Don't leave home without it.

When I started at the clubhouse this morning at 8:30am, I was ready to get a 15 mile row in. My plan was to row to Nahant around Egg Rock and back home. Everything looked perfect at the beginning. The weather and water offered clear skies and some 3' swells rolling over approx. 5-8 seconds.

My Echo moved well and I got into a nice rhythm (Jon, you could call it probably the "Zone"), passed Marblehead Rock, Tinkers Island, Rams Islet and maintained a steady pace at approx. 6 miles per hour enjoying the ocean on the right and the Marblehead - Swampscott coast on the left. I saw Egg Rock in the distance and set my course on 210/230.

When I passed Dread Lock and saw Swampscott and Lynn in the distance to my left, I also noticed that the wind picked up speed and got stronger. Looking to my right I noticed some haze in the distance. Yet, nothing that would make me worry about. It took me less than 10 minutes to reach Egg Rock, when all of a sudden I got completely wrapped in fog in less than 2-3 minutes. Initially, I considered briefly reversing my course and trying to head back to Marblehead via compass, but decided against it. I knew that the three Nahant, Lynn and Swampscott beaches were west of Egg Rock. Somewhat scared by the fact that I had less than 100 feet visibility, I turned approx. 90 degree and kept my compass within the 0 and 330 degree, and figured, if I just rowed long enough I must end up an a beach.

At times, my pulse reached 170 beats per minute even though I neither increased power, nor speed. It must have been the simple effect of adrenalin being pumped into my system. My sense of space and direction made me row the next 25 minutes towards what I believed to be the beaches. Yet, not seeing or hearing anything around me did not make very confident.

After 25 minutes of rowing without seeing anything, the surf got bigger quickly and I all of a sudden I got pushed parallel to the waves and almost rolled over. At the same time I noticed that the water has become very shallow and was filled with algies. It was then that I realized I had landed on Nahant Beach.

In the end, it was an exciting (and scary) row. I learned that weather conditions can change quickly on the water and catch you by surprise. I also learned that I need to apply my yoga breathing skills when a situation get's scary to bring down my heart rate, and most of all to bring a communication device, additional navigation equipment such as GPS, and to never row without a compass. I was more than happy having rowed the Echo equipped with one.