How The Warthogs Got Their Name

OK, remember back in my old blog (rowinvane.blogspot.com) I mentioned that I row with a great bunch up north who call themselves the NIANTIC RIVER SCULLING WARTHOGS. NRSW for short. I would not make this up.

And so, the question: "How did the Warthogs get their name?" A related question" "What the hell is a warthog, anyway? All will be revealed. Within the bounds of decency, of course.

First, the 'hog who claims to have brought the name to the group, Dr Ian Williams writes:

"Many years ago, I was riding in Botswana. I am uncertain as to who my companions were or the exact location of our ride. The sun beat down on a dry land, recently scorched by bush fire but game was still plentiful. We stopped by a small lake. Pug-marks from lion were fresh in the cool lacustrine mud. I wandered away from my companions, anxious for solitude. The hot midday air reverberated with mind-bending noise from countless insects. My senses were a tip-toe. We had just encountered a lone bull elephant less than a mile back. Skirting the lake’s edge, a white blur shimmered, mirage-like, ahead of me. As I approached, it resolved itself into a warthog’s skull. The curled tusks were fine, worn underneath from digging but still bending like scimitars. I held it aloft, a latter-day Hamlet contemplating a swinish Yorrick. An icon of vanitas; beholding my fate in this bleached pig’s head. I determined that this noble beast should be immortalized for its brave service to me. And so, many miles away, upon a Connecticut river’s edge, the Niantic River Sculling Warthogs were conceived."

Others remember it differently: Dr Eric Larson and others have this to add:

"Um, I seem to recall a genesis in the marked similarities between the two groups; both being somewhat generous of belly and spindly of shank. This, of course, may be apocryphal, since I wasn't around at the christening (and if I had, the similarities would have not been so obvious.)"

They are good rowers, and are early backers of my weathervane venture: Row In Vane...see the site at row-in-vane.com. There are 4 docs in this group...phd's not the 'real' kind. The rest of us are pretty undistinguished.

So the pictures are of 1. 2 warthogs resting at the Lowrey Park Zoo in Tampa, 2. our club logo, and 3. the 'human' rowers who make up this group.

Ding!!

It's a well-know fact that sculling boats and stationary objects on the water have a mutual (and strong) attraction. Yesterday, pulling hard against the wind, concentrating on the stroke (and not on my rear-view mirror) heard a loud bang, the shell and I came to a shuddering stop and some blood was running down my arm.

What happened was: shell bow ball hit a channel marker Now, how can that be? The marker was all of 8" in diameter, one of only 10 marking the channel, and the 10 were widely spaced. What're the odds? A zillion to one? Not in a shell. Mutual attraction at work. The blood? Well, it was low tide, and barnacles were exposed for about 2 feet above the water. So the boat hit (chipping off a piece of gelcoat) and I kept on going, sliding down the marker till I stopped the boat with my elbow.

Who says this isn't a contact sport. The damage to both me and the shell isn't serious, though I will make some repairs to the shell and gave the scrapes on my arm some thorough attention, barnacles being a well-known source of infection.

Lesson? Duh...look behind you (or in the mirror) every few strokes.

Rowing Self-Portraits

More Company

Had visits from two dolphins while rowing today. Nothing as dramatic as what happened before, but pretty neat, nonetheless. Here are pics:

Change of Address

Something things happen, and for reasons that I truly don't understand, I'm unable to log in to my old blog, and so have started this new one. The format will be the same...the beauty and skill of rowing, rowing locales and images, a bit about my sculpture and my weathervanes, and general musing from an old guy who just loves to row. So you can look at the old blog at rowinvane.blogspot.com, and visit this new one often.

Big news! Craftsbury Sculling Center in Vermont will be flying one of my weathervanes this summer! They have chosen a mixed double with the Craftsbury logo and it will be mounted on the boathouse. I'm naturally pleased, and many rowers will now have a chance to see just what my Row In Vane weathervanes look like!