Rowing On Lake Tahoe—Then and Now
by Jerome Evans
Lake Tahoe is not an ideal body of water for rowing. By midmorning on many days, a west (or north, or south) wind has come up, producing a chop that soon turns to small whitecaps. Even on days when the water remains flat, power boats, large and small, leave heavy wakes rolling in all directions.
Rowers, especially those in racing sculls, prize undisturbed water that is as fl at as a sheet of glass. That is why we get up early in the morning on days when light winds are forecast and are on the water by sunrise, hoping to get in a good row before water skiers, who also like smooth water, are out in numbers.
But when conditions are right, there is absolutely no better place to be than on Lake Tahoe in a single scull. In late winter on the South Shore, Monument and Freel peaks dominate the horizon under a pale blue sky crosshatched with contrails. Mount Tallac sprawls majestically; columns of dark forest ascend its ridges, the mountain's bowls and chutes still deep in snow. In the summer, the water mirrors the blue sky while gulls and geese, and an occasional osprey or bald eagle, circle overhead. Often a pair of mallards may be seen knifing low across the water in close formation like a pair of Fallon's finest.
On a really fine morning, Levon Touryan, owner of Lake Tahoe Pizza on the South Shore, likes to row his openwater single from Camp Richardson into Emerald Bay and around Fannette Island and back, or up the West Shore as far as Meeks Bay. Lake Tahoe Community College instructor Lynn Wright rows from Tahoe Keys along the beach to Camp Richardson and back. Others of us row east from Camp Richardson past Baldwin Beach to Cascade Creek and Eagle Point. On the North Shore, architect Elise Fett sculls along Kings Beach or the oftenplacid waters of Crystal Bay.
EARLY ROWERS
Rowing is not new to Tahoe. Visitors to Pine Lodge (Ehrman Mansion) on the West Shore who venture down to the boathouse will fi nd two fi ne old craft fi tted for serious sculling. One, built by Racine Boat of Racine, Wisconsin in 1904, is equipped with double oarlocks, adjustable footboards and a tiller. The other, made by A.L. Rodgers of Alameda, California, is an early, 27-foot-long, double-racing scull of lapstrake (overlapping plank) construction. According to Bill Lindstrom, a State Parks interpretive specialist, the fi rst originally belonged to the Heller family, and later passed through the hands of the Hellman and Mandell families before being donated to the state. The other belonged to Claude Lazard, Ehrman's son-in-law. There is a similar boat at Thunderbird Lodge that likely belonged to George Whittell. Little is known about when or where these boats were used, but is a safe bet that sometime during this period there was a challenge race or two.
During the 1940s and early 1950s, Thunderbird Lodge caretaker admiral John Crenshaw, who had rowed at Harvard as an undergraduate, was often seen out on The Lake in a racing scull during summer months, according to the Tahoe Tattler. The old oars are still there, but, unfortunately, the scull itself vanished some years ago.
At one time, many conventional rowboats plied The Lake as well. According to Tahoe's maritime historian, Carol Van Etten, the lakeside resorts all kept small fl eets of rowboats for their guests and would tow a string of boaters out to the best fi shing grounds, returning for them later in the day. The Gatekeeper's Museum in Tahoe City has several old photos of men and women out on The Lake in rowboats, dressed, of course, as if they were off to a party rather than a rendezvous with some of Tahoe's deeprunning lake trout.
NORTH TAHOE REGATTA
Competitive rowing on The Lake got its start in the early 1980s, when the fi rst Tahoe Regatta was staged off the Boatworks Mall in Tahoe City. The event was open to single and double shells, and the only course was about nine miles, according to Shirwin Smith, who currently helps organize the event. Through the years, the growing event passed through numerous hands, including locals Pam and Paul Lewis along with the North Tahoe Recreation and Parks. Under their leadership, the event, then named the North Tahoe Rowing Classic, expanded and even included courses for fours, eights and whaleboats.
In 2002, the regatta's organization passed to three Bay Area rowers, Sunny Blende, Sue Campbell and Smith, who kept it going with the sponsorship of the Tahoe Yacht Club. Uncertain weather kept the event small for several years, but by last year, it was back in force. Renamed the North Tahoe Regatta, the event last June attracted 57 boats, 40 on the long course (8.75 nautical miles) and 17 on the short course (3.75 nautical miles). Clubs from Washington to Arizona joined rowers from Southern and Northern California. Owing to heightened competition and relatively fl at water, several records were set. (Racing in a fl at-water single, this writer managed to turn the short course into a long course, experiencing considerable diffi culty in fi nding the two large orange buoys that marked turns in the course.) As usual, awards were handed out amid much good fellowship at lunch around the pool at the Crown Motel in Kings Beach.