newsletter 117 autumn 2007 03

8/14/2019 Newsletter 117 Autumn 2007 03

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Newsletter117

Autumn 2007 / 03

Web: www.marlowcanoeclub.org.ukEmail: [email protected]

Marlow Canoe Club Newsletter Page 1 Autumn 2007 / 03

EDITORS P IECE

It's been a funny old summer, if youcan call it that. After a promising startback in April things went downhill fast

and stayed at the bottom - weatherwise I mean. But from within thegloom shone a no. of promisedhighlights.This year could be the year that theclub began to find out about it's selfonce more. Trips wise we found out alittle more about ourselves. I seem torecall hearing the Chair asking ifanyone was interested in a trip toFrance, but for various reasons no clubmembers took him up on this offer.

We've got a nice little piece by Mr'sChair to set the ball rolling.It had been talked about for some timebut Big Dave's ALPS trip finally got ofthe ground. Such trips take a fair bit of

commitment and a lot of effort, but notas much effort as I had to put in togetting someone to tell the rest of usabout it. A busy man, what with thenew training standards and regionalrep. duties, Andy Maxted finally cameto our rescue with his ALPS part 1 item(ALPS part 2 will follow in a futureedition - so I'm told). It's a bit on thelong side, but hey, there's a lot to tell.

I've done a no. of 1* courses now, butI wasn't really prepared for the Augustcourse. From the off, this one wasdifferent. Read new member Mandy'sitem on what many have said was themost enjoyable course yet.

Andy Cook, I've seen him about a fewtimes but mostly I've just seen anameplate on the end of a fancymarathon boat. Now it's out in the

open again and it seems to be goingthat little bit faster every time I see it.Andy's got a target in mind, and I forone, hope he achieves it.Finally we get around to my piece. I'vebeen angling to get my capella down tothe briny for ages. First one thing thenanother, and it seemed as though Imight never get there. But it all camegood in the end. James and ElaineFarquarson did us proud in introducing5 members to the delights of sea

WHATS IN THIS ISSUE

Editors Piece 1

Aquatic First Aid 2

Open canoeing in France 3Praise indeed 4

Eight go to the Alps - Part 1 4

L2K Training 9

My return to marathon racing 10

Carlsberg course 12

Force 5 from Lulworth Cove. 13

LEPTOSPIROSIS

Intro to Whitewater. 18

Diary / Events / Contacts etc. 19


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kayaking. Read force 5 from LulworthCove for the full monty.Do you know what! I think I'll putmyself forward as sea sec., I'm not toclever at it at present, but one moretrip will make me this year's most active

sea paddling member, at least amongstthose who attend regularly. I'm surethere's a few beards out there itchingto feel the salt spray again. Feel free tobecome active again and pass on someof those skills you thought you mightnever use again.

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AQUATIC FIRST AID

On the evenings of Wednesday 13th

and Thursday 14th June eight clubmembers attended the first aid course.Those present were myself, John,Robert and Paul Norris, Melinda, Kelvin,Richard and Nigel a new member whowill be on the next 1* course.On arrival we met the instructor Paul

Newman who had travelled up fromKent to run the course. We kicked offwith a couple of hours of theory andthis was presented to us in the form ofa PowerPoint show. This sectionincluded CPR and hypothermia. After ashort break it was the bit we had allbeen looking forward to and perhapsdreading, using the Little Annies. Forthose who dont know a Little Annie is

basically a CPR trainer the shape andsize of a small adults upper body butwithout any arms. They have simulatedlungs and a valve to make sure you tiltthe head to open Annes airway.We paired up and took it in turns topractice what we had learned in theCPR theory section. This includedfinding the correct area to place yourhands for the chest compression, thecompression to breath ratio of 30:2 and

the speed of the compressions. Paul

taught us a little trick to get the correctspeed of around 100 per minute andthis was to sing (in your head) Nelly theElephant as it provided the right speedand 31 compressions which we weretold is close enough. Our final practical

activity on the Wednesday was learningthe recovery position.

On Thursday we spent another twohours finishing the theory includingbreaks, sprains and strains, concussionand compression and bleeding. Onemember who must have beenexhausted from the previous nightsexcitement tried to visit the land of nod

but was swiftly brought back to theroom by a jab in the ribs by anothermember.The second half of Thursday night was

Scenario time and it was a festival ofmaladies. Between us wereelectrocutions, dislocations, cardiacproblems, shock, heavy things fallingon us and head injuries to name but afew. Most of our ailments, no matterhow small usually led tounconsciousness and stopping ofbreathing. This enabled the personresponding to the situation to moveover to the Little Anne to practice moreCPR. The scenarios were to see how weresponded to the situations and tocheck if we had been listening. Itturned out that we had all beenlistening and as a result we all passed. Iwould highly recommend this course for

two reasons. Firstly it was very well


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taught and extremely useful. Secondlyat 25 per head it was a third of theprice of an equivalent courseelsewhere.Thanks to John for the organisation,refreshments and use of his lounge for

the two evenings.

Andrew Young June 2007

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OPEN CANOE TRIP INFRANCE

(including not very much technical stuffabout canoeing)

In June we made the long 12 hour trekdown to the Massif Central Mountains inSouthern France to canoe on the Allierand the Tarn Rivers. I had beenpromised by Adrian that it would be flatwater with the occasional rapid. It wascertainly more than that but I generallyhad time to get out and walk aroundscary looking sections. Of course, youthen had to walk through the longgrass and run the risk of the addersand lizards!! So which was worse?

A taste of things to come!

Eight of us made the trip down, so wemade a lively group, and very difficultfor the restaurants to cater for with ourdemands for no meat, well cookedmeat, etc. We camped at a veryacceptable campsite, fairly empty, so

no queuing for the showers etc. I wasable to buy a hot water bottle after afew days as the weather deterioratedso I was happy, although it wasnt quitethe weather we expected for the southof France.

