Having just returned from the World Champs in Denmark and a visit to England to see family and friends I’m just trying to catch up with my fitness and other things that I haven’t done for the last 4 weeks. I can’t believe how stiff I feel with just having 3 weeks off without paddling. I have been taking baby steps on the water and not over-doing it to rid of my stiffness. But it's good to be back on the water even if I am heavier and a little slower.

Don't forget next weeks race, the 2023 Classic Paddle.

• Geoff Mullins
• World Masters Championships
• Jess Fox Does It Again
• Who's Out There
• 17 Years to the Day - 29th Sept 2006 - Missouri River
• Birds Along The Way
• Coming Events

I don’t know if anyone had noticed that they haven’t been getting a newsletter, but Geoff Mullins did. He is an avid reader when he’s not paddling.

 World Marathon Canoe/Kayak Masters Champs.

Lake Jels, Denmark.

Dave Berglund and I took the same flight to Copenhagen, rented a car and a airbnb and did a little sight seeing while we were there. After Dave had done his two races he flew home and I camped at the campground next to the paddle race course to watch all the other Australians race before heading to England for two weeks to see family and friends.

After having a steak meal which cost over $60.00 we decided pasta was the way to go.

Everything was expensive in Denmark.

$600.00 to rent a kayak for 3 days but much cheaper than sending our own.

Most of the Masters Marathon Team.

Photo Carolyn Cooper

Flags were flying in Jels village.

Saturday 26th August.

After arriving in Denmark at Copenhagen we spent a couple of days there before driving to Kolding where our Airbnb was. The following day we were able to go to the course after lunch to get our rental kayaks and have a practise. 

Dave was still under the weather and my sore throat was going away but we had a Covid test just in case and we were clear. Before we left Australia we had to do two on-line drugs awareness courses so we were being careful not to take something that might be banned.

When we eventually found the guys at Nelo Rental I was given my kayak. I had been training in a tippier kayak than my own in Perth before hand as I was told my rental was going to be similar, but it turned out being wider and more stable. 
The Nelo guy told Dave his boat would be arriving late Sunday night and the night before his race day. As you can imagine Dave wasn’t impressed so he just waited around the Nelo compound until he finally got one.

On the lake I was finding the kayak was very stable but it was difficult to get it passed 10.5kms and I needed to get it above 11kms an hour to do any good. Although the kayak felt slower than my own, it was very comfortable. 

Dave who was feeling much better than yesterday managed to have a paddle and he said he kayak felt good. 

As we left, the organisers were still setting things up. The lake is in a very rural area, and there were even cows at the town end of the course. I heard them cheering for me on race day!

The opening ceremony. 

The opening ceremony.

Vikings on horseback give us a bit of a show.

Monday 28th August.

Well the day came. Dave’s race started first with 38 paddlers in his class and I took off a few minutes later and I only had 30 strapping 70 year olds in my class, and at least four were past world champions. I must admit I didn’t expect to be up against 30, 70 year olds when I signed on, but we were in the middle of Europe.  

We lined up against a boom gate which lowered quickly underwater and were just great for a fair start. No one could take off early. When the hooter went several of the fast guys took off and I had no chance in keeping up with them, but within 500 metres I was able to catch and pass some of the others in front of me. Unfortunately I could feel the kayak didn’t have the same top speed as my own kayak at home making it harder to keep up and wash ride others paddlers. 

Fortunately the lake was fairly calm so I had no problems and I managed to have a tussle with a few paddlers. Anyway I came 11th but I really need to get 3 or 4 minutes quicker for the next year's champs to have any chance of getting on the podium. 

Dave was 6^th, but if he could have paddled 20 seconds faster he would have been on the podium. 

Brett Greenwood was unlucky in his race as he was paddling to the finish line first, but within 10 metres of it he cramped up and was just beaten over the line. So things do happen to the best of us! 

