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Title: Cleaning the boats Post by: rb on June 10, 2009, 01:17:50 AM I just wanted to start a new thread dedicated to this.
It looks like the boats get dirty very quickly which causes them to be slower. For Alcan if some boats are going to be cleaned on June 11 and some June 13 and some June 18 then isn't that a problem? Seeing as how 20 days in the water caused boats to be 10 seconds slower, how much slower will a boat be after 7 days or 10 days? I hope all the boats will be cleaned on June 18. Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: NFW on June 10, 2009, 10:13:30 AM The potential boat slowing issue aside, having them cleaned all at once will probably be a logistical nightmare.
Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: shuynh28 on June 10, 2009, 10:32:45 AM Indeedy!
Our team cleans the boats but as you can imagine, sometimes it's kinda hard getting everyone together on non-practice days. So, we usually cut our practices short and clean the boats afterwards. Scrubbing those things also take a lot longer than you might think... having them all cleaned on one single day would be a pretty gruesome task. Anyone who wants to help is welcome to drop by though. We'll be at it again 8:30ish Thursday night and 12ish Saturday afternoon. Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: mandachan on June 10, 2009, 10:46:32 AM Often, I'm at the docks watching Red Fusion work their butts off to clean the boats for us (as fun as they make it seem) and they make sure they do a great job therefore have no time to clean all 12 boats at once! Also, Dragonzone lacks the sheer space to clean more than 3 boats at a time (Because of the OC-6's). And they need bodies to actually move the boats on and off the docks in the first place.
But for Alcan - an event with international recognition - perhaps Dragonzone could hire a few more teams and and use all 4 docks to clean the boats. That would be 3 boats each team, which is more doable than laying down the entire job on a single team. Mind you it will be hard getting the boats as clean, as fast as RF's job, but maybe they can help inspect them for standards! On Tuesday and Wednesday nights during peak season, over 200+ people are loading on/off the boats at the same time anyway. Dragonzone docks don't sink! It will still be hell with ~60+ people on the docks running around with dirty sponges but at least the boats will be a bit more fair this time around, and there will be far less headache that the Alcan coordinators have to deal with (reg. disputes etc.) Just a thought from my humble self. manda Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: LittleSchrodinger on June 10, 2009, 12:54:39 PM Mmm. For now, if the Gemini are all going to be cleaned on the same days, it's not as much issue as the one week difference between FCRCC BUKs and DZ BUKs' cleaning difference according to the posts in the other thread. Considering that BUKs are used in higher divisions where milliseconds make or break the race, that's going to be where most of the complaints will come from. :\ Can't it be at least coordinated so that both sides' BUKs get cleaned at the same day?
Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: coach on June 10, 2009, 10:34:34 PM I agree. There could be several seconds difference if one boat is cleaned a week before the other and that's huge. I understand it's a lot of work to clean them on the same day, but that's what it'll take to make it fair. A week in False Creek East will add maybe 3 or 4 seconds on to the time. That's a boat length.
Quote Anyone that got the red Gemini had a faster boat. And madcap solved the problem (thanks madcap!). The Gemini’s were cleaned 3 weeks ago, all but the red one were put back in the water. The red one was left on the dock for a couple of weeks to check out the scratched bottom. The other boats were already collecting a thin film. I didn’t realize that a few weeks was enough time, but like madcap says, in the warm weather it doesn’t take long. A thin film is enough to make a big difference. Mystery solved. Quote If you have ever cleaned a dragonboat that has been sitting in the False Creek waters for three weeks of solid sunshine and red tides, there is more than a "film" on the bottom. Try barnacles, and strange funny sand dollar looking creatures. Olde One can elaborate on the gunk and corruption collected on dragonboats in False Creek, as his team (Grandragons)has been doing this for ten years Quote With the hot weather we have had over the last three weeks, the growth on the Geminis (and the BUK's) will grow very fast. Quote the red Gemini in Lane 2 was about 10 seconds faster than the others in the regatta Quote The 3 FCRCC BuKs will be cleaned on June 18 by the Grandragons. They were last cleaned on the Thursday before the Regatta. Quote Red Fusion will be cleaning the boats over the next week. The BuKs will be tackled before the weekend, while the Gems will be handled on Saturday afternoon. I don't mean to sound ungrateful Red Fusion, but cleaning them this week and this weekend is still 7 to 10 days away from racing and that's going to be unfair if other boats were cleaned 2 days before. I don't think many people realized this fact until this past regatta. Now we know better. Sorry, I'm sure the logistics are difficult, but it's a reality. Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: Swordfish on June 10, 2009, 11:07:18 PM Anything we can do to help?
Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: deedub on June 10, 2009, 11:16:28 PM Dragon Zone has instructed Red Fusion to clean all boats before Wednesday, June 17. It will not be possible to clean the BuKs immediately prior to race weekend. It is their decision and not ours.
With that in mind, we will leave the BuKs until Tuesday evening. Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: mandachan on June 11, 2009, 12:21:40 PM Deedub,
I spoke to Sylvia. Our team will very willingly volunteer our time this weekend. Fusions help each other out ;) See you on Saturday! Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: Little on June 14, 2009, 12:17:53 AM Boat cleaning on Saturdays only?
Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: deedub on June 14, 2009, 01:06:35 AM All Geminis at Dragon Zone were cleaned on Saturday afternoon.
Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: shuynh28 on June 14, 2009, 09:30:40 AM Thanks again to Banana Fusion for their help!
You guys had fun doodie-scraping, right? Right? Yeeeeeah, you know you did ;) Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: Little on June 16, 2009, 12:49:18 PM Thanks ...Kudos to banana fusion and red fusion!
That's really cool of your team to volunteer your time to DZ. How often does DZ clean boats? I figured DZ might need a few extra helpers for the next clean up. How can we help next time? Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: mandachan on June 16, 2009, 11:02:27 PM Yeah no problem! It was advantageous to us as well.
a boat of starving students who always have to worry about where their next meal is coming from... well that 6-16 was a seafood buffet! What better place to find a meal than on the underside of a Dragonzone boat? Delicious. :x Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: mustbecrazy on June 16, 2009, 11:44:35 PM Yum! I'll have seconds! :lol:
Title: Spy Photos Taken today.....Last minute boat cleaning! Post by: Lethal Weapon on June 19, 2009, 12:11:54 PM Got some "secret" spy photos today of Fetival Staff cleaning the WE BUKS!
Let the Races begin! Who says that the powers that be do not read the forums! (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/Lethal_Weapon/IMG_1970Large.jpg) (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/Lethal_Weapon/IMG_1972Large.jpg) (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/Lethal_Weapon/IMG_1977Large.jpg) (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/Lethal_Weapon/IMG_1984Large.jpg) Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: rmontagna on June 19, 2009, 06:48:56 PM Don't worry, when we cleaned the 3 BUK's on June 18 at False Creek, we opened the plugs and filled the boats with water just to even things up.
Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: Lethal Weapon on June 19, 2009, 09:15:00 PM :D
Good! These boats were from Water's Edge.... Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: deedub on June 20, 2009, 04:47:16 PM Just an observation...
Gemini #6 (the green one) was used instead of the dragonzone one. We noticed that it consistently had slower times than the other gems. I also noticed that it was from FCRCC. When was this boat cleaned? Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: madcap on June 20, 2009, 05:17:25 PM Right: We paddled the Green Gemini in our last race and it is a dog. Had our slowest time all day. Is the Green Gemini the new Barney?
Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: Olde One on June 20, 2009, 05:56:55 PM The FCRCC Gemini's were not cleaned by the Grandragons immediately prior to this Festival as we were specifically told that the FCRCC Geminis would not be used.
We did clean them on June 8 as part of our monthly cleaning adventure. Like madcap and deedub, we too, got to use #6 Gemini and came last in our heat. But then, maybe we just had a crappy race. Title: Re: Cleaning the boats Post by: deedub on June 20, 2009, 06:00:37 PM Thanks for the info, Olde One. I'm sure you guys did a great job, but I wonder why the Alcan folks decided to use an FCRCC Gem instead of the DZ one.
All of the DZ Gems were given a good wipe on Thursday evening. |