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Where to start, another brilliant event, which made me proud to be part of such a great club, happy to be rowing somewhere new, heartened by how everyone pitched in, helped get boats there (thanks Claire Alex, Ali and King Connel) and of course lashed down and supplied with oars, seats and the other essentials. (Still got the VHF) We came from different directions, but most people opted to do a short or longer bit of sightseeing. I was just thrilled to be camping in Glenarm Castle grounds: felt like a house guest, apart from the portaloo and cold dishwashing!

Andres coxed Claire, Sarah, me and Syb to victory in the women’s category, but the compeition from Anstruther had rowed the endurance race too, so tough for them. But I am not going to say I wasn’t thrilled to get a rowing as well as a coxing gold medal. Great stroke from Claire, and generally great team effort. Our men had all rowed the 6k endurance, and a tough warm up and reccy with me earlier, so did well to come 3rd in their race, and Frannie and Patsy made fresh muscle sufficient to win the last race, the mixed. Yahoo RowPorty, what a day.

So after the courtesy £5 lunch vouchers had been spent at the fair, we had much smiling to do at the prize giving (try to spot El Spando in the snaps on Facebook, as the juniors nicknamed a lycra sporting young winner) Must work well with all the Pledge they use to make their seats especially slide-y.

 the pub where Elaine assured us Steve would keep the bar open as long as we wanted!

I am probably biased, but it really was a brilliant regatta, we were made so welcome, the races were great, I would HIGHLY recommend going next year, and perhaps we could better co-ordinate vehicles and things the way Port Seton did, and share vehicle costs on the ferries.

..viewed from the boat during Tuesday training a few weeks ago this baby seal was inquisitive and ready to jump aboard.

On the 20th of June, an international collaboration will restore to the Firth of Forth the ancient ‘dreg songs’, unique traditions of the local oyster fishery. From 7:30 PM, just off Portobello Promenade near the Dalriada Bar Boatie Blest, Rowporty and Newhaven Coastal Rowing, three Scottish Coastal Rowing clubs, will offer their interpretations of these rowing songs both in their boats (weather permitting) and in the pub. Using recently discovered wax cylinder recordings and typed texts from the 1920s and 30s the clubs will recreate these songs assisted by American folklorist Bob Walser. Wednesday evening will be the first singing of these songs on their home waters in a century!

To add to this festive occasion, the Museums Department from the City Art Centre will be bringing traditional fishwives costumes from Newhaven and a display of photographs related to fishing in the Firth of Forth. In addition, a special ‘Dreg Songs Ale’ has been brewed by Inveralmond Brewery and will be available on the night. Of course, a celebration of oyster fishing songs requires oysters and Michael Pollington of Pollington’s Fine Food and Drink has arranged with a local fishmonger to have fine Scottish oysters to enjoy. This will be a truly historic occasion. Recognizing this, both Edinburgh Napier University and Celtic and Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh will be sending students to document the evening, interview participants and create an archival record of this once-in-a-lifetime occasion.

The event is being created with the help of the James Madison Carpenter Collection Project, Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen and the Library of Congress (USA) which holds the wax cylinders where these songs were discovered. In addition to all the participants, thanks are due to the National Endowment for the Humanities (USA), the American Folklore Society and The British Academy for supporting the research that will enable these communities to celebrate their traditions in this unique way. Come enjoy an evening by the Firth celebrating these unique and fascinating Scottish song traditions!

For further information, contact Bob Walser, dregsongs@bobwalser.com.

If you’d like more information about the project, contact Bob Walser on 001-612-598-6842
(in the USA, 6 hours earlier than Portobello, please call after 1PM Scotland time).

I think all of us who went to Achiltibuie would agree that we had a fantastic weekend, even though we didn’t win a single race, although we did come 2nd three times.

After a chilly wind & night when we arrived, the weather faired up nicely on the Saturday, so although windy at times during the day, by the evening we were sitting out in glorious sunshine.

The campsite is in a lovely location, with good facilities & the only pub for miles around (I think!?) just up the hill.

The racing beach was stoney, but with plenty of space for skiffs, people, transport, trailers & marquee. Nick & Jude stayed in a bijou des res, shoreside – well found! There was a good spread at lunchtime thanks to the over 60s group of women, & as well as a burger & a panini van.

Racing… what can I say, Achiltibuie came away the strongest team, followed by Anstruther & North Berwick. Despite giving our all, it wasn’t too be. Oars seemed to be a big factor, with other teams, especially Achiltibuie having lighter oars which they were able to use to power away… others can explain the detail of that better than I can! As an oar-maker last winter, this is obviously disappointing, but I think our oars are too heavy & not well balanced enough.

