Men’s rowing will start around 6.30 today (Tues 6th July) as some work is being done to the oars.
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After the excitements of our outing to Portsoy we’re now getting organised in Portobello again:
Rowing
We now have several sessions each week for experienced and novice rowers – for race training or just for fun. Find out more…
Boat building
We’re building a second St Ayles Skiff and restoring a 1930s single man racing skiff. Whatever the level of your woodworking skills you can help – with expert guidance always at hand. Find out more…
Portsoy wasn’t all about racing. Camping and fishing was fun too.
There was an exodus from Portobello to Portsoy on the last weekend in June for the Portsoy Traditional Boat Festival. This included races for the St Ayles Skiffs of the Scottish Coastal Rowing Project – so Icebreaker was there, along with five other skiffs from coastal communities across Scotland – neighbours Port Seton/Cockenzie and North Berwick; from across the Forth, Anstruther and from the west Ullapool and Achiltibuie.
The Skiffs and their races added an extra dimension to the festival and the organisers want us back – plus all the boats under construction – for next year.
All the Skiffies and followers had a great time, despite Icebreaker not winning a single race – apart from an unofficial over 60s race! The overall winners were Port Seton, who won all races but one (North Berwick). Prizes were awarded by Alex Salmond, First Minister.
The last picture shows some apres-skiff activity – a close inspection of Port Seton’s winning craft Boatie Rows.
Dear All,
Well, what a fantastic day we had on Saturday in Anstruther. Over 20 families attended the event and had an opportunity to row competitively for the first time. A big thank to you all for making it a special day to remember. A special thanks goes out to Maddy Corbin, Nick Johnson, Dan Watts, Rosin Watts and Sean Watters for winning the Mixed Open race, which the Ice Breaker won convincingly despite the slight detour around the harbor; well done guys, you made us proud. The winning race was filmed by Geoff Smith:
I have attached a few pictures of Porty folk at Anstruther, maybe you could send me any other pictures you took to put up on the blog. The Ice Breaker is back in the workshop in order to paint the inside and fit some foot rests, coxin’s seat etc. We hope to get this done in the next week or two and she can be out on the water again.
In the mean time we need to meet up to agree: 1) The rowing teams for Portsoy 26-27 June (training, transport, etc) 2) Begin planning the Portobello Rowing Regatta on the 24-25 July 3) Building the 2nd boat
Can we agree to meet on Thursday 10th of June at 8pm at the Beach House cafe (please let me know if you can make it). An agenda will be circulate prior to the meeting. May the Ice Breaker bring us many more fun-packed family days out in the years to come. Regards,
Andres
Icebreaker is launched with much ceremony and enthusiasm!
Andres writes:
We are putting the finishing touches on the boat tonight, the “Ice Breaker” (see email below regarding the stories and the name), and we aim to take her to the sea at high tide tomorrow Tuesday 25 May (13:30hrs). Anyone that can help tomorrow from mid day to take the boat out of the workshop and down to the water would be welcome. Come to the workshop at noon-ish. There will be no big ceremony as this will be on July 24th, when we host the Portobello Regatta, when we expect to have many of the skiffs built last winter to come to race at Porty. I am trying to tie up something with the school to get the kids that wrote the stories to come down to the beach and we can do a wee naming ceremony this week straight after school. For all those keen to go to Anstruther on Sat (29th May) please come and have a practice run so we can all find our favorite positions on the boat. We will have her out every day (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) of this week from around 4pm until we are done in.Look forward to see many of you on Ice Breaker over the next few evenings, rain or shine.
Whether you’re an experienced rower, or have never set foot in a boat in your life – you can row for Portobello!
Don’t worry if you’ve never rowed before – we’re still trying to work it out!
Our first boat is nearly finished and we’re now looking for crew – rowers and coxes – for upcoming races and events over the summer. We’re taking the boat to Anstruther on the 29th May, and hopefully to Portsoy at the end of June, North Berwick at the end of August.We’re planning to field teams in the following categories:
- Open Women,
- Open Men,
- Women over 40,
- Men over 40,
- Mixed Open,
- Mixed Over 40s.
To find out more and to put your name down, contact Andrew Leslie <aleslie@sailporty.org.uk>.If you can row properly – and would be interested in giving us advice and coaching – even just as a one-off, that would great too!We’ll also be having regular social and practice rowing events at Portobello, details to follow.By the way, you don’t have to live in Portobello – we welcome people from Edinburgh and other suburbs of Portobello!
…and other news: a quick note from our meeting on 4th May.Row Porty stalwarts met recently to get an update on progress with the project and to make plans for the future. Here are the highlights:
- The hull is painted on the outside and ready to turn over. Then the inside gets tidied up, frames, gunwales and seats fitted, then the inside gets painted. Some oars are made and two more needed.
- We hope to have the boat ready for the inaugural regatta in Anstruther on 29th May. We plan to attend, and hopefully to get along to other rowing events around the Firth of Forth. Like to row? Get in touch!
- The Heritage Lottery fund has awarded us a grant towards the cost of building a second boat as part of a community project exploring Portobello’s rowing heritage. If you or your group would like to be involved in building the boat – please get in touch. Likewise, if you have information or memories of rowing at Portobello in the past, we’d love to hear from you.
Photos of progress:
RowPorty 