ROWING FOR PLEASURE

David Thomson wrote:

Hi Chris
I enjoy reading your blog very much being an occasional, recreational rower in Perth, Western Australia.
Recently, my wife and I were doing the tourist thing in China, which was an amazing experience, and as part of our trip we went on a brief boat ride through a town (Zhujiajiao) built on canals, near Shanghai. I took some video footage (on my iPhone) of the yuloh being used to propel the vessel and posted it on YouTube.
The power that could be put into the stroke  was very impressive as was the  simplicity of the rope attachment which angled the oar correctly in both directions.
Cheers, and I hope you have great summer.
David

Many thanks for that, David - it looks as though you had a great holiday!
There was much discussion of yulohs on the recent HBBR raid down the Thames. Al Law yulohed his Paradox virtually all the way, and said he improved his technique (and endurance) significantly in the process. Chris Waite used his autoyuloh device as well.
I have been thinking about building a sampan for use on Britain's canals. Rowing is not really feasible - the oars are too wide and you need to look forwards on a narrow windy waterway. I hadn't realised how manoeuvrable the sampan is with a yuloh.
A 20ft sampan with a cabin in the middle would be the greenest, quietest and healthiest vessel for touring the canals, I suspect.