Latest news

The boating routine
How to get the boat in and out of the water

The club has a very specific routine for getting the boat out of the boathouse and onto the water, and then getting the boat out the water and into the boathouse after the outing. The crew's cox calls out the following commands the their crew, to which the crew follow.

"Hands on..."
Each crew member stands beside a rigger. All four crew members put one arm over the boat to the other side, and the other hand on the other side of the boat, ready to lift the boat out of the rack.

"Lifting out... go..."
All four crew member gently lift the boat making sure the boat isn't damaged by the other boats on the rack.

"Brace the boat...Jack go under...
Jill go under"
With the boat upside down, each person needs to be on the opposite side of the rigger. At this point all four crew members are on one side, so two crew members need to go under the boat, one at a time with the other three crew members bracing the boat.

"Landside/Riverside riggers coming up..."
Depending on the position of the riggers, the boat needs to be flipped with the riggers pointing upwards so it can be carried out through walkway of the boathouse. Two people on the underside side of the boat put both arms under the boat to support it, whilst the two people on the other side rest the inside of the boat on their shoulders whilst supporting it with their hands.

"And walk it out..."
The crew walk the boat out of the boat house, making the sure the riggers pointing up don't hit the the top of the boathouse entrance.

"Easy there... level out to waists, go..."
Once the boat is out of the boathouse, the boat goes back to being horizontal, upside down with the riggers no longer pointing up, being held by each crew member standing on the opposite side of a rigger.

"Lifting to shoulders... go..."
In unicen, all four crew members raise the boat up to their shoulders, with the boat resting upside down on the shoulders of each crew member.

"Lifting to heads... go..."
In unicen, all four crew members raise the boat above their heads, side stepping so they are directly under the boat, holding the boat with both arms, one arm on each side of the boat.

"And walk it down..."
The crew walks down on to the pontoon until the cox tells them to 'easy there.'

"Find the edge..."
All four crew members position their left foot on the edge of the pontoon ready to roll the boat in.

"Rolling it in... go..."
At this point you have your left foot on the edge of the pontoon with you facing the bridge and with the boat held above you. Slowly lean at the hips towards the river, twisting your hips to your left, and pivoting anti clockwise on your left foot so your body now facing away from the bridge, slowly resting the boat on the water.

With the boat in, the cox will now ask some of the crew to get the blades and bring them down to the pontoon. Each crew member puts their oar correctly into their gate. The two rowers sitting on the landside hold the boat down so the two rowers sitting on the riverside can get in. Then the two landside rowers get in. Once everybody is ready, the cox gets in and pushes the boat away, ready for the outing to begin.

*During Boston training I intend to film a video of a crew boating as watching a video is far easier than reading this essay!