Cuttyhunk Trip Fundraiser Highlights!

Hello Everyone!

Thank you to everyone that supported us last night aboard the Cuttyhunk Ferry Fundraiser Trip! There were several people that weren't able to make it and you were missed but not forgotten!

We had 41 people on the boat, and raised a total of $2025 toward rebuilding our boat fleet!! This is great since Tabor Academy is interested in selling us the 2 boats they have loaned us. Pretty soon we'll have to return them and this fundraiser got us much closer to being able to purchase boats. Everyone had a great time and the weather couldn't have been any more perfect. Lots of smiles, many laughs, and a few new friends made. We toured around the harbor, went through the Hurricane Barrier, saw Clarks Cove, Padanarum, and more. It was beautiful!

Additionally, Paul Milde (of Peinert Boat Works in Marion) is well aware of our need for more safety launches. He found a wakeless launch for sale for $5000 and a motor for it would be $3000. This would allow us to fit an entire boat's worth of rowers onto the launch in the event of an accident, which is exactly what we need. Paul was the first to pledge $1000 toward the purchase of this launch!! Jonathan Haisman pledged another $1000, and Anne Eisenmenger pledged $500!! AMAZING!! After the cruise, Calder Reardon and Laurie Bullard both also pledged $500 each!!

I reach out to any of you that may wish to contribute to the purchase of such a launch, and any amount is greatly appreciated. We're currently at $2500 toward the engine and just $500 more to go! Once we purchase the engine, Paul Milde will help us get the launch and we can raise the remaining $4000 over time.

Here are a few pictures of our fun evening and we hope to do this again next year. Huge thanks to Captain Jono and his wife Sue, and ALL of you that make this club possible!!!

Sunday's Learn-To-Row: Success!

Thanks to the wonderful volunteer efforts of Ken, Rachel, Larissa, Julie, Kanhai, and Grace, we had a very fun LTR with 7 people learning to row for the first time, despite 3 people cancelling due to the rain. Several people had been referred by Grace Mulvey and 2-3 of our newbies signed up for the Learn-To-Row Class that began on Monday. Good stuff!

The Pereiras also had a yard sale and we were all lucky that the rain had stopped after our initial arrival. We were pretty worried there! They made a decent amount of money to go towards paying for Andrew's Development Camp. There was also a very large personal donation to help offset the costs and the family is very grateful. We're all behind you, Andrew. Go learn lots of stuff and bring it all back to the rest of us!

Saturday

So our plan for Saturday was to take the youth rowers over to Cuttyhunk Island for the day. I don't think any of us have gone before so when we showed up on a rainy, chilly, Saturday morning, Captain Jono informed us that the Island is MUCH colder. Like...20-30 degrees colder. They also offered to let us choose another day to go to the island since once we're there, we can't get out of the weather or leave before 4pm. Half of the kids still wanted to go, half preferred another day. ALL of the parents voted for another day as they looked at the kids wearing shorts and t-shirts and already starting to shiver...

So, we decided to go for another day and we'll try to reschedule sometime in July. Stay tuned as I'm sure it'll be a fun day and there will be lots of stories and pictures to follow!

Crane?

So the HDC has been busy at work. As most of you know, where we're launching from is a sort of temporary fix. The Harbor Development Commission has had permits to install dinghy docks at Popes Island and that's what allows us to have our dock where it is.

The other day upon showing up to practice, I see that those dinghy docks are coming to fruition! This is great news because there have been more and more dinghys showing up on the dock that we use, making it difficult for us to get our 60 foot long boats out. I was waiting for one of our rowers to trip over a line or start messing around with the "cool stuff", but no incidents to be reported. Who says miracles don't exist?

NBCR Banquet

I'm putting the details together but thus far we know it'll be Friday June 24th from 6-9pm. We'll have it at the Corson Building downtown and the catering will be done by Cork Wine & Tapas and Rose Alley Ale House. Delicious pasta dinner (mmmm...lasagna..) for our hearty rowers and their family and friends. Tickets will be around $15, hopefully not more. Rowers - send me some pictures and video so we can make a slide show!!

