newsletter 115 spring 2007 01

8/14/2019 Newsletter 115 Spring 2007 01

1/16

Newsletter115

Spring 2007 / 01

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

Marlow Canoe Club Newsletter Page 1 Spring 2007 / 01

EDITORS P IECE

Those who were at the AGM will haveheard that me ol' man decided to cashin his chips that same day. My thanksto all those who have expressed theircondolences over these past few

weeks, which have been a bit hectic tosay the least. So the newsletter is alittle later than originally planned.

At the AGM it appears we acquired afew new committee members, more onthese people later as well as a shortreport detailing the awards etc.This Winter has been high and fastwater all through and I can only thinkof one upstream trip to Temple.

Naturally, I was there first - I justneeded twice as long as everybody elseto recover. All other trips have beendownstream either from 'Flowerpots' orto Maidenhead. Needless to say thesecurrent assisted trips have allowedfaster speeds than usual and on oneoccasion I got the Inazone to just over10mph.Inside we can enjoy a report on the

canoeing part of a Trek America trip byChris Porteous, and a trip around theGreek Islands from Jane. There's acouple of nasty incidents that so easilycould have been much worse and moreto boot.

WHATS IN THIS ISSUE

Editors Piece 1

An Incident on the Thames 2

The Christmas Party 3Swimmerollathon! 4

Canadian Rockies 5

Another Incident 7

Sea kayak - Milos 2006 8

Newsletter Submissions 10

Sea Kayaking 10

New Equipment Officer 11

Sunglasses 11

Fancy being an Olympian 12

AGM report & annual awards 13

Last years' recruits 13

Competition 14

Whose boat is it anyway? 14

Marsport open day 14

Events / Diary. 19

Contacts etc. 20

"Even at the very bottom of the river, I didn't think to myself,`is this a hearty joke or the merest accident'.

I just thought, it's wet'." Eeyore


2/16


3/16


situations in the future should we comeclose to a tree.

A reverse ferry glide was considered tobe the most appropriate action as thiscould give you time to think about thesituation as well as allowing you to

extricate yourself from the impendingproblem. Draw strokes, it wasexplained, were unlikely to pull youclear of the tree, especially one of thissize. A paddle down around the end ofthe island provided a safe opportunityto practice the reverse ferry stroke inrelative safety.The lesson was to paddle toward the

danger sign and then use the reverse

ferry to manoeuvre away from the sign.Ive got a feel for this stroke and couldeasily get to within a metre or two ofthe post and pull away to either sidequite safely, but although we had donea conventional ferry glide practice a fewweeks before with varying degrees ofsuccess the reverse concept threwmany into confusion. Clearly somethingto work on during the next summer

Wye trip, JP explains this very well.We continued downstream, the currentgiving us a fast pace and we arrived at

The Ferry (Cookham) for coffee. Anunscheduled stop meant many hadbought insufficient funds but Guy cameto the rescue of the pecuniaryembarrassed.Whilst enjoying our coffee some DWersset off for a practice. For wobbly boatsthis is a bit of a nightmare. From theFerry, the route is straight ahead to thelock cut. But the prevailing currentcomes in from the left as it exitsCookham Weir and leaves river right onits way to the next weir. In theseconditions the flow was very noticeable.The DWers nearly lost it but a superbtandem support stroke caught it just intime and they continued on their way,though possibly a little lighter.

Coffee over we too headed for the lockand portaged it. Cookham lock is a biglock but even so, the downstream sidewas flooded. This gave the opportunityto seal launch down the grass bank forsome, the water being deep enough to

avoid grounding on the walkway.Others just got wet. We continued toMaidenhead, enjoying a very faststretch where the weir stream rejoinsthe river just below the lock. Theweather had been fine throughout andan enjoyable paddle came to an endaround 1:40, a shame, as dinner wason the table for 1:30.

John Norris 15/01/07

----------------------------------------The Committee retains a SocialSecretary with a view to organising afew 'off the water' activities whenconditions are such that many of thenewer members might feel left out.

Amongst those to hold this post in thepast are Gary Board, myself, and Debs

Hardy. Slowly the post has evolved bitby bit, but something has changed thisyear. Maybe it's Melinda's gregariousnature, or maybe the club's changeddirection a little. Whatever it is, theSocial Secretary role has changed forthe better. Here's a piece on her latestsuccess.

