with a view back to the pontoon and the rest of the Lymington River. Perfect conditions for coaching.
J17 Girls standing Omnium Skills: Standing rigger dips 360, rigger turn, touching bow and stern.
The Glide Solo boats are very hard to capsize but they all managed it and then had to heave ho’ to recover the boats whilst having a lot of fun!
AD’s capsize drill
Freestyle fun
Once we’d packed up, Jane and I seized the moment for a last minute moonlit row. The river was deserted, the moon was near to full and the water as calm as I’ve ever seen it. It was magical. No filter required. Perfect end to a special day. What’s not to love?
Moonlit bliss
June 25 2020 Coastal Rowing love is in abundance
This week has been all about Learn to Row courses and Exploring the sunsets and sunrises.
We’ve enjoyed meeting lots of new rowers of varying ages and varying abilities, all with the same aim…to upskill and use this sport as a great way to keep fit and healthy.
The basic movement pattern and manoeuvring skills learned and they’re off…with fine tuning supporting them along the way.
These stable boats have kept everyone dry and smiling, with good progress made. We’ve had quite a lot of interest from ex-University rowers wanting to return to the sport and introduce it to their families. For many, they are trying coastal rowing for the first time.
New to rowing…Cat enjoying her Try Rowing, Taster.
Water rower Ian, enjoying putting his land experience into action…
We’ve had considerable interest in Demo Boat trials with rowers keen to own their own. Our GlideSolo family is blooming.
One of a few boat trials this week. This one was quite magical at sunset…light, to no wind for Fee and Si.
We’ve also had our first session with the Lymington Amateur Rowing Club ‘Newbies’ (Year 8) who are preparing to join the Junior Squad in September. They’ve already attended the LARC Crew Rowing ‘Learn to Row’ Course and are now transferring those skills into single sculls. Without the safety net of the cox in a crew boat, they’ve been learning to steer a good course and refine their technical skills. It’s so great to see the speed of progress with the GlideSolos. Unfortunately no pictures this week as we were very busy challenging them, so had no spare (camera) hands!
We’ve initiated some quotes for Rowing Adventures logo’d items: Navy Hoodies, bright orange T shirts (perfect for optimum visibility on the water) and post session Zone 3 parka robes and are looking to add them to a web shop soon.
We’ve started the design process for brand wrapping our equipment trailer so you will soon ‘really’ see us coming!!
Blank page…design incoming…
Last week, we met two crews preparing to row the Talisker Challengein Rannoch Boats. https://www.taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge.com. One crew start this December, the other crew have delayed (due to COVID) ‘til next December. Rowers (and sometimes non rowers!) who take on these challenges show amazing strength of character and teamwork and through preparation and fundraising, a strong sense of community. (We remember and supported the journey that Lymington’s Greg and Jude- ‘The Ocean Brothers’ experienced https://www.oceanbrothers.co.uk).
One of these crews, (pictured below) are based at Berthon and will be training in and around Lymington, so keep an eye our for them and support their journey.
Talisker Challenge 2020
Jane and I have had huge family support initiating this life style business. Both our families are filled with water sports enthusiasts and so to thank them and give them a taste of what we aim to offer, we invited them to join us for a sunset row. We had optimum conditions to showcase with light wind, glorious sunshine and light traffic (apart from what seems like a thousand Canada Geese returning to land to rest).
Needless to say…the family ‘get it’, loved it and will return again soon.
Jane and I celebrated with a sunrise row just 6 hours later, exploring Pylewell- I think those Geese were still asleep!
Jane ‘multi tool’ Wild, Pylewell 06.30
This weekend, the pesky wind has lifted so we’re using the time to plan the remainder of June and through July. Our challenge is to get as many Learn to Rowers their Passport to Explore, then they can access all the ‘Explore’; Social, RowFit and Adventuring sessions.
Watch this webspace for July 5th- next full ‘BUCK’ moon…for some weather permitting sunrise/sunset options.
