SCRA News

The sun had barely risen on a still Sunday morning and, whilst the rest of the world was putting the alarm on snooze for an extra hour, skiffies from up and down the coast were emerging from their burrows and scurrying about the business of preparation. Today was the day of their annual migration, a strange seasonal occurrence that sees skiffies from a broad span of coastal communities converge on a particular stretch of the River Tweed. Scientific opinion is divided on the reason for this, some cite cake as the main driver, others attribute it to the ancient ritualistic practice of oar comparison, but the majority seem to agree that its simply grand to row in company, share stories and look at bonny boats. Irrespective of where they originate, the sounds of preparation were the same… the snap of Tupperware lids, the gurgle of flasks being filled, the clickety click of ratchet straps and the tick of mental checklists (rudder, lifejackets, lunch etc.) The Amble migration was no different and some homework the previous night meant that the 8.00 am meet for 8.10 departure was effortless and we were soon on the road (at 8.09 to be precise) the only oversight being that we’d left the bag of “squashies” in the back of the van agonisingly out of reach. A big shout to Angus the younger who jumped in at short notice to fill the cox and stroke seats (although not at the same time) Ben was with us at our first Paxton row 10 years ago (pre-moustache) it was nice to have Angus the Younger and Angus the elder in the same craft again.

Throughout this account I will repeatedly an unashamedly thank folks for their participation and for their contribution towards firmly proving the proverbs “many hands make light work” and “the little things can make a big difference”. Talking of little things, who’d have thought that the opening of two small posts in a fence would help enable such a smooth transfer from trailer to beach …so big thanks to councillor Mike Greener for opening that wee gap that in turn made such a difference for the 17 boats and crews that made the pilgrimage. A shout also goes out to whoever had the amazing foresight in making the gap exactly a skiff trailer wide (we are petitioning for the introduction of the “skiffwidth” as a universal unit of measurement… irrespective of most of them being different sizes.) Community spirit truly clicked into gear as boats arrived, unshackled quickly and joined the procession that led from kerbside to the beach (across the grass, round the corner, over the bump and stopping at the chocks before a careful “mind the step” onto the sand) there were many hands on each boat and trailer and this happily continued from the very first until the very last (even through the final boats had a longer carry) so big thanks to the lovely folks who rolled up their sleeves in true barn-raising style. Bob Fleet’s patented trailer chalk, again showed the sort of innovation and foresight that would prove so effective later on.

With all the boats arranged neatly along the sand and the tide booked to come up and kiss their bows (or sterns according to orientation) in 15 minutes, there was just time for a briefing before we all jumped in a headed towards the bridges in a breathtaking flotilla. The sound of splashing oars was punctuated by skiffie chatter and cheers of encouragement from the bridge (although I did find out later that one such well-wisher to whom I waved most cheerily was indeed a “comedic” youth shouting obscenities. Enjoy it whilst you can young fella… Who knows, one day if you’re really lucky you may find yourself messing around in a boat cheerily waving at a bearded gent shouting obscenities at you) The wind that was predicted did lull us into an initial sense of security, but only waited a short while before showing its face and providing the crews with a healthy opportunity to “dig in” along some stretches, but this never resulted in anything that would have prompted an “are we there yet?” comment from any of the crew.

Those familiar with Paxton will have undoubtedly heard of the “the shallows” mysterious gravel banks that shift with a will of their own and have been known trap unexpecting skiffies and command them to do “the walk of shame” as they drag their boats free of the shallows stoney grasp. Fortunately, we timed it right this year and made it all the way with only the occasional oar catching the gravelly bottom (certainly not enough to anger the shallows) The sun had been booked to arrive just as the picnic baskets were open and the jolly old fellow turned up exactly on time, bathing the assembled masses in the sunshine they deserved. The really nice part of this event is simply the opportunity to catch up with old friends, make new ones and take a little time to eat and do “nowt in particular”. In a world where everything is controlled by strict timetables as opposed to tide tables, it’s really nice to just go with the flow (pun firmly intended).Big thanks again to Paxton House for letting us land here every year in such a splendid spot.

