This page is really a work in progress and lists some of the useful links for participants in the OARCA Coastal Rowing Novice program. I will try to keep this page up-to-date.
Safety
The essential place to start is with Transport Canada’s regulations. The links to the Transport Canada guides are available on the OARCA Knowledge page. The basic safety equipment requirements for when a “rowing shell is not attended by a safety craft” are as follows:
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- a personal flotation device or life jacket of an appropriate size for each person on board;
- a sound-signalling device; and
- a watertight flashlight, if the [rowing shell] is operated after sunset or before sunrise or in periods of restricted visibility.
Check out the OARCA Speaker Series workshop on Cold Water. Very important when rowing in our cold, coastal waters.
OARCA’s various safety policies (e.g. Emergency Action Plan, Safe Sport Policy and Tulista Safety Zones) are all available on the OARCA Documents page. Also on the documents page is an “Equipment” section giving details on managing equipment at Tulista. All are very important so be sure to read through the various documents.
Although we hope it never happens, if you have to self-rescue it is good to know what to do. Have a look at videos from the OARCA practice pool session to see how to get back into a solo and a double.
Tides & Currents and Weather
The “Useful Links” page for British Columbia has lots of links for more details on both Tides and Currents as well as the weather. You can also listen to OARCA’s webinar on Tides and Currents through the Speaker Series link off the Knowledge menu.
For those of you doing the Novice program at Tulista, the best link for tides is the one for Sidney.
Terminology and Commands
Rowing Canada Aviron has put out two resource documents for Learn to Row participants. Although you are now that step above (give yourself a pat on the back!), the documents have a lot of good information in them. You can see them via the following links:
Checklist
I put together a checklist of topics that we’ll start to work on together. As you’ll see, the list is long but you certainly are NOT expected to know them all after a month. Yikes! It is just a guide to work toward. Also, it is a quickly assembled draft so may be updated at most any time. I’ll be sure to keep you informed as to any changes.
OARCA Novice Program Checklist