Dragon boating is a team sport of 18 rowers. Even a single out-of-sync
rower can slow down the boat. There are multiple competitions held in
the US, for all age groups.
I grew up in Pune which is located at the confluence of 2 rivers - Mula and Mutha. Pune also has multiple other water bodies like Pashan Lake and multiple dams. There used to be small paddle boats for rent in a local park. However, over time parks and gardens in Pune started turning to lovers spot, and kid friendly attractions like these paddle boats, a toy train called Phulrani, a zoo called Peshawe park fell out of public favor. The trend is slowly reversing, but it did not change during my time in India. My first kayaking experience happened in the US. Recently, I tried out dragon boating in Redwood city, and Foster city in the Bay Area. The boats are launched from a local marina into the Redwood creek. Its a small creek that eventually drains into the San Francisco Bay.
Contrasting this situation with India, there are smaller streams that got cemented out for urban development. If we start publicly accessing our resources, it will be impossible for the unscrupulous builders to discretely grab resources. India already has Onam in Kerala, and the likes of Regatta held at College of Engineering Pune. Charity begins at home, and this could be a great way for schools to inculcate environmental responsibility, and smaller scale river clean up drives. The boats and the oars need not be fancy. There is almost no chance of the boat overturning in calmer waters, but nevertheless we were wearing floatation jackets.
We should be mindful that we are encroaching in the area meant for aquatic life. There's an animal species called Manatees native to Florida. Florida mandates "no wake zones" near breeding/ feeding spots of manatees so that they don't get killed by the larger boats. Because kayaks, canoes, dragon boat are smaller manual boats, they should not have an adverse effect on aquatic fauna. But I would definitely not recommend that India have bigger marinas that spoilt rich fellows with fancy speedboats can misuse. Actually I don't know what is the protocol in the U.S if a speedboat and a manual boat come dangerously close. Today when a bigger boat passed near us, we were asked to "hold the boat", aka hold on to the oars so that they act as brakes. In the past, when I was jet skiing at Key West, jet skiing was allowed only in a roped off area away from other water goers.
Some photos from my dragon boating:The property costs go up if they are close to marina and clean water body. Note that the operative word here is "clean". A clean city is a win-win for everybody. Contrast the small simple boat Vs the catamarans and sailboats nearby.
I grew up in Pune which is located at the confluence of 2 rivers - Mula and Mutha. Pune also has multiple other water bodies like Pashan Lake and multiple dams. There used to be small paddle boats for rent in a local park. However, over time parks and gardens in Pune started turning to lovers spot, and kid friendly attractions like these paddle boats, a toy train called Phulrani, a zoo called Peshawe park fell out of public favor. The trend is slowly reversing, but it did not change during my time in India. My first kayaking experience happened in the US. Recently, I tried out dragon boating in Redwood city, and Foster city in the Bay Area. The boats are launched from a local marina into the Redwood creek. Its a small creek that eventually drains into the San Francisco Bay.
Contrasting this situation with India, there are smaller streams that got cemented out for urban development. If we start publicly accessing our resources, it will be impossible for the unscrupulous builders to discretely grab resources. India already has Onam in Kerala, and the likes of Regatta held at College of Engineering Pune. Charity begins at home, and this could be a great way for schools to inculcate environmental responsibility, and smaller scale river clean up drives. The boats and the oars need not be fancy. There is almost no chance of the boat overturning in calmer waters, but nevertheless we were wearing floatation jackets.
We should be mindful that we are encroaching in the area meant for aquatic life. There's an animal species called Manatees native to Florida. Florida mandates "no wake zones" near breeding/ feeding spots of manatees so that they don't get killed by the larger boats. Because kayaks, canoes, dragon boat are smaller manual boats, they should not have an adverse effect on aquatic fauna. But I would definitely not recommend that India have bigger marinas that spoilt rich fellows with fancy speedboats can misuse. Actually I don't know what is the protocol in the U.S if a speedboat and a manual boat come dangerously close. Today when a bigger boat passed near us, we were asked to "hold the boat", aka hold on to the oars so that they act as brakes. In the past, when I was jet skiing at Key West, jet skiing was allowed only in a roped off area away from other water goers.
Some photos from my dragon boating:The property costs go up if they are close to marina and clean water body. Note that the operative word here is "clean". A clean city is a win-win for everybody. Contrast the small simple boat Vs the catamarans and sailboats nearby.
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