Trade the wind and rain for heat and humidity

Well I suppose the summer is officially here. It's gone from cold, windy and rainy to downright HOT and humid. California really did nothing for me in terms of preparing me for New Bedford. I complain because it's cold and I'm a wuss. I get frustrated at the wind because we can't get on the water. Those all go away and then I'm whining because the humidity is just plain mean and being from the Northern California region, I'm not used to it being so hot. Wow I'm a big baby!!

But I'll take the heat and humidity if it means we can get on the water - it's been great lately! We also have some very experienced Tabor Academy rowers that are looking for a place to train over the summer so I'm very excited to see what we can do for them. I met with several today and they all seem like great guys. Good stuff!

Learn-to-Row Day!

This Sunday we're having our next Learn-To-Row Day. It's only $25 for 2 hours of fun where you learn about the equipment, terminology, and how to row on the"erg". After that, we mix you in with our rowers and you paddle around the beautiful New Bedford Harbor for an hour. We'll have coffee and some like snacks and our rowers are sure to entertain you with their wit.

Come on down to Popes Island to give rowing a try. Register online so we can schedule your spot in a boat. We'll also have a yard sale with facepainting and hairwrapping going on in an effort to help send one of our youth rowers to train with the US Rowing Junior National Team this summer!

Get your tickets now!

Our fundraiser on the ferry to Cuttyhunk is coming up QUICK!! Don't miss out as this promises to be a great time, AND it's for a great cause!! You can get tickets online or give me a call: 508.717.4013. Hope to see you there!!

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

New Bedford Community Rowing has finally been granted exemption by the IRS and we are officially a 501(c)3 public charity!!! YAY!!!!

Filing all of the paperwork was not an easy task the lawyers that pulled it off are truly amazing. Renat and Christian at Choate are AMAZING!!!!!

Scrimmage with Cape Cod Rowing

So we're gearing up for a friendly "1000 Meter Novice Challenge" scrimmage on the cape with Cape Cod Rowing, G-Row Boston, Boys-Row Boston, and Duxbury Maritime. Both our youth rowers and adult rowers will be racing in doubles and fours. Many of them have only been in a double once so it should be a good time! Bring those bathing suits, rowers!!!

Also, I'll be taking a group of the kids out to visit the University of Massachusetts, Amherst on Sunday. They'll get to tour the school (as well as others in the area), talk to coaches, and meet a few athletes that are staying in Amherst to train for the summer. Good times!

Get your tickets now!

Don't wait too long or you may miss out. Our boat trip on the Cuttyhunk Ferry is coming up on Wednesday, June 15th!! It's from 6-8pm and will have free food, courtesy of Rose Alley Ale House and Cork Wine & Tapas. Tickets are just $45 and can be purchased on our website. If you can't make the trip but wish to support NBCR as we work toward rebuilding our fleet, you can donate on our website any amount you see fitting. We appreciate any support and graciously thank you all!

Resolute

Resolute is a boatmaker in our area and have been supportive of NBCR from the beginning. We haven't rowed any of their boats but they have come to several of our events and always check in to see how we're doing. Resolutes are great racing shells and I personally enjoy them.

I got a call from Jeff Sturges, President of Resolute, and he said that he had someone contact them wanting to help us. A donor has agreed to make up the difference in the price between any new boat we wanted to buy, and the cost of a Resolute, and on top of that, go $1000 lower. So, if we found a Vespoli 8+ for say, $32,000, this donor would give the difference between $31,000 and the cost of a new Resolute, which is closer to $40,000.

That's very generous of this donor, however we're just not in a position to purchase a new boat just yet. That doesn't mean that we can't start a capital campaign working toward a new boat though! I'm just very pleased that there are people out there doing what they can to help NBCR get off the ground running. Thank you to all of our amazing supporters out there!!!