newsletter 119 spring 2008 01

8/14/2019 Newsletter 119 Spring 2008 01

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Newsletter119

Spring 2008 / 01

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

Marlow Canoe Club Newsletter Page 1 Spring 2008 / 01

EDITIORS PIECE

The sun's shining, the weathers'

warming and bookings are beginning toarrive for this years 1* award courses.We must be due a deep depression anymoment now. Seriously though, this is

going to be a challenging year on thetraining front as all the coaches andmany helpers who assist during therunning of our courses get to grips withthe new award system. I'm sure all of

you have heard about the change bynow, and some you might know a littleabout it. But all of us will benefit fromreading AM's item on the introductionof the new awards. Reaching for thestars provides us with the reasoningbehind the change and concentrates onthe 1 & 2* awards, with links to theBCU site for syllabi etc. Somereferences to coach requirements are

also mentioned; new L1K's please takenote.We also have a rerun of an 'old'favourite. Paul Griffins'Swimmerollathon' is well on the way toestablishing itself as regular feature onthe club's first proper WW run of theseason. The AGM came and went, andfor those unable to attend I've thrown afew words together so at least you

know who won what. There's a tripreport or two including an account of aholiday paddle around St. Brides Bay,with links to everything of note.

WHATS IN THIS ISSUE

Editors Piece 1

Brendan Moore 2

Pembrokeshire Paddle 3Ian Hodges' USK paddle 5

Swimmerollathon & splosh sweep 8

Reaching for the stars 10

Marsh to Marlow 11

New Kit /AGM REPORT 12

I like a sense of HUMOUR! 13

BLAH BLAH BLAH! 13

Canoe Expo. 14

What's on and other events 15

Committee / Contacts etc. 16

Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge andlean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneathyou, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.

A. A. Milne, Pooh's Little Instruction Book


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Canoexpo is the big thing this year.Read my bit on what I thought of theshow. I've spoken to Brookbank whoare pretty sure it'll be on next year'scalendar. One final point, I'd like to tryand dispense with postal delivery of

printed copies or at the very least makea significant dent in the no's forwardedthis way. It'll be awkward for somebut I'd really like to hear from memberswho cannot get a newsletter any otherway. My contact details are on theback page. The next big step in theevolution of the newsletter will be to goall e-mail. This will open up thepossibilities of more pictures, unlimited

size and possibly more issues. I'maiming to call time on my editorship inthe next year or two and I'd like to sortthis out before I hand over the reins.Postal delivery will still be available, butas the newsletter moves from a 'book'format to screen layout the printed andposted copy may not be such a'friendly' read in the hand. I will ensuresome printed copies are available within

the club for visitors etc.

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BRENDAN MOORE

For those not in the know, we've seenthe last of Brendan Moore, moore's thepity. I don't think I've ever seenBrendan at the club without him being

involved in a bit of ad-hoc coaching oradvice for those in need. Brendan andHelen are of to New Zealand, and I'msure (after the envy has settled) we'dlike to wish them all the best for theirfuture. As I'd seen relatively little ofBrendan I asked him for a few wordsand got a few pages. Here's about10% of it.

I first heard about MCC after going to aKayakoJacko rolling clinic to sort outwhat had gone form a reasonably goodto a useless roll which was making mypaddling very defensive and no fun. Idbeen looking for a club in the area to

join and only come across Windsor whodont really cover WW, but Jackomentioned the Gurnell pool session so Igot myself down there where I met

Andy Hibbert and Shades who said theywere from Marlow.That was in January 2005 but it tookme until August to get down to the clubon a Sunday morning, where I met TimT just as he was leaving to go and

check on a 1 star course running downat the beach by Longridge. We sneakilyran the weir and trundled down to thegroup where I got roped straight indemoing low braces!

Brendan gets 'big air' on the Dart

More coaching in Derbyshire kept meaway from the club again until New

Years day when we did the St PatricksStream trip- a chance to take out thelovely shiny new open boat my wifehad treated me to for Christmas! Andshortly after that a Dart trip wasirresistible too- and thats where theinfamous flying photo comes from!Bottom of Triple Step and not a drop ofwater in the boat, unlike Andy Maxted,who rather embarrassingly took a swim

on the grade 2 lower- how we giggled!


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Trips on the Barle, the top end of theThames and up to the Nene centrefollowed and I got my L2C and ran acourse with Tim in summer 2006 onwhich were our very own JP, Debs andMrs Goddard. All passed with flying

colours, though I do have a very funnymemory of JP also taking a swim- thistime in about 6 inches of water in frontof a group of gawping teenagers as wepracticed low-braces in the little

stream under the bridge on river-left afew hundred metres up from the club.The Teifi tour in October 2006 wasmemorable, largely for Rezasswimming at every opportunity (and

sometimes where there didnt evenseem to be an opportunity!), but mostof all for Debs being taken from theriver on a spinal board after having anOBE halfway down Cenarth Falls! Sheeven tried taking a bite out of the frontof her boat as it landed on top of her atthe bottom of the falls, but her teethdefinitely came off worse. Fortunately atrip to the local hospital showed no

serious damage and we got her cosiedup in the front seat of JPs car for anuneventful trip home.

