A nice morning.  But darker and darker every day.  I hate the days getting shorter in the fall.

Plan:

1. 4 x ~3000m / 1′ rest
2. rate: 20
3. pace: 2:30 ish
4. heart rate cap: 75% HRR (150)

Data from RIM.

|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|max HR|DPS_|Remarks
|01099|06:05|02:46.1| 20.3 | 114 | 134 |08.9|
|02856|13:39|02:23.4| 20.6 | 143 | 154 |10.1|
|00045|01:43|19:04.4| 21.0 | 148 | 152 |01.2|
|02949|14:19|02:25.6| 20.2 | 146 | 155 |10.2|
|00050|01:00|10:00.0| 20.2 | 147 | 150 |02.5|
|02946|15:08|02:34.1| 20.3 | 149 | 155 |09.6|
|00053|00:18|02:49.8| 20.9 | 140 | 151 |08.4|
|03994|19:57|02:29.8| 21.1 | 149 | 157 |09.5|

dist_____|_time_____|_pace____|_HR__|_SPM__|_DPS_|_comment
1099_____|_06:05____|_2:46.1__|_114_|_20.3_|_8.9_|_warmup
12745____|_1:03:03____|_2:28.4__|_147_|_20.6_|_9.8_|_Main set
0148_____|_03:01____|_10:11.5_|_147_|_20.7_|_2.4_|_rest meters
13992____|_12:09____|_2:34.7__|_144_|_20.3_|_9.5_|_Total

A fine and uneventful row until almost the end of the third piece.  I was rowing along and heard a bump from the bow, then a bigger bump from the impeller, and finally a serious thud from the fin as a branch floating just below the surface dragged along the bottom of my boat.  A few little branches were above the surface to one side, but the main branch was about 3 inches in diameter and right at the surface.  I never saw it coming and hit it at steady state speed.

I finished the third and fourth pieces and wondered if I had gotten away without damage.  The Speed coach was still reading right and I didn’t sink and the boat tracked OK.  But when I lifted the boat out of the water, I heard a big watery whoosh as the gallon or so of water that had collected in the stern compartment rolled to the back of the boat.  I modified my grip to try to balance the boat, and then the water rolled to the bow end of the compartment and the boat tipped precariously in that direction.  Eventually, I managed to get the boat supported with two hands and my head in a reasonably stable configuration and slowly made my way to put it back on the rack.

On the rack, I lifted the stern end on a couple of blocks of wood and the water started to dribble out of the drain hole at the bow end of the compartment.  I went to the stern and inspected the damage.  The fin had pushed up and back in the fin box and sheared the caulking.  From the vertical and horizontal play in the fin, it was obvious that it had also caused the fin box to delaminate from the inside surface of the hull at the stern end.  I believe at this point, I did some swearing.

I packed myself up and left the boat to drain while I formulated my plan.