Our Beloved Wooden Oct Takes a Ride to Quilcene
- Bill Mahoney
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Hi, I'm Oct, short for Octuple. I'm 62 feet of gleaming Western Red Cedar. I was born in 1976. You may have rowed me on a Thursday morning this summer. But, as they say, it had been a minute since I had traveled out of Port Townsend. Well, since 2014 to be exact.
I remember my first two glorious road trips with the club that year, first as my Oct self to Portland's Ross Island. "The Oct won first overall and first in its class, beating Portland's Oct," recalled Kathleen Sailer, who coxed. She remembers "tricky roads and turns through Portland into the launch area of the hosting rowing club, but a flawless round trip." A second outing followed with me as an Eight racing in Seattle's Head of the Lake (there was no Oct category).
Soon thereafter, in 2015, I was fully restored through a herculean effort by many club members. My official name is the Kathy Lazara Whitman from the Pocock Racing Shells lineage.
But then, 10 years passed quickly.
Fast forward to Nov. 2, 2025. My day to leave Port Townsend again had finally come, and it's probably best that you hear the story directly from me. I was de-rigged and loaded onto the new trailer, a significant first for the club in itself. How would I fit, how difficult would I be to load, would my delicate overhangs be protected on the turns? All questions which had not been addressed, the final test and last piece of the puzzle to put into place with the club's new trailer this season.
Well, good news there. All things trailer-wise went perfectly, thanks to the careful efforts of Sally Giesler (as my club guardian), Ted Shoulberg (trailer driver) and Bob Alei (spotter). Ron Moller, who found the trailer for the club and has shepherded its implementation, came down to the boathouse to make sure all went smoothly.
A first group of 18 rowers had gone to Quilcene weeks before, but event organizer Dave Winters had sensed more interest and quickly put together a second trip on a Sunday to allow for more rowers with weekday conflicts. The sign-up sheet had filled up rapidly and soon it was decided I would go, along with two quads. An almost entirely different second group of 16 rowers headed to Quilcene. The water wasn't good for rowing in Port Townsend, but in Quilcene?
This was meant to be a learning trip and learn we did. When we pulled into Quilcene's beach, the water was totally flat with fall colors, sunshine and a great 50s mid-day November temperature. The rowers started to scramble to set up and re-rig. That's where it immediately got interesting. They had organized 4 piles of my riggers when we de-rigged, but only 3 piles were to be found! I watched as many options were discussed. Some wonderful offers were made, including one by Don and Diane Bryson to bring us the missing set of riggers left behind at the boathouse.
But, in the end, the Rats did what they do best: cooperate in the clutch when the water gets choppy. I just watched from my perch on the trailer as a few shifts of quad rowing were organized. Kim Matthews had brought his Merry Wherry and he very graciously offered rowers waiting around to take spins in his boat. Mary Fortman and Corine de Boer enjoyed rides. One new member, Lindsay Kotzebu, even got the opportunity to row a single for the first time.
In the end, all went well. Everyone had a nice day out. New water was rowed. The club continued to fine-tune its ability to travel. Yes, there was discussion about a Master Checklist idea for equipment.
Just before dark, I was back fast asleep in my berth at the boathouse, dreaming about future trips. I felt encouraged that the club had figured out how to give me some new life by getting me out. Ummm, I've got a 50th birthday coming up next year. It's never too early to plan something special for me? Well, a girl's gotta ask.