And that brings us to the end of mypaddling career with MCC, Its been agreat fun ride and one not to miss. AmI sorry to be going- not a bit, but Illmiss the friends Ive made at MCC andwill be happy to wish them Kia-Orashould any of them ever make it tovisit.

Brendan Moore NOV. 2006

Brendan has promised to rub salt intothe wound by writing about G4/5 backcountry Canyoning and a 140km G1/2tour that he's heard of. Oh! I almostforgot the bit about sea kayaking incrystal clear waters and then there'sthe. It just goes on and on!

A PEMBROKESHIRE PADDLE

When I watched Kate (Lip Gloss)Silverton doing her ultimate Wild Waterchallenge on the BBC in August, I took

more than a normal interest, as I hadbooked on a centre-based trip twoweeks later, kayaking round St BridesBay, and finishing off at the Bitches. Itsuddenly looked hard. And we wouldbe carrying camping gear.The trip was run by Twr-y-Felin: acentre set up about 25 years ago by

Andy Middleton. Andy was somethingof a rodeo pioneer many years ago, andsettled near the Bitches to make a

living.I remember going down to St Davidsfor a camping trip when the kids werevery young. We happening uponTYF, as one does when one hasplanned a family holiday well, and Idbeen able to squeeze in a dayspaddling while the family played on thebeach. It was beautiful. But Id notbeen able to get back since.

The Twr y Felin centre used to be awindmill. The original windmill tower,up a spiral staircase, has a commonroom at the top. As you sit there,supping your pint, you have a greatview over the Pembrokeshire coast.It's a spectacular landscape of rugged

cliffs, with sandy beaches; a veryinviting place for a sea kayaking trip.


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I expected the course to be full withlast-minute bookings, but if anything itwas under-subscribed. So only six ofus made the trip. Conditions wereideal. Weather forecast was good:Sunshine, moderate seas, with

maximum wind speeds around Force 3-4.The first day was inshore-based, just tomake sure that the group wascompetent, and aware of safety drills;but the rest of the trip involved 12-15miles paddling per day, with occasionalopen crossings, and plenty of time toexplore the caves and bays of thecoastline.

On Day 2, we started from West DaleBay, in the south, and made acircumnavigation of Skomer Island , anature reserve famous for itspopulation of Manx Shearwaters. Wewent ashore for lunch and a walkaround, before recrossing Jack Sound,when the tides were right, to camp atMartins Haven.The following day we headed round to

the village ofSt Brides, where we hadlunch as we again waited for the tide toturn, before being helped up the coastto the beachside pub at Broad Havenand on to a spectacular cliff topcampsite in the grounds of theDruidstone HotelThe penultimate days trip took us upthe coast to Solva before camping atPorth Clais. This was an ideal startingpoint for our trip around RamseyIsland, but the tides required us to beup at 05:30 in order to get through theSound before the tide turned southagain. As tidal experts will havesurmised from this, the tide was slackas we went through the Bitches. A bitof a disappointment, or relief,depending on your point of view, but awell designed safety feature in thecentres plan, as they did not have the

luxury of any off-camera speedboats

to pick up the pieces, and courseparticipants skills were unknown at thebeginning of the trip.

It was an excellent trip, with a veryexperienced guide, who knew the tides,the area and the campsites well. Iwould recommend it to anyone who

wants to do a bit more sea kayaking ina unique environment. The boats gaveus the freedom to enjoy much of whatPembrokeshire has to offer, whileavoiding the traffic and the paddlingwas excellent. Course details can befound at the Twr-y-Felin website.Gear was provided. The kayaks werea mix of P&H Capellas; Valley

Aquanauts and Avocets, of which the

Capella was overwhelmingly thefavourite. The centre also providedsome camping gear (but myadvice is to take your own!)

Photos of the trip can be seen on theweb at:http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=465980&id=615226256

Richard Williams NOV.2007


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IAN HODGES USK PADDLE

This was a particularly enjoyable tripdespite swimming twice, I had beenlooking forward to getting on to realwhite water for quite a while and nowfinally the time had come. I had donethe usual arranging of lifts, sorting outtimes, etc. It turned out the Rod(Edmonds) was looking to go on theSunday as well, we arranged to meetat the club and head down to Wales inRod's Fiesta (I felt it probably best toleave my car behind due to its fuelconsumption and the fact that Rodknew where he was going). We turned

up to find that shuttling had alreadybegun (and we weren't late!), so wehurried along the changing processwithout too much faff (not sure aboutthe spelling, but have been accused ofthis by certain members of the club,you know who you are!). I wassurprised to see so many paddlers, whyI thought our club would be the onlypeople around baffles me now but

there you have it. We had a quickbriefing, during which I had to askabout the meaning of hand signals (Iwasn't there on Saturday so how was Ito know), then we had a little warm upwith throw line practice. This allseemed very serious to me consideringthe trips I'd been on previously and Iwas beginning to get a tad concerned,but felt that there was enough

experience about to save me should Iexit my boat in an ungainly fashion.