Adrian had worked out a suggestion oftrips for each day of varying difficultyas we were a group of various abilitiesincluding three women of very poor

canoeing skills and experience. I hadthe most experience amongst thewomen, as I had been canoeing about8 times in total!The scenery and wildlife were beautifuland the tranquillity (apart from us) waslovely and restful. Adrian assured us itwas all grade 1 2 level. The trips werescattered with stretches of flat water togain our confidence and easy rapids

etc. We did go down a couple of dropsand I walked around the mill race(Glissieres) which looked too scary.Kieran and his partner fell out at thebottom and had to be hauled in onropes. That did for me, as we werenext in line I was out of the boat so fastand running round the bank.Unfortunately, I got in at the bottomhaving been assured all was safe, wewent round the corner and straight overan unexpected drop of about 3 ft. Butwe stayed in and I surprised myself bybeginning to enjoy myself.The first to swim were Guy and Kay(Im not sure what they did) It wasquite enjoyable to watch them climbingout of the river, mainly because I wasso relieved it wasnt me. I did manageto stay dry the whole time (apart fromthe rain) but only due to Adrians skills.


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No doubt my comeuppance will occurlater.Some of you may know that Adrian is akeen botanist and likes to point out theflowers he spots. The other groupmembers, who know Adrian well, take

every opportunity to tease him aboutthis. One delightful day we rounded abend to discover Graham and Johnfrolicking amongst the flowers on theembankment, photographingcornflowers. They tried to bribe us notto tell the others, but bad luck forthem, they soon appeared from aroundthe corner!!

An Orchid shot by the botanist.

The best things about this trip, my firstforay into canoeing trips, were:1. It was our first holiday for 20 yearswithout our children.2. We ate out every night except once,so no cooking.

All my life I have been a feeble, nonsporting person, except for bike riding,

but after a few days of going downrapids the thrill of the wind in your faceand the rush of the water isunexpectedly exciting. I think I maycontinue and try to improve mycanoeing skills. Perhaps I could manage

some pre grade 1 canoeing on my ownone day. Marlow Canoe Club Membersmay have noticed me occasionallytoiling up to Temple at a snails pacegoing solo, complaining to Adrian,unjustly, that he hasnt taught meproperly etc, etc., as wives do!However, I have now booked onto the1/ 2 star canoe course for July and ampractising in advance so I dont

embarrass myself too much. Whoknows what heights I may reach?

Maggie Cooper June 2007

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PRAISE INDEED

Some of us know Big Dave, but Isuspect many of the newer members

do not. Big Dave can't paddle with usas much as he used to as the youngfamily becomes more demanding of histime, but Big Dave is the man behindthe website. It's where most peoplemake their first contact with the club,so Big Dave's skills are very importantto the club.I had this query from a parent lookingfor a course for his daughter. As this

person had some river experience butno 1* we took her out anyway.Following this he contacted me again toclarify a few points and his replycontained the following few lines.

'btw we all read thru the joinersnotes etc and they are exceptional.Before your reply I spent a coupleof hours yesterday seeing if I could

get her on an earlier one starsomewhere else and was


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astonished how poor other siteswere and how low the standards.Well done to you and your club!'

I know I did the joiners notes etc. butits Big Dave's work that's being

recognised here. When he's at the clubBig Dave is always ready to hand out atip or two for those in need, but Ithought it important that everybodyknows who's behind the veryimpressive website (not my words, butI do concur). Let's hear it for one ofthe club's unsung hero's.

John Norris July 2007

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8 GO TO THE ALPS PART 1

2.18 am in the back streets of MarlowBottom. Its dark, it's raining and Imlate. I said Id pick Paul up at 2.15 butplans have already gone awry. I packed

the car as intended on Thursdayevening and went to bed early hopingto snatch a few hours sleep beforegetting up again in the middle of thenight. Whose ideas was it anyway toleave at this unearthly hour, just tosave a few pounds on the shuttle?It was raining harder and there were nostreet lights. Just where is Paulshouse? I hadnt slept much. It was justlike Christmas Eve when I was a kid. Icouldnt sleep, I was too excited. Andthen just when I thought Santa mightarrive at any moment, Id drop off. So ithad been tonight. But here I was at2.19 outside Pauls house, sleepy, late,but still so terribly excited. We were offto the AlpsIt was probably 25 years since Id lastseen the Alps. I do sometimes recallthose youthful, careless, child free

days. But after years of family holidays

Id gained permission to go away withthe boys (plus Debs) and I wasdetermined to make the most of theopportunity.It was Dave Goddard whod firstproposed the trip and during the winter

and spring plans were hatched. Wewere to be nine, travelling in threevehicles via the Channel Tunnel on the05.50 am shuttle service. Of course bythe time of departure plans hadchanged once or twice. Henry Knighthad had to drop out and so too JohnnyP. We were down to seven and thenPaul Griffin joined the crew to take usback up to eight. Richard and his friend

Faz were keen to travel on their own,planning to go out earlier and comeback later. That left six of us to meet atthe Folkestone Eurotunnel terminal Dave G, Debs and Reza in Daves Zafiraand Paul Griffin, Paul Crichton andmyself in my Volvo.We were all excited as we checked in,had the first coffee and croissant of ourtrip (in the terminal building not

particularly memorable), and queuedfor our departure. We were bouncedand had to wait another half an hour,but so what? We were going to the

Alps.Dawn was breaking as we emergedfrom the tunnel in France and the drivesouth was pleasant enough - helpedconsiderably by having three drivers ineach car, each driving for an hour and ahalf to two hour stints. Late afternoonthe page delivered us at Grenoblefrom where the journey started tobecome interesting. The final stretch upthe valley of the Romanche to the Colde Lautaret and down the Guisanevalley (and through the Serre Chevalierresort for the ski buffs reading this) wasspectacular.We passed the McDonalds drive-through at Brianon (and managed to

avoid it on every subsequent occasion


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too) and arrived, with light to spare, atour campsite, La Courounba, on thebanks of the Gyronde at Les Vigneaux.Richard and Faz were already there andhad cooled beers ready for us. Theholiday was really starting.

