newsletter 124 summer 2009 02

8/14/2019 Newsletter 124 Summer 2009 02

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Marlow Canoe Club Newsletter COVER Summer 2009/02

Mid morning, Saturday 2ndMay; and the Deliverance Tour gets under way.Downstream from Cricklade the Thames is still very much a river, rather thanthe navigation it becomes around Lechlade. Very natural, very peaceful;and unfortunately very rare in our part of the country. Our picture showsRichard (as ED) Williams and Rob (as DREW) Norris paddling downstreamnot far from the start. A full trip report can be read on pg.19.Photo taken by Lee (as LEWIS) Niven.


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Marlow Canoe Club Newsletter - 2 - Summer 2009/02

EDITORS PIECE

Draw up a chair to the fireside, pour a nice

malt or whatever you fancy, print of a copyand settle down for a long read of paddlingextravaganza and dream of summer. On theoff chance that summer returns by the timeyou read this substitute a cool beer and adeckchair.Its a monster issue, the biggest yet, awhopping 24 pages. A fitting issue to finishmy tenure as newsletter editor on. ExceptIve still got two issues to go. And possiblymore.

The club is constructively moving forwardwith members able to enjoy a more variedselection of paddles away from the club.Following the example set by the WhiteWaterteam we are beginning to introduce morelocal touring using nearby waters and canals.More expansive touring is on offer as well,and a programme of events has been puttogether by Lee Niven. Im hoping to get ourfirst sea trip together about now (I should be

checking tides and coastguards instead of doing this) and hope to offer a few trips a year

to introduce members to this genre. Its a sport seen very much as a singular activity butwith unprecedented success in this years DW there is plenty to aim for and those thatwant to try their hand at marathon paddling will (Im sure) find plenty of encouragementfrom other likeminded paddlers. Andy Cook, in particular will be only too pleased to helpout when he can and Id like to think others will too. It would be nice to meet some of theother marathon paddlers, some of whom I have to say, are no more than names to me. Ihope the hard earned success these people earned in the DW event will encourage othersto have a go.Percentage wise, Ive probably written less for this newsletter than I have for many anissue. Just as well considering the size. This means more has come from yourselves,and that means it has to be more reflective of the wide range of activities undertaken bythe membership in general. This issue features, in no particular order, items on localtouring, paddling in Antarctica, a vacancy, the Paddlefest event, two items featuring theclubs success in the Devizes to Westminster event, rack allocation in the clubhouse, anintroduction to sea kayaking at Plas Menai, an open canoe tour - rapidly gaining notorietyas the Deliverance tour, and higher level training on some much loved Scottish waters.Im taking copy for the next issue right now so if you have been on a trip or a tour with us,or others, professionally led or on your tod let us know about it. New to the club tell ushow you found us and your aspirations for the future . Dont like whats been suggestedabout rack allocation then send in a letter it will go in. Heres hoping the next issue willbe just as wide ranging and (hopefully) interesting. Due out in September, youve plenty of

time to get something in. John Norris May 2009

CONTENTS

ABBEY STREAM 3

A LADY WITH A MISSION 4

VACANCY 7

PADDLEFEST 2009 8

A GRAND DAY OUT 10

MORE DW SUCCESS 14

BOAT RACK SPACES 17

PLAS MENAI SEA INTRO. 17

DELIVERANCE TOUR

5* THE NOO

WHATS ON, WHEN & WHERE 19

THE COMMITTEE 20


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DAY TOURING - ABBEY STREAM

8th March 2009, nine souls met at the car park on the north side of Thames at Laleham.Two club easkys, Jane in her new red easky, two more sea boats, canoe Kelvin and the

number made up with other kayaks.Windy but fine, a simple launch from a beach and we were soon on the river movingupstream, wind from the side, bit of flow nothing too strenuous. About a mile upstreamthere were weirs with cross currents from the right, the flow seemed stronger but keepingout of it where possible we soon made the entrance to Abbey Stream.It was very similar to the streams at Hurley but narrower with slightly tighter bends; mooredboats in the first few hundred yards, then the half sunk dinghies until we came to a verylow bridge. This had to be tackled with care as most us had to bend to get under it.We had been informed at the briefing we would also be going under the M25. The picturecame to mind of the Marlow bypass at Longridge, oh no, there were cars and lorriesthundering along 4 feet above our heads. Continuing on we were soon paddling by a golf

course and eventually came to the fallen tree obstruction Tim had warned about. No waypast; very muddy sloping banks, fortunately one spot, with a bit of assistance, allowed usto get out onto the golf course (without being shouted at) and move down stream.A few minutes more paddling brought us to the seats where the plan was to stop forlunch. More muddy sloping banks tackled in a variety of ways but apart from one wetting apleasant half hour break. Embarking again proved just as challenging and after anotherwetting we were able to move downstream through farm land until we came to a slipwaywith rollers (there must be a proper term). Negotiating that one at a time brought us outbelow Chertsey weir.


