We arrived to meet Mike shortly before 2pm, got settled and then sat down for a chat. Everyone was asked to introduce themselves and give a quick explanation of why they wanted to do this. Each reason was different but the running theme was that everyone wanted to push themselves and was up for a challenge.
Mike explained about the boat, it's set up slightly differently from a normal Cornish Gig and they've learnt and adapted them over the years as they've done more crossings. There have been some mishaps in the past, including one boat being flooded/sinking and the crossing abandoned. The boat and all its gear was saved and in all of the crossings no one has ever been injured.
The biggest point Mike made was that the most important thing about the crossing is how the crew work together. Timing, technique and coordination are paramount to a successful journey, otherwise we'll be working against each other.
We then went for our first outing.
We had 6 people rowing at any one time, one person as Cox and one person sat in the bow waiting to take a turn. This is how it will be for the crossing, with the exception that Mike won't be stood behind the Cox.
Mike kept things simple to start with, asking for single strokes, then 2, then 3 and so on. The thing that struck me was how easy it was to get simple things wrong and how these quickly messed up your technique and timing with the rest of the crew. Some of the oars are different lengths, some of the seating positions felt different, sitting slightly further out towards the side of the boat makes a difference, trying out alternate feet positions changes things, and so on...
Having the oar too deep makes stroking difficult as it comes up too high, having it too shallow delivers little power and the blade skims the water. Not having the blade square in the water means you lose power and can give a 'kick' to the stroke. Once moving the power of the sea, boat and oars combined can have a dramatic effect on your technique and timing. The worst case scenario is that you get carried by the oar and get flung off the back of the seat down the boat.
So, all in all a lot to learn and that's not including the job of the Cox which we all have to learn as well. We all periodically rotated within the boat so everyone tried out every position including being the Cox. When the boat is stationary we can't steer it and it naturally lines up with the waves, so will become very rocky. For this reason we'll be split into 2 groups within the boat and we'll have to change seating positions as other members of the crew continue to row so that at no time we'll be stationary.
We took a quick break and then set out for a 2nd practise row. This trip out was definitely better but it was obvious that we still have a lot to learn but we all improved significantly in the 2 sessions we did that lasted about an hour or so each.
We wrapped up the session with a nice cuppa and Mike giving us some more details on what to expect, how best to train for this and what we should be thinking about with regards to nutrition and rehydrating.
These sessions were all about technique, it wasn't meant to be a physically challenging session. That will come in a few weeks time for our 2nd trip down to Hayling Island where we'll be doing a 3hr endurance row, oh good!
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