| NEWS & EVENTS - NEWSLETTER |
Bair Island News: February 2005 Editor: Min Tang Chinese New Year Edition
Photo contributors: Gwendolyn Horton, Dan Alexander, Fiona Ashley, Ian Cox
(1) Work Party & Volunteer Hours Log (1) Work Party & Volunteer Hours Log
Work Party Thank You!
A BIG THANK YOU to all who showed up on Sunday, 12 December to help clean up the boat house! You all did a fantastic job and it was great to see people getting their sleeves rolled up. We managed to get a lot done:
The entrance and inside gym wall has since been painted by Greg from Paddling (Thank you!). Notice boards, pictures and awards were reininstalled and cleanup up as well. Thanks again for your hard work! Fiona
KICKOFF EVENT: SWEEP WORK PARTY SERIES Sunday, February 13th, we held Part I of a full Sweep Program work event from 10:30 am - 2:30 pm.This is the official kick-off of our new boat maintenance program, and we
The goal for the most recent and the upcoming work party (time for part 2 TBA) is two-fold:
So, on that note, let's get ready for a GREAT year at BIAC with lots of great rowing, regatta successes, and fun. Let's all play a role in keeping the equipment working. Thanks! BIAC is a community owned and run organization, we just couldn't operate without all the workdays and special projects that keep our boats, docks and boathouse in running order. Now we're offering everyone an easy way to track those hours -- the Volunteer Hours Log. Refreshingly low tech, it requires no passwords or special logins -- it is an old fashioned notebook with a pen where every member is listed. When you volunteer around BIAC for workdays or special events such as regattas, remember to log your hours. At the end of the year we'll be assessing each member who fails to keep their volunteer commitment, $250, or $25 per hour not worked, up to ten hours. Quarterly notices will go out to track your hours. So remember, if you don't log them, they won't be counted! The Log will be kept on a table in the hallway. (2) Paddling The Paddlers hosted a "Hawaiian Style" novice event February 9, 2005. Novice Day is primarily for Adults, Jr's and Children of all ages with no prior paddling experience. After registration and welcomes, the group was introduced to the outrigger canoes and given safety lessons. Next they learned paddle techniques and finally got on the water for their first times. New paddlers were also encouraged to help up out with the recent WaveChaser event (see below), and to come to the Novice/Keiki/Jr's/post-Novice practice, scheduled for February 26, 2005 at 10am.
Note also that the Wavechaser Winter Paddling series organized in 2002 by own Mike Martinez, Dave Jensen, and Mike Neng (and still going strong) held a major race Saturday in Redwood City and Sunday at Treasure Island. More than 250 participants came out for the largest OC1 event in North America, which attracted participants from near and far. We look forward to getting some great pictures for our next issue; in the meantime check out the Wavechaster website and visit the substantial write-up of the January race in the San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/01/27/SPGKMB16NS1.DTL (3) Novice/Intermediate Sweep THE RIGHT STUFF Kudos went to Dave Clark for his stalwart coxing and the crew of Mike Benet, Jasen Higgins, Ellie Mitchell and Vangie Crump, for their valiant rowing which kept the Hortsman afloat as waves crashed over the gunnels and the wind blew it to the east side of the main channel into the pilings of the tanker docks. The crew used their arms, hands and oars to keep the boat from smashing into the barnacled pilings while waiting out the storm. Dan Alexander courageously remained along side in the launch. When the break came, needless to say, the Hortsman got off to a racing start, immediately followed by a couple of power 20s and a steady top speed back to the BIAC dock. Upon arrival the drenched crew would have kissed the dock had it not been for the ever-present residue of duck poop! (web ed. note: sure to be on a future Work Party To Do list!) (4) Sculling
Xeno talked the class through lactic acid testing and training periodisation. At the end of the day we watched Xeno in his 1996 and 2000 Olympic finals and got a chance touch and see his medals. Hopefully someone from our group will come back with their own Olympic medals in four years' time. (5) Erg Competitions: PIRC, Sacramento, and Crash-Bs At this time of year there is not much to report on the racing front however the indoor season still has some opportunities for medals. January 23 was the start of the local lead up to the Crash B's.