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On our side of the weir it really was thundering through so we landed on waste ground tomove upstream of the weir. By this time the weather had been deteriorating the windgetting stronger and spots of rain. From the top of the weir it was a paddle across to theother side of the river, under the M25 again (this time more Marlow bypass height) and astraight forward upstream paddle to where we had launched. Now the weather change

dramatically, the wind was much stronger still and as soon as we were out of the boats therain lashed down with incredible intensity. Nothing for it, carry the boats over the road(without being blown away) and lash them onto the racks; by this time everyone wasdrenched and possibly cold to. However typical of English weather, as soon as we hadfinished loading the rain eased and soon stopped and the wind dropped a bit. Ah well backto Marlow, wash the mud out of the boats as best we could (no sponges in the club) andthe end of a very pleasant day out

Charles Pain March 2009

A LADY WITH A MISSION

It all started on a damp Saturday last September when I presented myself at the Club formy introductory One Star course along with a dozen other hopeful souls. It looked likerain and because of all the rain we had had in previous weeks the river was swollen andthe stream was none too friendly for beginners but we all survived, if a little cold by theend of the day and all passed the course. But that was not sufficient for me I was a ladywith a mission. That mission was to be sufficiently qualified to sea kayak in the Antarcticain less than 2 months time!According to my pre-trip notes sufficiently qualified included the ability to do self-rescue,

which it transpired neither Club President Tim (instructor par excellence who was alsorefurbishing my house at the time) nor John ( sea kayaker par excellence) had ever done ;and I was supposed to be proficient in two months having only just mastered stayingupright in a boat!!Not to be put off, John went on the Net and found various interesting training videos mostly in Scandinavian languages, and purchased the necessary paddle float. Off wewent to the pool for a few training sessions. I along with the others seemed to master it. Itwas taking me several minutes to get back in the boat on my own and the thought of doingit for real in sub zero water temperatures did not bear thinking aboutbut off I went to

the Southern Hemisphere.There were sixteen of ushardy souls, part of acontingent of 107 mainlyantipodean passengers on anex-research Russian icestrengthened vessel cruisingthe Antarctic for 18 days -who were going to sea kayak,we hoped. It transpired thatthey all had far moreexperience than meand I

was more than a little anxiousabout the whole


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exercise.though no-one was mentioning self rescue! We were kitted out in full one-piece dry suits, neoprene bootees & pogies. Our first outing was to be in the harbour atPort Stanley in the Falkland Islands.The sun was blazing and it was 24 degrees..hardly fit for dry suits! Thermal leggings andT-shirt had to suffice. We had to enter the kayaks from the zodiacs, which was an exercise

in itself, especially the first time when you were terrified of ending up in the water! I havediscovered that I have a bit of a phobia about getting my head in the water not good forkayaking. The American built boats were very stable, with rudders which made it muchmuch easier to steer and I felt easier. Once we were all loaded up we paddled a fewkilometres down to the sunken ship, the Lady Elizabeth at the end of the harbour thenback. I got as far as the harbour entrance when the Zodiac came and picked me up Icould have happily carried on, and was just about starting to relax and enjoy it. The lovelyweather helped!

Our next outing was offGritviken, on South

Georgia the oldwhaling station whereShackleton is buried.We had seen icebergsby now and dry suitswere definitely theorder of the day! I waspaired with anothernovice in a doublekayak this time andfound it very frustrating.We never seemed tohave the same strokeand she got tired very easily.but we paddled with the fur seals and round our firsticeberg .On to the South Shetlands after an uncomfortable two days of the ship crashing throughthe waves in the Southern Ocean, most of which was spent in my cabin. We arrived atYankee Harbour and kayaking was going ahead despite overcast weather, wind andchoppy seas we were assured it was calmer in the lea of the harbour- with its 1 kmgravel and stone natural spit. There was a huge glacier and lots of little icebergs. This

time I got a single kayak

thank you Zac.We headed off into the windacross the harbour entrancetowards the glacier toughgoing but I did OK. Then wecruised along the glacier edgehundreds of feet high above us lots of blue with dirty streaks.A bit like a giant chocolateswirl cake. We paddled

through some brash ice which once I realised it would just go under the boat and not

cause problems was pretty much what it was all about. Great fun. Then we headed backalong the other beach and the wind started to get up and a huge black cloud was ahead


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bringing a storm..I kept going though wondered how long for. I made it to the beach asthe fifth home some had already been picked up by the Zodiac but I was glad I hadntand I was enjoying it towards the end despite very heavy going. The waves washed overthe boat - and me at times (thank goodness for thick neoprene spray skirts, dry suits andvery stable boats).I avoided little icebergs and was continually being blown into shore

almost ending up on top of the Gentoo penguins. Not sure I expected to but I had enjoyedit and if we didnt get out again .it wasworth it. That was what all the trainingwas for.

On to the Antarctic Peninsula itself. Wearrived over night in Wilhemina Bay offthe Gerlach Sound. The weather wasglorious and flat calm blue sea withglorious scenery huge snow coveredmountains & glaciers pretty close to.

Up at 6.00 am to watch the world go by.Quick breakfast and off kayaking to theenvy of a lot of other passengers, innear perfect conditions. It was glassyflat calm, with mountains and glaciers reflected in the water and we were paddling throughthe brash ice and bergy bits. (The technical term for little bits of broken off iceberg).Soooo quiet!the loudest thing was the scrunch of our dry suits and the noise of thepaddles in the water. Even the water did not seem that cold, though I would not like tohave ended up in it for longbut we always had our rescue zodiac close to hand. No-one

capsized and no needfor self rescue !

We were bouncing offthe brash ice. At timesI had to use the ice topush off and was goingaground on icebergs!paddling through gapsso narrow the paddleswould not fit and attimes barely the kayak

fitted. The icebergswere amazing to see inthe water one could

really see the formations and the submerged chunks. We covered about 7 km accordingto Kevins GPS. Got about 20 ft from a leopard seal lying on the ice, saw several AntarcticSkuas and got dive bombed by a snowy petrel a couple of times awesome..worthevery bit of the dank dark days on the river in Marlow.

Thanks to John and Tim and all the team for their patience with me.and I neverneeded to do a self rescue nor even got my hair wet! The High Arctic here I come!

Jo Dudley February 2009


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Note: Jo summed up El Presidente pretty well, many of us have benefitted from hisexperience over the years. But me; sea kayaker parexcellence. Im happy to bathe inthe adulation, just dont expect me to live up to it yet!

