We operate in a unique environment compared to many of the rowing clubs in the northwest and around the country. Like any club, we need to lean into our strengths, find ways to address or maneuver around our weaknesses, and keep an eye out for opportunities and threats. One of the great strengths we have in the citizens of Clallam County and the nationwide rowing community is that both groups have a sense of community that wants to see everyone thrive. Regardless of your location or rowing background, there is a way you can help.
Citizen of Clallam County with no rowing background
First of all, this description matches most of our club membership until they started rowing with us. For most of them, that started within the last year. So if rowing intrigues you but you feel uneasy about trying a new sport—don’t be. Our equipment is stable and easy to learn on, our members are welcoming and empathetic because they were in your shoes quite recently, our coach is patient and helpful, our costs are reasonable, and our club wants to grow.
With all of that said, if you want to help but don’t want to row, get in touch with us anyway and we can match your interests with our needs. A very simple but very necessary step for our continued growth and success is getting the word out that rowing exists in Clallam County. Word of mouth is our best form of advertising.
We host one big rowing event in the spring, summer, and fall. Those all take a multitude of volunteers planning and promoting the event, providing food, helping with on-water and off-water setup, safety, and takedown, helping with registration, parking, and any number of jobs typical of any large event. If you are a Port Angeles High School student, we will gladly make sure you receive community service hours for your effort. Also, if you belong to a community group that wants to help us as a fundraiser for your group, let us know and we will try to make that happen. Furthermore, we are seeking sponsorship for each of our events. If your company would like to sponsor any of our events at any level, get in touch with us. We would love the support and will do our best to make sure everyone knows how helpful you have been.
Our rowing equipment and our boathouse need to be maintained. Particularly if you have skill repairing fiberglass, bicycles, or as a contractor, let us know. (Bicycles and rowing ergometers both operate similarly. However, the most common maintenance item on our ergometers is that the threads strip where the leg meets the chassis. If you can fix this or know someone who can, let us know.)
Citizen of Clallam County with a rowing background
As far as we can tell, there are not a lot of you out there but if we are wrong, check in with us. Even if that’s all you want to do, we would love to know who you are, where you rowed, and what brought you to our area or if you grew up here. If rowing is a back-burner item for you, but you would be into it if there was a group of experienced rowers to row with, we have to know who the experienced rowers are before that plan can work. Probably in 2025 we are going to have a group of adults competing in the masters category in northwest regattas, and definitely our trailer is going to those regattas regardless, because our juniors are competing.
USRowing is revamping its referee program, allowing considerable flexibility in the level of commitment required. We are hosting events in spring, summer, and fall, and we would love to be able to use local referees to meet most of that need. You probably can do this and never leave the Peninsula, and also not fill roles you don’t feel comfortable doing. There is some virtual training required but it is not too hard or exhaustive.
Also if you have rowing experience but don’t want to row yourself, consider becoming a coach. Any help at any level would be helpful. That could include helping elementary rowers get the boats into the water and them into the boats, or coaching a group of indoor rowers while another group is out on the water, or being out on the water in your own coaching launch. New for 2025, all coaches need to have at least a Level I certification with USRowing. We will help you get that.
We encourage anyone who wants to keep abreast of rowing on the Olympic Peninsula to become a Community Member. We also have big goals and need a community to fulfill them, so whether you want to contribute to our scholarship program to help make rowing accessible to everyone, help us keep our equipment well-maintained and competitive, make it possible for a boat that qualifies for Nationals to actually compete there, or add to our boathouse foundation fund, you will be helping to make rowing thrive on the Olympic Peninsula.
Existing rower seeking to make Coastal Rowing blossom in the Northwest and beyond.
We’re making it happen. In both 2023 and 2024, our Port Angeles Coastal Regatta was the only Beach Sprint regatta in the entire United States that was listed on Regatta Central and wasn’t an elite-level qualifier for an international competition. This new mode of the sport, which is going to be in the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, needs a giant injection of enthusiasm, participants, and grass-roots support between now and then. Port Angeles is a perfect place for coastal rowing to thrive and has a perfect venue for this grassroots-level participation. We are easy to get to from greater Victoria where the 2018 Coastal Rowing World Championships were held, and also easy to get to from Seattle, aka “Rowtown USA.” Our boats have been used to spread the coastal rowing love in Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland, and will probably continue to do so.
As an existing rower no matter where you are, the best way you can help coastal rowing thrive in the northwest is to come to our events. Beach Sprint is fun and exciting to watch! In Port Angeles, the City Pier parallels the racecourse out to the second turn buoy. The beach is literally in the front yard of the Red Lion Hotel, which is right downtown within walking distance of a multitude of shops and restaurants, a free bus to mile-high Hurricane Ridge (1600 m) and other areas in Olympic National Park, and the ferry terminal to Victoria BC. Also, for those able to travel to the Olympic Peninsula with a coastal boat on their car, our Beach Sprint event is just scratching the surface of the great coastal rowing possibilities on the Olympic Peninsula. Take your boat to Crescent Beach, Clallam Bay, or Neah Bay for some coastal conditions with some surf, or Lake Crescent to row in crystal-clear water surrounded by mountains cloaked in old growth forests protected by Olympic National Park. If you do come, let us know. Every year we apply for Lodging Tax Advisory Committee grants, so every person that comes to the Olympic Peninsula for its coastal rowing helps strengthen our applications for these grants, but only if we know you came.
