PDRacer Speed Over Distance (by rowing or pedal) Record

PD World Speed Over Distance by Paddle or Pedal
By Tim Cleary
2-24-07 record 2.21 mph over 20.2 miles
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By the time I drove the 40 miles to Lake Hartwell and set up the Mary E, it was after 9 am. I rowed 4 miles and then trouble, the heads of two screws on the starboard side oar socket sheered away and it was too loose to use the oar. So I drifted while I jury- rigged it, the repair seemed to work well enough, and I keep on rowing.

At approximately 5 hours and 11 miles I stopped for a late lunch and noticed the remaining two screws on the starboard oar socket had become loose. I tightened them and borrowed screws from a halyard cleat to put into the socket as well, hoping it would hold for the rest of the day.

Saturday was a beautiful day with light winds in the morning and calm during the afternoon. I went north past the Route 24 bridge, keeping close to the shoreline, then reversed course and went south, past my launch point, and continued for a few hours before turning around. The calm in the afternoon helped me to pick up the pace a bit.

After 8.5 hours I'd returned to the launch ramp just as the sun was touching the horizon, but had gone only 18.7 miles. Even though I'd have to load the boat in the dark, I decided to push on until I reached 20 miles. I did laps around a cove near the ramp and completed 20.2 miles in 9 hrs 9 min (2.2 mph). The moving time was 8 hrs 39 min for an average speed of 2.3 mph. I did end up loading the boat in the dark.

Tim C.

On the beach getting ready to start.

After 1 hour, the distance is 2.31 miles.

Two screws on the starboard side oar socket sheered away and it was too loose to use the oar. So I tied off the oar lock with the painter for support.

After 8 hours, the distance is 18.7 miles and the sun is setting.

Went the extra 1.5 miles to get 20.2 total miles, although it was dark. In this photo the diplay face of the GPS reflected the flash directly back, so the GPS is a ghostly white and some erie blue figures dance around the Mary E. It's weird, which is why I included it, but it's not much use for reporting the final numbers.

This photo did get the numbers, 20.2 miles in total time (including stops) of 9 hours 9 minutes for an average speed for the day of 2.21 mph.

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