REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: On the water with the dragon boats
Speaking to Sheila Roley one thing becomes clear: she’s at home on the water. She’s in her 14th year of dragon boat racing, and her third with the team she helped start: the North Coast Paddling Club. According to Roley, the club has a roster of 60 with a wait list of 23, but only two boats with a crew of 22 between them.
“We wish we could accommodate everyone,” said Roley. When asked if I wanted to join the club for their Monday evening practice, I was curious. I had to find out what got people so excited for this sport.
Though I was warned. “It’s quite a workout,” said Roley. The team practices three times per week starting in April on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday in preparation for their four races during the season, including their biggest one at the Portland Dragon Boat Festival in September.
I first met up with most of the team in the parking lot of the Barbey Maritime Center. Something they quickly pointed out was my lack of adequate clothing. I had dressed in a more athletic style, ignorantly thinking that the work of paddling would adequately warm me up.
Fortunately, I was loaned a jacket by one of the teammates, a fashionable cardigan rather than everybody else’s hardshell jackets. Then, I was told one thing that I would quickly learn firsthand. “Everybody’s happy to be on the boat,” said Lisa Heigh.
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