Richard and Faz had done somescouting for us so Saturday morning wewere up early, eager and keen. Wedrove south down the Durance valleyfor a warm up paddle on one of theDurances tributaries, the Guil. TheLower Guil from Eygliers bridge to StClement on the Durance is given grade3- in Pete Knowles (Slimes) WhiteWater South Alps but was running low

so we thought 2+ and enjoyed anexcellent introductory paddle, revellingin the clear blue water, the sunshineand the glimpses of the fortified townof Mont Dauphin high above us on theright and a magnificent waterfall on theleft.

The team pose at the'Lower Guil '

Before we knew it we were paddlingunder the road bridge and into theDurance a reminder of the speed of

Alpine water. The Durance was a totallydifferent river, wide and powerful atthis point, but soon to broaden evenfurther as the river took various routes

around low islands and shingle banks.

The paddling became sluggish in theshallower water and was not helped bya strong head wind blowing up thevalley. Fortunately this didnt last andthe various channels came backtogether and the river regained its

strength for the rapids above StClement where we played for a while,surfing in the sunshine.The rapids are not however the onlyattraction at St Clement which boastsan excellent caf and kayak shop. Westopped and shopped and enjoyed arelaxed lunch before getting back onthe water for the run down to theRabioux rapids. The Rabioux wave at

the end of this stretch must be themost famous feature in this part of the

Alps. Slime gives it 3+ in his guide andhaving been through this monster,paddler and boat eating hole, wewouldnt disagree. I dropped into itwithout enough forward speed resultingin a magnificent rear-ender while Paul Ctook a roll. Respect!The Rabioux was our get out for the

day and we were a tired but contentedgroup back at the campsite thatevening planning our second day.

Paul Crichton playing at St. Clement

Day 2 dawned bright and Dave G and

Faz had settled on the Upper Ubaye as


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todays river. It was a long drive overthe Col de Vars, but must have been aneven longer cycle for the hundreds outon their bikes for a Sunday morningride, wobbling up the switchback roadsto the summit in their lowest gears.

Rather them than us!Despite our early start it was latemorning before we arrived at LaLauzire and unloaded prior to shuttlingthe cars down to Jausiers. We arrivedback at the put in to find it was lunchtime for a huge flock of sheep andgoats which had been unloaded fromthree massive trucks in our absence.With clanking bells and animals all over

the track and trees the atmosphere atthe get in was more wild west thansouthern Alps. It took us awhile to getthrough and park up.The Upper Ubaye started, if anything,steeper, shallower and faster than theLower Guil had been the day before.We were paddling again in two groupsof four and Paul C led off with Paul G,Richard and me behind but only a few

hundred metres into our run the riversteepened some more, dropping out ofsight on a bend and Paul G took a nastyswim. Fortunately he made it quickly tothe bank while Paul C retrieved hispaddle but it was only after a longchase and with the help of some otherBrits on the river that day that I wasable to beach his upturned boat on ashingle bank and wait for him to makehis way down river through theundergrowth lining the banks.This part of the Alps is very close to theItalian border and the Upper Ubaye isdominated by the Fort de Tournoux, amaze of bastions, barracks and gunemplacements built on and in the steepcliffs above the road and river. Inbetween looking up at the battlementsand the gun ports we were enjoying afast little run that never dropped below

grade 2 with the occasional 3. All too

soon however the river eased off andwe drifted down the final kilometre tothe village of Jausiers, our get out, anda welcome late lunch. Now we had adilemma. Did we drive down the valleyand paddle another stretch, possibly

the grade 3/4 stretch from Les Thuilesto La Fresqure, or did we take it easyand go and find an ice cream? It wassunny and we had all week ahead ofus. The ice cream won, but not beforewed scouted the next section andstopped in Le Lauzet to look at theRoman bridge and start thinking aboutthe Ubaye racecourse (grade 4) sectionthat Dave recommended we save for

the end of the week.We were up later than planned the nextday (Monday). Wed driven a long wayyesterday and arrived back at thecampsite in the dark having stopped toeat out at the Hotel de Maire in Embrunwhere we had enjoyed an excellent 18prix net menu and discovered the localbeer Alp & Hand brewed in La

Vallouise, just up the valley from our

campsite. The Brianon Gorge sectionof the Upper Durance had taken myeye in the guidebook, was short (only2km), and was on the way to Davesrecommendation for the day, the UpperGuisane. We agreed to give it a go.It took us longer than expected toqueue our way through Brianon, findthe start and then shuttle cars backdown to Brianon Canoe Club and theget out but eventually we werechanged and ready to go. While wedbeen shuttling, Faz had spotted a nastylooking metal box, perhaps a largesection of air conditioning vent orindustrial cage just under the surface inthe centre of the river so we got on ahundred metres or so below the bridgeand well away from the boules courtwith its aggressive old Gardienmentioned in the guidebook but

nowhere in sight.


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Dave G makes a splash in the BrianonGorge.

