Welcome to Bair Island Rowing Club (BIAC)

BIAC boathouse and erg room

The move to the South Bay with a new home and new job would not be complete without a new rowing club.  Despite the vast bay, rowing here is pretty much limited to two areas--Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos and Redwood City.

I have joined Bair Island Rowing Club, also called BIAC (Bair Island Aquatic Center), the most conveniently located boathouse to my work and commute.  BIAC is located in Redwood City at the city port.  Like most ports, the Port of Redwood City is not located in the best of neighborhoods.  The area is crowded with industrial factories and large tugboats shipping goods in and out of the port.  In addition, there is an extra bonus of a women's prison nearby the boathouse!  Just like in Oakland, it is best not to leave anything of value in your car.  You never know which shady character will take a rock to your car window...

Other notable ports in the Northern California include the Port of Oakland (the estuary) where the Cal Lightweights, Cal Heavyweight men, Berkeley High, Oakland Strokes, and East Bay Rowing Club row and the Port of West Sacramento where UC Davis and River City Rowing Club row.  None of these areas are the nicest or safest of neighborhoods.

BIAC docks and nice, flat water

Luckily, there is an upside to BIAC's shoddy location.  The water is, for the most part, flat and calm for 2,000-3,000m out.  As the estuary widens and pours into the bay, the water becomes rougher and eventually, you end up rowing in the bay where you can see the Dumbarton Bridge on one side and the San Mateo Bridge on the other.  The mornings are very dark with lights blinking far away on the shore; without knowing the course and being able to see in the dark, it is very easy to become disoriented.  A number of green and red channel markers can guide you, but the lights flash so damn infrequently that they are easy to miss.

This body of water can get crowded in the mornings with a variety of teams that include Stanford varsity crews, the Stanford junior rowing program or Peninsula Crew, Palo Alto Rowing Club (juniors), and NorCal crew (juniors).  In fact, BIAC shares its boathouse with the NorCal crew.  In the mornings during the school year, the boathouse teeming with high school boys and girls who cannot seem to stop talking at 5 in the morning.

BIAC boats all stored outdoors; covered singles are private boats

BIAC is a fair number of boats, all stored outside, that are shared between all the teams.  There is also some storage for private boats.

Club singles, mostly Aeros, Maas 24s and 27s, and flyweights

Club singles

BIAC masters have an advanced mixed masters team, an intermediate mixed masters team, and individual scullers.  The club also puts on a number of regattas in the fall.  The fall BIAC regatta with its infamous turns and crabs is actually held in the San Mateo Lagoon.  The other regatta is at the BIAC home course and also consists of a number of turns and twists, hence the name "corkscrew."

Mark your calendars!
BIAC 20th Annual Fall Regatta - Sunday, November 6th, 2011
BIAC 5th Annual Corkscrew - Sunday, December 11th, 2011