Citizen of Clallam County with no rowing background
First of all, this description matches most of our club membership until they started rowing with us. For most of them, that started within the last year. So if rowing intrigues you but you feel uneasy about trying a new sport—don’t be. Our equipment is stable and easy to learn on, our members are welcoming and empathetic because they were in your shoes quite recently, our coach is patient and helpful, our costs are reasonable, and our club wants to grow.
With all of that said, if you want to help but don’t want to row, get in touch with us anyway and we can match your interests with our needs. A very simple but very necessary step for our continued growth and success is getting the word out that rowing exists in Clallam County. Word of mouth is our best form of advertising.
We host one big rowing event in the spring, summer, and fall. Those all take a multitude of volunteers planning and promoting the event, providing food, helping with on-water and off-water setup, safety, and takedown, helping with registration, parking, and any number of jobs typical of any large event. If you are a Port Angeles High School student, we will gladly make sure you receive community service hours for your effort. Also, if you belong to a community group that wants to help us as a fundraiser for your group, let us know and we will try to make that happen. Furthermore, we are seeking sponsorship for each of our events. If your company would like to sponsor any of our events at any level, get in touch with us. We would love the support and will do our best to make sure everyone knows how helpful you have been.
Our rowing equipment and our boathouse need to be maintained. Particularly if you have skill repairing fiberglass, bicycles, or as a contractor, let us know. (Bicycles and rowing ergometers both operate similarly. However, the most common maintenance item on our ergometers is that the threads strip where the leg meets the chassis. If you can fix this or know someone who can, let us know.)
Citizen of Clallam County with a rowing background
As far as we can tell, there are not a lot of you out there but if we are wrong, check in with us. Even if that’s all you want to do, we would love to know who you are, where you rowed, and what brought you to our area or if you grew up here. If rowing is a back-burner item for you, but you would be into it if there was a group of experienced rowers to row with, we have to know who the experienced rowers are before that plan can work. Probably in 2025 we are going to have a group of adults competing in the masters category in northwest regattas, and definitely our trailer is going to those regattas regardless, because our juniors are competing.
USRowing is revamping its referee program, allowing considerable flexibility in the level of commitment required. We are hosting events in spring, summer, and fall, and we would love to be able to use local referees to meet most of that need. You probably can do this and never leave the Peninsula, and also not fill roles you don’t feel comfortable doing. There is some virtual training required but it is not too hard or exhaustive.
Also if you have rowing experience but don’t want to row yourself, consider becoming a coach. Any help at any level would be helpful. That could include helping elementary rowers get the boats into the water and them into the boats, or coaching a group of indoor rowers while another group is out on the water, or being out on the water in your own coaching launch. New for 2025, all coaches need to have at least a Level I certification with USRowing. We will help you get that.
We encourage anyone who wants to keep abreast of rowing on the Olympic Peninsula to become a Community Member. We also have big goals and need a community to fulfill them, so whether you want to contribute to our scholarship program to help make rowing accessible to everyone, help us keep our equipment well-maintained and competitive, make it possible for a boat that qualifies for Nationals to actually compete there, or add to our boathouse foundation fund, you will be helping to make rowing thrive on the Olympic Peninsula.
Existing rower seeking to make Coastal Rowing blossom in the Northwest and beyond.
We’re making it happen. In both 2023 and 2024, our Port Angeles Coastal Regatta was the only Beach Sprint regatta in the entire United States that was listed on Regatta Central and wasn’t an elite-level qualifier for an international competition. This new mode of the sport, which is going to be in the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, needs a giant injection of enthusiasm, participants, and grass-roots support between now and then. Port Angeles is a perfect place for coastal rowing to thrive and has a perfect venue for this grassroots-level participation. We are easy to get to from greater Victoria where the 2018 Coastal Rowing World Championships were held, and also easy to get to from Seattle, aka “Rowtown USA.” Our boats have been used to spread the coastal rowing love in Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland, and will probably continue to do so.
As an existing rower no matter where you are, the best way you can help coastal rowing thrive in the northwest is to come to our events. Beach Sprint is fun and exciting to watch! In Port Angeles, the City Pier parallels the racecourse out to the second turn buoy. The beach is literally in the front yard of the Red Lion Hotel, which is right downtown within walking distance of a multitude of shops and restaurants, a free bus to mile-high Hurricane Ridge (1600 m) and other areas in Olympic National Park, and the ferry terminal to Victoria BC. Also, for those able to travel to the Olympic Peninsula with a coastal boat on their car, our Beach Sprint event is just scratching the surface of the great coastal rowing possibilities on the Olympic Peninsula. Take your boat to Crescent Beach, Clallam Bay, or Neah Bay for some coastal conditions with some surf, or Lake Crescent to row in crystal-clear water surrounded by mountains cloaked in old growth forests protected by Olympic National Park. If you do come, let us know. Every year we apply for Lodging Tax Advisory Committee grants, so every person that comes to the Olympic Peninsula for its coastal rowing helps strengthen our applications for these grants, but only if we know you came.