Benedict Kelly

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The harbor entrance is near, and there is a passage back of the dunes to another bay. The land wind is now very faint. Someone suggests an outside passage from one inlet to the other, as conditions are ideal for it. There is some discussion about when the sea breeze will set in; the consensus is that it will not appear for awhile, so offshore around it is. This is taking no chance at all, as the area seldom gets a real sea swell. The big risk is from the fast motor craft now starting to pour out of the inlets for whatever their business is offshore. Almost without exception, these craft make no attempt to slow down. The passage is narrow here, and, though we keep out of the way, we do run the risk of being thrown on the jetty, or being swamped by the man-made backwash from it. The operators of these craft stare down at us from high flying bridges in a be-fogged sort of way. It’s always a great point of discussion – once we get clear of this sort of “civilization” – as to whether the people who man these motor craft are boorish, stupid, or ignorant. The more tolerant among our fleet think these operators suffer from ignorance; the fellow who just got a lap full of water thinks otherwise. Being irascible myself, I lump them all under the label of idiot. Seriously, it’s a real problem that has to be dealt with; further boating education and the encouragement of more courtesy, both ashore and afloat, seem to be the only answers, and both will bring very slow results.

This “outside” passage is most pleasant, and the boats settle to an even pace. This is fine, because those pulling double for the first time tend to set a pace that is too fast. The stroke oar should set the pace, which should be on the moderate side, and the other oar should follow it. By using boats the size we consider here, in light to calm weather, I doubt that rowing double is all that more efficient – fun, yes, but unless the boat is heavily loaded, or it’s blowing hard, and the oarsmen are practiced at doubles, I think you will do just as well or better by spelling each other at singles. I also think that, for best results, a coxswain is needed to steer pulling doubles, Sometimes, in one of my own boats with three in her, which makes her well laden, we pull two oars – one oar to a man, plus a coxswain, spelling each other all around. Not a bad way to go on some days in some boats.

This is a most interesting aspect of rowing, so allow me to digress further for a bit. I think pulling with more than one pair of oars becomes more practical the bigger the boat. Boats should be from 16 feet on up. I can see the possibility of using boats up to 22 to 28 feet, and perhaps even 30 feet long, for crew rowing, if, and this is a big if, such craft are owned by a club. At one time, there were many rowing clubs; some are still around, though they are more or less dormant. In England at the present time there is a revival of interest in the old pilot gigs, many of which have been restored and put to use by rowing clubs for regattas and races. Even a new gig or two has been constructed. I think this is a fine way to go, and hope the present revival in rowing will encourage the formation of clubs to use larger boats. These big, fast craft are quite capable of coasting passages and hopping islands with little or no risk. That this sort of rowing was once common, there is no doubt. At present, some expeditions are being undertaken by schools that specialize in seamanship and outdoor living. The Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Outward Bound, the Mystic Seaport whaleboat crew, some Sea Scout groups, and a number of individuals I know or have heard about are doing some extended rowing, with more planned. I think this is great and urge such activities to continue, realizing we older fellows should stay in the sheltered cricks ourselves. But, back to our cruise.