We put on and paddled slightlyupstream just to have a little warm up,practicing break ins and break outs andsettling into the rhythm of things, thenwe were off. Generally there was somenice gentle paddling with the flow andthe occasional wave to get excitedabout, watching which routes our moreexperienced paddlers were taking. As

things started to speed up the wavesturned into small rapids to benavigated, with the occasional rockcrunching the bottom of the boat. Afew wobbles here and there and acouple of groundings, but things were

going well. Unfortunately I don'tremember the order of the featuresvery well as I'm now writing this 4weeks after the event, so I'll get on tothe big ones.Mill Falls, now I'd heard quite a bitabout this, having spent many asummers evening talking with JP,

Adrian and Dave G in the pub after aTuesday paddle. So here we were, our

leaders taking up various points alongthe feature ready to advise/rescuewayward novices. The first dropseemed straight forward enough afterBrendans briefing, and the eddy wasmade safely, however, I was now alittle confused as to which route to takenext and the eddy was beginning to fillup with kayaks. Apparently we neededto get across to the other side of the

river, where a man was standing with athrow line, so off I went, unfortunatelyI was fully aware of how quickly thecurrent can take you downstream, thelarge rock I was attempting to crossabove was now under the side of myboat, I made it just! Now I was facedwith another problem, there was noeddy to rest in, I looked downstream tosee Paul C beckoning me back acrossthe river in order to get down the nextdrop. I managed to turn my boat andpaddle in that direction; however, bynow I was heading downriver on thewrong side between very large rocks.Thankfully after bouncing between therocks and over the drop I made, notthe most orthodox route but Id madeit, and have to say felt a hugeadrenaline rush. We paddled on andstopped for lunch by a bridge where

there was plenty of space for everyone.


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After lunch we put in and made for thecentral arch of the bridge, moving ondown river we picked our way throughboulder gardens and small un-dauntingrapids, that was my second mistake ofthe day, just as I crossed the small

drop to the left of a large rock, the backof my boat was dragged down andbefore I had time to react I was over,damn it, oh well lets try my roll, oops!went for air and that totally killed theroll, now I was upside down pulling mydeck, not only was it cold but Iddropped my paddle, I was not happy!Thankfully Rod and Paul C were athand to get me, my boat and my

paddle over to the side (not sure whogot my paddle but a big thanks tothem). I was annoyed because itwasnt a big feature that had caught meout and dropping my paddle was justsilly, I was also a little shocked by thecold, however, after a cup of coffee Iwas back on the river and warming up.Spuhlers Folly, this looked morecomplicated than other features and

our leaders all seemed to be looking atdifferent routes over the feature, it wastime to get out and take a look at thisfrom the bank. I didnt really knowwhat I was looking at, but with Rodperched on a rock in the middle of theriver guiding various paddlers down Ithought Id give it a go. The routeappeared to be, head towards Rod, turnright before knocking him off the rock,then straighten up as you dropped overthe edge, lots of people had gone overand made it look doable so I decided togo for it. All was going well I waspaddling as I dropped over the edge,then I felt that familiar sinking feelingon the back of my boat, this time Imanaged to put in a support stroke, butall too late, I was over again. This timeI decided to exit quickly, but hold ontoto everything. Big Dave took charge of

my rescue and got me over to the side,

not sure who got my boat this time (butthanks anyway), I was tired and coldnow and decided to have a couple ofwarming cups of coffee beforeattempting to empty my boat, Paul Gpopped over to check I was okay which

was much appreciated, then TT had alittle swim and came over to the bankto join me. Meanwhile JP was over theother side of the river boofing over thefeature on what looked like a far morestraight forward route, Im stillwondering why we came over the otherroute, answers on a postcard please!The rest of the paddle was a series offlatter stretches interspersed with small

rapids and boulder gardens, one ofwhich saw me on my side once more,however, I was determined not tocapsize or come out of my boat again,and held myself up on the riverbedwaiting for another rescue, this timethe front of someone elses boat was allthat was required to hip flick backupright. By the time we reached theend of that days paddling I felt that I

had picked some truly useful tips forthe novice that I would like to share,they may not all be totally correct but Iwill definitely be remembering lessonslearnt on the Usk.