VACANCY

A position has become available within the club for acoach of around L3 standard. The current incumbent hasdecided to take up a job offer in New Zealand, and whocan blame him for that.Applications for this unpaid but not unappreciated role willbe considered by the committee from any genial Scotsperson (who can speak English) willing to enthuse thecurrent membership such that they might achieve whatthey didnt think possible. An ability to quaff a pint andhave a stab at all things involving paddles (on the water)will go a long way to acceptance.Tom Westwater has not been with the club for very longbut many have benefitted from his skills and teaching inthe short time he has been with us. We saw quality the

NHS saw a saving. Tom will probably be bestremembered for helping a no. of our members gain theirUKCC 3* WW award toward the end of last year. He also

came to the fore when we needed a stand in for a 1* coach.

In Toms own words.

MCC has beenTHEbest club I've ever paddled & coached for. The plus point is paddlersfor paddling andNOT internal club politics. The salubrious club house helps with thismatter. I really enjoyed being able to coach with an open minded club, not the old, "Wedon't do it that way!" I really did learn so much from the MCC mindset. Thank you to

EVERYONE from MCC and if you're coming in my new direction come and paddle withMCC NZ. Once again, many, many thanks and hope to see you on Wed 25th March.


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Ive never been to another club as a member but I think I can see what Toms saying. Imsure youd all like to join me in wishing him the best for the future and perhaps some of uswill be lucky enough to take up his offer.As mentioned previously a few of us turned up to see Tom off in a style to which he hasbecome accustomed. Our snap shows the man at the start of the evening. I cant

remember what he looked like at the end but then I cant remember much of anythingtoward the end of the evening.

You can view Toms New Zealand Bloghere.

Good luck pal, see you sometime!

John Norris March 2009

Googlemap says 120 odd miles and around2hrs. 10 mins. and suggests a back route inwith which El Presidente is already familiarwith so that makes things easy. We make itwell within time, including a stop and arrivearound 9:45. This was not a GOOD day outand the poor weather contributed to the fairlydull display. But lets put this into context.

Last year we had CANOEXPO, for which wehad to pay around 7.00 entry. Car parkingwas free and a reasonable hot meal wasavailable. All housed in Stoneleigh Park

(Coventry) the displays were all covered and lecture delivery was in proper auditoria.Purchases could be made (admittedly all through Brookbank) and overall, Id rate thefacility as good. For us, travelling was about 80 miles and 75 minutes. True of any singleinterest display, once youd done the canoes there was not much left to do. Unlike theOutdoor Show (which costs twice as much + car parking + franchise eating) you can goand have a look at something else. Unfortunately it was not much loved by themanufacturers as floor space was expensive.

Nottingham PADDLEFEST (stand alone entry free) was put together by the same teamthat put on CANOEXPO. There the similarity ends. For those that have not been toNottingham (the National Waterspouts Centre) Ill put you in the picture. It has a rowingstraight and a recently revamped whitewater course (looks good says El Presidente eventhough it was to cold for him to go on it). Using a natural drop in the adjacent River Trent itlooks the business. Im told it does what its made for very well, however its not anexhibition centre. Under cover displays took on the appearance of a market stand, albeitunder a wobbly marquee. The Brookbank stand had all the appeal of a paddlingpoundstretcher. But there were some good sounding lectures that I wanted to hear.Richard Cree on packing a sea kayak had some very good tips. The RNLI followed this

with a general presentation that would have been more useful to me had I not just recently
http://tomsnz.blogspot.com/http://tomsnz.blogspot.com/http://tomsnz.blogspot.com/http://tomsnz.blogspot.com/


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completed my SRC, but would have been of benefit, perhaps, for some of our aspiring seapaddlers.Time to look for some food. Im not a great fan of McDonalds but I do eat thereoccasionally, safe in the knowledge that some and maybe all of the beef burger was oncepart of a bovine animal. The taste is generally beefish. Qualities sadly lacking from the

hot food offered, or so it appeared. I was glad I bought some sandwiches (just in case)and of the PEAK UK outlet shop which offered coffee in a proper cup for a mere squid.And a seat and a table out of the wind in which to drink & eat.

Back to the display. Purchasing a sea kayak, delivered by a L5 coach from a new OBANbased outlet. He knew his stuff, but it was pitched at the beginner and a little low to be ofmuch use to me. Rob went to the Student Rodeo which was so well run that he didntrealise this was what he was looking at.

We both finished with Riding the Celtic Tiderace a presentation by Patrick Winterton,perhaps best known for coaching the delightful Kate Silverton in the BBC whitewater

programme of August 2007. This was about his ultimately ill fated attempt to paddle to theFaroe Islands, starting from Wales and going around Ireland. Good slides and film clipsand an amiable chat were enjoyed by all who attended and both Rob & I thought this waspossibly the best part of the day. A big tent and line of cubicle dividers made it hard workfor all those delivering a lecture. The wind, threatening to bring the whole ensemblecrashing down made it worse.

You can tell I wasnt overly impressed, but there was some good here. For 5.00 youcould book a wet ticket and try out a wide selection of boats in a small lake. Canoes,tourers, WW, and sea boats were all available and the OBAN people even put on a seakayak intro. on the Trent for those that wanted to try. I believe there was also anopportunity to try the whitewater course in the morning as well under supervision. And tobe fair my report would be a whole lot nicer had the wind dropped, the sun come out andmaybe it was a little warmer.

Would I go again? Unless there was something specific I wanted to see or do Id have tothink twice. Id happily pay a little extra for the facilities at CANOEXPO and Id probably goto the Outdoor Show every few years. My suggestion would be to make PADDLEFESTbigger and put it at Stoneleigh Park. My gut feeling, though, is that it will be a little whilebefore we find a canoe specific show again. I just hope Im wrong.

