The collars/sleeves on my oars are getting a bit rounded and the stabilizers are off all the time now. I've been reading a delightful little book "With Two Oars" by William B Irvine (About $9 on Amazon) - in it he focuses on "set". I think this is huge. He has some great exercises to cure flipophobia which he thinks is the root of all bad technique. I tend to agree! Great read.

The Oartec Slider is installed next to the wife's elliptical and I've had a couple of goes so far - trying to calibrate it to feel like the Edon which of course has a bit more drag than a 1x. The Florida summer is well and truly here and the option of air-conditioned rows if I get up too late is great. It's not the same as on-the-water though - I'm very fortunate to be able to launch in my back yard.

I've just ordered an Oartec Slider rowing machine for the bad weather days down here in Florida. I was initially going to just get a used Concept2 D with a PM4 and started looking on eBay for one - I was attracted to C2 by their holding their used prices and the ability to use RowPro. Then I looked at the C2 Dynamic the started googling opinions then discovered dynamics and sliders in general and a few opinions on the rowing boards (on the water people). Then checked out the Oartech videos. I think in the end, the balance of opinions on the Oartech’s perceived superiority with ref to on the water swung it. I like the feet together thing and also the overall size. Plus, it looks cool :-) The one big and only negative point was the clunky looking monitor and no RowPro hookup - any outlook/intent for an upgrade in the future I wonder? I look forward to delivery and will be blogging on my progress with it. I’m an old person just rowing for fun/fitness really and am using an excellent Edon TS515 which is a robust "kayak-material" training scull that fits your garage. I’m hoping the Slider will compliment the Edon nicely and help my on-the-water times.

Temptation.. temptation... ok, I was in UK and spotted one on Row2K not far from where I live. Got extremely excited about it - reading everything I could - the ideal next boat! 

However when I got back to the US I measured my boathouse/garage and the Maas would only fit diagonally! I'd only just be able to open the door if it were in there. 

Rats.. Still the seller was kind enough to show me around the Sarasota Rowing Club and I got to actually try and lift it. It was extremely unwieldy with a fragile fin and no handholds - really a two man job to be safe (especially in a wind). And, although it was only 38lbs, I found it much harder to pick up. So, I'm kind of glad it was too long. Back to the Edon :-)

We have a couple of Audio Techica M series In-Ear Wireless systems. We've both got through two sets of their earpices - these are not cheap either. This time around we've both dipped for Westone UM3X in-ear monitors. While not cheap at about $400 they have three drivers and are truly full range. I used to hear the bass from the PA subs but no more - with these stuffed in you get the real dynamics the people are hearing. One nifty thing the Presonus does is you can allocate 2 channels to your IEMs and with the ATs in stereo, utilise the pan and level to set up a stereo listening field in your head. This is SO useful - the click is way out on my right and my stereo guitar effects are in stereo along with the stems. Another cool thing about the Westones is that you can just unplug the cable from teh earpiece - no returning to factory for new wir.