1) When following another paddleron moving water make sure you are atleast 5 boat lengths behind them, ifthey change direction quickly it usuallymeans theyve spotted something youcant see and you want to be ready tochange direction yourself, also if theydont move and get stuck on a rockyouve got chance to alter course andgo around them, rather than into them.

2) When following another paddlerthrough a boulder garden, make surethe person in front of you is heavier orat least lower in the water than you

(not easy in my case even with the


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large volume of my boat), I did find acouple of people but names are notimportant.

3) If you do decide to follow someof our more experienced members,

remember that they might in search of stonking water and features, ratherthan the easiest route, it is a good ideato ask why they want to go a differentway than everybody else, rather thanassuming they are correct.

4) When navigating large featuresmake sure you know beforehand theexact route you are expected to take,

you might not make it but at least youknow where you should have beenaiming for, finding out you dont knowwhere you are going half way down afeature is exciting but could also bedownright dangerous.

5) Dont look at an object you aretrying to avoid hitting, it will only act asa boat magnet, look where you want to

go, not where you dont.

Sunday on the River DartIm getting to write this short reportdue to being the first and I think onlyperson to swim on this particular day.The trip for me started on Saturdaynight, I was supposed to be givingSusan, Fraser and Rod a lift down tothe Dart on Sunday morning, a callfrom Paul Griffin changed the plansslightly, apparently everybody apartfrom Paul C and Kieron, had taken aswim on the Dart loop on Saturday, soSusan and Fraser had been advised togive it a miss on Sunday. I awoke at5am in the morning. I was in astopper. That was it I wasnt gettingback to sleep. Rod and I left for theDart at 7am, a quick stop off for

breakfast just outside Bristol and wemade for Dartmoor.On arrival we were greeted by heavyrain and several of our group standingaround trying to figure out the bestplace for the get in. I have to say at

this point I was nervous, wed seen alot of kayaks heading away from theriver on our way down, and after seeingthe river at the original get in, it wasclear to me that I was in need of a drysuit and maybe even an aqualung. .Several of the group who hadexperience the Dart loop on theSaturday had already decided to call it aday and were heading for home.

Thankfully Adrian had some localcontacts who suggested a get in belowBuckfastleigh weir (I think), apparentlythe lower Dart from here would be bigand bouncy but without any really bigfeatures to negotiate.We kind of sorted out shuttles, andfound a spot to put in; the open canoeswere further downriver due to the lackof space in the lay-bys. There was a

small stream running quite fast andparallel with the main river, the get inwas one boat at a time (unless youwere Paul C with a high seal launch),we all got on and broke into the mainriver, even from the start it was big andbouncy and we made for the first eddy

just past the open canoe get in. As weassembled and set off down river, therewere plenty of big bouncy waves toenjoy and I remembered Rods wordsof wisdom, lean forward and keeppaddling.It was all going well until Paul Cdecided it was time for us to take abreak and head for the eddy river left; Itotally missed it and ended up headingoff down river despite paddling againstthe current. Everybody followed onand Chris P pointed out that Paulwould probably be quite happy to let

me be river leader if I only asked very


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funny now get out of my way I see atree ahead! Generally the paddle wasbig and bouncy as stated, and a lessonin avoiding trees and punching throughwaves (great fun and no rocks),unfortunately I had forgotten a couple

of my on tips, 5 boat lengths apart, wewere far too bunched up and I oftenfound myself back paddling when Ishould have been forward paddling.Dont follow more experienced paddlerslooking for stonking water, especiallywhen their name is Rezza! Tenminutes from the end of the paddle waswhen it hit, a series of large waves,nothing more than we had already been

through several times, unfortunately Ihit the first one at the wrong angle, thesupport stoke worked, the second oneturned me side on, now I was fightingto get straight, too late! The next wavestarted to tip me over and the forth oneslapped the bottom of my boat just tomake sure I was done for. This time Idecided to try and stay in my boat,reaching up to tap the bottom of my

boat to signal I was in need of arescue, I soon realised that findingsomeone elses boat wasnt going to bevery easy, I was struggling to find myown boat. I knew there were a lot oftrees in the river and so I got out, thistime my rescue took a little longer. Ihad managed to hold onto both boatand paddle, Paul C took control of myboat whilst Rod attempted to tow me toan eddy. Swimming with a paddle issomething I need to practice (orpossibly staying upright in a kayak). Atthe fourth attempt we made to thebank, I took my time to composemyself and empty the water out of myboat. I was now totally convinced of themerits of a dry suit and it is definitelygoing on my shopping list. Back on thewater and paddling again I soonwarmed up and with ten minutes we

were at the get out. After lunch I

decided to get changed into some dryclothing. Four of our party ran the loopagain, whilst the other two (with someof the locals) ran the same stretch ofriver we had run that morning. A veryenjoyable trip despite the swim, looking

forward to more fun in the new year.