This is not my race but if you add another 2-3 paddlers to the group, that's how many 70 year olds in my race.

I'm off.

Photo Carolyn Cooper

The cows were cheering me on - Go Terry

 Chasing.

Photo Carolyn Cooper

Just beating Ebbe Moller from Denmark to the line.

I came 11th in the 70-74 class. 30 competitors.

Results here:

Memosoft Spotfokus |

World Champion Brian Greenham.

He always wins.

Photo Carolyn Cooper

World Champs in China. Brian Greenham 1st, Vladimir Koz 2nd, me 3rd.

Photo Julie MacDonald.

Other athletes taking part in the marathon champs were so blown away that so many of us come all the way from Australia to compete. They realise how far it is and what cost we have to pay.

Dave Berglund came 6th in the 65-69 class. 38 competitors.

Photo Carolyn Cooper

As I was leaving for the airport on a shuttle bus I met a young paddler from New Zealand who was also headed home. I asked him how he went and he said he capsized at the start of his race and never finished. He however wasn’t upset about that, but really excited with the championships, his experiences, the making of new friends and all the things he had learnt. Although he failed to finish and he probably spent a lot of money getting and being there, he was so positive and excited to get back to New Zealand to start training again. He could have upset and labelled himself as a failure but instead he was as motivated as ever with his experience which was so great to see.

You can never predict what is going to happen in a World Championship race, our team had a capsize, had leaking boats, and one paddler got cramp just metres before the finish line and missed out on a gold medal. 

Are We Really Trying to Encourage Our Athletes.

At the last Australian Champs our junior ladies double team had a tussle on a turn with another pair which unfortunately resulted in a capsize. At the end of the race they came second, but were 23 seconds over the required time for selection. The girls put in a protest because they dearly wanted to be selected for the world championships, but unfortunately they weren’t picked, so only one team went. 

Considering what happened I would have thought that the selectors would have looked at the circumstances, the unfortunate capsize and the time it took them to get back in and allowed them to go and represent Australia. It’s not that Paddle Australia bears any cost as all Marathon Paddlers pay their own way and are not given any support.

I just can’t understand why we are not encouraging young paddlers to get the experience and stay motivated to carry on through the senior ranks. I know their is a selection policy and I might be missing something but surely there is some lee-way and consideration in the selection policy!   

Lake Jels from the plane. It just happened to fly over it on my way to England.

Jess Fox

10th Individual World Title

Who's Out There

I'm sure you have heard about Laural & Hardy or the two Ronnies well these jokers are called Mark Proud & Keith Ben. They should have been comedians because you always get a good laugh when you talk to them.

Steve Cartwright & Glen Stewart on a mission.

Brad Stewart.

Three paddlers from Ascot on a social paddle.

17 Years to the Day.

Day 47 on the 4000km Missouri River Expedition, USA

29^th September 2006

The Missouri River is the longest river in the USA. 4000kms

It has some impressive country.

Beautiful cliffs on the first part of the Missouri River.

Today - On the lower section of the Missouri River----

A kingfisher with a crown was darting in and out of bushes and a big flock of birds, which I recognised as starlings were shooting across the sky like on a raiding party. Starlings are a bit of a pest as they tend to eat lots of farmers grain and although they are not native to Australia, Starlings have managed to colonise Eastern Australia. They probably managed to stow away in boats arriving from England. The good thing is that they are not found in Western Australia because of the desert between east and west and because Western Australia has a strict quarantine and eradication program to ensure they don’t enter WA. 

At the 721.9 mile mark I passed a big power plant, then another power plant a little further. A father and small son were fishing from one of the wing dams, and as I have seen very few people on the river they became an interesting distraction. A grey crane kept flying forward in front of me and continually landing and then when I got closer it flew in front again. Soon after I passed a sign saying ‘Public Hunting’ which I was quite amused about because it was next to another sign saying, ‘State Conversation Commission.’ Somehow they didn’t really go together.