John Norris March 2009

ADDENDUM

I was asked what I thought of the show by Peter M, a paddler Ive met through the SouthEast Sea Kayakers group. Peter went to the show on the Sunday, when the weather wasmuch improved and booked a wet ticket, enabling him to try out several boats. Acolleague of his tried a no. of Canadians and overall their experience seemed to be muchbetter than mine. The lake, whilst a little on the small side, offered the chance to test aboats manoeuvrability around some left over slalom poles though flatwater left it to the

imagination as to whether the sea boats would perform the same on the salty stuff. MaybeI will go next year, if its on again,just got to get the weather fixed first (and a wetticket).


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At Dreadnought Reach, the canal flashes through Reading as it prepares for its bigSaturday night out, and flows out into the Thames. Here most competitors pull up, changetheir clothes and get a proper meal in. The sun was setting in dazzling golds across thewater from us, our bellies were full, painkiller levels were topped up, and we were on ourhome waters. As we passed the island at Henley, sleeping ducks and geese were

frightened off the bank and flew straight into our deck threatening to capsize us. They maywell have been getting their own back for us inadvertently ramming a couple of mallardswho were too busy making ducklings to notice us bearing down on them. We paddled offinto the long night, positive and looking ahead to the lights of Marlow Bridge. It washowever about this time that something curious happened. All this stretch from Reading toTeddington was familiar to us, and we knew each section well, but somehow the veryfabric of time seemed to have been distorted and stretched. One short haul of 1.8 milesthat in training had passed in the blink of an eye felt as if it took an hour. A 4.9 mile chunkhonestly felt like it would never, ever end. Whilst in endurance events the body is usuallyat its lowest ebb between 3 and 4 in the morning, for me it hit me at around 1 as weapproached Windsor. I was borderline hypothermic, shivering uncontrollably, shoulder

graunching and clicking with every stroke, and it all just seemed so pointless, so joyless,and so endless. There was another low when we reached Runnymede, which in my headId set as being the start of London, a major success - nearly there point. As we pulled outof the lock, someone shouted out; Youre going great lads, just forty miles to go! Fortyfrickin miles. Near eight hours at our current speed. And that was the end of that littlepositive spell.

Big events like this are all about small victories. No one is capable of saying tothemselves; right, 125 miles to go, lets rock! You have to break it down, boost yourspirits at every turn, and keep resetting the clocks. For us, we did this by overtakingpeople between locks (theyd go past us again straight away as we took fifteen minutes toneck a Cuppa Soup but then I guess we got to overtake them again on the next stretch).We also had a guardian angel bringing a boost to morale in the dead of night. AndyCooke from the canoe club had offered to keep with us through the night; an offer wed notset much store in, as he was also supporting the other Marlow crews and we were allstretched out through the field. However, every selected stop wed roll in, and Andy wouldbe there shouting us in to the correct portage point and with exact instructions as to how toproceed. As we funnelled cake and hot tea down shivering gullets, hed chivvy us alongby telling us how hed got through the entire race (in 19hours!) with just one kit change andfood stop. What a remarkable dude! After hours and miles of panic and hopelessdisorganisation, it was as if Obi Wan Kenobi had appeared at the lock side in the early

hours to bring us DW wisdom. Chastened and encouraged we stopped being such utterjessies and got back in the boat for the final hard yards.

Andy set us on our way at Teddington and the tidal Thames around two hours behindschedule, but with spirits passably high. We were going to finish, it was just a case ofwhen. However, the tidal Thames is not to be taken lightly. Wed missed the main flow ofthe tides, and it actually didnt seem to be running at a ll. That last 17 miles may as wellhave been a thousand. Its another yomp with no locks, turbulent waters, and speedboatscreating huge washes that threaten to overturn you several minutes cold swim from eitherbank. We pulled in to Putney Bridge where my mum and dad were waiting, and appearedto them as phantoms, walking like our bones had dissolved, just wanting it all to be over.

Mum applied cold spray to Stuarts agonised backside (she swears she didnt look) and I


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guzzled leek and potato soup and tried not to sit down in the mud cos Id never have gotup again.

The last six miles was probably our strongest paddle of the whole race. We didnt restonce and did it in well under an hour, scorching past Battersea power station and other

London landmarks we really couldnt have cared less about, yelling at the speedboats whoseemed to be deliberately trying to capsize us with their wash. Three miles to go, two,one, and then there it was, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. In a cruel twist of fate,this last mile was the most difficult of the whole race, churned up and unpredictable. It

flushed more than one fatigued set of finishers, but not us. We pulled up to the steps atthe embankment, elated, exhausted, and more than anything relieved that the evilnastiness was over and would never have to be repeated.

And there was Andy, waiting with warm clothes and a camera to preserve the moment forposterity. God bless him. 25 hours and 50 minutes was way more than we hoped to finishin but probably about what we deserved. We were well behind Pete and Rich of Marlow

CC who managed a credible 23.25, but a lot faster than the slowest finishers who tookover 50 hours. It makes me feel ill just thinking about it.

Steve Backshall April 2009

FEELING JUST A LITTLE BIT INSPIRED?

WANT TO GIVE MARATHON PADDLING A GO?

ANNE BATEMAN IS THINKING ABOUT THE DW2010 ENDEAVOUR EVENT.

LIKE TO JOIN HER FOR A LITTLE FINE WEATHER TRAINING OR PADDLE?

GIVE ANNE A CALL ON 01494 450686 / 07777 603682 AND MAYBE ENJOY ANAFTERNOON OR EVENING SPRINT ALONG THE RIVER.


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MORE DW SUCCESS

In addition to Steve and Stuart, the club was represented by another three teams. RichardHammersley and Peter frost (23.25.23) made up one team; Simon Jeffs and Robert

Gearing (26.47.24) with Nick Courtaux and Len Funnell (29.13.16) have recorded theirtraining and race on a blogspot. Ive copied the initial entry but a full race update can befound here. Similarly, photos of their event can be found here a few used in this feature.

