News & updates

Thank you to the 35+ BIAC members who pitched in at the club's first major volunteer event of the new year on Jan. 27. We moved and reconfigured two boat racks, cleaned our classroom modulars, deep-cleaned our new restroom modular units, painted oars, disposed of old debris from the BIAC yard, removed carpet from the upper level of the boathouse, and removed the old lockers from the upper level of the boathouse (phase I of the boathouse improvement project). 

On December 10, we had 46 shells, including 9 paddlers, enter and finish the Corkscrew Regatta with a total of 99 seats. Eight of the shells made the 8.5 mile corkscrew in under an hour. Two of the surfskis made an impressive time of 1hr 8min.

Results and photos are posted on the Corkscrew page.

The Corkscrew Regatta is above all a fundraiser for Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley. This year we raised almost $2,000 from entry fees! In addition, two generous donors added another $3,500 in support of the Corkscrew Regatta. Our total contribution was $5,496 to Second Harvest!!

The BIAC costume contest has no rules and no description and we had a number of really good entries. The winner of the 2023 costume contest is the Can’t Touch This (Quad) of M&M’s. The icing on the cake was the Coffee Cake entry into the potluck by Amanda, one of the M&Ms. (Better food yields results!) Runner-up was the Norcal 2x bowed by Toby Sin. Other notable costume entries: The Wonder Women of BIAC (with a GREAT time of under 54 minutes), the two Marin 8’s with Candy Cane and Corkscrew Hats, and who can forget Steve with the Banana Boat? Banantlers?

Fall rowing and paddling on the Port of Redwood City and out of BIAC could not be more active. With all this activity, we have greater risks. Early mornings are dark, air and water temperatures are cooler, and more boats are on the water getting ready to race.

All boats launching from BIAC before sunrise must have bow and stern lights. BIAC members are also strongly encouraged to wear bright, high-visibility clothing. And all BIAC rowing traffic should follow the rules of navigation and traffic pattern maps we have posted at the boathouse and on our website HERE. Please note that this is the rowing-specific traffic pattern and that we have specific guidelines for all high-traffic areas, including the Port Turning Basin/Paly Cove, Smith Slough, Westpoint Slough, and the BIAC docks.

Whether it's helping out with one of our massive club clean-up days or pitching in with an odd job here or there, BIAC member volunteer contributions to the club are numerous and valuable beyond measure.

Some of you might have noticed that our deck has had a few problems and that the railing leans a bit. Peter Allen and Jerry Pierce replaced, repaired, and shored up the boards on the land side and Greg Wilson reinforced the railing. They pulled up several deck boards, installed blocking between the floor joists, and then reinstalled the deck boards. Serious carpentry work. The work isn't finished, but a huge thank-you to volunteers for working to ensure that our yard is both safe and more attractive.

Our BIAC Fall Fundraising campaign concluded and our members were extremely giving! 56% of our membership donated in various amounts totaling $33,130! One generous donor offered a matching challenge, bringing the total up to an impressive ~$65,000+ for new equipment and boathouse improvements. Nine members also won raffle prizes offered by our members, but we're all winners when we're using new equipment and enjoying a spruced-up boathouse. THANK YOU for taking part. Special thanks also to Tracy Wilk for organizing the fundraiser and all its moving parts.

BIAC's participation in Santa Clara Valley Med’s Accessibility Day on Saturday, Sept. 30, in San Jose was a success! We got to talk to many people and to introduce adaptive rowing to whoever would listen . . . We even got some brave people onto the ergs.

BIAC was one of hundreds of sites hosting a California Coastal Cleanup event on Sept. 23. This year marks BIAC's 5th consecutive year in participating in this state-wide event. 39 BIAC volunteers participated and in just 2.5 hours they inventoried and removed 1,546 lbs of debris from the mudflats, shorelines, and waterways surrounding BIAC. BIAC volunteers removed 1,300 lbs in 2022; 2,178 lbs in 2021. The California Coastal Cleanup is BIAC's single largest volunteer event. Thanks to everyone who made this year's cleanup another wonderful success. Click here for some history and stats on the California Coastal Cleanup.