Don't look now, but dragons have returned to the harbor. Dragon boats, that is - long, sleek canoes powered through the water by 20 people paddling in unison, with a "drummer" on the bow and a steersman standing aft.
Begun in China over 5,000 years ago, dragon-boat racing has spread worldwide as a sport. Baltimore is the setting for charity races every other year, but a group of enthusiasts got together in 2008 to make it an annual activity. The Baltimore Dragon Boat Club is beginning its second full year this spring.
Bright and early Sunday morning, club members gathered at the Living Classrooms Foundation at South Caroline and Lancaster streets to put a pair of the 41-foot boats in the water and take them for their first paddle of the year. The water was frigid but calm as glass, and the harbor virtually empty as the two boats set out. They graciously let me ride along, sitting up front in the drummer's usual spot - where I shot the photos you see here. It was quite a ride!
"It's a great sport," club president John Pezzulla says. Members range in age from 12 to 60 and are almost as diverse in their physical abilities. It's a great upper body and cardio workout in one of the most scenic settings imaginable - the harbor. The Pride of Baltimore II passed near us as we paddled out past Domino Sugar.
While the paddling is good exercise, Pezzulla explains, the sport is all about "working together as a team." To get those synchronized strokes down, they practice two or three times a week in preparation for races here and in cities across North America. They have fun while working up a sweat, singing and chanting to the rhythm of their movement - all the while heeding the shouted instructions of the steersman.
The Baltimore club is hosting its own dragon-boat competition here on June 19. They welcome new members, and are assembling a crew of breast-cancer survivors this year to race as a team - as have clubs in other cities. For details on the club, go here.