THE CHRISTMAS PARTY

The Christmas party, normally a fairlynotorious event in any organisationscalendar, full of embarrassing momentsand stories that circulate for years. Ihave a bit of a habit of jumping intothings without thinking it through, soafter volunteering to write this article, Idid begin to wonder what I would beletting myself in for!Thankfully it turned out to be a verywell organised and civilised affair.


4/16


Come the evening of the meal, off Itrotted to Zizzis and my first impressionupon entering the restaurant was'blimey, who are all these people'!Having joined only recently and not yethad the chance to go on any white

water trips due to a lack of experience,I did not recognise over half theattendees. During the 'free garlic breadcourse' ( for want of a better phrase)and a very nice starter I got to knowquite a few new people who weresitting around me and was just startingto get comfortable when JP announcedthat everyone should move places.

Although I'm sure this was a nightmare

for the waitresses, it was a great way tomeet more people. We did this twicemore during the night and I am prettysure I ended up talking to everyone!The main course lived up to thestandard set by the starter, with a goodselection of different dishes to suit alltastes (well all Italian tastes anyway). Ichose a creamy pasta (not wanting athird pizza in a week) which I quickly

downed and went back to chatting tomy neighbours. After pudding, it wasquite evident that the staff wanted toshut up shop for the night so after 20minutes or so of communal headscratching we paid the bill and left. A

jolly enjoyable evening and thank youto Melinda for all the hard work she putinto organising the event.

Xxxxxx xxxx 20/01/07

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

SWIMMEROLLATHON

Or to give it it's full name - the 'First Annual Marlow Canoe Club

Swimmerollathon and first splosh

sweepstake'.

This years Swimmerollathon

Spectacular was held at Hell Hole on

the Wye. The competition format wasquite simple and involved each entrantpredicting who would swim or walk atthe feature and calculate the totalnumber of points scored based on ascale loosely linked to the paddler skill

level. An added complication was thatnone of us knew at the time what thewater conditions would be like whichadded to the difficulty.In all eighteen of us reached Hell Holeand to be honest the water level waspretty high. There appeared to be tworoutes down, one right through thecentre if you could get far enoughout, and one line river right skirting a

very nasty looking stopper.Kieron, who snores apparently,volunteered to take first run in hiscanoe and promptly put 7 points ontothe scoreboard by capsizing down theright. His boat was then washed severalhundred yards downstream. Havingwitnessed this, several people wiselydecided to watch the fun from on arock and contributed a massive 47 walk

points to the scoreboard.That left nine of us to tackle the featureof which two had a nice swim whichadded another 10 points to the tallymaking a grand total of 64. Seven of usmade it successfully through in avariety of styles which you can see onthe video clips doing the rounds.The prize of a very nice bottle of redwine unknowingly donated by Susanwas won by Richard Williams with anexcellent estimate of 65 althoughestimates ranged from Henrys high of123 (clearly no faith in us whatsoever!)down to Andy with 10 (clearly thinksthat we are all very good!).The first Splosh sweepstake involvedhaving to predict how long it would beafter we took to the water that ourgroup would have its first swim. Againwe had a very wide range of guesses

from the low of Kieron of 45 seconds,


5/16


he had obviously heard about lastyears trip, up to Reza predicting 2hours 35 minutes ever the optimist!Fittingly at 27 minutes and 30 secondstwo of our intrepid band simultaneouslydid the honourable thing and put us out

of our misery although from where Iwas sitting Lewis attempt to go up theside of a standing wave was rathermore spectacular than Reza flying offthe top of one.

Andy Hibbert was closest and won avery large chocolate swiss-swim rollwith a guess of 30 minutes.To complete the roll of honour, specialprizes were awarded as follows:-

Henry for throwing his rope verticallyinto a tree as Reza floated past.

Andy for demonstrating on video why astopper is called a stopper.Paul C for showing us all how to getinto, and out of, a stopperReza and Lewis for their synchronisedswimmingI am delighted to say that we raised40 from both events and this has been

sent to the Chiltern Air Ambulance.They have sent back a very nice letterof thanks which I have pinned up onthe club notice board.

Paul Griffin 05/01/2007

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

It's not often I get the chance to say

'Been there - done that' but on thisoccasion I can. Not only that, but I gotthere before it was popular, and moreimportantly before Health and Safetyarrived. Totally different from the'American Rockies' these mountains,with notable exceptions such as

Assiniboine, appear much older thanthose to the south of the range. I canonly endorse Chris's comments and if

you get the chance, I suggest you go.