Some crews took the opportunity to row up and take in the creaky charms of the chain bridge. Our particular foray upstream was to the musical strains of “adverts the 70s and 80s” featuring such classics and “finger of Fudge” “hope its chips, its chips” and “what has a hazelnut in every bite” complete with its schoolyard retort!! It’s not all shanties folks!!

Like all skiffies (a close relation to Wombles by the way) we are always aware of our environmental responsibilities so when a piece of foam from a boat was spotted floating downstream the dual labrador retrieval team was launched with a splash and a splosh. Dougie got there first but had to abort the mission on discovering that the foam was slightly wider than his bite (not for the lack of trying) but don’t dismay, you’ve not heard the last of that foam block.

With bellies filled and stories shared, we set off for the return leg. Propelled by tide, wind and cake the crews made great time in whooshing back downstream, even taking in a slight diversion to retrieve the aforementioned foam block from the riverbank and another detour around the back of “that clump of land” to “see what’s behind it” … before we knew it, we were all whizzing under the bridges and pulling up along the beach, forming an orderly line as planned and getting out to help.

What happened next was nothing short of poetry in motion as all you lovely skiffie folks who’d carried boats down hours earlier..only went and did it again in reverse!! A well-oiled (and well-caked) machine swung into action like a colony of ants on a mission. The legendary trailer identification and retrieval, the waterside coordination of boats in the queue, the deployment of the pellet-roller system, the all-hands-on-boats push up the sand and the lift onto the trailers culminating in a coordinated chocks away and dispatch across the grass. All this meant we’d cleared the beach in no time at all, leaving nothing but footprints in the sand and fond memories. The cheer that prompted the final boat’s trailering was totally unprompted and was a genuine, natural outpouring of respect for a team effort… Well done xx

Hugs and hanshakes were exchanged and many offers to come and visit shared (we’ll take you up on all of them!! and come down and see us) before the skiffies jumped back into their skiff mobiles and set their Sat Navs to take them back to their burrows where a hot bath would be waiting (hopefully a grin would keep them company on the drive back)

Pulling back into Amble we got out of the van, realising quickly that we had perhaps stiffened up a little en-route. Indeed, it took us few minutes to uncurl and straighten up as we pushed the trailer back into her bunk in a scene reminiscent of that drawing of the ascent of man (you know the one that takes evolution from chimp via hominid and human eventually to skiffie) Give yourselves a hug from us and catch you all again next year .. love ACRC xx

Thanks to Amble Rowing Club for this great write up

If you can build a boat you can build anything!’

Inspired by what she’s seen so far, GCP’s volunteer storycatcher, Caroline, couldn’t resist another visit to the Granton warehouse to see our woodwork team in action and check the progress of our boat build …….

Read more about the Grassmarket Community Project Skiff build and how you can help – https://grassmarket.org/building-a-boat/

Perth Coastal Rowing Club held their inaugural Fun Row on the 3 rd August. It was held at Perth Sailing Club, Lairwell. Nine skiffs attended from all over Scotland with there being over 90 people in attendance. The sun shone which added to the enthusiasm of the day and contributed to the fun rows.

The morning event was a row down the River Tay through two sections of buoys, the latter section was rowed in reverse. The skiffs then continued further down the river towards Elcho Castle where crews collected a plastic duck before heading back up river to Lairwell. Having worked hard, the crews had earned their buffet lunch.
The afternoon had all the skiffs rowing up the River Tay under Perth’s four bridges and into the centre of city. A great sight for the People of Perth to see.

We would like to thank all the clubs who participated and everyone who assisted in making the day a great success.
Here’s to the next one.
     

 

Tryrone Currie has been building skiff oars for several years now, for most of the clubs in N. Ireland, 30 or so Scottish clubs and a couple of sets to England. He is retiring in 2024 and has very kindly documented his build method. We know there are always many posts put on our Facebook page from members asking for advice on how to build oars and we feel that this document will be a very helpful.

Oar build Tyron Currie Build Method

This document will also be added to the Oars section on the website for future reference