The story continues

... for members of Burr House, anyway, at http://burrhouseblog.blogspot.com/

Well done

We are all now back in England. I'd just like to say what a pleasure the whole trip was - 14 enthusiastic rowers and coxes, inspiring Boat Club staff (Sally, Jason and Austen) and wonderfully generous hosts in San Francisco. I learnt a lot about rowing, determination and commitment, as well as having fun seeing new places and meeting new people.

I'm deeply priviliged to have been asked to go on the tour - huge thanks to all concerned.

Charly Lowndes

University of California, Santa Barbara

The UCSB crew had an injury, and were fortunate enough to pick up an international rower - Jack Thompson. Their result was creditable and they were full of praise for their number 2 - they said "it's all down to Jack that we did so well"

Last Day

Our last full day in the USA: the beach, surf boards, sea kayaking, sailing, the San Diego Zoo.

Return Flight

We've had a good rest today, with isolated outbreaks of academic work. We start the return journey tomorrow, and expect to be at London Heathrow, Terminal 3, landing at 1215 on Tuesday.

United Airlines' web page has a flight status link, go to Services and Information, enter date 4/7/2008 and flight number 948.

Full results of all three heats

Disappointment

Our time of 6 min 35.63 was not enough to beat the other crews - the heat was won in 6 min 09 by Newport, and our friends from St Ignatius came in third, but just failed to qualify for tomorrow's final. Shiplake were in the pack for much of the race and can be proud of the achievement in what is said to be the toughest heat.

Less than an hour

The crew are on the water. Those of us watching can only wait.

All preparations are complete.

The Finish Line

This is the place of dreams.

Pasta Party

Friday evening: pasta for several hundred in the big tent by the finish line. Ross McKellar got his entry stamp on his forehead, for luck.

Final preparations

The crew have now done their final water session before Saturday's race, with a good stretch on land. This evening, visualisation, pasta and sleep.

Mission Bay lake

We know the Thames is beautiful. So is Mission Bay :)

Supper by the lake

We had a barbecue by the lake - last red meat before the race. The last of the lighter fuel gave us a blaze to signal the end of the evening.

Sally visualises

What is life ... why are we here ? What does it all mean ?

Challenging moment

Alex Kolbl enjoyed his Thai curry. He enjoyed it so much that he asked for the hottest chile they had. They brought him some. Here, he desperately eats some rice to try to reduce the burning sensation.

Mission Bay: the coaches speak

The warmth of San Diego has brought out some fine technique amongst the Shiplake oarsmen whose bladework surpassed other crews from the USA, say Sally and Jason. The shocking conditions on the Thames this winter formed a good preparation for the seawater and choppy, windy conditions in Mission Bay.

The application of the crew to the task facing them on Saturay has been exemplary, said Jason - as has their application of suncream, added a slightly burnt Sally.

Austen Dorey was happy with the 60 hp launch hired for coaching, but has asked for the 70 hp for tomorrow Although the speed limit is 5 mph.

We are hugely grateful to Tom O'Connell, senior coach at St Ignatius, who not only lent us the eight, but also towed it all the way down to San Diego. It was a good moment to get it rigged and into the water. Launching here is a matter of walking out into the sea.

Safe in San Diego

The team is now in San Diego, ready to start final race preparations for Saturday's San Diego Crew Classic.
Our crew:
Bow - Charlie Ingham-Clark
2 - Jamie Albon
3 - Alexander Winslade
4 - James Briggs
5 - Ross McKellar
6 -Adam Middleton
7 - Jack Thompson
Stroke - James Hanson
Cox'n - Joseph Holmes

Subs - Alexander Kolbl, Jack Harvard-Taylor

Reserves - James Goddard,Toby Frossel, Freddie Hunting (Cox'n)

Live feeds of the races are available on http://www.crewclassic.org.

The schedule:

Mens Junior A William Robinson Memorial Cup

11:20

Newport AC

St. Ignatius

Shiplake

Lake Union

This is West Coast time, so 19:20 British Summer Time

Work, and work

Today included a chance to get some academic work done, with a morning set aside for revision. Many thanks to Nanette and Craig Gordon who have kept their doors open all week and provided a base for lifts to host families; and this morning their dining table was covered with books and laptops while Nanette provided bagels, toast, more bagels, scrambled eggs, coffee, more bagels...

The afternoon saw the final seat races and the boys have been told about the crew selection for the San Diego Crew Classic. A crew list will be posted to the blog shortly.

We ended the day with a great meal at Nick's Crispy Tacos on Polk and Broadway, and many thanks to Brit Hahn for feeding us all, and providing a chance to get the Shiplake and SI rowers together before we leave for San Diego in the morning. Shiplake will be training for the last time at Lake Merced at 0630 - and once again a million thanks to all the drivers for getting our team to the right places on time.

We very much hope to see SI families in San Diego, where we will be staying at the Days Inn, Mission Bay.

Alcatraz

We turned to tourism this afternoon and visited Alcatraz - "a fascinating tour, with a good audio guide and stunning visibility"

Seat racing

This morning's training saw more seat racing and faster times over the 1500m course at Lake Merced. Coaches Jason and Sally (driven expertly by Austen Dorey) are close to announcing the crew for the San Diego Crew Classic.

The Blogger

The Harding Park golf club offers not only a good breakfast but also a fee wifi hotspot - perfect for early morning blogging.

Schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday

Shiplake to SI at 8:00 drop in front of school near gym. (SI VARSITY/JV PRACTICE AT 5:30 A.M. - Shiplake staff will meet any Shiplake boys there soon after 5.30 and sort things out) PLEASE COORDINATE RIDES IF NEEDED. Call Susanne McEvoy for rides from the south and Susan Gerahty for rides from Marin - although I think the arrangements were all sorted at the In and Out on Monday evening.

They will go off to breakfast and then return to the Gordon house for study time. 2:30 the boys will go back to Lake Merced.

OPTIONAL DINNER: SHIPLAKE ROWERS WILL BE PICKED UP BY THEIR VANS AT LAKE MERCED AND TRANSPORTED TO NICK'S. If you don't want your boy going, please pick him up at Lake Merced after their afternoon row (5:30) DINNER AT 6:00 - Brit Hahn has invited all the boys to have a final dinner at Nick's Crispy Tacos inside Rouge at Polk and Broadway, immediately following practice. This will be rather quick and a fun way to send the boys off to San Diego. OPTIONAL should be over by 7:00-7:30!!

WEDNESDAY: Shiplake to LAKE MERCED at 5:30 A.M. with SI Varsity/JV teams for FINAL DROP with ALL THEIR GEAR.

Apologies again for delays on Monday, and once again a million thanks for all the rides.
Charly

Lunch in Sausalito

Today's training included a 25 km bike ride to Sausalito and back. The boys managed to find up-market restaurants for their three-course meals while Sally and the rest of the staff bought sandwiches in a deli to eat on the seashore. Cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge was a highlight for us all.

Coaching

The team is very conscious of the experience and skill of the two coaches, Sally Unsworth and Jason Foster - who have worked together on development of national oarsmen for the Great Britain squad.

New Friends

One important job for a cox is to meet representatives of other clubs. Freddie Hunting takes this seriously.

Keeping clean

The hot tub is a part of being in California

Calories

We have enjoyed two meals now at Louie's, with the amazing view of the Pacific Ocean and the excellent clam chowder and sandwiches.

Hard training

We are getting into a routine of early starts at Lake Merced, and training is going well.
This afternoon we cheered on our wonderful hosts from St Ignatius as many of their crews won races with excellent times at the Windermere event at Redwood Shores.

Lake Merced

More schedule details

After a good outing and some tuning of riggers on Thursday, the schedule is firming up. Water training every morning at 0700 at Lake Merced.
Then:
Friday 28 Mar - shopping, following by land fitness (running) in the Presidio Park area (end 5 pm)
Sat 29 Mar - cheering on St Ignatius at their race in the Windermere classic. Evening: team meal in Chinatown.
Sun 30 Mar - 26 km cycle expedition to Sausalito and Tiburon.
Mon 31 Mar - boat trip and tour of Alcatraz
Tue 1 April - free time. Perhaps also the St Stupid's Day Parade
Then on Wednesday we move to San Diego.

At the lake

First morning: sunny, cool (46 F).

The Vikings have landed

We had a smooth journey from Heathrow to San Francisco, picked up our hire cars and found our way to the park beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, through the jams caused by a rare 9-vehicle crash on the bridge itself. We smelt the fresh sea air, and enjoyed a walk after our ten hour flight.
Welcomed by the Gordon family, the boys all met their host families over supper and went off to counteract the timelag.

Training starts at Lake Merced at 0630 Thursday.

Tour schedule - in outline (and may be updated)

Date	Morning	Afternoon	Evening	Comment
Wed 26 Mar	Arr LHR by 0645 for UA 955 Checkin 0705 Dep 0905	Arr San Francisco 1315	Welcome Reception
Thu 27 Mar	0630-1000 Rowing	Sightseeing	Early night
Fri 28 Mar	0630-1000 Rowing	Sightseeing	Early night
Sat 29 Mar	Lie in	1200 Windermere Collegiate classic - Redwood shores (watch)	SCBC Supper
Sun 30 Mar	Lie in	Mystery Tour
Mon 31 Mar	0600 Ergos at St Ig	1500 Rowing
Tue 1 Apr	Shopping	1500 Rowing
Wed 2 Apr	0530 Rowing	To San Diego UA 955 Checkin 1355 Dep 1555	Arr 1716
Thu 3 Apr
Fri 4 Apr
Sat 5 Apr	San Diego Crew Classic
Sun 6 Apr	San Diego Crew Classic		Last Supper
Mon 7 Apr	Lie-in. Pack. To airport for 1100.	UA 948 Checkin 1157 Dep 1357	Via Denver – 3 hour stopover Arr 1716; checkin 1820 Dep 2020
Tue 8 Apr	Arrive LHR 1215

Luggage

Remember:
Carry-on baggage
For travel worldwide on United Airlines, you may carry on one bag and one personal item such as a purse, briefcase, or laptop computer.
A carry-on bag must fit under your seat or in the overhead bin.
Carry-on bag dimensions should not be more than 9" x 14" x 22" (length + width + height) or 45 linear inches (the length, height and width added together)

NO LIQUIDS CAN BE CARRIED ON UNLESS IN VERY SMALL BOTTLES

Carry-on baggage restrictions for flights from/within the U.S., the European Union and Japan
Liquids, gels and/or aerosols are permitted through security checkpoints. Items must fit in one clear, re-sealable quart or liter-sized plastic bag, in containers of 3 oz/100 ml or less. In the European Union, items must fit in one clear, re-sealable liter-sized plastic bag, in containers of 100 ml/3 oz or less.

Welcome

Shiplake College Boat Club will train in San Francisco, thank to St Ignatius College Prep School, and then compete in the San Diego Crew Classic, in April 2008.