The evening celebration at the Coigach Community Hall was enjoyed by all, with a good spread of curries, chili etc. music & dancing. Some of us then ended up back at the pub or on the shore.

On Sunday, there was a race across to Tanera (Summer Isles), with Achiltibuie winning by a comfortable margin, (see above), the prize being a champagne breakfast. Rowporty came second against stiff opposition from North Berwick. Other skiffs made a leisurely row to Tanera, including Icebreaker. Those who didn’t row, were taken across to Tanera on a boat (not sure what sort of boat it was but it looked as if it had been there almost as long as the mountains, it carried 30 folk at a time & made at least 4 trips there & back)

I was lucky enough to travel on the 3rd sailing & was able to view the skiff race along the way, not to mention the most beautiful sailing junk, built by Nick J’s brother & his girlfriend Charlotte which was on it’s maiden voyage. More pictures of this on Flikr

Overall we had a fantastic weekend with great hospitality from the Coigach team, who were also very willing to share the details of their oars, & Ali, Frank & Alex had a chance to try these out on the Sunday, so we have lots of food for thought on that front.

Getting to Perth was painless and our arrival made up the Magnificent Seven flotilla of Port Seton (2), Anstruther (2), South Queensferry, Dunbar and Porty. Our crew consisted of the following fine athletes ; myself, Nik, Barbara, Claire, Alex and Stan. Launching at the sea cadets jetty gave little room for manoeuvre, but it was efficiently done, with 35 potential lifters for each boat.

Once the rescue boat was fired up, we were off, in blazing sunshine. A perfect start to the day. Rather than take 2 crews, we opted for 1 crew and a ‘spare’ and took it in turns to sprawl out in the bow ‘nest’ of jackets, packed lunches etc. This trip has two distinct halves. The first follows a fairly narrow stretch of river, which was flowing, but not that fast and a good depth, even towards the banks. This gave us all time to take in the views that you don’t normally see from the motorway. If you forget about trying to row in time – which this crew managed easily (!), then it’s possible to enjoy the scenery and the impressive stately homes and curious follies up on the hills that this trip offers. It also allows for a bit of seal spotting with the seals coming surprisingly high up the river.

Once we settled into our style, the crew came into their own. Despite only guest appearances at rowing these days, Nik demonstrated he’s still a man to watch, by rowing effortlessly in stroke oar for ages, without a bead of sweat. That is, in between fag breaks.

On a long row, it’s always good to have at least 1 entertainer in the boat who can sing, recite poetry, play the ‘moothie’ and tell endless tall tales for miles and miles and miles.It takes your mind off the rowing when tiredness sets in. However, it’s also helpful if they go for a snooze in the bow ‘nest’ every so often to give the crew a bit of respite. Phew, peace! But we love you Stan xxx ;-p

Just under 2 hrs later, Newburgh was in sight. We landed on a slipway, to be greeted by a foot of sludgey mud under the water. Nae luck to those wearing the short wellies ! Once on dry land, we were treated to a viewing of the Newburgh boat which was drying in the sunshine and has just about got all its planks on. The team there have an excellent base in what looks like a derelict farm building. So, we should be seeing that boat on the water soon. The lunch stop was leisurely, but we were in the hands of the tide, so we relaunched through the squelch and were off again.

After a generous lunch, both Claire and Barbara tried in vain to introduce ’10 hard ones’ into the proceedings, to pick up the pace, but the crew were having none of it. In fact, it was at this stage that we showed the versatility of the Porty crew, by swopping our traditional pole position for one, several boats lengths behind the rest of the flotilla. On a number of occasions, with darkness falling and the tide receding, Andrew from Port Seton cranked up the engine on the rescue boat and towed us along so that it looked like we were still part of the same trip. We were way behind! Ha ha….FACT ! Okay, so by mile 12, we were flagging a bit.

Shortly after Newburgh, the river widens out into a Firth and the conditions become more sea like and the rowing slightly harder. It is at this point that you experience what can only be described as ‘The Tay Bridge Disaster’. Let me explain….the get-out for this trip is just after the Tay rail bridge, which is visible in the *distance* and hours later….it is STILL in the distance and even when you think you are getting close….it’s nowhere near – hence the label ‘the Tay Bridge Disaster’.Possibly even an April fool. However, we persevered and enjoyed clear views of Dundee in all its glory . It looks so much prettier from the water — sorry, Dundee.