Both Crews booked into a bed and breakfast close to the start at Devizes.Len and Nick started at the earliest time of 7am and Rob and Simon opted for an 8.20amstart. Timings are important to ensure you arrive at the tidal section of the Thames whenthe tide is going out. If the tide has turned when you get to Teddington you have to waitfor the next tide.The boat is taken into the Marshall's area and a kit check is carried out before going to getyour race number sticker for the boat and both crew members getting crimped wrist tags.

We were ready to go at 7.45 in the marshalling area waiting to get in at 8.15am. JamesCracknell was there with a film crew and we were looking to see the type of boat he hadmastered. We also saw Owen Peake, the favourite to win the race. At the speed hepaddled, I reckoned he would not be getting in until 1pm or 2pm.We got away at 8.16am. We were apprehensive about what lay ahead but glad to getunderway after all the training and preparation.The Pound was first. Fourteen miles of nothing. After about 10 miles we had to stop for awee. I'm told real racers do it in their boats .... No Way!! James Cracknell went past us atthis point and we heard "They have got a speedcoach - I could have brought mine", beforehe was gone. The Speedcoach is a speedometer that has a tiny impeller stuck to thebottom of the hull to measure the speed of the boat through the water. By keeping the

speed of the boat at 5mph we were at a good cruising speed without burning ourselvesout. The second piece of technology we were using was my Blackberry. This was on myback in a clear waterproof wallet with line of sight to GPS Satellites. Our support crewcould log on to Google Latitude with a laptop or another Blackberry and get a real timeposition for us with an accuracy of about 50m.
http://thepoormanseverest.blogspot.com/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37042939@N03/tags/dw/http://www.flickr.com/photos/37042939@N03/tags/dw/http://thepoormanseverest.blogspot.com/


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During the latter stages of the Pound, I saw Uday the swan. That's him Rob, the one thatwacked me on Waterside D. He saw me too and came straight in for the same style ofattack. I held my paddles horizontal to fend him off and he passed us without incident.Minutes later we heard beating wings, as he took off behind us for an attack from our rear.I braced myself for him flying into my back as the sound got closer and warned Rob. The

bird hit the water between our paddles right next to the boat. I was so relieved but didn'tknow he was going for the rear of my right arm and Rob had given him a good wallop withhis paddle to fend him off.The Bruce Tunnel was fairly uneventful in our stable boat. At the Crofton flight we met ourSupport crew and ditched our camelbacks. We managed a steady jog along the length ofthe flight. We found the canal section to be very straight forward. We had covered it allseveral times, our portaging was smooth, our support crew were faultless and we had amental goal to get to the compulsory portage at Reading. We knew we could do that. Wepassed Nick and Len between Newbury and Reading a noticed a couple of crews lookingweary at this stage. At Reading we were at the compulsory portage for about 4 minutes.Liquid, food, light on the boat, crack the light sticks on our buoyancy aids and go.

Our next stop was Marsh where we were to get into warmer night clothes. We were luckywith the weather - 13degrees by day and 4 degrees at night, very little wind , slight rain butunfortunately very little river flow. Again, the support crew were brilliant at Marsh. Acomplete change of clothes, warm chilli and rice, back into the boat and away all within ourallotted 12 minutes. At this point we were 5 minutes ahead or our planned time (a raceduration of 24.5 hours) Excellent!

On the river section we had planned for 1mph of flow and as there was very little flow ourtimes started to drop off steadily. Also we were walking at the locks in the dark. It wasfine to Cookham Lock at the 75 mile stage and then we started dropping back substantially

from our planned times. We first started to feel tired at Old Windsor Lock at the 87 milestage.

For the three miles between Sunbury and Molesey and then the 5 miles from Molesey toTeddington we had to dig deep. We comforted ourselves that once at Teddington wewould float down to Westminster on the tidal flow.

At Teddington we were shattered. We should have stopped and had a substantial meal toprepare us for the final 17 miles, but we didn't. The Marshalls took the mickey out of ourclothes - "matching colour co-ordinated gear guys - very nice". All in orange we weregetting known as the "Tango Boat" and the "Happy Crew" as we had been smiling nearlyall the way earlier in the day.

Our support crew knew we were pooped at Teddington so they sweetly encouraged us byshouting "Death or Glory" at us as we joined the tidal section.This is where the mental game began. Think of 17 miles and you cannot do it. Think of 3miles to the next bridge and you might just do it. We got to Putney Bridge, 6 miles to goand our support crew were cheering from the bridge. I was at my absolute lowest. Noenergy whatsoever and I had no idea how we could cover the next 6 miles. We hadstopped drinking so we didn't have to stop on the tideway for a wee. Once I took a bigslug of the energy drink I felt better within a couple of minutes. I told Rob we had to drink

and he told me that we should enjoy the scenery because it would take our mind off things


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and we were never going to see this view again. Despite our pathetic speed of 3mphthrough the water, we were soon at Westminster.

When we saw the bridge, we couldn't believe that we had made it. Devizes the previousmorning and now Westminster. The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust banner was hanging

from the bridge and we had a fantastic welcome as we arrived.We were helped out of the boat at the bottom of the steps in front of County Hall. Ourmedals were presented to us at the top and we were welcomed by our supporters.Nick and Len were behind schedule and stepped up the pace on the last few legs toTeddington and made it to the tide window with only minutes to spare. The tide wascoming in as they approached Westminster making their final leg even tougher. Amagnificent effort in a boat 7kg heavier and slower than ours.

Both crews completed the race - a fantastic achievement.Rob has taken on some really serious mountaineering challenges in his time havingpreviously climbed several un-climbed mountains in Greenland said "This is by far the

toughest thing I have ever done. I am never doing it again." There must have been sixguys in the changing rooms after the race, army PT instructors etc. They all said thesame....never again.

