Dreams of Glass (Water)

After a fun filled Spring Break, we got a mother of a reality check by returning to a river that was not quite ready to greet us yet. Yesterday the river crested at over 20 feet and was discharging close to 200,000 cubic feet per second of water. In case you are wondering, 12 feet is considered the highest level to safely row on, with a 60,000 cubic feet per second discharge. Even at that level and discharge, you are lucky to make past the intake in 45 minutes in a four.

Want to track the water for yourself, see the USGS Real-Time Water Data.

Many people have asked me, "Why travel all the way to Tennessee to row?" Simply put, the best part of the trip is the water. It offers miles and miles of rowable water and rarely do you ever find water that has more than a little disturbance. Particularly in the morning, the water looks like glass and is so calm and flat that you can see everything above it reflected on the water.

As a tribute to better water to come, I thought that I would share some photos of "glass" on the Susquehanna and Sarasota, FL (Spring Break 2005).


Above: Men's Varsity Heavyweight 8 (circa fall 2002). Coxswain Jill (Sands) Martin, stroke Chris Meharg, Ben Theriault, Andy DeBrunner, Pat Johnson, Pat Thumm, Kevin Tedesco, Chris Gatti, and Pete Haberkost.


Above: Women's Light 8. Coxswain Kathy Wulderk, stroke Jess Hibbard, Laura (Lindberg) Johnson, Lindsay Weller, Alison Bankus, Karly, Janice Paulson, Kate Jensen, and Katie Meyer.

Flat water on the Intracostal Waterway in Sarasota, Florida in March 2005.
Pictured below: Rachael Gebely (coxing due to being "benched" by my coach because of illness), Alyssa Russo, Ashley McConnaughhay. Not pictured: Jess Hibbard.

The water might have been perfect in Sarasota if not for the hidden sand bars, large yachts of drunken people yelling at us to row (even though their wake might break our boat in two), and the stranded fish at low tide. I didn't even mind wading the boats into the water two practices a day.

When the Flood Waters Cometh

On Monday, some of you had the delightful pleasure of participating in a minor boathouse evacuation. As the waters of the Susquehanna River rise, it can sometimes put our equipment in danger. Moving items to higher racks or higher ground is an absolute must.

The call can come in the middle of the day or the wee hours of the morning. In more extreme circumstances, the entire boathouse area must be evacuated -- port-o-potties and all. Anything not securely cemented into the ground (like the boathouse pylons) or tethered down (like the sheds) are in danger of floating away or being damaged.


As you can see from the photo above, circa Fall of 2004, the river crested at such a high level that the top racks of the boathouse were under water.











After such an event, there is a lot of clean up to be done. The shed needs to be mucked out and refilled, the boathouse has to be scraped of mud, large debris needs to be removed, the parking lot needs to be re-stoned, and the dock needs to be realigned. Add to that the rigging and placement of the boats, as well as any other odd job that pops up.