My first solo row on the Ace

After all the rain during the earlier part of the week I could not stay off the water any longer and decided to row yesterday morning. I would have rowed in almost any condition just to be back on the water. Yet, I got lucky. At 8:30am the weather looked beautiful with light and variable winds (ENE 2 to 2 knots) with smooth seas and small long period swells (ESE 3 feet at 11 sec).

Since the water appeared friendly and inviting, I felt encouraged and anxious to row the yellow Ace I had picked up at Echo Rowing in Maine on Wednesday (Thank you Lorna, Doug and Ted). The Ace is built by Echo Rowing and designed by Doug Martin. Based on its revolutionary design, I have been fascinated by the Ace for a while, and during our Learn to Row day a few weeks ago I definitely got interested in testing it.

As I was leaving Little Harbor, I met Maryellen, who continued towards Marblehead Neck and Swampscott for a long training row (which I later found out, was a bit choppy but excellent). The rough water beyond the Neck still intimidated me so that I opted towards Salem Harbor for my first "test-row".

During my first stretch towards Salem Harbor the boat felt smooth and effortless. But instead of powering up and getting a good training row, I focused on getting to know the boat and maintaining a clean stroke to keep it stable. I continued towards Beverly Lighthouse, Red Nun, along the Beverly coast line and crossed over to Misery Island before taking a quick break to enjoy the sun fighting its way through the haze. As soon as I headed back home, the swells and wind changed, and forced me even more to focus on keeping the Ace stable. Throughout most of the row I was able to maintain my balance and a clean and smooth row. Once in a while, I caught myself almost crabbing, which quickly released an extra dose of adrenalin into my blood stream. I am not sure yet if this happened due to the changing seas and winds or getting lazy with my stroke. It's too early to tell.

In the end, I had a wonderful first solo row on the Ace, logged 9.23 miles in 90 minutes, got a glimpse of the sun after days of darkness, and am ready to get out again.