row2k Features
Snowman - Umpiring the 2009 Head Of The Charles
October 4, 2024
Tom Mannle

The Umpires work in teams of USRowing Referees and local volunteers, one team for each of 17 or so stations along the course, and lead by a Lead Umpire. With the exception of a launch anchored off Magazine Beach, the stations are on shore or on bridges overlooking the course. But for some reason in 2009 for Sunday racing I was assigned to a River Control launch in the middle of the Charles opposite the Riverside Boat Club, helping to keep apart the crews racing upstream from the crews heading downstream to the Start, and facilitating the return of Riverside crews across the course to the boathouse after their races.

It turned out to be the worst day I've spent on the water - ever.

Referees are acutely aware of the potential for bad weather during our working hours and I assiduously monitored the weekend forecast before heading down to the regatta on Friday. I knew what my assignments were going to be, and what the weather was looking like for Saturday and Sunday; I came prepared with extra gear-dry clothes, outerwear, etc.-several sets. On Sunday I used everything I had.

The morning started out with temperatures in the high 40's and a light drizzle; my companions were a driver for the large launch, and a young volunteer who was in a local law school after being a collegiate coxswain as I recall. Over the course of the morning the rain picked up in intensity and the temperature started dropping; the young coxswain had the foresight to bring along her "flotation suit" which many of us have, a full body puffy suit designed to enable floating if one is dumped in the water unexpectedly and is also used by the slight of stature and faint of heart to keep warm. (I had a suit, but rarely wore it and recently gave it away to a newly-licensed Assistant). What she didn't know was that although the suit looked waterproof from the shiny outside, it really...wasn't, and with enough exposure to the elements, like Gore-Tex, it would begin to absorb moisture.

Miserable does not begin to approach an adequate description of my day. By 11:30 or so after four hours out there, the driver seemed OK but the coxswain was shivering almost uncontrollably and had that telltale vacant stare. Enough! We headed into Riverside for a break. We got a few looks from the inhabitants, who didn't understand what we were doing there; we found a quiet corner, hustled some more or less hot soup, and attempted to dry off and wring out. I changed into my second set of under- and outer-gear and found a large trash bag to stow my sopping initial layer. Then, once more unto the breach, dear friends!

I think we lasted once more until 2:30 or 3:00 PM and repeated the boathouse drill...we started heading back out at 3:30 an hour before the last race and... it was SNOWING!!

All I could do was stand on the dock, look up, and say, "Really??"

The trash bag was very heavy when I met Leah and her crew from the Start, who mercifully picked me up across Memorial Drive headed back to CBC.

Thinking about it, I'm still not warm; it was like the first day at Dad Vails in 2008, only worse. But on Saturday I was warm and in the sun at Start the BU Boathouse so I can't complain, turnabout is fair play...God divides. All the rowers who came from far and away got their races in and no one was hurt-what it's all about. All of the officials who were there will survive as well, and we'll be able to dine out on the stories for a while ("I rowed in the SNOW!", "the worst day I've spent on the water"). So not all bad.

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