We were getting the hang of this typeof paddling. Fast, shallow water withfew breakouts and were soon down atthe barrage, a modern sluice with awell positioned wooden kayak shoot totake us past it. I went first, boofed offthe lip and landed nicely in the shallowpool at the bottom. Reza and thenRichard followed with some success atthe boof. Dave didnt bother,

submarining as he hit the pool andcareering across it, soaking the three ofus in the process.We continued on into the gorge proper,enjoying the easy rapids in aspectacular situation high sheer cliffson either side with glimpses of the townand fort of Brianon high above before emerging in a park, completewith high ropes course! It didnt take uslong to paddle through the lower townto the get out, or wouldnt have if Davehadnt taken a swim on the brokenweir, resulting in another long boatchase as the river rushed between highbanks without a breakout in sight.It had been an eventful morning andthoughts turned to lunch which waseventually taken in a pizza restaurant atChantemerle which was to be our getout for the afternoons paddle. The

Upper Guisane is another classic run, a

fast flowing, non stop paddle in thishigh Alpine valley, generally grade 2with the occasional 3 and one namedfeature S Bend rapid which theguidebook rates as 4-. Leaving a car atChantemerle we drove up to inspect S

Bend and then on up to Le Casset forthe start. Lunch had taken longer thanexpected (the proprietor had had tosend out for more food while wewaited) and cloud had started to fill theupper valley bringing with it a lightdrizzle.It was looking quite grey as Debs ledoff followed by Paul C, Reza andmyself. Its a funny thing, but while

everythings going well you can enjoythe non stop nature of the paddling;when something doesnt, you realisethat non stop is actually another wayof saying no breakouts. Sadly for Rezahe discovered this the hard way leavingPaul and I to chase his boat forhundreds of metres before managing tofind a spot to stop and empty it.The rescue took us some time and,

while our plan had been to meet upabove S Bend with the other four whodset off ahead of us, we arrived there tofind them having a minor epicthemselves. Paul G had apparentlytaken a swim from near the top of therapid and Faz had capsized trying toretrieve his boat. While Faz sortedhimself out, Paul C and I set off afterthe upturned boat which we could justsee disappearing at the foot of therapid. This proved an even longer chaseas we struggled with the swamped boatand non stop paddling. Eventually wegot a line on the boat and got it to theside but then had long wait in the rainwhile Paul fought his way through theundergrowth on the opposite bank. Itwas at this point that we discoveredthat Richard also had taken a swim andthat Paul had not only been knocked

about as hed swum, but had lost his


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paddle as well. Once all eight of uswere assembled, courtesy of aconvenient foot bridge, on the samebank and assembled a set of splits inplace of Pauls lost paddle we agreed tocontinue as one group. The rescues

and the swims and standing around inthe now quite persistent rain had notbeen good for us; we were a sorrygroup as we made our way, fortunatelywithout further incident, down to thewaiting car. Dinner was taken thatevening in the restaurant at thecampsite. It rained all night.But Tuesday dawned bright. Theground was soaked; there were pools

of water everywhere. My tent hadleaked. But it was sunny and bright andthere was a frisson of excitement as webrewed coffee, breakfasted oncroissants and pain au chocolate andstarted making plans for the new day.

ANDY MAXTED

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L2K TRAINING.

Don't tell everyone but there is a newcoaching award set up coming in soon.Word is it's not going to be cheap sothose that want to do their L2K trainingneed to get it in fast. Apparently it'sgoing to cheaper to get a BCU L2K andconvert, rather than take a UKCCcourse straight off. That's why Rob & Irolled up to the Riverside Centre onedrizzly Saturday morning toward theend of July.The course director was RogerWiltshire, assisted by Rob Yates ofRiverside. Roger was not a happy manas a few people (me & Rob included)did not have all of the pre-requisites tohand. (It seems a lot of people are

trying to improve their coaching

qualifications this way, and the BCU isstruggling to get packs returned asquickly as they have done so in thepast). Not one to harbour a grudge,Roger let us on anyway possiblybecause I had an e-mail from the BCU

confirming that Rob & I were suitablyqualified to undertake the training - andanyway, he'd already taken the money.Working in Oxford, I was well aware ofthe conditions and had earlier queriedwhether the course would go ahead.Rob Yates replied 'no problem - unlessthe river levels drop'. He explained thatwhilst the river was high it would usethe flood plains, but once contained

within its banks the current increasesconsiderably. Pretty obvious really -but I'd not thought of it that waybefore.

A little exercise was undertakendesigned to get us to get to know oneanother. I'm not a great fan of thesebut it broke the ice and the course wason. We split into two teams, I wentwith Rob (Yates) and Rob was with

Roger. A warm up on the grassprovided comical entertainment to afew faces on Doninngton Bridge, andthen it was onto the water.The first exercise was to develop a'new' stroke for kayaking. Consideringthe increase in split paddle designs Iopted for a modified 'J' stroke. Theidea was to demonstrate the stroke,and 'coach' your colleagues. Theinstructor could then talk about yoursession and how you might considerimproving your delivery. Not telling you- but opening up other considerations.Lunch could not come soon enough andan upstream paddle to the centre onlydelayed the fate awaiting mysandwiches.Saturday afternoon gave those who'dnot completed the mornings exercise achance to do so, but not after a slog

upstream to the Cherwell. We had a


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chance to lead a group whilst Robdisappeared to a viewpoint andexamined our leadership skills. I didO.K., but I thought I should have beenmore aware of the river. My sectionturned out to be the narrowest section

on the navigable Thames so the waterwas tanking through. Two oldermembers in our group were havingtrouble with the current and I was notsufficiently aware of their problems.Rob delivered a critique on myperformance which was heavy onpraise and encouragement but did notmiss out those parts that needed a littlerevision. Exercises completed, it was

back to Riverside for a review andhomework. I'm 52 and gettinghomework, I hadn't counted on that.We all got a (conventional) stroke tobreak down into a format we would useto 'coach' our colleagues next day.Included in the course fee was anevening meal at the 'Fox and Hounds',a garishly painted hostelry on the