IAN HODGES DEC. 2007

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2nd ANNUAL MCCSWIMMEROLLATHON& 1st SPLOSH SWEEPSTAKE

This years SwimmerollathonSpectacular was again held at Hell Holeon the Wye. The conditions wereextremely different from last year and,at a guess, I would say that the waterlevel was at least 3 or 4 foot lower andthe flow was definitely reduced.To add a bit of spice to the competition,last years most improved paddlers ofthe year, Susan and Reza, had their

points rating doubled in recognition oftheir achievement meaning that themaximum points on offer was 143.Given the more placid conditions, a lotof estimates were in the low 30-40range however if theres one thingcertain in life it is the amazing ability ofpaddlers worldwide to throw the formbook out of the window whenpresented with a nice bit of white water

and just push it one notch too far. Infact Dewters fifth law of motion (whichI just made up) does try to link all ofthese things together and implies thatthe probability of a successful descentis inversely proportional to the size ofthe paddlers ego combined with peerpressure and the number of Cumecsflowing or to put it another waygrown men start salivating and a red

mist descends whenever they near afeature which could give them a good


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story to tell the boys on Mondaymorning.Having taken up position early, Iwatched several groups come throughbefore Marlow arrived and there was anequal split of paddlers taking a central

line or taking the more obvious routedown river right which involved a closerun with the bank, a decent cushionwave and a nice big sticky boily bit atthe bottom ready to catch out theunwary / hungover which hadSwimmerollathon points written all overit marvellous!On arrival some of our group decided togo straight through without scouting

and, judging from the resultantcarnage, some may wish to revisit thisapproach next year.anyway it didresult in some excellent viewing for meand this years chief sneak Mr BrendanMoore.Out of 17 starters there were 5successful swims, a refusal and a rollwhich added up to a total of 66 points.No point in wasting column inches on

the roll of honour, you know who youare and what you did, and no doubtsome will get reminded of whathappened at the AGM anyway.The prize of a very nice bottle ofsparkling white wine was won byBrendan with a score of 66 with Timand Susan not far behind.The first Splosh sweepstake was alwaysgoing to be tricky this year what withthe lower levels, the generalimprovement in abilities since last yearand no obvious rabbits in the field ofrunners. It is pleasing to report that,despite JPs amusing launch from thebank with his newly christened PiranhaDredger, nobody swam before reachingHell Hole although there were a coupleof rolls and an Eskimo rescue on theway. Isnt it funny how fast people getto the scene when there is a prize at

stake?

Estimates ranged from around theminute mark up to over 4 hours bywhich time most people were almost onthe M4 heading home.Despite an admirable effort by somepeople to extend the mid-paddle lunch

break to influence the result, fair playalmost prevailed and Dave Goddardwon the competition by successfullybeing the closest to guessing the timeof his own swim. I wouldnt for amoment suggest that the result was indoubt but above the roar of the water Ithought I heard him shouting its inthe bag as he disappeared beneath thewaves.

To complete the roll of honour themuch sought after spot prizes of Curly-Wurlys were awarded as follows:-Kelvin for the most spectacular exit Ihave ever seen from a Canoe. It wouldnot be stretching the imagination toomuch to compare it with a skydiverlaunching from a plane at 10,000ft except the distance between boat andwater was more like 1ft.

Digger for damaging a NationalMonument with the bow of his canoe,even above the noise of the water thethud was clearly audible as he ploughedinto the bank.Richard for his blind optimism inexpecting that someone would answerhis call for an Eskimo rescue as heroared down Hell Hole upside down.Rob for taking a sympathy swim tomake the car journey home with Davea lot more pleasant.

And finally Reza for taking the mickeyout of everyone who couldnt roll in HellHole by doing it, not once, but twice.I am delighted to say that we raised40 from both events and this has beensent to the Chiltern Air Ambulance.

Roll on next year!

PAUL GRIFFIN JAN 2008


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REACHING FOR THE STARS THE NEW BCU PERFORMANCEAWARDS

Last September saw the launch of the

new BCU Performance Award schemewhich gave the club the opportunity torun the last of its 2007 seasonintroductory courses to the newsyllabus. The weekend proved a greatsuccess and resulted in an amazingfifteen members gaining the new OneStar Award making them among thefirst in the country to do so.The new scheme was developedfollowing wide consultation within thepaddlesport community and is builtaround a new approach to coachingwhich is proving very effective across awide range of sports Long Term

