REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: On the water with the dragon boats

Speaking to Sheila Roley one thing becomes clear: she’s at home on the water. She’s in her 14th year of dragon boat racing, and her third with the team she helped start: the North Coast Paddling Club.

According to Roley, the club has a roster of 60 with a wait list of 23, but only two boats with a crew of 22 between them.

“We wish we could accommodate everyone,” said Roley.

When asked if I wanted to join the club for their Monday evening practice, I was curious. I had to find out what got people so excited for this sport.

Though I was warned.

“It’s quite a workout,” said Roley.

The team practices three times per week starting in April on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday in preparation for their four races during the season, including their biggest one at the Portland Dragon Boat Festival in September.

I first met up with most of the team in the parking lot of the Barbey Maritime Center. Something they quickly pointed out was my lack of adequate clothing. I had dressed in a more athletic style, ignorantly thinking that the work of paddling would adequately warm me up. Fortunately, I was loaned a jacket by one of the teammates, a fashionable cardigan rather than everybody else’s hardshell jackets.

Then, I was told one thing that I would quickly learn firsthand.

“Everybody’s happy to be on the boat,” said Lisa Heigh.

With limited space on the dock, carpooling is a necessity. According to Roley, the 15-minute drive is where most of the team gets to know each other.

Once we piled out of the cars at the boat launch, new initiates, of which there was one other than me, were given life jackets, wooden paddles and a crash course in paddling. I was given one of the longer paddles, commensurate with my wingspan.

Dragon boats come from ancient China. According to the Smithsonian, an advisor of the Chu court, Qu Yuan was sent off to the wilderness as punishment for his perceived disloyalty after proposing an alliance with the Qi against the Qin.

While in exile, Yuan found out that the Chu had surrendered after not heeding his advice. In his grief, he drowned himself in the Miluo River; boaters raced to rescue him but were unsuccessful.

Since then, dragon boat racing became a tradition to celebrate Yuan’s life.

In Chinese mythology, dragons rule the rivers and dragons like rice. To make sure the dragons took good care of Yuan in the afterlife, it became a tradition to toss rice into the river.

Teammates formed a circle to share announcements, introduce themselves and learn what the rosters would look like for the day. The team has two boats, Athena and Osprey. I was seated in the third row of the Athena next to Cathy Peterson, who did her best to show me the ropes.

The first challenge was getting on the boat in the first place.

The dragon boats are long, narrow boats crewed by 20 rowers, a steer person in the back and a drummer, or caller, in the front, though for practice they don’t have drums or the traditional dragon’s head.