Yankee Rowers,?
The?college?crews?will be returning to the river soon--in the next week or two. There will be quite a few rowers on the river most mornings and most weekdays later in the afternoon. So, things may get busy and a bit congested around the boathouses and docks. Please be considerate, flexible, and patient getting on and off the water.?
At the end of this email I've posted information we have about the rowing schedules for most of the college crews and for the Northampton Community Rowing crews. If I get additional information, I'll send out further announcements.
As always, we ask club members to put safety first on the river. Here are some reminders:
Please be extra careful on the water, keeping an eye out for boats, buoys, trees, rocks, sandbars, bridges, and docks near and behind you. Please stay on the appropriate side of the river while rowing: going upstream, stay toward the Hadley side of the river; going downstream, stay toward the Northampton/Hatfield side of the river. And please be extra careful when rowing under the bridges--it can be hard to see boats behind you there, and crosscurrents and eddies can make rowing there difficult. Also, the U/Mass men's crew launch from their dock on the Northampton side of the river behind Ellwell Island, and they sometimes row across the river near or under the bridges before going upstream--it can be easy not to see them coming across the river. And about a mile upstream from the marina, Northampton Community Rowing boats often cross the river after launching from their dock just before the turn in the river at the Honeypot.?
As all of you know, for much of this season the river water has been unusually high and fast. As the water comes down, there are likely to be new sandbars and submerged tree stumps and other debris in various places on the river that you will need to watch out for.
There are no simple guidelines to determine when it is (relatively) safe to row. River flow speed and level, wind speed and wind direction, water and air temperature, precipitation and visibility conditions, the particular boat being rowed, and, of course, the individual rower's experience and skill, are all relevant factors. That said, by way of some general guidelines, we recommend that rowers check the river conditions regularly at the National Weather Service Montague gauge, and we ask that members not row in club boats when the flow speed measurement at the National Weather Service Montague gauge is above 20 kcfs (i.e., 20 thousand cubic feet per second). You can access the recent Montague gauge measurements at this National Weather Service website:
(The flow speed numbers are along the right hand side of the graph. The blue line on the left half of the graph is the observed flow over the past three days, and the maroon line on the right half of the graph is the forecast flow for the next three days. The accuracy of the forecasts can vary considerably.)
You can get up-to-date weather information via Weather Underground at:
The "hourly" page for each day is especially helpful--it contains hour-by-hour forecast information.)
If you row when it's dark, please use a red/green bow light on your boat. (If you don't have your own light, there are some club lights with rubber suction cups stored in a white bucket on the bottom shelf below the logbook.)
Sorry for the long email. I hope this is helpful. Happy and safe rowing!
Best,
Ernie
Crew Rowing Schedules:
Amherst College: Practices start on Friday, September 8th. Crews will begin launching at about 5:30 PM on weekdays, and at 8:30 AM on Saturdays.?
Smith College: ?Practices start on Monday,?September?11th. They will row with the full team on Monday through Thursday in the afternoon, and will have a small group using several pairs in?the mornings at?7:00 - 8:30 AM.
U/Mass Women's Crew: 6:30-9:00 AM
Northampton Community Rowing (launching from their dock upstream near the Honeypot):??Adult rowing, starting Monday, September 4:?Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 5:30 - 7:30 AM. Youth rowing, starting Monday, August 28: Monday through Friday 4:15 - 6:30 PM.
I don't yet have information about the U/Mass men's crew schedule. They launch from their dock on the Northampton side of the river behind Elwell Island. In the past, they have been on the water relatively early, around 6:00 AM or so.