CANADIAN ROCKIES - 2

Canoeing and camping in the CanadianRockies; two things I have beenwanting to do for quite a while now.

With university exams over and a nicelong summer holiday just starting, whatbetter time to kill two birds with onestone? With only one and a half weeksnotice I managed to book onto aTrekAmerica trip around the Rockiesincorporating white water rafting,walking, camping and a wildernesscanoe trip.The trip started in Seattle, USA

however after two whole days drivingand a nights camp, we reached theheart of the Canadian Rockies; YohoNational Park. The scenery wasstunning, however there was no doubtwhy we had stopped in this particularlocation; rafting on the Kicking Horse.The river had quite a good reputationfor white water and with rapid namessuch as Man Eater (G4+), Terminator

(G4) and Double Trouble (G4+) itpromised to be good fun.After getting kitted up in (badly fitting!)wetsuits and buoyancy aids, we loadedup in a van to get the put in where ahelpfully positioned pole in the riverinformed us the river was just a bitbelow the perfect level for rafting.The organizers obviously didnt believein gentle introductions after only100m of river, it was straight into a2km long high volume grade 3 / 4 wavetrain & other rapids! On the very firstrapid (admittedly a pretty big one) oneof the girls at the front of the raft gotcatapulted out after not grabbing ontothe boat in time. After a botched rescuewhich very nearly resulted in the raftcapsizing on a massive stopper, shewent bumping and bouncing down therest of the stretch until someone further

down managed to get a throw line to


6/16


her. For everyone else who avoidedgetting acquainted with the river, it wasgreat fun with the raft going everywhich way over the rapids. Probably thehighlight was one of our tour group(who was at the front of the boat)

somehow managing to end up on top ofthe guide at the rear after a particularlyvicious rapid! After a few more rapids itwas time for a breather, and theswimmer from earlier rejoined us, thistime as far back in the boat as possible(safer apparently)!

After more grade 3 water, it was timeto get out and circumnavigate animpassable waterfall to reach the lower

canyon. The safely disclaimer that waspushed under our noses before gettingback in stated that first time raftersprobably would not want to attempt thissection, however I most certainlywasnt going to get out before the bestbit! We all leapt back in and set off asquick as we could to get out of a viciousmosquito swarm which claimed manyvictims; luckily I wasnt one of them as

I was sporting a rather potent repellentspray.The lower canyon of the Kicking Horsewas extremely deep and surprisinglydark (given the fact it was a cloudlesssummers day). It contains what ourguide called the serious white water.It certainly was very fast and with novisible rocks in the main flow, from theraft you could see the river droppingaway at quite a rate. After navigatingthe twists, two 90-degree turns andstoppers without anymore losses, theriver suddenly levelled out, widenedand it was over. It was definitely agreat ride and was the main reason thatI signed up for a 1* kayak course whenI got back to the UK.

After the Kicking Horse, we had 7 daysof walking, cycling, relaxing and drivingbefore our next water-borne activity;

the wilderness canoe trip in Wells GrayProvincial Park.We arrived on the shores of ClearwaterLake (which really does live up to itsname!) after an hour long drive up awinding dirt track from the small ranch

where we had slept the night before. Aswe unloaded the canoes and our kit,the sky got progressively darker andeventually after 10 days of perfectweather, the heavens opened.Nevertheless, we continuedpreparations and the kit was packedinto dry bags (just in case accidentshappen!), food loaded and off we set.

As most of us had minimal canoeing

experience at best, it was a bit of aropey start with collisions galore as wetried to keep close to Wayne, ourmountain-man guide who was shoutinginstructions. After a few helpful hintswe started to get the hang of it andstruck out for the far shore of the lake.

After a choppy crossing, lunch was hadon a beach created by a small mountainstream entering the lake. Helpfully, the

thick pine trees shielded us from therain and it was almost enchantingsitting on the lake shore with the rainhitting the lake and clouds swirling inelegant patterns around far-awaymountains in a very Tolkien-esquescene.The afternoon paddle, although stillwet, was fairly calm as we hugged theshore passing small beaches andendless pine forests in which weoccasionally saw movement however,sadly, no Moose (which are abundant inthe area and one of the few animals wehad yet to see since arriving inCanada).We reached the camp area in the lateafternoon and hurriedly put up thetents and a tarpaulin to keep dry andchange out of our wet clothes. Inkeeping with Murphys law, the rain

stopped almost immediately and after a


7/16


campfire BBQ, a few of us elected to goback out on the water to explore thenearby coves. Sitting bobbing on thelake in the late evening twilight with awarm breeze gently blowing and nosounds except for the lapping of water

on the wooded shore and the odd un-identified animal call has to be one ofthe most peaceful experiences of mylife. I sat for probably about half anhour absorbing the atmosphere beforethe two of us who were still out on thelake decided it was probably a goodidea to head back before it gotcompletely dark.