Athlete Development or LTAD.Developed by Hungarian/Canadiancoach Dr Istvan Balyi, LTAD is based onresearch that shows that the wider thebase of activities beginners areintroduced to, the more effective their

learning is in the longer term.Translating the LTAP principles intopaddlesport (or LTPD) has resulted inthe new Paddlepower scheme aimedat introducing young paddlers (typicallyunder 14) to the breadth of our sportand its many different disciplines racing, touring, freestyle, polo etc inas many different boats long andstraight running, short and turny, sit ins

and sit on tops, canoes and kayaks. Forolder paddlers the equivalent first stepon the ladder is the new PaddlesportStart Award, designed to bepresented at the end of an initial tastersession of a couple of hours, which canthen be followed by the new One toFive Star Awards.The new One Star Award is designedto reflect basic boat control on flat

water and a sound foundation inforward paddling skills. Without

coaching most beginners tend to relyon their arms to do all the work;training for the new One Starencourages paddlers to use their wholebodies, translating the power from thepaddle through their arms, backs and

knees or legs to drive the boat past thepaddle. Paddlers are also encouraged totry the widest possible variety of boatson the One Star course and choose forthemselves what type of boat they wishto use for the assessment. On our firstOne Star course last Septemberthirteen candidates chose kayaks, whiletwo opted for open canoes. Candidatescan also choose whether to take the

assessment paddling solo or as part ofa crew.While the One Star gives paddlers allthe skills they need to join in withnormal club sessions at Marlow, thenew Two Star is an improvementaward that helps paddlers developfundamental paddlesport skills and anunderstanding into how the paddle,boat and water interact. The Two Star

Award is gained by demonstrating skillsin both a kayak and a canoe and canagain be taken either paddling solo oras part of a tandem crew in, forexample, an open canoe or in a doublesracing or touring boat. Importantly,Two Star candidates need to showexperience of paddling different craft indifferent locations and have completedtwo journeys of at least two hoursduration or have taken part in twocompetitions (e.g. races or perhapsslaloms). We are planning to run atleast two Two Star courses at Marlowthis season (see dates at end of thisarticle) and will include opportunitiesfor members to log the required

journey experience.By the time they are ready for ThreeStar most paddlers will have developeda preference for one of the many the

paddlesport disciplines and it is here


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that the new awards separate. Thereare currently Three Star Awardsavailable in four disciplines opencanoeing, white water, sea and surf and further awards are planned in flatwater touring, slalom, racing and polo.

There will be an article on the newThree and Four Star Awards in a futurenewsletter.But before we finish here, a brief wordabout who coaches and assesses thenew awards because the BCU Coachingscheme is also seeing some changes.Coaching for the new One and Two Star

Awards should be delivered under thedirection of a new Level 2 Coach (or

old Level Two who also holds the oldTwo Star Kayak and Open Canoecertificates) or higher; theses coachescan also assess both of these awards.The Level 2 will usually be assisted byone or more Level 1 (assistant) coaches(or old Trainee Level 2s) who may alsoassess the new Paddlesport Start

Award.Coaching can be rewarding experience

and anyone with an interest whatevertheir level of paddlesport experience even just watching from the bank - cantrain to become a Level 1 Coach. TheLevel 1 course involves the equivalentof five days of training including safetytraining or, for those who already holda Canoe Safety Test (CST) certificate,the course can be completed over fourdays. Five assessment tasks are setduring the course and on completingthese successfully candidates areawarded the new Level 1 Certificate inCoaching Paddlesport which is beingmapped to the national vocationaltraining framework and endorsed aspart of the cross-sport UK CoachingCertificate (UKCC) scheme. A numberof centres, including Longridge, areoffering courses locally, generally overtwo or three weekends although block

intensive courses are also available.

Further information: Details of thenew Level 1 and Level 2 Coachingawards can be downloaded fromhttp://www.bcu.org.uk/bcu/2391-5-new-bcu-coaching-awards.aspx while alist of coaching courses across the BCU

Southern Region is athttp://canoesouth.org/index.php?page=coaching. The full syllabi, trainer andassessor notes for the new Star Awardscan be found athttp://www.bcu.org.uk/bcu/2265-5-bcu-1---3-star-tests-.aspx.

ANDY MAXTED JAN 2008

A full list of all courses currentlyscheduled by the club can be found inthe 'WHAT'S ON, WHEN & WHERE'page inside rear cover.

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MARSH TO MARLOW

Rod did a D.O. turn in January and tookus from Marsh to Marlow. This year we

did not have to bother with the irksometrog down the lane! Was the waterfast, a little over 2 hrs. to Marlow inc.the now customary tea stop is youranswer.


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NEW KIT

If you are looking for a new cag, butlike me, can't justify a SIDEWINDER topthen just maybe a PALM APEX(ELEMENT for ladies) will fit the bill.Same basic material but without theKevlar reinforcement on the arms, andno latex neck seal. At 40.00 cheaperthis will satisfy a lot of club paddlers.Try it out at any of the local dealerslisted on the back, (phone before

journeying) and don't forget to ask foryour 10% off. If you want somethinglighter still then the PALM COBRA topmight suit you. Velcro adjusters all

round, I'm reasonably pleased with theshort sleeve version I bought.