June 18 2020 What a fabulous response we’ve had.
Come rowers, come sailors…one and all….
We’ve been busy delivering TASTER Try Rowing and Try Explore sessions and have had our first Omnium Skills session- all successful, great progress made and importantly, a lot of fun.
We have started getting the Lymington Club Crew Rowers back on the water with an amazing sunset Social row for the adults on Tuesday (drone footage due!) and have a full on COVID-considered evening planned tonight with their Junior Squad.
Enquiries and booking are flowing in on line, on the slipway and along the seawall! The brightly coloured boats are causing quite a stir!
We have multiple Boat Demo ‘try before you buy’ sessions scheduled, so keen are some to own their own.
Jane and I are thrilled that the word is out. We LOVE what we do. You will too.
SCH, enjoying an Omnium Skills session. Taking a break from his charity swim (42 miles) for Naomi House and Jacksplace Hospice. Sol is also a volunteer cox and a new member of Lymington Amateur Rowing Club. It’s good to have that smile around…
One happy sailor, MT trying rowing for the first time. Converted? His smile suggests, yes.
June 11 2020 Online booking has been live for a few days and we have been (recovering from website creation and) planning the next phase!
We are pleased to report …
the online scheduling works (phew)
that bookings have begun filling up the calendar
the response has been nothing but positive and so encouraging and we love that you agree with our idea
We have been approached by 3 clubs wanting to offer rowing to their members that are currently unable to access rowing due to COVID crew rowing restrictions. Proposals are in place to assist.
New Forest tourism operators are keen to promote our activity to their visitors, including offering an adaptive rowing programme.
All you ex rowers out there ‘thinking that it’s too much of a commitment to still row’ -it’s good too see you starting to drift back, showing particular interest in EXPLORE Adventure, Social and Rowfit. It’s the perfect fit!
Timetable Routine: We aim to set a regular rhythm to our calendar covering a variety of classes, risk assessed to ensure a safe and optimum experience.
Postponement: Anyone with a booking will be updated closely when the weather looks challenging and we need to reschedule.
Last Minute: We will communicate any last minute openings with our members so do sign up to be kept informed.
You wouldn’t want to miss that last minute glorious sunset row!
Pip H Hurst/Keyhaven, UK
June 7 2020 and 1 day til Launch Day…
Scheduling diaries, final tweaks to the website…and hoping for a bit less screen time soon!
We’ve been reminiscing about our trial days, the sunset and sunrise rows, the adventure days and what we are able to offer you.
Our biggest trial adventure to date was from Lymington to The Needles and onto Keyhaven.
We set off from Lymington’s Bath Rd slip at 05:30; 4 rowers and a safety rib (plus drone). Sun already up and warm, we had a steady paced row out of the Lymington River passing Hurst, Colwell Bay, Totland Bay and onto Alum Bay. The green Warden Channel Marker bell, chiming with the wake of the passing fisherman along the way…
Jane made it to The Needles with a determined push against the turning tide for the last 15 minutes. The rest of us will try again at the next opportunity, knowing a little more of what to expect. A great experience on a spectacular day.
We all enjoyed a swift return with the tide stopping briefly at Hurst Castle and were back in Keyhaven for a well earned breakfast.
08:00 Hurst Castle, Hants UK.
June 6 2020 and 2 days til Launch Day…
A very busy day working on the website today…thank goodness it was too blustery to go outside! Certainly not drone weather!
We were very lucky to meet Jack Coathupe recently, having seen his amazing drone footage of Milford on Sea on Facebook. We approached Jack and he agreed to come and take some aerial footage for us on one of our trial days and the results were epic; capturing the amazing Solent playground from the skies. It was really interesting to see the changing land and seascape with varying tides.
Thank you Jack, for the inspirational content you have created for us and the time spared helping Will upskill as the new RA Ltd drone operator.
