I have a special fondness for the Head of the Hooch regatta. It’s indirectly the reason we moved to Chattanooga.
We had the opportunity to relocate to any US city. By chance, I mentioned to a friend we were thinking about moving to Nashville. My friend, a rower, had just returned from Head of the Hooch. She replied, “If you’re thinking about living in Tennessee, you owe it to yourself to see Chattanooga.” So, had it not been for Head of the Hooch, we wouldn’t have come here.
Since moving here, I got to watch the Head of the Hooch last year from the Market and Walnut Street Bridges and along the waterfront. (These photos are from 2011.) Even knowing nothing about rowing, it was inspiring to watch.
This must-see event takes place the first weekend in November. Seeing hundreds of boats on the water is a sight worth going down to the riverfront for.
Between my friend’s influence and my excitement over the Hooch, I decided to learn how to row. Luckily, the Lookout Rowing Club offers affordable rowing classes most of the summer. This two-week class teaches safety and enough skills to get started in a single-person sculling boat, which is no easy feat.
A sculling boat is narrow. This might seem self-evident, but when I first realized the boat was narrower than I was, I was shocked. The seat is more-or-less on top of the boat. While I am not a physicist, I’m certain that making a single-person sculling boat remain upright defies quite a few laws of physics.
Fortunately, the Lookout Rowing Club has a calm and patient head coach who got us all successfully through the class and kept it fun. Having completed the class and joined the club, I can now row whenever weather conditions and my schedule allow.
I’m still wondering what it would be like to be one of those rowers looking so coordinated and athletic flying down the river, but I’ve taken several steps strokes toward finding out.
With great disappointment, I missed the 2012 Head of the Hooch. It was going to be the first time I participated in the regatta - as a volunteer helping on the launch ramp, that is. Unfortunately, a flu bug kept me at home. But, I’m planning for next year.