Abingdon rd. that to me had always

looked on the wrong side of dingy.Fortunately it was flooded. Even morefortunate was Roger getting us into the'Chester Arms' which looked much morehomely.Sunday starts off with coffee anddoughnuts in the Riverside Lounge. Afull grown hay bale floated by at arespectable rate of knots and hinted atsome of the troubles the floods hadcaused further upstream. A bit morechat and it's an early return to thewater. An upstream slog to HinkseyPool and a chance to demonstrate howmuch effort I had put into myhomework.Reverse Paddling, using the I.D.E.A.S.(Introduction, demonstration,explanation, activity, summary) modelof delivery. I had done my homework,thought about the stroke and wrote out

my crib sheet. I demonstrated a slow

start to keep the boat on course andmoved into a full blooded trunk rotatingefficient reverse stroke. I explainedwhy I did it this way and asked the'class' to give it a go. Watching fromthe bank, which was only a little higher

than the water, gave me a 3dimensional view of the group and Iwas able to offer advice as individualpaddlers passed by me. To finish, agame of tag, paddling backwards only,gave the 'class' a chance to use newfound speed. I summarised eachpaddler's performance suggestingwhere (if any) improvement might bemade. Rob again delivered his critique

using his time not to fault myperformance, but to get me to thinkabout 'improvements' and to suggest tothose following me how they might usecertain features to enhance their owndelivery. Either side of a hard paddleback to the main river we all had achance to deliver a session and I wasmade aware by my colleagues of somefailings in my own strokes.

From the outset, time permitting, Rogerand Rob had intended to include ashort spell in canoes as that's the waythe UKCC syllabus will be going. Thoseon our team from Cherwell C.C. (whodon't do canoes - in fact, they don'teven own one) were not to keen, but Iwas up for it. I got to go in Rob Yates'nearly new Wenonah and was surprisedat how much less so the river affectedits forward momentum when comparedto the kayak. We had a chance todemonstrate (not always successfully)

just how stable these boats were asRob had us tipping them over until areasonable flow of water entered thehull.The course finishes with the allimportant C2 form. Here's where youget to record your little bit, your ownshortcomings etc. A 1-2-1 with your

coach and he or she gets to note what


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they think you need to do beforeassessment. I came away feelingpretty O.K. I need to improve myrecovery strokes and get some morecoaching hours in working with othercoaches at 2 & 3 star levels. And I

need to back off a little, over coachingRob called it, and guide the pupil tolearn for themselves.

All in all an enjoyable weekend in thecompany of willing learners under thetutelage of excellent coaches and wellworth the 110.00 per head.Following a (successful?) assessment, Ihope to put just that little bit more intothe club's coaching programme leaving

a bit more room for all those new L1'sAM trained up earlier this month.

John Norris August 2007

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MY RETURN TO MARATHONRACING

I gave up marathon racing when Ibecame a parent nearly 20 years ago. Iwas hoping to return much earlier thanthis, but the consequences of Myeloma(bone marrow cancer) and other lifedemands delayed things somewhat.

After years of rebuilding the musclesthat cancer treatment had taken, I hadreached the point where I was able topaddle 9 or 10 miles at a reasonable

speed without resting too much. I wasalso getting more confident with theinstability of my new boat. Looking tochoose a race for my return I noticedWindsor Veteran race 9.4 miles. Adecent distance, like in the olden days,before the divisional system. It takesme the 2 or 3 miles to warm up, bythen a div. 9 race would be over. Inthe 2 weeks before the race I paddled

the course 3 times, so that I could get afeel for how far it was, on the way up I

could work out how far out from thebank to be so as not to get bottom dragand decide upon the optimum places tochange banks.

As the race got nearer I became verynervous. It had taken so long and so

much effort for me to reach this pointand it had been so long since I hadcoped with the choppy start of a race.I asked myself: Would I be the onlyone wearing buoyancy? Would they allhave wing paddles? Would they all bein the new fast (but very tippy) boats?Would all those guys that are my ageand ex internationals be in my race?Would I be left standing? Would I have

a swim?When I arrived at Windsor I didntrecognise any of those exinternationals, there werent too manywing paddles or new fast (but verytippy) boats, in fact there seemed to bea very wide variety of people, boats andpaddles and some did have buoyancyaids. The whole atmosphere of the dayturned out to be very sociable and

enjoyable. It was a relief to get on thewater and start warming up. Therewas already a swimmer; he had wingpaddles a new fast (but very tippy) boatand no buoyancy. He was younger andfaster than me in the race, but hadanother swim so finished behind me.The K2s went off first, then my agegroup and younger, followed by theover 50s.

At the start I coped really well with thewaves, 3 or 4 paddlers went off fasterthan I could stay with, they were all ina younger age group than me, I wasamazed to be leading my race. Then atabout half a mile a paddler in my agegroup caught me up with me, he was ina stable much slower boat called ahobby and was using wooden Mark Geepaddles. We were taking it in turns towash hang each other until the portage

at 2 miles. I actually managed to get


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away from the portage quicker and lefthim behind. So was I going to win myage group? I had to keep up thepressure for another 7.4 miles. Beforethe half way turn I was over taken by 2or 3 paddlers older than me, I stayed

on their washes for as long as possiblegaining as much as I could withoutexhausting myself. At the turn the guychasing me seemed about a quarter ofa mile away. I kept the pressure upbut either I was slowing or the guybehind was going faster; when I got tothe portage, 2 miles from the end hewas very close. I mustered up all I hadleft and probably more, he finished just