EMERALD LAKE - For more picturesfrom Chris's trip see website at end offeature.

Upon returning to camp, Wayne wasjust getting up from the fire to leave forbed, taking the axe with him, saying healways kept one close by in case of any

bears; very re-assuring!By the next morning the sun hadreturned to full strength and with noattacks by the local wildlife during thenight, the day was spent with morerelaxed paddling and a walk throughthe pine forest up to Eagle Crag, acraggy outcrop with panoramic views ofthe surrounding area. On the way,Wayne showed us a ton of edible

berries and plants which could be usedfor remedial purposes.

After sitting on Eagle Crag for a while,we made our way back down and setoff around the lake, heading for theoriginal put-in.We were pretty worn out by the end ofthe trip (partly due to a race which

developed about a mile from the end)and it was nice sitting in the vanreflecting on the past couple of days. Ithas definitely inspired me to do alonger wilderness open boat trip thiscoming summer, maybe with a bit ofbushcraft thrown in if possible. Itcertainly is not an experience I willforget any time soon!If you want to read more about the rest

of the 2-week Mountie trip and seesome photos (well, a lot of photosactually!), I have set up a website at:http://mountie.chrisps.com

Chris Porteous 18/12/2007

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

ANOTHER INCIDENT

Usk Trip November 2006Mill Falls without a canoe

The line had been identified, startinghard left. I had practised it in my mind.Why I was going hard right down MillFalls I will leave others to say - if they

must - but it was not by choice.Kelvin youre going to go down thewrong side, the Big BIG hole side. Mymind was warning me. Paddle harderto the bank. You are not going to makeit, prepare yourself to go for a swim.Here comes a ledge, you are going toclip it and fall out.Over I go.

Keep hold of the boat, have you gotthe paddle? Here we go into the BigHole.


8/16


Whoosh down I go, and up againTheres another hole, I dontremember there being two. Gosh! Thisone is even bigger, Oh Dear! Youvelost grip of the canoe, there goes thepaddle, youve lost that for good. The

canoe is in front of you! Youre going tohit it. Dive, and hope you dont comeup under it, DIVE! Duck! Whew youreout. Wheres the canoe? There it isbehind you. It is caught on the wave;its not going to catch you now. Forgetthe canoe forget the paddle, swim.Where did all these waves come from?The current is too strong, cant swimout of them. Cant get my breath.

Cough! Splutter! When will these wavesend? Theyre a little easier now; I canbreath. The current is still too strong.Lay back and dont panic. This dry-suitis keeping you dry. There are people onthe bank try and swim, swim harder,you are not making any headway! Yesyou are! Grab a branch to slow youdown. Missed. Missed again. Got it.Thats not a good idea youre going

under. Where did all these kayaks comefrom? Andy is shouting let go of thebranch. Swim again, harder, harderyou are making it. Your feet are on theriverbed, steady yourself. Stand up.Thanks. Catch your breathIt was something like that, and noexpletives.I am so thankful that I had tied downeverything in the canoe, I lost a spongeand a cap; that was all, not even thepaddle I was using was lost, I assume itbecame entangled in the balers cord. Iam also glad that I was wearing a drysuit. Not only did it keep me completelydry and warm enabling me to continuethe day, it also gave extra buoyancy; Icould never get all the air out of thatthing, thank goodness.I would like to apologise to Adrian forcausing him a few anxious moments, I

was completely oblivious, thankfully, to

the danger I was in. Especially as hemade Hell Hole look so easy on theprevious day, the line was perfect and itseemed no more difficult than a Sundaypaddle up to Temple.Lastly, I would like to thank all those

who helped in my rescue, everythinghappened so fast that I cannotremember who was involved. Thanksvery much to you all.

