There is a chance I may move to Schaffhausen for work from the USA. Does anyone know if the river in Schaffhausen has too much current and/or is too rough for rowing a racing single? If it is, are there any other clubs close by?

No idea what the conditions are like there exactly, but there is a rowing club in Schaffhausen, with a boathouse on the Rhine:

http://www.ruderclub-schaffhausen.ch/cms/index.php

there is a rowing club already in schaffhausen and i am sure they would welcome new members

This is the river at Neuhausen, just a couple of kilometres from Schaffhausen. Was this what you had in mind?

Yeah, that's what I am concerned about, I've seen pictures of the river near the boathouse that look a little rough (and the boatclub has a link to a video from the Schaffhausen police department about the hazards of the river - quite amusing as well).

Don't worry too much. This is the Site of the Rowing Club there and these pictures makes it look quite a different story.

I've not been to Shaffhausen (I'm in Geneva) but I know they have a fairly decent rowing club there as I've raced some of their crews at the national regattas and they have a few decent crews.

SHafhaussen has a rowing club, kayaking club, various poeple who paddel/row and compete in various traditional Swiss and German boats, and a sometimes dragonboat team. Genearlly the RHine at this point, is blissful for being out on. THere is a clear , smooth section down all the way from Lake Constance ( even from the Austrian end if you like) to Shafhaussen. There is a barrier at the down stream edge of Shaffhaussen, at approx. km 47, above the Rhinefalls ( which have actually been successfylly kayaked several times,) Below the falls, it is possible to row or paddle all the way to the NOrth Sea in Holland, approx 950 km later,if you wish, just portaging the several dams you come to along the way, or sometimes even just crossing from the main Rhine shipping canal to the Old Rhine, to avoid the dams.
Between Shaffhaussen and Basel there are several rowing clubs eg: Eglisau and Grenzach in germany, Basel ( above the Birsfelden lock)

Public transport by train is fast and easy in Switz and germany, so you will have no trouble commuting to other clubs if you want, and to regattas if you are interested in racing.

By the way, a really nice looooonnnng rowing holiday in Europe is to join the TID (Tour INternational Danube) a nonprofit annual rowing and paddling event on the Danube. I have paddled it, but have also seen German s rowing literally 1-2000km in everything from single sculls to 8's.

What else would you like to know?

Smiles, biff

Slight deviation from the topic. I am 100M from the river Aare. There is a dam and a massive lake. What are the rules for going kayaking / canoeing? can I just buy one and launch off - or do I need a permit / Ausweis?
Used to go in the Lake district in the UK with no worries on this score, but I presume there is more control here.

Rules? Laws? In Switzerland? H, serioulsy, on this particular topic, there are more regulations in the UK than there are here. Have you seen the Swiss river users map? ( sorry, just iven my copy away and cant recall its name - obtainable through many of the canoe clubs though) It is colour coded to show you the grades of the various sections of most water ways in the country. Or the Swiss Activity Map, pub: Kummerly and Frey. I have certainly paddled all the Rhine with no problems of any sort. ( it does help to understand what the signs on bridges mean, and which side of the green or orange bouys you should be, especially if a barge is bearing down on you)

I have heard however, that kayaks, along with any other boat, are supposed to show a registration number, name and country. I sometimes have a limp flag at the back of my touring kayak, but it has no name or number on display - bever had any problems.

I have looked at the Aare and fully intend to paddle it at some stage. Dams can generally be easily portaged. The dams on the Rhine above Basel have different options - walking some, using a roller system to roll the boat along on another, and a hydrolic lift/ rail combo on another, for getting past the dam.

The only exceptions I have come across in this part of Europe are a few small lakes that exclude boats, plus on the upper Danube there is a section that has date restrictions and the need for buying a cheap, dated permit.

That is very helpful. Is storage space for privately owned singles as hard to get as it is here in the USA? I have an Empacher single and would either try to ship it back to Europe or sell it and buy another one over there.

That is going to be very dependent on the facilities at the club - get in touch and ask them. I'm sure someone will speak English, and if you have your own Empacher single then I guess you are the kind of guy they would like to have at their club, so they will probably try to help if they can

If you are coming over with work then I would try to get the shipping to include your boat in the container. Otherwise it will probably be quite expensive to sell and buy a new Empacher here.

I agree. Contact the Shafhaussen club to ask about storage. They do have a resonable sized clubhouse, but I dont know how crowded it is inside.

Re bringoing your boat over: I once had a contract that had several exclusions regarding what my employer would pay for. It excluded bicyles, so I took my bike on the 'plane with me. However, I don't thhink anyone had ever thought to exclude boats, so my kayak got transported for me along with other personal effects. Good luck.
:-)

I don't see the company going for that, although I would at least try. I just got the boat this year so I may not get hurt too much selling it and buying another, but my guess is that it would still be more cost effective to ship it back (perhaps to Empacher which doesn't seem too far away from Schaffhausen).

If you do end up buyoing another boat over here, keep in mind that things are cheaper over the border eg: buy a new boat in Konstanz for example, fill out the paperwork, bring it into Switzerland,pay the Swiss tax, then claim back the German tax. That is cheaper than buying in Switzerland.

It;s quite feasible for you to contact the manufacturer re the local cost of the boat. Yes, it is in "this part" of the world - 2-3 hrs by car I think, but 4-5 hrs by train ( I think that the train goes down to Basel, then you loop back up towards Mannheim or heidleburg and across.

Some copanies her subsude health programms through contributing to gym membership. If yours does that, perhaps you could negotiate that they pay to get your boat here instead. Heck, you could offer them advertising space on the bow.