Rowing it Alone

I spent 4 years in high school dreaming about the day when I would be able to take out my own shell, without a coach barking at me, or teammates unbalancing the boat. When I finally returned to rowing last summer, I ended up amongst a group of older-yet-not-necessarily-wiser "master" rowers. They were old enough to be considered masters, but certainly not experienced enough.

Now I'm finally able to row on my own, any time I want, without having to deal with anyone else. The funny thing is, no sooner did I started rowing on my own than I realized that rowing alone comes with it's own set of...complications. There are probably a dozen times already when I could've used a second set of hands, and I'm quickly realizing that there aren't a lot of places to find this kind of information. So why not share what I learn here?