Kelvin Abbott - 26/11/06-------------------------------------------------

SEA KAYAK - MILOS 2006

Last July, Andy (my husband some ofyou have met him) & I visited Milos inthe Cyclades for our fourth Sea Kayaktrip together. Andy says before hemarried me, he used to have holidays!Having braved the Outer Hebrides (thatwas scary!), then Turkey for ourhoneymoon and Croatia last year, wefancied somewhere warm and relaxing,where we could swim and snorkel inaddition to paddling and above all

somewhere inexpensive!Rod owns the sea kayak business, hiswife runs the basic but comfortableguesthouse and they both welcomed uswarmly when we arrived. Basically theholidays consist of mainly day trips forpeople who generally stay around 8nights, but when he has space he alsotakes other visitors to the island out forodd days. He also does a couple of two

day trips with an overnight camp when the weather allowsI knew that the Cyclades tend to bewindy, but when I checked the 10 dayforecast before we went, I wasdisappointed to see that the wind wasexpected to blow around force 6 for thenext week or so. This didnt seem tobother Rod unduly we went outanyway, even though the ferries were

tied up in port.


9/16


Most people who were there already(about 8 other guests) seemed to bepaddling doubles, so we opted for thattoo until the third day, when werealised that another day in the sameboat was going to lead to at least a

major argument, if not worse!

Anyway, the first day we paddled out toa rock formation just out of the mainharbour called The Bears. Going outwas ok going round was somethingelse!We quickly worked out how we could

tell what kind of day it was going to be Rod by himself - easy. Rod andJulian (the other guide) potential forcapsize. Rod, Julian and an extra bagof bananas hard work. The bananasplus Rod & Julian both starting offwearing tow ropes this is going to beinteresting. Actually there werentmany capsizes one or two in surflandings, the others mostly day trip

people with no experience just gettingblown over.On the third day, the forecast was thatthe wind would drop to (only) force 4/5so Rod decided this would be a goodday to cross to a nearby island. I was

in a single Laser for the first time andopted not to have a rudder (Ive alwaysthought they are for soft Americans).

It was the longest mile Ive everpaddled! The guides told me I need to

edge it but in 2 metre waves thatwasnt something I felt able to try!Other days fell into a rough pattern set off around 9.30, drive to a spot onthe sheltered south coast, paddle for anhour or so, have a break (morning

snack and lunch were provided eachday), paddle another hour, stop forlunch, then paddle back, generallyarriving back around 5.30 in time fora large glass of wine (1 euro). Most ofthe trips were between 15 and 20km.In the breaks we would swim, have arolling lesson (Rod nearly drowned

Andy once when there were some verydistracting girls on the beach!) eat and

then often walk to some interestingcave/lighthouse/mine.

The island is volcanic so there weresome really interesting things to checkout one place where you wouldntwant to fall in because the water wasvery hot, lots of places where gas

bubbles up out of the sea and anatural sauna cave that we swam to.The rock formations were fantastic withsome amazing caves and tunnels topaddle through. Out of the mainresorts, we mostly had beaches toourselves they are pretty inaccessibleby foot or larger boat.Id definitely recommend it for anyonewanting to build up their confidence after the first few days we really startedto enjoy the big waves, and learning to


10/16


roll in the Med definitely beats theThames!Find out more and see some greatphotos at seakayakgreece.com. Andy &I are hoping to join Rod and otherslater this year on an island hopping trip

from Kos to Rhodes. Anyone fancycoming with us?

Jane Oxley 18/12/2006

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

NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS

Recently, I upset one of our

contributors by editing his item in a wayto which he was not entirely agreeable.I hope my reply to him explained myreasons for doing so such that we bothnow understand the why's andwherefore's.

I'd like to take this opportunity toexplain to the membership the fewrules I work within.

Upon receiving a submission I generallyread it through a couple of times; don'tknow why because I usually leave italone save a spellcheck. I might takeout paragraph spacing to save spacebut that's normally all. Unless theauthor requests to be advised of anychanges I might make I do notgenerally reply. I can only recall onetime when a change was made and theoriginator requested to be advised ofsuch thus far and I was happy to

accommodate that. On a few occasionsI have padded a piece out or helped incomposure if requested. Sometimes Iask Mrs. Ed to run her eagle eye overfor grammatical errors that fool me andMicrosoft.

The nub of the issue is that it's yournewsletter. You write it, I collate it,and edit it (occasionally) then distributeit.

