June 17, 2014

Greetings, Gentle Reader, and welcome aboard!

What follows, the documentation of my fifth rowing sojourn of significance (if one defines “significant” as, umm, like, well,uh….a few weeks on the water) may entertain, it may even enthrall, or it may more likely cure insomnia, but it necessarily follows in the wake of accounts of my earlier aquatic journeys:The Big Row (Albany, NY to Baltimore), Locked Up, Locked Down (The Erie Canal), Mr. Frei Rows to Washington, and Row Canada (Kingston, Ontario to Cleverdale, NY) are all in the books…the last one covering 502 miles over 18 days with Brian Rooney rowing gamely alongside as a wingman.http://mrfreicanadianrow11.blogspot.com/

This summer will be different.

“Different how, Al?” you may be wondering.

Good question, Gentle Reader.  Here’s how.

First, I will be starting in my home waters, not finishing there. The Big Row (Troy to Baltimore) featured a tumultuous welcome in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor by friends, Fox News, and even my own mother. At that time I was living in Baltimore, so “home waters” fits, right? The Erie Canal adventure ended in Troy, where I was born….the very definition of “home waters,”yes? Row Canada finished at the Lake George Club and a lobster; I’m not a member, but it’s close to my mom’s camp on the lake…so let’s call it “home” for the sake of adhering to atoo-hastily contrived theme, OK?

So here’s what’s up this time around: At O-Dawn-Early on 6/27,I’ll push off from my mom’s dock on Lake George, row north up Lake George, up Lake Champlain, and then up the Richelieu River to the St. Lawrence Seaway where I’ll hook a hard right towards- and then past- Quebec. I’ll hang a hard left when I get to the Saguenay River, meandering north as far as time and body will allow, finishing (I’m estimating) 550 miles or so from home waters in the vicinity of Lac St Jean. No bands, no Fox News (thank God), no glitter or glitz will mark my arrival - just a boy and his boat, a bit worse for the wear but enriched by the experience, slogging ashore, a bit thinner, perhaps, falling into Peg’s embrace and then into the Mini for a ride home.

Second, I’ll be starting with a wingman….but not finishing with him. My dear son Matt has procured a matching boat and will accompany me for the first 150 miles or so- maybe more if we get lucky with the winds on Champlain- and I could not be happier to have his company. He has to split after five days to get back to work, so along the way I may regale him with the virtues of the academic life and an academic calendar which make missing work in July…Ha! Academic! Anecdotally, among Matt’s very many virtues is his certification as a massage therapist, just the kind of guy an out-of-shape sexagenarian might hope to have along on the opening days of a rowing adventure, yes? More on this later, I suspect.

Third, I will be completing my journey through the Saguenay fjord, home waters of the Greenland shark. This is “different”because, Gentle Reader, the specter of the Greenland shark lingers once you’ve checked it out, as I have. Check it out:

http://planetsave.com/2013/06/02/greenland-shark-eats-a-polar-bear-sleeper-shark-facts-lifespan-diet-and-video/

It swims at less than two knots but eats pretty much anything in its path. Think “aquatic snow blower,” as my colleague Joe Neary has described it. While I can row at 4.5 or faster, much faster if I feel I am being pursued, I only hope that I don’t hit one of these fellows from behind, angering it into a burst of undocumented speed.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the “difference” of thisparticular row could be framed as a magical confluence of time and distance…or as an elderly pipedream masquerading as boyish enthusiasm. The hard fact is that when I push off from the dock on the morning of 6/27 fortified by a hot coffee, a warm Corn Toastie, and Matt’s supportive company, I’ll never have been older (a month or so short of 63, if you must know), and I’ll never have tried to row farther (maybe 600 miles if one counts scenicly motivated meanderings, precautionary courses, and wrong turns).

So, this will be a different row. But Viva la difference, as they say in Quebec, nes pah?

I hope I get there to hear it in person.

Gentle Reader, I’ll be documenting my preparation (such as it is)over the next ten days, and I’ll do my best to assure that you’re up-to-date on my progress (such as it will be) once I push off.  

I’ll be glad to have you aboard. It will make it easier knowing you’re vicariously in the boat with me, especially when that dorsal fin pokes through the surface. If I can row faster than the Greenland shark that’s after me, I can certainly swim faster than the virtual crew member who is not in the water with me.

Like much of what you may read later, that makes no sense whatsoever.

But it will.

Big Ups,

Al