By nightfall I came to the Huff Access boat ramp which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere and when I pulled up at the boat ramp a married couple, Amy Anne Marie and Clint were fishing. I unloaded as Amy caught a fish, but as it wriggled and dangled on the end of the line she shouted for Clint to take it off the hook. 
I carried my gear up to a nice high grassy picnic area that overlooked the river. As I walked back for more gear, Clint gave me a beer and then another beer as I returned for my boat. Amy caught another fish so she called for Clint’s help again. She said she loved fishing, but she wouldn’t take the fish off the hook. Clint’s dad arrived, his 4 dogs jumped out the back of his vehicle and started running around. He said he was born and bred around here and he had lived here all his life and he had no intentions in leaving.

I erected my tent watching a beautiful sunset which red rays were streaming through some billowing clouds. The moon was shining brightly and deer were walking through the shallows near the ramp. As I cooked my evening meal on the bench, the night started to get chilly, but I sat there for the next 45 minutes just watching the moon and the stars cross the night sky and listening to the beaver coast up and down the river slapping the water with its tail.

Amy Anne Marie and Clint were fishing.

They handed me a couple of beers.

The next morning they brought me breakfast.

It was a beautiful campsite.

Friday 29th September. Day 47. 17 Years to the Day.

I had put an extra jumper on in the night to keep warm, but it was clinging with tiny feathers from my sleeping bag when I got up at 6.00am. My tent was dry, which I always liked and it was a pleasant morning although slightly cloudy. I started sorting a few things out at the table when Clint suddenly drove up in a cloud of dust, raced down towards me and handed me two paper plates sandwiched together with toast, two eggs, and 4 sausages and crispy bacon between them. “Sorry I can’t stop, I have to get to work. Have a great trip,” he said as he ran back to his car and took off. I was a little shell shocked as he drove away. I opened the paper plates and checked out my breakfast feast. How considerate of him to bring me breakfast I thought. He went out of his way to show hospitality and make me feel good. I was quite moved.

I sat down at the table and started tucking into my breakfast that was perfect and just to my liking. The eggs were runny, the bacon crisp and the sausages were very tasty and the toast was something special spread with the jam I had with me. It was one of the best breakfasts I had on my journey.

Clint’s thoughtful gesture had me all hyped up about the day and I couldn’t wait to meet more nice people along the way. I will remember that breakfast as long as I live.

I had seen several splashes in the water near the bank the previous day and this morning I found out what they were. I started to see turtles on rocks and when I got near they would slide off their rock and into the water and make a splash. Mystery solved, I thought. On the inside of every bend there were still wing dams poking out into the river with eddies behind them. Wing dams are rock groynes that extend out into the river and divert the water towards the centre to keep the channel deep and from silting up.

I stopped briefly at Pelican Ramp, which had got its name because Lewis and Clarke had seen hundreds of pelicans nearby. It had a nice camp ground.

A couple of small waterways came in from the left around the next left hand corner near the Three Rivers Wildlife area. Squirrels were scampering about along the shores on my way to Remington Ramp which was very basic with no bins or a toilet. I ate a tin of sardines and had a stick of jerky at the top of the bank in the car park. An information sign, said that Lewis and Clark experienced a violent rainstorm here. At that moment a big wind unexpectedly developed and I immediately became concerned about my kayak and paddle being blown into the river. I hadn’t pulled it completely out of the water. When I ran back to it, I was relieved when I saw it still there.

