Use this page to arrange sculling at Lake Phalen. Go to edit at the bottom of the page, and add the date and time that you will be rowing.
Make sure you have a whistle and a life jacket in your boat with you.
Lock the gate (you dont have to close the garage door) while you are out - NOTE!! WHEN LOCKING THE GATE, ATTACH OUR LOCK TO THE OTHER LOCK ON THE CHAIN.
Sculling tips for lake Phalen:
1. Keep your weight centered over the boat during the drive and recovery.
2. In the rec singles pull the handles into the finish at the same height.
3. Have the starboard handle lead the port handle during the first half of the recovery.o
4. Slow your slide. Watch how the stern dips deeper into the water when you move up the slide. That's called the “trim” and is essentially the physical manifestation of how your bodyweight is moving along the longitudinal plane (bow to stern) of the boat and those associated forces (backwards and down, both are bad). Accelerating from the finish to the catch causes those forces to be much larger than if you had a slow, relaxed recovery.
5. Look over your shoulder at the finish, not at the catch or during the recovery or the drive. Looking over your shoulder is a shift in your weight positioning and will unset the boat slightly. The finish is where your boat is the most stable during the stoke and thus will be offset the least by your movements.
6. Pick a landmark on the horizon that your stern is lined up with once you have a point. If your stern drifts to the right of the landmark pull harder on your starboard oar until it is realigned. If it drifts to the left then pull harder on the port oar. (use this to SUPPLEMENT, not replace, looking over your shoulder)
7. The sculling stroke should never have a definitive beginning or end.
8. Apply a little outward pressure with your thumbs on the ends of the oar handles. This will keep the collar flush against the oarlock.
9. Figure out how to take effective backing sculls. These help a lot if you find yourself stuck in the tall grass along the lake, weeds or tangled in the rope of the swimming area. Backing on port will spin you counterclockwise. Backing on starboard will spin you clockwise.
10. Keep both oar handles together with one hand while getting back into your boat if you flip. You may end up flipping again if you don't.