John Norris DEC.2007

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2008 AGM REPORT

Oh dear! Where was everybody? AMset up the room, the grub was laid on,

but the turnout was poor. Only 17 orso were present + a latecomer or twoas the evening moved on.I was one of the first there and saw

Andy and Richard fiddling with the pcand projector trying to get theentertainment working. For a while itwas not looking to good, but somethingtweaked and the show was on. Aboutthat time the spread came in, an

assortment of sandwiches and severaltrays of chips (that's real chips, notcrisps!) and they werent too bad. Ididn't hear anybody complain anyway.The show started, probably about20mins. on a very successful Alps trip.The highlight for me was the way REZAdealt with most things. I understandhe's still good for an underwaterexcursion but surely not for much

longer.

As is the way with these things themundane stuff had to be sorted.Someone's toying with the idea of beingthe new Deb's but other than that it'spretty much as before. Alex has turned18 so if there's anyone who would like

to take on his junior rep. role he say'she won't oppose it.So we get round to the awards. Thecommittee had previously laboured longand hard deliberating who was worthyof the various awards this year, and inno particular order they were;Most improved paddler went to MandyHuman who started late, plungedheadlong into a 2* and completed a

hectic month or so with a Wye tripincluding Symonds Yat.Newsletter item went to 'WhiteFeather' Briggs. You may recall Julieprovided us with an account of thepaintballing social event. It's nice toread about non paddling events, whichkeep the club together at times whenconditions prevent some members frompaddling.

Volunteer of the Year award went toSteve Will iams, of Chiswick PierCanoe Club. Steve is responsible formaintaining the Gurnell pool sessionswhich many members have used toimprove on various skills throughoutthe winter months.The coveted 'swimmer of the year'went to Dave Goddard, not for theScarface incident, but for an OBE atHell Hole.Chris Porteous picked up the othermost improved paddler award. Notnormally given to committee members,it was agreed that Chris had come along way in a short time and was mostworthy of the award.For the juniors, Doug Marsh was

judged to be the most improved.I'm well aware not all members canmake the meeting, but it would be nice

if next year we could get back to


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around 30 or so in attendance. True,the sandwiches would be a bit thinner,but you'd be doing me a favour if youate a few more!

John Norris 30/01/2008

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I LIKE A SENSE OF HUMOUR

Sent to me by an anonymous source(well, not that anonymous) so no cupsof coffee for the first correct answer.

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BLAH BLAH BLAH!

Rob & I went to a Riversidepresentation featuring Debs Pininnger.

A reasonable turnout and a good raffleearned some much needed spondooliesfor the good folks at Riverside and theyouth they work with.I wandered around and talked to a fewpeople I'd not seen for a while whilstwaiting for the presentation to start.Debs was soon into her stride,delivering an informative talk if a littledisjointed but enjoyable none the less.For us older types who had paperdictionaries at school there was too

much reliance on 'blah blah blah'; 'this

and that' & some other utterancespossibly found in modern street slangbut not in the O.E.D. The talk centredaround some of Debs paddling exploitsand threw in a few bits of non paddlinginfo as well. It also jumped about it.

Debs interest in kayaks began on afamily holiday to Bournemouth whereshe first saw these boats on the sea.To young to hire them at the time thefun element stayed with her. Somegood fortune along the way and nextwe hear about winning some'competition' in New Zealand. Theremay have been an additional sentenceor two in between but I didn't catch the

full text. As with all people of this standard itsometimes seems as though they arealways in the right place at the righttime. The years have taught me thatit's the hard work in between that getsthese people noticed. For Debs, thiscame by way of (initially) hours spenton a playwave adjacent a campsite inFrance where she was working with

some youngsters on an adventureholiday type camp.In addition to paddling Debs has aninterest in photography, and is hopingto further this side of her interests inthe near future. Good photographs ofspectacular water will become truly aweinspiring in future presentations shouldshe apply the same determination asshe has to paddling.The evening ended with a raffle. Topprize was a garishly decorated Robsontouring paddle retailing at 200.00+,yours for 1.00 and a lot of luck. I'dbought a 'few' tickets and enjoyed agood run of luck but not that good.Would I go again? I'm more radio 4,more David Attenborough, these daysbut despite the criticisms mentionedearlier I think I would. Debs had a fewnotes around (I think) but often went

off at a slight tangent offering the


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chance to deliver the odd nugget oftrivia that's probably not worth knowingbut occasionally surfaces from thedepths of the mind. Next time she'saround give it some thought. It cost afiver on the door at Riverside and you

won't get much for that these days.

