Day One- Saturday, December 28, 2013
Monday, January 6th, 2014Lexie Benton ’16
Major: Business Management
Hometown: Kingsley, MI
Today we finally arrived in Osprey, Florida where the weather was beautiful and sunny which was much different from what we have been experiencing over the last few weeks in Michigan. The Varsity Men and Women worked primarily in small boats today while Coach Bancheri gave us the coaching as well as a layout of the Inter Coastal Waterway. Afterward we went back to our super nice hotel to check in and hang out before going back and rigging the rest of the boats.
After rigging we started hunting for food around the hotel and after checking out a few place we found a bar and grill the ended up having awesome food. We ventured back to the room and hung out before going to bed to rest up for a long day on the water tomorrow.
Chris Doherty ’17
Major: Movement Science
Hometown: Traverse City, MI
After spending countless hours on a charter bus, we finally got to Florida. It was great to be able to get out and actually move around, and the warm sun and fresh air from the ocean didn’t hurt either. Rigging the boats in the Florida weather was a welcome change from the snowy Michigan we came from too, thankfully I didn’t get sunburn at all today.
We went straight from rigging into the water… The very salty, very crowded water. Personally I have never rowed on a crowded water way so it was a new experience for me. Still, it was nice to not row in the RTC and be out on the water in an actual boat. Coming off the water to a good lunch was almost better than rowing again, a big thank you to Debbie and Patrick Dolan and to all of the people helping the Laker Navy as we get to experience this great opportunity.
Good friends, good rowing, good food, what more could you want.
Justin Bartaway ’15
Major: Criminal Justice
Hometown: Trenton, MI
The team has a small group of people that is trusted enough to drive the team truck with the trailer. On this trip I was one of those people along with rower Nate Biolchini, and men’s novice coach Hugh McKeggan. We started the trip at Matt LeBlanc’s boat repair shop in Belleville, MI on Thursday early afternoon. After many hours of the three of us switching between driving, shotgunning, and sleeping we arrived at the University of Florida’s boathouse in the mid-afternoon where we dropped off two of our older wooden boats. After that we soon proceeded to the teams rowing location at Blackburn Point, where the Sarasota Scullers Club launch point is, in mid-afternoon. As soon as we arrived the long process of unloading and rigging started. After a few hours of rigging we had to stop due to no light, because of being well past sunset. We woke up early the next morning and continued to work on the boats. The rest of the team arrived around noon and we proceeded to have a great practice in small boats, and marked the beginning of an amazing winter training camp.
Elizabeth Wallace ’17
Major: Special Education
Hometown: Fenton, MI
We started our trip with a long bus ride down to Florida on the way to our winter training camp. Although no one really likes bus rides, we were all relieved when we finally arrived. We kicked off the start of winter training with a short practice to work out the kinks and clear the cobwebs. It felt so good to be back on the water and off the ergs. After practice, Debbie and Patrick Dolan provided all of us hungry rowers with lunch. We spent some time in the pool after we were all checked in and met back at the launch site to rig boats and prepare everything for the rest of the week. Free time followed the rigging and preparations, as we recuperated for another day on the water.