Tue, 08/17/2021 - 7:30am

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER

Rowgatta rowers at Knickercane Bridge. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

Rowers and paddlers check in at registration. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

Launch. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

The fog begins to lift. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

Onlooker. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

BRYMCA Executive Director Andy Hamblett, center right, catches up with participants. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

Launch. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

And they’re off! JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

Rowgatta rowers at Knickercane Bridge. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

Rowers and paddlers check in at registration. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

Launch. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

The fog begins to lift. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

Onlooker. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

BRYMCA Executive Director Andy Hamblett, center right, catches up with participants. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

Launch. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

And they’re off! JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

The 28th annual Boothbay Region YMCA Rowgatta drew 51 boats and 56 paddlers to Knickercane Landing on Barters Island to raise nearly $2,500 in support of free swim lessons for all local second graders. Weather was accommodating as relentless morning fog burned off for paddlers and rowers to begin the nine-mile circuit and promises of thundershowers in the afternoon went unmet.

Event organizers Abby Jones and Bonnie Reed credited over 20 volunteers for helping make this year’s event one of the best ever with a record number of boats and participants – 44 kayaks, four double kayaks, two paddleboards and one rowboat completing the circuit. Prizes included non-plastic water bottles and bracelets from 4ocean, an organization focused on reducing and removing ocean plastic. Those were donated by The Smiling Cow.

“We were the event of the year last year because we were so well spaced out and on the water,” said Jones. “This year, we’re happy to see so many people on the water and coming out to support the Y and swim program … Stand-out volunteer Louise Cowan crafted new red ‘Y’ flags to mark the course. Big thanks also to Tidal Transit for their support of this event.”

Single kayak participant Steve Berger teamed up with Boothbay Region TV’s Jonne Trees to host a Go-Pro on his bow. Trees also had drones in the air and filmed from checkpoints around the island. Footage will soon be available online.

Jones said other volunteers included Robert Jordan, Robin Hall Jordan, Paul Cowan, Anthoine Attallah, Doug Jones, Joe Maziarz, Marianne Powell, Jo Moser, Andy and Lori Cozzi, Andy Hamblett, Lisa Macintosh, the “entire BR YMCA family” and the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary’s David Eastwood and Bruce Mac Cormac.