If you are unsure about writing an item,try looking on the BBC website, there isa lot of advice to be had there frombitesize revision to exercises andquizzes. That's what I'll use when

looking something up. If you wantassistance in putting a piece togetherthen don't hesitate to ask. I'll alwaysdo whatever I can to assist.

One thing that does bug me though isspellcheck. Please set yourspellchecker to English (U.K.) and notthe American default. I know theysometimes appear aloof and arrogant,(I wonder where they learnt that from).

But we do have something to bethankful to them for. Teflon, Gore-Texand the letter ZEEE, as in ZezameStreet. Just a little point, but it keepsthe editor happy. After she's checkedthis over I'll take Mrs Ed. out for apasta. I hear there's a good place inMarlow, Sissi's I think it's called!

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

SEA KAYAKINGI've been trying for a while to get thisre-instated in the club's profile, troubleis, while I think I'm going to like it, I'venot even got so far as trying it yet. Mynice (nearly) new capella has not evenseen the briny yet. But help is at hand.

James and Elaine Farquarson haveoffered to assist and one or two of theolder members well versed in thisdiscipline (Gerry Knight & David Lydiatt)


11/16


have also indicated they would help ifpossible.

I've got to tie up some loose ends withJames & Elaine but we are hoping toget a trip to Poole Harbour on the cards

for around 30/06 & 01/07. It'll becamping overnight or B & B for theaffluent. Practising in Poole Harbour onSaturday with the possibility of a shorttrip on Sunday depending on how wefare. I would think 2* should beadequate for this trip but I'll confirmwith James. A few names have alreadyexpressed interest in this but let meknow if you want to be added to thelist. A sea kayak is not necessary, I'veseen invaders do this sort of tripbefore, but the club has 3x sea boatsavailable to the first people that reservethem.

In the mean time I hope to havecompleted an 'Intro to sea kayaking' atCym Pennant before then.


NEW EQUIPMENT OFFICER

A fair few of you probably don't knowme as I only joined MCC in October,however I am your new Clubhouse &Equipment officer! I have beenmeaning to learn to kayak for a coupleof years and a canoeing holiday I tookpart in this summer (see article later!)spurred me on to actually take a 1*

course last autumn. Since then I havereally "got the bug" and have been outat most Sunday sessions. I look forwardto meeting more of you come thesummer sessions

Chris Porteous 21/02/07

Our new Equipment Officer was straightinto action. I saw him Sunday after the

AGM trying to get a quart into a pintpot. It's possible that your boat might

be in a new home if it's a couple ofcm's to short / long to make efficientuse of it's bay.

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

SUNGLASSES!

I'm more often than not to be seen onthe river with my 'shades' and baseballcap, as I find sunlight reflected off thewater is a real pain for me.

I saw the lovely Dr. Alice Roberts onthe box the other night giving thelowdown on yer glimmers so I did alittle research into sunglasses. In theend this explanation from CARL ZEISS

was perhaps the easiest to understandso I've taken the liberty to reproduce ithere, (hope they don't mind).

WHY UV PROTECTION IS SOIMPORTANT

The sun emits a broad spectrum ofradiation, the visible part of which iscommonly known as light.

The other components of solar radiation

are invisible, but they perform veryimportant functions. Infrared radiation,for instance, is responsible for providingwarmth. Ultraviolet (UV) radiationsupplies the solar energy required for alarge no. of biological processes.However, excessive UV radiation can beharmful to many forms of life.

The sun's UV radiation can also bedivided up into several different ranges.

Like visible light UV-A and UV-Bpenetrates the protective atmospheresurrounding the earth and reaches it'ssurface. However UV-C which isparticularly high in energy andtherefore extremely dangerous doesnot reach the earth's surface. UV-Bradiation contains more energy thanUV-A and can cause sunburn. Solarradiation that burns the skin can also

damage various layers of tissue in theeyes. Sunglass lenses from CARL


12/16


ZEISS help protect your eyes againstexcessive UV-B radiation.

The intensity of the UV-A and UV-Bradiation reaching the earth's surfacedepends on how clean the atmosphere

is. In the dusty, polluted air of urbanarea's less UV radiation can thereforebe expected than in clean mountain orsea air.

