It's officially summer! Here at BIAC we're enjoying the bay in solo boats. Above, Lili Retelny poses on flat water in beautiful sunshine. Thank you to Renata Perry for the photo! Email your photos to feature in a future newsletter.

---

Please Volunteer: We want to host a variety of fun social events this summer (once gatherings are allowed) and can use your help, please email Alice to sign up. Ideas include Sculling Derby Days, Olympic celebration, mimosas with the new novices, and more.

We also have jobs around the boathouse in need of your skills! Coming up, volunteer at the sculling boat maintenance day on Sat., June 13 from 8:30-10:30am. Sign up here to help us keep these boats in good condition through our solo-boat-summer.

Please invite your friends to visit our website to sign up for learn-to-scull, learn-to-SUP and learn-to-kayak classes. YOU are our PR team – please help spread the word by sharing this social image and consider taking a class yourself. For members, check out the following options for summer:

• June 10+: Learn more about coastal and open water rowing and how to have fun rowing in rough water! Sign up for open water rowing and participate in a fun open-water race. All members are welcome to participate.
• On June 13-14: If you feel more like a sweep rower than a sculler consider the DeRust weekend, also great for people who rowed long ago and want to get out there again.
• June 18+: This year we are offering sunset SUPs, a perfect date night experience and family kayak outings, for those who want to shelter as a family in the great outdoors.
• June, July & August – For our members who want extra coaching, we have LOTS of options now posted on the website. In the spirit of solo boats, Coach J has revised R2 to Sculling Spectacular. We also offer classes and private lessons via SimplyBook.
• On August 14, BIAC is hosting an Intensive Sculling Camp with Sarah Nevin which will make everyone better at moving a little boat.

BIAC is celebrating 20 years of operation in 2020. The first year was our toughest. We started out with around 50 boats and 100 members officially in January of 2000.

Shortly after BIAC opened its oars, we fielded a competitive eight in the 10th Fall Regatta. Yes, the founders of BIAC started the Fall Regatta - back in 1991. It’s on a hiatus now since 2017, but for over 20 years our Fall Regatta was US Rowing’s final West Coast racing event prior to most clubs heading indoors to erg for the winter. This was the first of many ways that BIAC is well known on the national (and now Olympic) level. Maybe having water than never freezes helps too. Our first Advanced Mens crew is shown above. The one face you can’t see is Sarah, who went on to cox 4 years at Princeton.

From year one BIAC had a paddling program also under the name of Hui Wa’a, led tireless by Mike Martinez. The Surf Ski Championships held up in San Francisco are internationally recognized. Our OC-6 members even traveled to Hawaii for competitions.

Youth programs took a few years to develop, as did our second Candock. Ally Bocchieri was our first junior program coach under the name of Silicon Valley Crew. Next Mike Still took the reins and rebranded the program as Norcal Crew. Highlights include trips to Junior Nationals in Tennessee and Ohio. Our older sister club (Los Gatos Rowing Club) provided worthy competition locally, nationally, and even on Rt 80 while traveling to Nationals.

In 2005 BIAC held its first Corkscrew Regatta, a 15km Holiday race around Middle Bair Island. The Corkscrew Regatta has been held every year since then (except 2012 where the levee breaches and Flow Restrictors were under construction) and in sum total has donated around $20K to Second Harvest Food Bank.

For 6 years BIAC survived with a sole Candock and an aging fleet of live aboard tenants that steadily shrank as BIAC’s membership became financially buoyant. Our residents supplied more than revenue though. They provided much amusing diversity, 24 hour security by presence, and a lot of maintenance expertise.

BIAC Circa 2006 at right. Note the ‘K’ shape of our Candocks, the smaller ramp, and the still open Haul Out pit that is now our Observation Deck. And the South Lot was also occupied by Frey’s Trucking in our first decade.

Finally BIAC was able to begin purchasing new boats and a second Candock. Funds were raised through the Fall Regatta and a Winter Dinner auction that helped fuel our continued growing passion for having 365 water access. Our volunteer culture was strong, membership remained at $400/year, and our rowing and paddling programs continued to grow. BIAC had every problem a boathouse would like to have, and the best was yet to come.