19 seconds behind me.I think I may have won before in thedivisional system, but I can onlyremember being first twice before, oneof those being in a K4 10,000m raceand the other was K1 in the Lichfieldmarathon, both about 30 years ago. Iknow that if there had been morecompetition I would not have won, butI had exhausted myself to achieve it

and was extremely pleased.It was great to get back to theexcitement and challenge of racing, theevent was friendly and sociable andvery enjoyable.My return to racing reminded me of justhow fulfilling and enjoyable it is. I getthe impression that many clubmembers have not even tried fast boatsand racing. Why dont more of yougive it a try you may find it rewarding?I now need to lengthen my trainingdistances because I am planning to doDevizes to Westminster Easter 2008,over 4 days, in the K1. I used topaddling alone, but it would be great ifothers could join me for some of thetraining. My phone no. is 01494816402and email: [email protected]

ANDY COOK

CARLSBERG COURSE 1*

By a stroke (no pun intended) of luck,16 novices picked the best weekend ofthe year so far, to take the 1* Kayakcourse. At least the weather wasperfect. The river, though, was stillswollen from all the rain and there wasa challenging stretch of water tonavigate before we reached a moresheltered stretch, to start an excitingsport that for many of us will becomean integral part of our lives. Thecoaches always had our safety at theforefront of their minds, and so wewalked round to the lock while the

coaches towed the kayaks.We were split into two groups andspent the next day and a half learningthe rudimentary elements of kayaking.There was a good mix of practical work,theory and team games of tag andpolo. We quickly developed acamaraderie within the groups, helpingeach other out and working as teams.The coaches were always on hand to

encourage us and explain techniquesover again until they were confident wecould demonstrate each stroke with thenecessary aptitude.

At the end of day one, the onlymanoeuvre left to practise was thecapsize. It was agreed that we couldtake the route past the willow treehanging over a particularly strong andfast current. Two coaches went ahead

to mark a safe area for us to paddlethrough and we set off. It was hardwork paddling upstream but all thecurrents coming from differentdirections made it harder. I thought Ihad navigated safely past the tree, butsuddenly the current appeared to grabthe front of my kayak and in a splitsecond I was under the water beingdragged under the willow very fast backdownstream. Having previously had alittle capsize experience and being


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determined not to panic, I collected mythoughts before grabbing the splashdeck and tried to surface. Apparently Ihad travelled a considerable way andwas totally unaware of the franticactivity on the surface. The coaches

were totally professional, someremained with the other 1*s and otherswere despatched to assist me. Aftersurfacing, with the help of a workcolleague, JP towed me to the side andI took a rather wet walk back to theclub, where we carried out somescheduled capsizes!Day 2 was less dramatic and after amorning of more theory and perfecting

our techniques, after lunch we re-grouped ready for our assessments.The coaches were keen to put us at ourease and we started with a game ofpolo to calm any nerves and reinforceteamwork. During the assessments, ifwe felt we hadnt completed amanoeuvre or stroke as well as weknew we could, we had the chance todo it again, and again, and in my case

with the rudder manoeuvre, again!It was with some trepidation that Iapproached the tree on the way back tothe club but I was determined not torepeat what happened on day 1. Wewere all very tired after so many hoursbut everyone successfully completedthe course and we were all applaudedby our fellow 1*s when we received ourbadges and certificates.So what now? Once I can lift my armsabove my shoulders again and themulti-coloured bruises have faded, I willbe putting as much practise as possibleand may even attempt more *s. I hopeto see my fellow 1*s and coaches atthe club sessions. See you all soon.

Mandy Human 06/08/07

I don't know whether it was theweather or the wide range of people onthe course, or just the way the coachesapproached this one may have been alittle different, but everybody involvedwas of the same opinion - that this was

one of the best courses - ever! Ireceived a no. of e-mails from bothparticipants and parents thanking allthe coaches and assistants for theirefforts over the weekend.

-------------------------------------------------

FORCE 5 FROM LULW ORTHCOVE

FREE campsite - Well I couldn't findanywhere to pay!

It had been a long time coming. Lastyear I got too involved in the 1*s andother things, this year the op. got in theway, but James & Elaine were able tore-schedule a weekend and so, on theweekend of 18/19 August, a handful ofus got our first taste of sea-kayaking.Poole Harbour seems a safe place tostart off your sea kayaking experience,except when there is a strong windwhipping up some serious lookingwaves as it races, unimpeded, across

the Wareham Channel.


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James & Elaine bought Dagger Exodusboats which they had used on anumber of trips, as well as a glass boat,model unknown (to me anyway). I hadmy Capella (rm) and we took the club's3 P&H Umnaks, a Derek Hutchison

design of the early mid eighties, + 1Invader.Myself, Jane, Melinda, Fiona and Ianwere joined by friends of James &Elaine - Monkey (shes a good climberapparently) and Robin. We were allvery green and Fiona was not at allsure about proceeding any further. Ianswapped his sea boat for the Invaderand Fiona decided to give it a go.

The route around the 'WarehamChannel - Red out; Green back.

A short pep talk from James outlininghow he planned to proceed and wewere gingerly afloat. A little potterabout close to the beach to familiarise

ourselves with a strange environmentwas a good plan. Fionas courage hadreturned and we set off across theWareham Channel. Driving rain, wavesof about 700mm and a strong windensured progress was slow, but the750m crossing was made withoutmishap. We then turned towardWareham and hugged the coast foraround 3km before retracing our steps

and stopping for lunch where a wooded

outcrop offered some shelter. A returnto our departure point was made byway of a direct crossing of some 1.3km.

All beached safely with no mishaps.We were wet, elated, and a little tired.The plan was to meet at The Square &

Compass, a hostelry about a mile and ahalf from the campsites, but we wouldhave drowned walking there so wesettled for something a little closer. Anodd, but friendly, pub with a long waitfor food suggests that The Square &Compass might be a better bet in allbut the worst weather conditions.Sunday arrived and somebody had towake up Melinda. Working on the

premise that its easier to cool downthan to warm up she had gone to bedarmed with a sleeping bag and a duvetand, in case the chill got through, two

jumpers, socks, night hat and hot waterbottle.