LEN FUNNELL ROBERT GEARING & SIMON JEFFS NICK COURTAUX

A big thank you to the support crews. You cannot complete this race without very goodsupport and you did a fantastic job..... all through the night.Finally, thanks to each and every one of you who sponsored us to raise funds. During thetimes when we were at our lowest it was the thought of letting you down that drove us on.A glance at the Charity logo on the boat and then thinking of all those who had faith in usfinishing the race reminded us we had to finish.


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RACK SPACE ALLOCATION

With the increase in membership over recent years, and the changing shapes of boats etc.it has become necessary to re-visit the thorny problem of space allocation.

Lets face it, the clubhouse is a dangerous place these days. The biggest boats weve gotare in the most difficult location from which to extricate them. Some of the smaller, lighterboats are right next to the door. One or two boats have never moved (to my knowledge) inall the time Ive been a member.Chris Porteous, our equipment officer has looked into this, and If anyone can find a utilityfor fitting a quart into a pint pot, Im sure Chris can.If anyone has any particular views on this then perhaps theyd let the committee know. Afew ideas have been prompted, such as moving the opens to the front of the club, orpossibly in front of the river door, along with other longer regularly USED boats such asthe sea kayaks and the marathon boats. Club GP boats should be in a specific zone,though not necessarily in the same space they currently occupy, with the smaller lighter

boats towards the rear of the club. Other options to consider, can any of the boats bestored on the sides (playboats etc.)? Or even on their ends? Some lesser used boatscould wind up in the external shed on the back of the clubhouse.SPEAK KNOW and make your views knownbut dont stay silent and moan later.

SEA INTRO AT PLAS MENAI

Following Johns enthusiasm for sea kayaking I decided to try the same course he

attended and wrote about last year. The coach was the same, John Domeny and verygood. The other attendees, Andre, a big bearded South African from Kent, who paddlesaround the Thames estuary on a sit on top although he had been in proper boats beforebut wanted to learn more. The other three lads originated from the West Midlands hadpaddled Bala lake and similar. So unfortunately there was a shortage of basic skills to startwith (not a star amongst them) which took time out of the schedule to redress.

Day one, sunny blue sky, glassy Menai Straights, select boats, sitting on the grass theCapello fitted me best, all sorted and up to North West Anglesey, Cymyran Bay, launch, 10seconds before we had the first swimmer (these kayaks are more tippy than my sit ontop), first lesson in rescue, a sheltered cove and plenty of rock dodging as we movedalong the coast for manoeuvring skills. Into a calm sheltered inlet, second swimmer,another lesson in rescue, so back to basics on skills. Later heading further North westarted to get used to the chop and wind, then a sun kissed inlet for a very late lunch. Thenstraight across the large bay we had been paddling around, the wind in our faces andplenty of chop to keep us interested. Making landfall again we nearly had anotherswimmer due to shock as a black creature climbed onto the rocks, a diver! As we nearedhome those who had never experienced a deep water rescue were put through therepaces (I rescued but thought it was a bit chilly for swimming).

Day two, another sunny blue sky, glassy Menai Straights, John said the wind forecast was

South East so we would go to the north side of Anglesey. (Andre passed on his sea kayakand took a sit on top!) We arrived at Bulls Bay to find a north easterly blowing into the bay


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(so much for the weather forecast). Not a good place to start or paddle Westward asplanned as it would be a problem getting back, so along the coast to another beautiful bayat Cemaes. Easy launch, more skills, put off a bit by the arrival of an RNLI lifeboat thatanchored at the entrance to the bay, seemingly waiting like a vulture (or St JohnsAmbulance). We set off East into the wind and current, going in and out of bays which

gave some shelter. Right, lets have a go at paddling downwind with the swell/current! Sowe paddled out of the bay into the full wind and swell, turned and then rode back. Noteasy, made more difficult as the swell was very erratic in frequency and height. Then theinquest on the first ride home; two key points keep paddling and use stern rudder to runstraight. Try again, off upwind, turn just before the white horses, down again, slightly betterbut still challenging. Try again but this time straight across the cove to the next! Thethought that crossed my mind as we set off on this last run; a dodgy white water passagewill usually last less than a minute before its all over; out t here, half a mile to run, if youswim then more problems with rescues, so dont! Fortunately this time we started to get abigger, more regular swell, which made it marginally easier. (to busy paddling to wave tothe RNLI zodiac that came past). Then round into a bay for a hard earned lunch. The rest

of the afternoon we did towing with a boat attachment, and waist belt, one pulling one, twopulling two etc, before heading back to Cemaes bay where the Midlands lads wanted to bephotographed doing deep water rescues.

This was a cracking week-end where we also covered tides, charts, etc; a great learningexperience. The weather was good, clothing wise no need for anything different than aSunday at Marlow in Spring. Everyone improved, no unscheduled swimmers on Sunday, Ionly got my feet wet. I stayed overnight, coming back on Monday.

Charles Pain April 2009


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DELIVERANCE (PART 2!)

Friday night seemed like a lock to far when it finally came around and so it was an early,misty morning that looked full of promise that saw me rendezvous with Richard at the track

leading down to Shifford Lock on Saturday.Richard had elected to camp at Shifford on Friday evening anyway and so as we loadedour car I was slightly envious of the lack of weight he was carrying my feelings wouldprove to be premature later in the day however!Meetings, misses and shuttles followed at Cricklade and so it was that at 10 ish we set offdown a scrappy but extremely pleasant first of the day towards Lechlade Richard, Roband myself all enjoyed this section its quite different to the rest of the Thames a rivernot a navigation and I cant recommend it as a day trip highly enough.There was lots of wild life on this gently meandering section, we saw kingfishers, herons,an assortment of wildfowl and even red signal crayfish. The bank plants were quitespectacular in places and the odd tree blocking the flow really only added to the trip!