The Crash B's, the huge World Indoor Rowing Championships held in Boston each year, boasted some familar faces among the top finishers. One of our Serra High School athletes, Samuel Walsh, went on from local competition to the Crash B's to win fourth among Junior Lightweights. Great job, Samuel! See below for more on Sam's rowing plans. Meanwhile, Ian Cox won at the Sacramento indoor rowing competition and then headed to the Crash-B's, where he placed 10th in the world among lightweight Masters Men. Check out Ian's race virtually at http://www.concept2.co.uk/wirc/replays/index.phpfile=racedata2005/BH7. Go Bair! Complete Crash-B results can be found at http://www.crash-b.org/results.htm Ian, Mike, and Samuel--and all those Junior erg monsters from Norcal and Serra--we salute you. (6) Juniors Sweep Programmes NORCAL JUNIORS AT PIRC Congratulations to Joey Cote from our men's junior Novice team on winning his event at the PICR's with a 2k personal best of 6:39. Congrats also go out to our Head Coach Mike Still on winning his event as well! NorCal's teams had a very strong fall and are spending the winter building and preparing for a competitive spring season! See you on the water... SERRA ERG-A-THON Serra Juniors held their annual 24 hour erg-a-thon fundraiser at BIAC the first weekend in February. They kicked off at 9am on Saturday on the 4th and erged all day and all night, finishing at 9am the next day, Sunday which was followed by mass at 10am. Rowing over 900,000 metres which was approximately 600 miles, the same distance to go to LA and back from BIAC! A BBQ was held at 12:30pm and boat dedication followed at 1:30pm. Serra senior Sam Walsh (see Erg Competition story, above) is recently featured in the local media for choosing to continue his post high school career rowing with a powerhouse rowing school in Boston. Congrats Sam! http://www.serrahs.com/Athletics/Athletics_News_and_Notes/athletics_news_and_notes.html http://www.smdailyjournal.org/article.cfm?issue=02-04-05&storyID=39481 http://www.smdailyjournal.org/article.cfm?issue=01-15-05&storyID=38796 (7) Advanced Sweep Programmes ADVANCED WOMEN'S Walking Up To The Water
SPRING TRAINING BEGINS The Men's and Women's Advanced teams, along with some members of the Novice/Intermediate teams, have begun gearing up for Sprint Season with a series of practices coached by boathouse legend Mike Sullivan. The team is working with Mike to develop the "BIAC style" of rowing that will carry us forward as a coordinated Sweep program as we head into races like the San Diego Crew Classic, Petaluma River Regatta, Gold Rush, Lake Merritt, and others. In January Mike hosted a video-watching clinic, where we all got a good look not only at our own rowing but also picked up some tips on what to watch for as a boat, as as future videographers. In addition to working on technique, the Advanced Teams are focusing on ergs (maybe PIRC will see up back next year!) as well as a few abs to keep us looking good in our Unis. Before San Diego, the first major race of the season, we may try to get in some scrimmages with local clubs as well. ADVANCED MEN'S Looking For a Few Good Men Hello, The subject line basically says it -- the BIAC men's advanced sweep team needs a few more guys to round out an 8+ to take to SDCC on April 2-3. We have the core of what could be an excellent entry. Last year's BIAC men's eight just missed making it to the finals and placed 2nd in its petite final with a time of 6:43. Our goal this year is to equal or beat that performance. To this end, we'll be practicing for the next two months on MWF mornings from 5:15am - 7:00am (we may also have a few Sunday practices late in March). Please let me know if you're tempted. An indication of interest at this point is not binding. We'll be having a meeting of all interested SDCC rowers within the next week. Contact me at craig@ccanine.com We also need a cox, so let me know if you're interested in spurring this crew on to glory. I hope to hear from all you seasoned male sweep rowers out there who are up for this year's San Diego challenge. Thanks, Craig Canine, Men's Advanced Team Leader (8) Corkscrew Row On Sunday Dec 19th
(9) Burns Supper