A change of plan led us to try outLulworth Cove. An easy journey thereand a quick recce suggested it was do-able, though challenging. Unlike Poole

Harbour, which has a silty Thameslikeappearance, the Cove offers a cleanlooking water of opaque glacial green /blue colour. The boats were put onand we had a chance to experience areal tide, though it was only mildlyactive as it approached near full. Thatsaid, I was most surprised how far out Idrifted whilst setting the GPS. Waves,serious waves, were crashing eitherside of the cove entrance. Melinda andFiona decided to stay within the covewith Elaine. The Farquarsons friendshad not made Sunday leaving justJames, myself, Jane & Ian to leave therelative safety of the Cove.


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Excursion from Lulworth Cove.

As we approached the entrance anoticeable swell developed and the tide,

forcing its way through the muchnarrower entrance, was more evidentthan before. As we left the Cove andcleared the breakers we headed westtoward Durdle Door. We had viewedStair Hole from our recce and I thoughtit would have been worth a look in, butthe waves suggested otherwise. Wemight have got in, but it could havebeen a long time before we got out. Sowe pushed on to Dungy Head, taking aline not too far from the coast. Pastthe head and out into St. Oswalds Bayand, as we got further from the coast,the swell increased considerably.James called the conditions a force 4,possibly a 5,

Elaine demonstrating the stability of theDagger Exodus!

but a look at the Beaufort scalesuggests to me that there was a fair bitof F5. I would estimate the swell to bearound 1m most of the time with morethan that on occasions. Riding up anddown the swell with the bow rising

clear of the water and then crashingthrough the next wave before rising onthe swell with the salt spray blowing inyour face was indeed a new experiencefor all but Jane, who had done anumber of organised sea trips before.It was a slog to the Door being againstthe wind all the way. As mentionedearlier it was prudent not to get tooclose, so we turned and headed back.

The return journey was a much quickeraffair. Whilst James maintained arelatively straight course the rest of uswere struggling and my skeg did notseem to help as it was the currentdoing the turning rather than the wind.I was aware that I was getting closer tothe rocks so I paddled out and settledfor a ferry glide of about 500m and aturn into the Cove. We had been out a

little over 2hrs. but it felt twice that.We beached the boats, loaded the carsand had a bite to eat before heading forhome. All agreed it was a mostmagnificent weekend, despite theweather, and all thanked James andElaine profusely for their time andefforts.I originally set out to see if we couldget Sea Kayaking back on the agendaand we already have 5 converts. Ibelieve this can only grow and it is ourintention to get down to the Briny moreoften. We intend to do another coupleof trips this year, as we feel confidentenough to do Poole Harbour on ourown, though all trips will be peergroup trips. As our experience grows,our limitations will lessen and whoknows what the future might hold. Ihope we will be able to take up an offer

made by our retired president (some


16/20


17/20


WE HA VE BEEN ADVISED BY THE EA (ENV IRONMENT

AGENCY) OF A CONFIRMED CASE OF LEPTOSPIROSIS TH AT

HA S DEVELOPED IN TO WEIL'S DISEASE.

ALTH OUGH RARE, THIS DISEASE CAN B E FATAL, AN D

SENSIBLE PRECAUTIONS SHOULD BE TAK EN TO MIN IMI SETHE RISK OF INFECTION.

PREFERAB LY, DO NOT PADDLE IF YOU HA VE AN Y EXPOSED

CUTS AND GRAZES, BUT IF Y OU MUST ENUSRE THAT TH EY

ARE SUIT AB LY PROTECTED WIT H WATERPROOF

DRESSINGS. DO NOT EAT OR DRINK WITH OUT FIRST

WASHIN G YOUR HA NDS OR USING AN AN TISEPTIC WIPE.

SHOWER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE A FTER YOUR PADDLE

AIR / WASH YOUR K IT AFTER YOUR PADDLE

VIEW THE CURRENT T HINK ING ON THI S INFECTION ON

TH E NHS DIRECT WEBSITE.

FINAL LY - IF, AFTER YOU'V E BEEN PADDLING YOU

FEEL A B IT 'ROUGH' (FLU LI K E SYM PTOMS) GETTO Y OUR DOCTOR (SOONER RATH ER THAN

LAT ER) AND ADVISE HIM / HER TH AT Y OU HA VE

BEEN PADDLIN G IN WATERS WHERE

LEPTOSPIROSIS HAS BEEN CONFIRM ED BY TH E

EA.


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2007 INTRO TOWHITEWATER

I'm still waiting for summer to arriveand a note goes round the club giving

details of the annual intro towhitewater. A sure sign that autumn's just around the corner. JP (who's likehalf a committee member) along withsome other aficionado's organises ourwhitewater calendar and generally setsthe ball rolling with this eventparticularly for the newer members whousually have yet to experience paddlingon faster flowing water and for asession on true whitewater, albeit of alowish grade.Eighteen of us set of from Kern Bridgefor the 8 mile paddle to Symonds Yat.

Two new members ready for the start

Along the way time was taken todemonstrate more technicalmanoeuvre's when the right conditionspresented themselves. There wasmore than one wobble at the breakingin and out of eddies exercise. (I mustlearn to look where I want to go andnot where the boat is heading).

A grassy bank provided an excellentstop for lunch but this year there were

no pancakey things from the chairman'strangia.