Socially distanced near Lymington Town Quay. Photo credit- Jack Coathupe
Will- test driving his drone…
June 5 2020 and 3 days til Launch Day…
Huge THANKS go out to our friends in both the Lymington Rowing and Sailing community who helped us trial our ‘COVID measure’ logistics over the past few weeks.
We were able to dry run the Taster Course with non rowers from Lymington Town Sailing Club and some of the Explore- Adventure routes with our fellow rowers. We lucked out with optimum conditions, each session was a resounding success and we were rewarded with very positive feedback.
We confirmed that the boats are suitable for all ages (ages 8 to 80+), that they suited all abilities from complete novices, to all seasoned rowers (crew rowers new to ‘single sculling’ and also single scullers) wanting to Explore-adventure.
An A1 start and very exciting…
Harry (11 yrs) transfers his Concept 2 rowing skills (learned on the Indoor Rower at Durlston Court Indoor Rowing Club) with ease during his first moments on the water in the safety of the water inside the Dan Bran pontoon. Harry is a confident sailor and coupled with the stability of the Glide Solo his progress was swift. He is so keen for more, he’s bought a boat!
Pete, 86 years young. An avid and daily sailor…and his first time sculling. He started his session with a land demo with a Glide Solo on a bean bag, learning the sculling movement pattern. In the safe water just inside the Dan Bran pontoon he demonstrated good skill moving and manoeuvring the scull. Here you can see how quickly he relaxed and demonstrated good balance and poise after such a short session. Pete was chomping at the bit to get out on the river…
Jo, from a family of very keen water sports enthusiasts, was her College Boat House Captain at Cambridge Uni. This week she enjoyed a return to rowing after 30 years on an Explore- Adventure trial. We rowed out along the sea wall towards Salterns Sailing Club at high water, then looped back home via the Lymington River. Jo handled the N. E. breeze well to steer her course home. She is already organising a Uni Rowing Squad reunion so they can all share in this adventure as soon as is possible.
Current Members of the Lymington Amateur Rowing Club Masters Ladies Squad trialling our the Explore- Adventure. Each with years of experience in crew boats (8’s, 4’s and 2’s), but limited exposure to single sculling, thoroughly enjoyed being back out on the water doing what they love. A very special day, with some very special friends.
June 4 2020 and 4 days til Launch Day…(and knee deep in website creation)
The Glide Solos were discovered, the planning started and after a period of putting the boats through their paces, testing routes ourselves and involving the rowing & sailing community in trial sessions, we are finally ready to bring Rowing Adventures Ltd. to life…opening the slipways, beaches and pontoons to anyone who has an interest in LEARNING, EXPLORING and COMPETING in coastal rowing. Its a sport we believe to be rich in physical and mental health benefits for any age.
The Solent Community…
“A highlight for me during trials was a trip from Lymington Bath Rd slip to Sowley Beach, via Pylewell and Tanners Lane. We passed friends sailing out of the Lymington river, chatted to fisherman about their catch at Pylewell, met and chatted to families paddle boarding, swimming and to kayakers ‘fishing off shore’ at Tanners Lane and had a wonderful rest stop and picnic at Sowley Beach before using the tide to cruise home. ”
— Jane
Tanners Lane ‘Run’ heading East towards Sowley Beach…
Looking to the horizon…
“One of my trial highlights was a trip from Keyhaven slipway heading back to Lymington Town. Our chosen route was via Hawkers Lake, then out in open water and parallel with the sea wall with a safety rib alongside due to COVID safety guidelines.
As it was such a hot day, I took a break and jumped in for a swim to cool off. It was pretty easy to recover back into the Glide Solo and we were back on our way in no time.
It was a fun way to link these two areas with such ease…and previously only done by me by running, walking and biking along the sea wall.
My mind ticked along with the possibility of a coastal tri relay event one day in the future… ”
— Kirsty
Photo credit: Jack Coathupe