Robert Burns is a famous Scottish Poet who wrote the words to "Auld Lang Syne" and "My Love is Like a Red Red Rose". His Birthday is January 25th and his memory is celebrated around this time. Everyone tucked into Fiona's haggis, Julie (Masters Women) beautifully sang some songs of Burns - isn't it amazing the hidden talent you find at BIAC! Jasen (Masters Novice) sported an amazing tartan trouser suit. Kevin (Norcal Coach) looked dapper in his kilt and led the ceilidh dancing, showing Kristin and Jenny (Masters Women) just how it was done. A fun evening was had by all - see you there next year! Use Permit As you may have heard, BIAC recently received a Use Permit, which entitles us to make many much needed improvements to our boathouse and site, and which will ultimately allow us to enhance the BIAC facility much more substantially than we have been able to before. The Board would like to ask that you all have patience as we undertake various repairs and construction projects at the Center. Work days around major improvement projects will be announced on the all-club mailing list (subscribe at http://groups.yahoo.com or send an email to webmaster@gobair.org to be added to the list) ahead of time, and remember--they are a great way to work off some of those Volunteer Hours! Parking/Traffic Concerns As they continue to assess our progress on fulfilling the Use Permit requirements, the City has drawn our attention to one specific area we all really need to work on: traffic and parking management. Please do not double-park in front of the boathouse, and if you are being dropped off or picked up (which is great for our parking crunch: thank you!) please encourage the driver to park around the corner either just before or after the boathouse so you don't block the road and other drivers. Thanks so much for your help in this. We are all really excited about the improvements we are making at BIAC and look forward to your help in making it all happen. We are all volunteers here at BIAC, and our community spirit and commitment to non-motor water sports is what has allowed us to grow and thrive as a Center. After all, we're all in the same boat! :) Newsletter and Website Help Wanted Our wonderful newsletter editor, Min, needs to step down from her post so we are looking for a new editor to manage the BIAC beat. We also want to confirm newsletter and website contacts for each program (if you know Dreamweaver that's a plus, but not necessary). If you are interested in helping out with the newsletter and/or website, please contact Victoria Szabo with your name, contact info, and areas of interest. Go Bair! Victoria, BIAC VP/Secretary |
Bair Island Aquatic Center 2005 http://www.gobair.org |
Here are highlights of boathouse activity around the holidays and teams kicking off 2005. 
And now....a word from the President: 
I'm sure I've missed people but your efforts were greatly appreciated! 
As you know, as members of BIAC, we're all required to contribute 10 volunteer hours per year. Due to the heavy use of sweep equipment and the time-intensive nature of repairs, we ask that you, as an active member of a sweep team, find a few additional hours per year to help out -- and, if you can, learn one specific skill well and use it to help keep the boats in great shape. We're asking sweep rowers to contribute more, ideally 14 or 15. That's a little more than an hour a month.
How will maintenance work going forward? Jef Vivian will "own" boat maintenance. He'll have a team of deputies who will be experts on rigging, sanding, epoxy/fiberglass, microphones/electronics, etc... Jef will do the purchasing, based on input from his team. We, the club members, will volunteer for work events. The deputies will make sure all the needed parts are there, ready to be used. Everyone will track their time and log in the new Volunteer Hours Log (see 
XENO MULLER CLINIC
Norcal and Serra put in a healthy entry to the PIRC at Burlingame School. Ian Cox won two medals and
Mike Still won first place in the Men's Senior category with an 18 secs lead...
Nice one Mike. You can check out the results at 
The BIAC lot and surrounding roads flooded when heavy rains and wind combined with
unusually high tides. The water peaked on January 10, 2005 when high tide reached 9.36 feet
and turned the ramp into an uphill climb. Water covering the street reached car windshields,
when a large truck drove through, the cars bobbed in its wake. Fortunately, our
weather-watching Board secured the boathouse and placed equipment out of harm's way.
Accompanying the high tides were fairly extreme low tides -1.8ft at 7.30pm on the following Monday.
A Port Report
Sharing the water with the Port of Redwood City requires vigilance, especially when it comes
to ships. But have you ever wondered what those behemoths are hauling, or how much? Scrap
metal, cement and petroleum are the most common cargos moving across Redwood City docks
and in the previous six months the Port handled a record high 1,043,707 metric tons. One
factor driving this 41% increase over the same period last year is increased worldwide
demand for steel.
BIAC held a pre Christmas row "Head of the Corkscrew" around Bair Island.
Ian Cox organised it, a good crowd of scullers and sweep boats joined in on the adventure
and completed the loop. Los Gatos joined in the fun and the LGRC women's 8+ won the
best dressed award (ie santa hats) - everyone tucked in to a Potluck brunch afterwards. 
Some of the BIAC contigent enjoyed an evening of Scottish Culture and entertainment
at the 3rd Annual Stanford Burns Supper, co-hosted by Fiona & Euan Ashley on Saturday, 22 January.