Organize; SUP-Rower

[rebeccmeister]

Saturday morning was rewarding. I got up early, made pancakes, went to the farmer's market and got eggs, kale, and bread, and then came home and worked on getting organized for a while. I'm still not sure about how I want to handle sentimental flotsam and jetsam, but there were a number of cases where I decided I had appreciated a thing for long enough and could pass it along. That allowed me to dramatically reduce down the size of my portable filing system (really just a bag). After I emptied out the above shoebox, Emma came along and determined that it was necessary to see if she would fit inside. She was uncomfortable about being photographed, though, so all I got was this one blurry photo. In my remaining months in Texas, I have done a good job of paring down the collection of random food items, so things now pack better into the moving crates. I still have a few tablespoons of rosewater left, however.

I also ordered a smartphone. I wound up ordering a Samsung Galaxy S4. The prepaid plan I'm looking at (through a reseller) costs less than my current plan and will also serve as home internet access for the near future, hopefully. I should probably just keep the phone in a Pelican case, given my history with electronics. I might hold on to some of my older electronics (the severely battered Canon PowerShot A620, wee mp3 player), but I think I'll stop carting them around everywhere once the new phone is powered up.

Saturday afternoon was even more rewarding. Last Wednesday, I learned that one of the cool professors* in the department had just acquired an oarboard attachment for a Stand-Up Paddleboard. He then learned that I knew a thing or two about this rowing business, so we made arrangements to go out to a small private lake south of town (oh, Texas) to splash around for a little while on Saturday.

The oarboard took a bit of getting used to. In the process, we determined that it is a good idea to attach the skeg to the SUP. We also determined that it's problematic if there's a twist in the strap attaching the oarboard to the SUP. Minor details, really. It sits a good six inches higher off the water than a rowing shell, and turns around so quickly it kind of makes me dizzy, but as I told SJ, "It definitely beats rowing indoors!" The portability is a big bonus - SUPs can withstand cartop travel much better than shells, and attaching and detaching the rigging is simple.

One aspect I hadn't expected is that with this design, the seat is stationary and the footstretchers/riggers slide back and forth. This innovation is more efficient than the traditional rowing arrangement with the sliding seat, because it means less weight has to travel back and forth on the recovery. I had to try to ignore how that affected the movement of the board underneath me, though, because that part was just weird.

SJ was delighted to learn a few critical tricks, like proper grip, so it was a great arrangement for everyone.

As I ponder the future, I don't know if I'd get a SUP-rower as my first on-water rowing device. If I already had a racing shell, I think I'd consider one, for fitness purposes. Also, as SJ pointed out, it's becoming possible to rent SUPs all over the place now, which could make it possible to just transport the oarboard and oars.

When I wasn't using the SUP-rower, I chased after SJ in a kayak. Boy those things are slow in comparison. But at least it provided some great water time.

*cool = he bike commutes to campus and grew up in Seattle, and spent time in Arizona as a graduate student. He's also old enough to not give a damn about much of anything other than his longstanding interest in genome size.