A few hundred yards downstream on the right, where a channel came in, there was a big house with a man fishing nearby and a crane backhoe unloading rocks and reinforcing the banks. As there was little barge traffic using the river nowadays it seemed a big waste of money to spend so much time on the banks. I passed more boat ramps and just after 1.00pm I came across the Cottonwood Marina, so I did a quick paddle inside it, but it was dead, with no one around so I didn’t think it worth getting out of my boat. Soon after the Blair bridges came in sight and when I stopped at a ramp a man asked me if I wanted any thing from the shops. I thanked him and said no. Further, there was industry and an awful smell and water being pumped into the river.
All along the river there were oxbows that were now cut off from the main river, they were once part of the river before the river was formed into a channel around the year 1945. It was strange because the state boundaries followed these old oxbows and the old river path, so I kept crossing the Nebraska and Iowa state boundaries all the time.

I passed Wilson Inlet campgrounds, which looked a beautiful place to camp if it was the right time of day. Just beyond it, dust was being blown up into the air and when I came along side it was a rock crushing site with loaders and machines working away. One side of the river was picture perfect, the other side was quarry. A lonely pelican stood on the river bank. It didn’t move and for a moment I thought it was an ornament. Swallows were swooping and skirting the river surface and feeding on insects. Downstream I came across a narrow channel, the Boyer Chute, a 3 mile long channel and if I had taken it, it would have been a short cut, but it had a big sign saying ‘no boats allowed.’ Apparently it had snags and rapids on it so not wanting to ruin my day I continued on around Boyer Bend.

Once back on the straight river I saw two jet skis speeding my way and for a moment I thought they were going to ride straight into me, but at the last seconds the riders cut their engines. Bloody hoons I thought. They stopped only metres away and to my surprised I was confronted by two women, Terri and Cindy. They stopped and talked and then told me to stop at their place, which they said was up on the right a mile or so downstream. They then took off again in full flight.

I was excited at the thought of stopping and talking to people. I even might get asked to stay the night. I soon reached their place which was a row of houses and RVs on the right side of the river. As I pulled in two men, as well as Terri and Cindy greeted me. They invited me on board their motor boat where they were drinking the afternoon away and gave me a beer, and an Arby’s roast beef roll. One man had lived in Perth 20 years ago and the other had been in the US Air Force and hated Bill Clinton for screwing in the oval office and getting away with it. He was very patriotic and very proud to have been in the services. I spent the next 20 minutes talking and when I realised they weren’t going to ask me to stay the night I decided to move on to find a camp, as it was getting dark. I left with an apple pie, 2 savoury rolls and a big packet of sweet popcorn.

About 6.00pm I found a good spot to camp, so instead of going further to Dodge Park 1½ miles away I decided to stop, and camp alone. With all the food I had eaten and was given, I didn’t need to cook an evening meal which I was quite pleased about. The sweet popcorn was absolutely delicious but I tried to save some for another night but it was difficult. I rang the shop and the Grand AFL Final was going to be played between the Perth Eagles and Sydney Swans. My mobile phone (cell) worked, which was a surprise as it hadn’t worked much before.

When I looked up into the sky and into the dark clouds I could see the reflection of the lights of Omaha City. There was a deer or something in the water, I couldn’t see it in the dark but whatever it was, it was big.

Birds Along The Way

The Sacred Kingfishers are back from their holiday up north.

See if you can spot one. 

If you can't see them you will here them.

Their call here:

Bing Videos

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=sacred+kingfisher+australia+sound&mid=7AA524ECC7C1FF26C7257AA524ECC7C1FF26C725

Learn about them here:

Bing Videos

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=sacred+kingfisher+australia+sound&mid=2A9AAEF53EC45C2CC4BF2A9AAEF53EC45C2CC4BF

A coot gathering.

This I think is a Sparrow Hawk on my sister's shed in England.

Since the UK has had Bird Flu a lot of the birds have died.

2023 Classic Paddle

Sunday 8 October 2023 | check-in 7.00am 
Get your registrations in now!

Registrations close Thursday 5 October 2023.

2023 LiveLighter Classic Paddle | Event registration | Webscorer

https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=327081&fbclid=IwAR0IgC573bokzVhSBEtJe6Hr5QchmgNVcpEWhZo8CvNPPOSAG-hZrVqj01w