18 miles later and all a bit dazed, we had reached our destination before darkness fell and with enough chop and a tiny wee slipway to aim for, coxing to the finish line was a bit of a challenge. If you notice charred marks on oar no 3, this is because Alex must have been feeling the burn. Fuelled mainly by a wee tin of oily oysters (yes, tin — and yes, oysters!) eaten with his fingers, Alex rowed and rowed and rowed, refusing all offers of a rest. Only the promise of chips was enough to persuade him to surrender his oar because we had- in fact- arrived at our destination and it was time to STOP. Well done, that man. Another one to watch.

On dry land again, we were greeted by a very welcome hot cuppa, courtesy of the Wormit Sailing Club and we all congratulated each other on reaching the finish line in what was an epic row — particularly the last few miles when the waves and the wind had picked up. I really hope some of you get the chance to do this row for yourselves. It’s an interesting one.

But, we still had to load up the boat….There followed a bit of trailer-ballet as Stan demonstrated his ability to reverse it all around a harbour and still manage to get it nowhere near our boat. Quite an achievement really ! However, he did show his skill at being able to reverse closer to lots of other things, like within a foot of the pier edge and more impressively within inches of the Port Seton boat — you should have seen their startled faces. Boatie Rows lives to see another regatta – just !

Oh and the Silvery Tay is in fact an excellent chippie, just up the hill from Wormit Sailing Club. (Bring your own sauce!)

Big thanks to all the crew. Don’t take any of my sarcasm personally, you all made it great. Stan, you were a legend from start to finish, so big thanks and I hope your chicken dinner was worth the wait.

Rowporty are having a winter social & ceilidh on Friday 27th January from 7.30 – 12.00 at Portobello Community Centre.

On Monday 7th Nov at around 9:30am five of us set off in the car and Jenny Skylark in tow to North Berwick. We launched from the beach (you can take the road trailer onto the beach down the slip outside the harbour) and set off at around 10:30am.

We had 5 life jackets, VHF, anchor, large yellow bailer, spare oar, 8 kabes and 8 pins, first aid kit, hot drinks, water proofs, Cox’s jacket, hats, water and food.

You can leave the trailer above the high water mark on the beach and the car has to be parked on the streets; most of the harbour is no parking.

We left on High Tide so the cave was underwater, but we could still get quite close to the entrance in the incredibly flat sea.

A ship approached rapidly at first and then stopped some 1,000mts from us. We were able to row up to it, close enough to have and exchange hand signals with the folk on board the research/working vessel from the Forth; we had our Viking hat on at the time, which I am sure scared them witless. They then sent off a little red helicopter, but we were not impressed, not at all.

After this, we rowed off Eastwards towards the Craig, where we showed Claire where we almost smashed into the rocks during the N. Berwick regatta last year! and we carried on rowing towards the Lamb rock/island.

We stopped at the Craig again on the way back to see the baby seals hiding in the rocks, in the sun, they looked, well, succulent.

It’s a worth while row that can be done comfortably in two and a half hours, with stops along the way. However, we were told by North Berwick and others that have been to the Bass Rock in kayaks, say that it can be quite rough around the back of the Rock as the big swells hit the rock and there is a mess of water that can be dangerous. If in doubt stay away form the Rock, there is no way onto it from the skiff in high tide, you need a flat sea and low tide. But if you do land you will need to pay £100 at the bird centre for the privilege.

On calm days one could stop on the way back at either Sea Cliff beach, but the beach below Castleton is more on the way back.

The pictures should give you an idea of the idyllic conditions we had on the day!

Thanks to Claire for some lovely pictures

In October 2009 Robbie Whiteman, convenor of the SCRA, attended a PS&KC meeting at the Beach House to explain the Scottish Fisheries Museum initiative to re-introduce rowing to the Forth through community boat building.

Ali Grant & I immediately caught on to the idea and we discussed how we would go about it. I agreed to find a workshop space and buy the first kit from Alec Jordon in Anstruther.

We were one of the first clubs to purchase the kit, which gave Alec the cash to buy some marine plywood. Ali said she would get the funding for it!

I called Nik, who was in France at the time and he was enthusiastic to lend his tools & his joinery skills to the project.

As part of raising awareness of the project in Portobello we managed to get the first prototype skiff which Alec had built, to Porty beach for a trial row. Everyone who came along was captivated by the boat on the flat sea in January, on a sunny afternoon.

By January 2010 we had secured the workshop space from BL Developments at the old power station site. The best thing about it was that it was free! By February 2010 we started building Ice Breaker and by May we had her launched, a few days before the inaugural skiff regatta at Anstruther.