Also on this section while gently drifting in the glorious sunshine Richard and I started tofind some amusing parallels between our trip and the classic movie Deliverance dontask suffice to say that I picked Burt Richard went straight for being John that left Robwith either dead bloke or tree guy a tough choice but made harder I felt given that Robhasnt seen the film......He went for dead bloke which Richard and I felt a wise choice butleft us the task of communicating his demise to John at some point as I say best not toask ...We made it to Lechlade for lunch an hour later than planned but only due to our later startand we were all chuffed with the mornings paddle. Happily we met up here (just) with Don,Jane and Andy who thinking they were behind us had made good speed down from thestart in front of us. We also met Chris here and of course enquired as to how he was

feeling after the tree ordeal, poor old Chris really had no idea at all and again having notseen the film was none the wiser even after we explained. In the film Burt breaks his legand as I embarked into my boat from the pub waterside a large flagstone came looseleaving me hanging by fingertips, holding the flagstone and trying to keep the boat in oneplace the reality was almost mirroring the film but in our version my buddies saved methanks guys!After lunch we made good timeon the Thames proper herethings get wider, there is lessflow and of course on a bankholiday lots of traffic, in someways youve left the bestbehind but the great joy of acanoe journey is seeing all thechange and the journey itself.So it proved to be again as thefour of us made our waytowards Rushy lock some 10miles away The locksthemselves are alwaysinteresting and we had more

than friendly welcomes.By the time we got to Rushy we


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were all doubled up a wise move that kept our group speed up and made the trip anadventure not just a physical challenge.I would encourage anyone thinking about a touring trip but unsure to double up, thedifference in effort really is about plus if you think ahead you can save about theweight by sharing kit like cookers etc.

We had originally planned to camp at Rushy but had been advised on Thursday that alarge group had booked and that we might be more comfortable at Shifford only 5miles further! Of course that sounds great and no problem on Thursday at home but at6:30 ish after a day at it, it stopping sounded great to be honest.A team chat decided that:1) Yes we were tired.2) The camp site at Rushy is a bit uninspiring and the one at Shifford is really nice.3) We had loads of daylight.4) Since it was just the 4 of us why not!

As we paddled onwards Richard

pointed out that he was chuffed withthe decision since his tent was atShifford anyway!Shifford really is a nice camp site andI would certainly recommend itbeautiful, quite and great facilities.Shifford Lock CampingAt this point it would be remiss not tomention the cooking. Chris haddefinitely gone minimum, eveningmeal tin of Macaroni cheese and a tinof beans; breakfast Muesli. Lets just say I didnt! (remember the CrayI said we saw? caught or rustledmay be more accurate!). Dinner -Lamb steaks, roast red peppers,onions, mushrooms, avocado, dip,Pitas, bottle of Red , choc pud, chocsauce, Tea clearly breakfast wasalways going to be a full English!Needless to say we all enjoyed

Ronny!!

Sunday was a terrific day and to behonest I hardly noticed the distancetravelled as a group we decided wewanted to push on and go throughOxford and by happy circumstancewhile chatting to another friendly lock

keeper we managed to arrange a bit of wild camping at a lock on the other side of oxford really people can be so nice the lock keepers waited for us to get to the lock and evengave us a key for a toilethes a canoeist you know!


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That evening we all decided to go to the pub I dont think Chris couldnt face another tinwhile I ate the steaks I had but it was a great idea and we had a good night with a fewbeers.The boys bivi was interesting to say the least!Monday saw an easy cruise down to our get out at Abingdon while we said our farewells

Richard continued on arriving at the club on Tuesday evening in time for the regular clubmeet Nice one Richard.I know we all enjoyed ourselves greatly and hope to see others on the subsequent trips.

Lee Niven MAY 2009

5*CANOE THE NOO!

We had a good week in Scotland. Again I was out with a bunch of mates discovered from

the internet. Our course was scheduled from Tuesday after Easter until Friday so six of uswent up on Good Friday to get some paddling in beforehand with Gill and Mark joining uson Monday evening at Glenmore Lodge. We stayed at Roybridge but, although thereappeared to have been a deal of rain in the centre of the country from our drive up, thelocal rivers were fairly low. Only the Spean and tributaries like the Pattack had much inthen with some water spilling over the lip of Laggan Dam.Before our course we did:Lower Roy into Middle Spean We started off with grade 2-3 rock dodging down the Royuntil entering the Spean which was running reasonably high with big wave trains since twopipes were releasing from Laggan Dam by the morning. The two big events of the daywere the terrible carry down to the river at the get-in and the Railway Falls on the Spean

which we decided to skirt. (We met Pete Knowles at the get-in; I seem to meet him on theriver bank all around the place)Lower Orchy grade 2-3 this was very scenic but there was really only one grade 3 whichthe two girls managed to mess up (the stopper was quite grippy). The Middle Orchy wasreally quite boney so not really an option for the weaker paddlers.For the third day the two girls went shopping! So the four chaps travelled across to theUpper Findhorn grade 3-4 two grade 4s one of which we walked round and the otherwhich was quite a surprise at the bottom.The water levels were generally low so the guidebook gradings were probably generous.

On Monday evening we travelled across to Glenmore Lodge. If you have not stayed atGlenmore, I strongly recommend that you do, it is very well equipped and they haveeverything you need from bath towels to cranked paddles to compasses. Theaccommodation was hotel standard and everything was provided. Just as well since wenever got back early enough to go out on the town.During the course we did:Spey down to Knockandoo grade 2 quite an easy section and we spend quite some timeworking on skills and rescuesPerthshire Garry grade 2 (3) (4) (5) so more portaging, the grade 3 was runnable but onlyone ran and one swam this because we were short of time (Im not saying the swim wasany quicker). This was a very good section for our poling since it had fairly shallow

sections but with plenty of flow, just the sort of this which warranted poling.