Paddling resumed around 30mins. laterwith an estimated 40-50 mins. paddlingto the Yat. I buttoned my lip andstifled a laugh as I reckoned on it beingtwice that but thought that maybe JPhad to provide a 'little' encouragement

to the newbies.Next stop was 'Hodges Rock', a chanceto seal launch from around 5' into theriver. I stopped at several false alarmsbefore discovering the real rock just amile or so from the Yat. It was coveredwith kids (normal sized and biggerones) and I didn't think for a momentthey'd have an opportunity to launch soI went straight for the Yat. 30mins

later I guessed I'd made a wrong call sothe camera was not there to record thelaunches. Maybe next year.I got a couple of runs in on the 'rapids'before the rest arrived and found thewater to be a little higher than lastyear, leading to a lesser drop at thestart and a slightly 'rougher' runthrough.Most enjoyed several runs and were

able to benefit from TT's and JP'sadvice and demonstrations along theway. I helped out where and when Icould and found time to explain 'ferrygliding' to a couple of novices whohadn't quite picked up on JP'sexplanations. Easy for me, as just afew years ago I was doing exactly thesame when Gary Board tried to explainit to me!

A debrief at the Saracens head finishedthe day with an excellent pint from the'Wye Valley' brewery. JP announcedman of the day to be Aaron Stonnel, anew member of some 3 weeks or sowho swears he's not had so much funsince Lady of the day went toMelinda Livett who I missed seallaunching of Hodges Rock, with anhonourable mention to Julie Briggs.

John Norris August 2007


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WHAT'S ON, WHEN AND WHERE

The complete and authoritive guide to all that the club hopes to do in theforthcoming months. Please note that at the time of going to press dates cannot

be guaranteed and that the programme is subject to changes.

ALLSUNDAYS

CLUB SESSI ONS; ON THE WATER FOR 10:00am. SEE D.O. FORFINI SH. CHECK NOTICEBOARDS FOR SPECIAL EVENTS

D.O.

ALLTUESDAYS

CLUB SESSI ONS; ON THE W ATER FOR 7:OOpm. SEE D.O. FORFINI SH. CHECK NOTICEBOARDS FOR SPECIAL EVENTS

D.O.

01+02/09 BCU 1* KAYAK NOVICE COURSE 5 TT

01+02/09 TREWERYN COACHING FESTIVAL TBC

03/09 COMMITTEE MEETING - CLUBHOUSE COMMENCING 7:30pm AC

04/09 CLUB SESSION

09/09 CLUB SESSION11/09 CLUB SESSION

16/09 CLUB SESSION

18/09 CLUB SESSION - LAST TUESDAY EVENING THIS YEAR.

23/09ONWARDS

CLUB SESSION - EVERY SUNDAY, DETAILS AS ABOVE, 1*'s ATDESCRESTION OF THE D.O. WATCH OUT FOR CHANGES,PARTICULARLY AS THE WHITEWATER SEASON IS FINALISED.

01/10 COMMITTEE MEETING - CLUBHOUSE COMMENCING 07:30

07/10 CLUB SESSION / SOUTHERN REGION COACHING FORUM AM

21/10 MARLOW MARATHON - VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED

05/11 COMMITTEE MEETING AM

03/12 COMMITTEE MEETING AM

EVERY

THURSDAY

EVENING

9.00 - 10.30

SWIMMING POOL SESSIONS AT GURNELL POOL, WEST

LONDON.

GET TUITION IN ROLLING, OR PRACTISE 3* SKILLS, OR

ANYTHING YOU'VE GOT A BIT RUSTY ON. SEE WEBSITE FOR

MAP AND DETAILS OR CONTACT JOHN PARKIN or JOHNNORRIS.

JP

ORGANISER / MCC CONTACT CODE FOR ABOVE EVENTS

AC ADRIAN COOPER 01844 344580 [email protected]

AM ANDY MAXTED 07730 852760 [email protected]

DL DAVID LYDIATT 01753 887773 [email protected]

JN JOHN NORRIS 01494 483833 [email protected]

JP JOHN PARKIN 07973 820515 [email protected]

MP MARTIN PLAIN 01628 483252 [email protected]

TB TERRY BELCHER 01628 851001 [email protected]


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THE COMMITTEE AND OTHER USEFUL NUM BERS

A list of those members who serve on the club's committee, their role and acontact no. should you need to contact them.

POSITION NAMECONTACT

NO.E-MAIL

PRESIDENT TIM WARD01494482959

[email protected]

CHAIRMANADRIANCOOPER

01844344580

[email protected]

SECRETARYANDYMAXTED

07730852760

[email protected]

TREASURERPAULCRICHTON

08708806962

[email protected]

COACHINGTIMTWITCHEN

07833995289 [email protected]

NEWSLETTER JOHN NORRIS01494483833

[email protected]

MEMBERSHIPRODEDMONDS

01753671389

[email protected]

EQUIPMENTCHRISPORTEOUS

01628485049

[email protected]

MARATHON DEBS HARDY & JAMES FARQUARSON.

LONGRIDGEMARTINPLAIN

01628483252

[email protected]

WOMENS REP. DEBS HARDY07812

[email protected]

YOUTH REP ALEX SHEIL07707953124

[email protected]

SOCIALMELINDALIVETT

[email protected]

WHITEWATER JOHN PARKIN01628476384

[email protected]

INLANDTOURS

GUYMADDIESON

01844275418

[email protected]

SEA JOHN NORRIS01494483833

[email protected]

OUR NEAREST RETAILERS / SUPPLIERS

RIVERSIDE OXFORD01865248673

http://www.riversideoxford.co.uk/

MARSPORT READING01189665912

http://www.marsport.co.uk/

WWC SHEPPERTON01932247978

http://www.whitewaterthecanoecentre.co.uk/

PADDLESPORTCOMPTON

VERNEY01926

640573http://www.paddlesport.co.uk/

Please advise the editor if any contact details are wrong or if you wishto add an alternative no. / e-mail address to the list.

newsletter 117 autumn 2007 03

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