In the mean time Ali had secured funding from the Lottery Heritage fund and we were already thinking about building a second boat. However, Nik & I were wondering if anyone would row the boat while we were painting Ice Breaker.

Jenny Skylark was built with many more hands (around 30) and it took all winter (Dec — April) and she was launched with much funfair with BBC Alba in attendance.

Since we have attended regattas in Port Soy, Achiltibuie, Dunbar, North Berwick, Port Seton, Anstruther, South and North Queensferry, Ullapool, and we have run 2 successful regattas in Portobello. We have also rowed the Tweed, the Tay, the Union Canal, Musselburgh Lagoons (twice) & Inchcolm Island. The boats have been in constant use around 5-6 days per week with over 80 paid members getting out on the water.

We have unwittingly created a dynamic community group with a wide range of ages and people from many walks in life. My happiest moments include launching Ice Breaker, launching Jenny Skylark, reading the kids stories to name Ice Breaker, winning the men’s open in Achiltibuie! And ending up as champions for the 2011 regatta season. My worse moments include loosing 2 generators, arguing with Nik, arguing with Ali, arguing with myself and neglecting my family.

We set out to build a boat, but we ended up with RowPorty, a wicked rowing club, filled with an eclectic blend of newcomers and old timers. RowPorty gives people easy access to the sea through a healthy sport that is inclusive, extremely social, great fun, open to all.

We launched both boats using pagan rituals and we have remained a-political; the core value is to have fun and we have remained un-stuffy, relaxed and welcoming.

So we have 2 lovely boats fully kitted out, a place to store them, a quad to launch them, a good IT forum (BigTent), a busy blog, a wide membership, a cabinet full of trophies, blisters, sore bums and a whole lot of old and new friends.

As we look into the future I hope we can maintain the enthusiasm for rowing in Portobello which must include more younger people. I hope the club can continue to maintain its core (slightly) anti-establishment values. I also look forward to many more expeditions to explore new routes that can become established, and safe, adventures for all members.

I would also like to see a better integration with the PS&KC and many more successful Portobello Rowing Regattas.

Finally, I would like to thank you all for all your support and encouragement over the past 2 years.

I would like to wish the new co-convenors (Sean and Emma – SAMENAME) the best of luck for the year ahead and I am sure we will all support them in any way we can.

Cheers and much love
Andres

Sunday had always threatened to be rainy, but would it be heavy / light & would it impede our plans to row down the Tay?  

When Sunday dawned & Sally, Roisin, Andres, Neil & I met in the yard at 7am – it was wet. It rained most of the way to Perth, & it seemed intent on setting in for a thoroughly miserable day.

We launched from the slipway of the Perth Sea Cadets, Anstruther were already there when we arrived, & North Berwick followed soon after. B ut Port Seton, the hosts, were later than expected. We set off at 9.30, 4 skiffs & a rescue boat. The rain was unremitting, but spirits were high as we embarked on our adventure. The flow of the river & the tide helped us, but soon a breeze blew in from the estuary. The rowing was good & we rotated as usual to keep warm & share the load.

After  6/7 miles we arrived in Newburgh where we took a planned break. Being first out of the boat I was quickly ankle deep in slimy mud, yuck! We were welcomed by 3/4 folk who are about to start building a skiff, & got the use of a large shed for having our snack & coffee. Whilst there, it became apparent, that the other teams were intent on jacking in the rest of the row: the wind would be too strong, the tide would be against us by the time we got to Wormit, it was dangerous etc etc. I’m happy to say that none of Rowporty’s intrepid explorers had any such qualms, & we quickly decided to proceed with / without them. Andrew in the rescue boat would have come with us, but was needed for driving. So we set off on the last leg alone.

By this time the rain had stopped, & although the day remained overcast it stayed dry for the rest of the row. We slowly dried out, & enjoyed lots of banter; although it was hazy, we could see the Tay rail bridge from quite early on, but tantalisingly, it seemed to take us forever to get there. Although the wind was against us, we’ve rowed in much tougher conditions at some of the regattas. But it was a long row, so we were glad to arrive at Wormit, between the 2 Tay bridges, after a 2^1/2 hour row from Newburgh. Andrew, of the rescue boat, had phoned to check on our progress, & was there to meet & help us out of the water.

 Despite the early rain, we had a cracking day out, & arrived back in Portobello at 5.30 having stopped en route for a well earned drink in Cupar.

 Thanks to Brenda of the Perth Sea Cadets for turning out to welcome us, Andrew & Andres for reccying the route, Andrew for rescue boat cover & Newburgh folk for giving us shelter in a shed.

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