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

With continuing atmosphericdegradation as a result of globalwarming the glimmers are in for a hardtime. I have a pair of CARL ZEISSsunglasses that I use for driving though

I have used them on the riveroccasionally. As with many of thepremium lens manufacturers the opticalquality is superb, and the enhancedcontrast transforms many a river view.The downside is they are not cheap.and when they are on the bottom ofthe river they are no better than a 5pair from Woolies. Help is at handthough. Glasses retainers come in

many forms and perhaps 'Croakies' aremost popular with paddlers. They arearound 6 each, but I've seen similar inmany a canoe retailer for half the price.I can understand people not wanting tofork out for an expensive pair of shades

just for paddling so some cheaper onesare available. Try M&S or BOOTS for areasonably priced range, or if you fancysome of those wraparound styles ISAAC

LORD has DeWALT eye protection inclear, smoke, and reflective at between6 - 10. They claim 99% protectionfrom ultraviolet rays (a top quality lenswill provide 100% protection). When Icycled a lot I found that the reflectivecoatings, even on cheaper products didmuch to enhance contrast and improvevision.

All sunglasses from a reputable source

should state the level of protection

offered and should also have a CEEuropean symbol on them.

Please note that all the text initalics is mine and is based on myexperience. It should not be taken

as gospel. If in any doubt, consultan optician.


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

FANCY BEING AN OLYMPIAN?

London 2012 Fast-Track Women's K4Talent Recruitment Programme

In partnership with GB Canoeing, theEnglish Institute of Sport (EIS) Talent10 Team is running a special projectsearching for female athletes with thetalent characteristics to achieve Olympicmedal success in K4. The GB CanoeingTeam was one of the most successfulteams at the 2004 Olympic Games,bringing home 3 medals and ranking inthe top 6 Team GB Olympic sports.

If you are a female aged between 18and 24 years old and feel you havewhat it takes to be an Olympian thenwe would like to hear from you. Pleasecontact Natalie Dunman

(EIS Talent 10 Coordinator) [email protected] givingthe following information:

Full name

Age and date of birth

Height (cm)

Weight (kg)

No more than 200 words about yourathletic background/sportingachievements


13/16


AGM NOTES / AWARDS

I won't go through all the nitty gritty,you can always request a copy of theminutes from the club secretary if youwish to know that, but here's a few

points that a wider audience mightappreciate.

Membership fees for the year throughto Feb 2008 were agreed at;

ADULT 42.00

JUNIOR 23.00

FAMILY 65.00

BOAT BAY 19.00

DAY VISITORS ADULT 5.00

JUNIOR 3.00

Remember all day visitors have to showa 1* certificate (or better, or similar)before going out on a group paddle.

An adult member can take out a guestwithout such a qualification providedthey remain entirely responsible for the

guest(s) throughout the session andthat they have sought and obtained theO.K. from the Duty Officer.

Rod Edmonds advised that themembership stood at 207 (53 Juniors).

Tim Twitchen reported on a verysuccessful coaching year, and thankedall the coaching members.

The Chairman thanked all the

committee members for their efforts inkeeping the club running.

David Lydiatts efforts in running theclub marathon over many years wererewarded with the presentation, by theclub president (Tim Ward), of anengraved crystal tankard.

And so to the highlight of the eveningthe annual awards, (we really need a

name for these).

MOST IMPROVED AWARDS

Junior Andy McMaster

Lady Susan Freeman

Men Alireza Miresmaili

Newsletter Julie BriggsSwimmer John Parkin.

I would just like to point out to all thosenew members who did not attend, andto prospective new members readingthis; don't worry. The Swimmer of theyear award is only won by those whoshould know better; that's coaches andthe more experienced paddlers who

just make that little slip when theyshould have known better - like not tomake such an error when the rest ofthe club is looking.

All award winners were presented witha stainless steel vacuum flask.

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

LAST YEAR'S RECRUITS

It was a very busy year for us, and I'm

aware that some people were unable topaddle when they wanted too. I canrecall one time when we had to turnpeople away. If you are not sure aboutreturning to the fold, why not comedown (conditions permitting) a bitearlier in the year before the no'sincrease to much. Then rejoin if youwish. If the forthcoming year is asgood for the club as the one just past

I'll get our equipment sec. to sort out arota and that should help the situationno end. The plan would be that youcan book a boat only if you have beendenied the opportunity to paddle on aprevious occasion. Or has anyone got abetter idea.

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


14/16


COMPETITION

Now here's a little something that Icame across the other day, whilstlooking for quotes for the front page.

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

A 'How'd you like it?'B 'Like it?'

A 'Whitewater rapids!'B 'I never dreamed.'

