Mother Nature didn’t read the memo about the Port High’s first field trip of the new school year for Grade 9 students.

While the 130 students basked in bright sunshine and temperatures that brought back recent memories of a day spent at the beach, they could have done without Tuesday’s high winds.

Instead of figuratively getting their feet wet during an introduction excursion to the South Niagara Rowing Club’s Great Dain course, their time in the boats was limited to learning how to keep their balance alongside the dock.

Normally, the water on a straight-arrow course partially sheltered by high banks along the former Welland Canal is glass-like in its calmness.

But Tuesday wasn’t a normal day, with a sudden surge in temperature in the upper atomosphere swirling up the wind below.

“When that happens, watch out,” said Ron (Swede) Burak, the rowing club’s head coach and an old salt when it comes to weather and flatwater sports.

“Today, the sun is the real killer. If it was overcast, the water would be a lot calmer, and we could be out on the water.”

He said the students, all but a handful with little or no rowing training, were kept on shore as a “safety precaution.”

“It wouldn’t be prudent to do otherwise.”

The choppy water put a damper on the Grade 9 students’ introduction to rowing, though not on a field trip intended to ease the transition to a large high school from much smaller elementary schools.

After learning about water safety and rowing techniques from South Niagara coaches, they had fun playing soccer, putting up Henley-like numbers on the ergometers in the rowing club’s boathouse and enjoying a barbecue.

Though Jennifer Hardy has a rowing machine at home, the 14-year-old is a landlubber at heart.

“I’m afraid of water,” said Hardy, who last year attended Gainsborough School in St. Anns.

Her trepidation wasn’t eased any when a friend — a “so-called friend,” Hardy corrected – threatened to dump her into the drink when they were at the dock balancing the boat.

Hardy didn’t completely slam the door on trying out for the sport.

“Who knows, maybe I’ll come out again.”

Teacher Sheila Edwards likened Tuesday’s field trip for the newcomers to school to “orientation week in university.”

“It gives them an opportunity to feel that not everything is academics, that there is a balance in the world.”

A chance to row, albeit only along the dock, also helped the Grade 9 students appreciate they are all in the same boat when it comes to getting used to high school.

“It’s also great for bonding for the first week of school,” Edwards said.

Eastdale and Jean Vanier students have also been introduced to what the rowing club has to offer novices who want to compete at the high school and club level. Burak has already made presentations at the two schools.

He said Port High was the first to visit the club for a “hands-on lesson.”

“Too bad the weather didn’t co-operate,” he said, shaking his head at the cloudless sky.