Circumnavigating Hayling Island

After so many adventures lost the the pandemic, at long last it was time to plan a proper on-water, Jelly Baby-fuelled, Ooievaar-accompanied (more on him later) rowing expedition again. 

For maximum joy, I felt this needed fulfill two criteria: first, for it to be a coastal row - that winning combination of rowing and playing by the beach - and second, to be a circumnavigation of an island (enabling a round trip with a clear success criterion). The perfect solution was Mike Gilbert and the Hayling Island-based Coastal Rowing Academy. 

The Tale of the Flexy Scullers

Once upon a time there were five little scullers and their names were Coxy, Hipsy, JV, Mandy and Rachel. They lived in sand banks underneath the roots of very big fir trees (well, something like that) all over the country, but often went rowing together.

One fine day they decided they'd like to go on the British Rowing Tour of the Lake District; that combination of 'Lake District' and 'rowing' being totally irresistible, of course.

Oh I do like to row beside the seaside

Rowing tourism is definitely a thing. Exploring new and gorgeous scenery while doing the sport you love is a a win-win wherever you are, but if it's at the coast, there's also all the fun of trying a slightly different type of rowing AND soaking up that beach vibe.

And so it was decided (note the careful use of the third person there to disguise the disproportionate say I had in the matter) that my husband and I would have our summer holiday this year in Dorset so we could go rowing at the Coastal Rowing Centre which offers pay-as-you-row sessions starting at Studland Beach.

"Visitor rowing" in the Netherlands and the romance of the coxed single

We all like going on holiday. Fact. And we all love rowing. Fact. So rowing on holiday would be like chocolate chip ice cream in a chocolate-lined cone with a chocolate flake, right?

Yes, but how can it be done when you're somewhere that you got to by train? It's not like you can hire a sliding seat rowing boat like you can hire bikes in touristy destinations, is it?

Well, generally, no. But one Dutch rowing club has come up with a neatly-branded service that makes it all possible. Please give a huge cheer for Gastroeien.nl (trans "visitor rowing")!

The Seven Wonders of the (Dutch rowing) World

The Netherlands is a short flight from the southern UK and their weather is similar to ours, but their rowing clubs are practically on a different planet.

Last weekend, I went on an informal 29km rowing tour there with Dutch friends, followed by a conference on touring rowing (organised by Toer!) the next day in Amsterdam, and was bowled over by what I found.

Gig rowing for river rowers/skiffers

Today I was lucky enough to be taken out for a "taster session" in a Cornish Pilot Gig (in Hampshire, but you can eat Cornish Pasties there, so why not?).

On hearing that I was a river rower/skiffer, the coach immediately told me that "This is completely different", and it turned out that he was right, in several ways. Here's what I learned...

Going Just Some of the Wey: A Mini-Expedition Row

Expedition rows can come in all shapes and sizes. And fond as I am of more epic challenges, there are only so many of those you can plan and fit into a year. 

But that still leaves the odd spare Saturday when a short, slightly out-of-the-ordinary row can be fitted in. And so it was that a small party of just six of us, including two who had only been rowing a single-figure numbers of times, set off on a 14 mile round trip up the Wey Navigation Canal in Surrey.

Oh, and did I mention it basically involved going to the pub?