A 'I don't blame you for beingscared - not one bit. Nobodywith good sense ain't scaredof whitewater'

B 'I never dreamed that any merephysical experience could be sostimulating'

All I want to know is;

Who is 'A' and who is 'B' and fromwhere are the words taken. Answerson a postcard or by e-mail. Firstcorrect answer wins a delightful cup offinest filter coffee at the Temple caf.

Answer next issue.

(The prize budget has yet to beapproved)

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

WHOSE BOAT IS IT ANYWAY?

Another new equipment secretary andanother trawl through the myriad ofunclaimed boats taking up valuablestorage space on the racks. Many have

tried (and failed) to resolve thisproblem, so we are not a lot nearer (ifat all) to a solution. The newequipment secretary (see his intro onpage 11) has started to make freshinroads into this thorny problem. Idon't know whether it's his youthfulexuberance or blind ambition but I seea change coming.Chris' plan seems to involve shifting a

few (or all if there is space) of theunclaimed boats out of the clubhouse

to an area adjacent the new open boatannexe. But it's identifying theremainder that might cause a problemin the future and if we are not careful,in a few years time we will be rightback where we started.

Big Dave suggested adopting awhitewater paddling practice, that ofproviding a name on equipment so thatin the event of loss, equipment may bereturned to it's rightful owner. Thiscould be as simple as a name inside theboat written with a permanent markerpen or something more professional.I'm thinking the fast boat practise ofhanging a label on the end of a boat is

not such a good idea as we will havelabels all over the floor before we knowit. I have a paddle purchased fromBROOKBANK and they stick a 'supplierlabel' on the shaft and that sticks likethe proverbial to a blanket. I'll find outwhere they get them from.-------------------------------------------------

MARSPORT OPEN DAY

Our open weekend this year is a littledifferent to the normal one: Itscentered around the racing market Therell be the Southern regionalbellboat championshipsNational & Schools 10k sprintLightning racesPyranha Speeder racesNew BCU Junior Wicked K4 races

As well as demos and exhibitions from

our own craft, Pyranha, Kayakpro,P & H, Wenonah and Bell.Come & see us on 19th May.

Craig (Marsport) 07/03/07

Bit of room for the open boat people tomove around in and not forgetting ourown marathon section. Get down thereand try something out, you might find

something you want - even if youcannot afford it.


15/16


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.

25 / 02 / 07 CLUB SESSION (PEER GROUP RULES) ML

04 / 03 / 07 CLUB SESSION (PEER GROUP RULES) JN

05 / 03 / 07 COMMITTEE MEETING - LONGRIDGE st. 7:30pm. AM

11 / 03 / 07 CLUB SESSION

16-18 / 03 THE OUTDOORS SHOW - BIRMINGHAM CP


24 / 03 / 07 WORKDAY - SPRUCE UP THE CLUB HOUSE, VOLUNTEERS REQ'D. CP


01 / 04 / 07 CLUB SESSION02 / 04 / 07 COMMITTEE MEETING AM

08 / 03 / 07 CLUB SESSION (EASTER SUNDAY)


17 / 04 / 07 CLUB SESSION; TUESDAYS ARE BACK ON AGAIN

22 / 04 / 07 CLUB SESSION (SUNDAY)

24 / 04 / 07 CLUB SESSION (TUESDAY)




07 / 05 / 07 COMMITTEE MEETING


12 - 13 / 05 BCU 1* KAYAK (NOVICE) - COURSE 1. JN/TT

19 / 05 / 07 MARSPORT OPEN DAY.

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 JOHN

NORRIS.

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]


16/16


THE COMMITTEE AND OTHER USEFUL NUMBERS

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

CHAIRMANADRIANCOOPER

01844344580

[email protected]

SECRETARYANDYMAXTED

07730852760

[email protected]

TREASURERPAULCRICHTON

08708806962

COACHINGTIMTWITCHEN

07833995289 [email protected]

NEWSLETTER JOHN NORRIS01494483833

[email protected]

MEMBERSHIPRODEDMONDS

01753671389

EQUIPMENTCHRISPORTEOUS

07824483201

[email protected]

MARATHON TBA

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 TBA

OUR NEAREST RETAILERS / SUPPLIERS

RIVERSIDE OXFORD 01865248673

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 w rong or if you w ishto add an alternative no. / e-mail address to the list.

newsletter 115 spring 2007 01

Documents