Regatta Saturday

Saturday the 28^th was the Regatta Alison and Jason and the rowing crews had been working tirelessly on. Mother Nature was NOT cooperative. Heavy rains put the Black Warrior River into a flood stage. Thursday morning I knew things were bad as the rain fell torrentially at 4:30 a.m. as I had my first coffee of the day. There was a bright flash of light, a boom of thunder, and then another boom of a power transformer. The power went out, and then came back on. When I first moved to Tuscaloosa, this type of event unnerved me: now it is no big deal.

This is the launching dock for the club on the Black Warrior River. There is normally a ramp going from the concrete to the new floating dock section. The water had receded a bit when I shot this picture. The trails of scum on the river show the fast current.

The decision was made to scrap the regatta at the original river location. The river was so high and the current was so fast it would have been impossible to row in such conditions. Fortunately a local State Park, LakeLurleen (Named after Lurleen Wallace) would be able to host the event.

Friday morning I hauled some equipment to the site from the boathouse. This weather has been so crazy. The wicked nasty stuff has been pretty much in the late night early morning, and then clearing during the day.

We had to be on-site at Lake Lurleen at 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning. My alarm woke me at my usual time of 4:00 a.m. I could hear the gentle falling of rain. S—t! I heard rumbling of thunder and then saw flashes of lightning. The sky opened up and it poured rain.

Before I left the house I packed a change of dry clothes, reading material and some food. I wanted to be prepared for the worst.

The starting times were pushed back an hour as the storms slowly moved out of our area. Ever so slowly the dark clouds broke up.

This the pavilion area where the registration tables were set up. The volunteers and referees are pictured here early on in the morning as things were just clearing.

I was a nervous wreck, this being my first real regatta: My assignment was calling the races on a public address system. I had to announce each race 45 minutes prior for first call, and 30 minutes prior for last call. This alerts the teams as to when to launch. Once I got into it, things made more sense and I relaxed a bit.

This is parking lot area not far from the launch site where the clubs rig up their boats.

One of the novice teams launching off the floating dock.

I’ve been to so many functions. I know how annoying a blaring P.A system can be. I tried to speak s-l-o-w-l-y and distinctly announcing the races twice. Throughout the day I also gave plugs to the clubs selling tee shirts and club stuff. It is an unwritten rule since the clubs are non-profit; technically this stuff is not for sale, but for a donation. I only slipped up once announcing that “tee shirts are for sale at the registration tables… opp’s I mean for donation!” That got a chuckle from a group of rowers passing by!

This years tee shirt.

There were a few cloudy threatening periods during the morning, but the weather cleared up to be a glorious afternoon. With the clubs all working together the regatta was a success. With all the roadblocks thrown at us Alison and Jason working with the crew at the park took a mess of lemons and turned it into lemonade.

I was at the park ranger station with the public address system. Chatting with the rangers I was able to learn a lot of the behind the scenes action that transpired. What a great group of people. Seeing how these parks function I can feel some payback for the taxes I pay.

Arriving home about 3:30 I found my income tax return in the mail. Boy did I ever mess up!!!! That is another story!!