John Norris Feb. 2008

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CANOEXPO

It's off to Coventry for the new show. Ihalf expected the NAC to be a smallerNEC, but it turns out to be the National

Agricultural Centre. We (me, Rob,Chrisp, & El Presidente) rolled uparound 9:40 and were sheperded in toa free nearby carpark. A short walk tothe main hall, home printed ticketsscanned and we were in. Just 80 mins.from Stokenchurch - much quicker thanBirmingham.

Once inside, you can see all 4 walls ofthe hall at the same time, but when yourealise that it's ALL devoted to canoeingtopics it's probably more sq. footagethan at the old show. A separate hallwith theatre's and classrooms wasavailable for the many lectures anddemos offered.I spent the morning looking at seakayaks and sea kayaking tuition. There

were a no. of providers of training,including KAYAKOJACKO, whorecommended a provider with a similarethos to himself, and with whom I'll bein touch with later. I'll be looking intoothers in greater detail, some of whomhave offered a small discount shouldenough of the clubs 'interested' seapaddlers be interested.Next up was the boats. Starting off

with nicely finished exotic materialconstructions and working my way

down to plastic. I've a few ideas forboats should the club invest in somebasic sea stuff at a later date.Lunch was scheduled for 12:00,sandwiches and the like looked a bitpricey (don't they always?) but at 6.50

a pop both 'El Presidente' and myselfthought the hot meal was reasonablevalue. There were plenty of tables inthe foyer and a newsstand where youcould buy a sweetie or two. No-oneseemed to mind if you were eating yourown. Drinks were O.K., mainly vended,but I'd have happily paid a little morefor a decent coffee.First thing after lunch was to purchase

an open paddle of the correct size. I'dbought my first because I was 'allright'with Rob's paddle. A session last yearunder the tutelage of 'El Presidente'pointed out the now obvious failings ofincorrectly sized paddles. Fortunatelythe man himself was on hand to advise,and although his 'formula' was slightlydifferent to the man on the stand theanswer agreed.

I went over to the Wolfson theatre for atravelogue on sea kayaking by GordonBrown. He's a big wheel in Scottish seakayaking and handy with a camera too.I got there a bit late and it was packed.El Presidente attended a lecture onropework by Franco Ferrero that wasequally well attended. Not so the UKUniversities 4 borders bash, butreasonable photography and a video ortwo was enjoyed by those thatattended.I'm sure it'll continue here next year,feedback was favourable from those Iasked and for us it's a doddle to gettoo. If you go, check out the lecturesfirst and plan your stall crawling aroundthe ones you want to see. I'll probablysee you there.

John Norris Feb. 2008


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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.

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2008

23 / 24 FEB WYE & USK TRIP (LOW LEVELS - CHECK WITH CHRIS FOR LATEST) CP

03 MARCH COMMITTEE MEETING, GEORGE & DRAGON COMMENCING 7:30 AM

14 / 16 MAR OUTDOORS SHOW - FOR THOSE WHO WANT MORE THAN CANOES EXHIB

15 / 16 MAR UPPER WYE & USK TRIP (IF THERE'S ANY WATER LEFT) CP

21 MARCH GOOD FRIDAY - ANYONE WANT TO ORGANISE SOMETHING?

29 / 30 MAR L1 COACH TRAINING AT LONGRIDGE (PART 1) AM

APRIL 2 008

01 APRIL TUESDAY SESSIONS COMMENCE (TO BE CONFIRMED) DO

03 APRIL BUCKS COACHING PANEL AT LONGRIDGE - PADDLESPORT LCO

07 APRIL COMMITTEE MEETING, GEORGE & DRAGON COMMENCING 7:30 AM

13 APRIL CST / PADDLESPORT SAFETY AT LONGRIDGE

26 / 27 APR. L1 COACH TRAINING AT LONGRIDGE (PART 2) AM

MAY 2008

10 / 11 MAY NOVICE COURSE 1 - VOLUNTEERS PLEASE TT

12 MAY COMMITTEE MEETING, GEORGE & DRAGON COMMENCING 7:30 AM

JUNE 2008

02 JUNE COMMITTEE MEETING, GEORGE & DRAGON COMMENCING 7:30 AM

07 / 08 JUNE NOVICE COURSE 2 - VOLUNTEERS PLEASE TT

14 / 15 JUNE IMPROVER COURSE 1 - 2* AWARD PART 1 TT

21 / 22 JUNE IMPROVER COURSE 1 - 2* AWARD PART 2 TT

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 orJOHN 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]


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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 THIS EVENT WILL I N FUTURE BE HOSTED BY LONGRIDGE C.C.

LONGRIDGEMARTINPLAIN

01628483252

[email protected]

WOMENS REP. JULIE BRIGGS

YOUTH REP ALEX SHIEL07707953124

[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/

BERKSHIRECANOES

READING01189

425640http://www.berkshire-canoes.co.uk

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

newsletter 119 spring 2008 01

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