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23/24


WHAT'S ON, WHEN AND WHERE

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

that the programme can be subject to changes.

ALLSUNDAYS

CLUB SESSIONS; ON THE WATER FOR 10:00am. SEE D.O.FOR FINISH. CHECK NOTICEBOARDS FOR SPECIAL EVENTS

D.O

ALLTUESDAYS

TUESDAY SESSIONS FROM 6:30 pm, ON THE WATER FOR7.00pm. SEE D.O. FOR FINISH, CHECK NOTICEBOARDS FOR

EVENTS etc. (PUB PADDLE or ALTERNATIVE)D.O

6-7 JUNE RIVER WYE; GLASBURY TO HOLME LACY TOURING LN

13-14 JUNE BCU INTRODUCTORY 1* TRAINING & ASSESSMENT COACHING TT

20-21 JUNE RIVER WYE; HOLME LACY TO MONMOUTH TOURING LN28 JUNE GRAND UNION CANAL, RICKMANSWORTH FLATWATER TT

11-12 JULY IMPROVERS BCU 2* TRAINING 1st

COURSE COACHING TT

26 JULY 1ST

TOUR RIVER THAMES AND OXFORD CANAL FLATWATER TT

8 - 9 AUGUST IMPROVERS BCU 2* TRAINING 2nd

COURSE COACHING TT

09 AUGUST BCU 2* ASSESSMENT (ALSO AVAILABLE ON COACHING TT

16 AUGUST BASINGSTOKE CANAL WINCHFIELD FLATWATER TT

20-23 AUG. SCOTLAND TOUR CLUB TRIP LN

22-23 AUG. BCU INTRODUCTORY 1* TRAINING & ASSESSMENT COACHING TT

SEA TOURING / TRIPS CALENDAR HAS YET TO BE CONFIRMED. ANNOUNCEMENTS WILL BE

MADE ON THE YAHOO GROUP AND THOSE INTERESTED WILL NEED TO FOLLOW THEINSTRUCTIONS THEREIN. NOTE! ALL SEA TRIPS ARE PEER GROUP AS WE HAVE NO SEA

COACHES.

KEEP A LOOKOUT ON NOTICEBOARDS AND THE YAHOO GROUP -SOME TRIPS JUST SUDDENLY 'APPEAR' IF CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT.

EVERYTHURSDAYEVENING

9.00 - 10.30

SWIMMING POOL SESSIONS AT GURNELL POOL, WEST LONDONGET TUITION IN ROLLING, PRACTISE 3* SKILLS OR ANYTHINGYOU'VE GOT A BIT RUSTY ON. SEE WEBSITE FOR MAP AND

DETAILS

ORGANISER / MCC CONTACT FOR ABOVE EVENTS

AC ADRIAN COOPER 01844 344580 [email protected]

AM ANDY MAXTED 07730 852760 [email protected]

TW TOM WESTWATER [email protected]

JN JOHN NORRIS 01494 483833 [email protected]

CP CHRIS PORTEOUS 01628 485049 [email protected]

PC PAUL CRICHTON 08708 806962 [email protected]

TB TERRY BELCHER 01628 851001 [email protected]
http://[email protected]/http://[email protected]/http://[email protected]/http://[email protected]/http://[email protected]/http://[email protected]/


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THE COMMITTEE & OTHER USEFUL NUMBERS

A list of those members who serve on the club's committee, their role, a contact no. and ane-mail address should you need to get in touch.

POSITION NAME TELEPHONE E-MAIL (all hyperlinked)

PRESIDENT TIM WARD 01494 482959 [email protected]

CHAIRMAN ADRIAN COOPER 01844 344580 [email protected]

SECRETARY ANDY MAXTED 07730 852760 [email protected]

TREASURER PAUL CRICHTON 08708 806962 [email protected]

MEMBERSHIP ROD EDMONDS 01753 671389 [email protected]

COACHING TIM TWITCHEN 07833 995289 [email protected]

EQUIPMENT CHRIS PORTEOUS 01628 485049 [email protected]

NEWSLETTER JOHN NORRIS 01494 483833 [email protected]

WOMENS REP. TOR EDWARDS 01494 [email protected]

YOUTH REP. ALEX SHEILL [email protected]

SOCIAL SEC MELINDA LIVETT [email protected]

MARATHON THIS EVENT WILL IN FUTURE BE HOSTED BY LONGRIDGE C.C.

WHITEWATER CHRIS PORTEOUS 01628 485049 [email protected]

TOURING LEE NIVEN 01494 [email protected]

SEA JOHN NORRIS 01494 483833 [email protected]

OUR NEAREST RETAILERS / SUPPLIERS

RIVERSIDE OXFORD 01865 248673 http://www.riversideoxford.co.uk

MARSPORT READING 01189 665912 http://www.marsport.co.uk

BERKSHIRECANOES

READING 01189 425640 http://www.berkshire-canoes.co.uk

WWC SHEPPERTON 01932 247978 http://www.whitewaterthecanoecentre.co.uk

PADDLESPORT WARWICK 01926 640573 http://www.paddlesport.co.uk

Please advise the editor if any contact details are incorrect or if you wish to add an alternative no. / e-mail address to the list.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.riversideoxford.co.uk/http://www.marsport.co.uk/http://www.berkshire-canoes.co.uk/http://www.whitewaterthecanoecentre.co.uk/http://www.paddlesport.co.uk/http://www.paddlesport.co.uk/http://www.whitewaterthecanoecentre.co.uk/http://www.berkshire-canoes.co.uk/http://www.marsport.co.uk/http://www.riversideoxford.co.uk/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

newsletter 124 summer 2009 02

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