After two weeks back in town I'm just getting my fitness back after 3 weeks with no paddling. I've also been working on my Bird / Swan River book using the photos that I took when I did the 14,000km paddle. Paddler Sharon Cobley, working as Moja Creative is laying out the book and hopefully it will be ready for Christmas.

With all the birdlife on the river, no wonder my training is always being interrupted.

• World Masters K2
• PRG Tuesday Night
• Island Sprints Thursday Night
• Albany Kayaking
• 25 Years to the Day - John Muir Trail
• Birds Along The Way
• Coming Events - Details below-
• Team Boat Sprint Regatta
• The Mandurah Cut Run
• Ocean Racing World Championships in Perth

Don't forget the 
Island to Island Marathon
15th Oct at Ascot Kayak Club

Register 2023 Island to Island here:

https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=330908

World Masters Marathon 2023

Tuesday 29th August 2023

When we left for the course this morning Dave and I had no idea how we would go in the double kayak. We had never paddled together before, we have different paddle stroke cadence and I had never paddled a Nelo 7, which is a top class double kayak. We were lucky that our Australian team mates John and Dom who were paddling the race after us kindly allowed us to use their kayak. 

With less than 400 metres of warm up and to get used to paddling together, the Master's World Champs were at our feet.

Dave chose the back seat so I had the responsibility of driving, which I usually like, but with Dave being more experienced at top level I thought he might want to take the reigns.

I didn't have to change anything, the seat and foot pedals were just right for me. We paddled away from the pontoon wondering how we were going to be and unbelievably we didn’t seem to have any serious jitters, so things were looking good. With no lean, no problems with stability we felt quite comfortable so after a couple of circles in the warm up area we were ready to go. 

Today we only had 17 in our 65-69 class to beat. I had to go down to Dave’s age group. There were another 7 boats in the 70 + class which meant we had 25 double kayaks on the line.

When the barrier dropped we took off like a couple of professionals, well that’s how it felt like to me, then after a few hundred metres a black double crossed our bow and cut us off, then we hit some wash and I think we were a bit out of sync for a while. 

We soon became smooth and caught up and passed several kayaks and then we settled in and were fighting a couple of crews most of the way. We were going great guns and paddling well, although occasionally Dave did say ‘slow down’. At first I thought he was talking to our opposition, but he was actually telling me to slow my cadence.

 In the end we were up with an Austrian team who we had been yo-yo-ing with all the way. At the last turn they had the inside line, but we managed to keep with them and when they had a slight stumble we went for it and clearly beat them across the line and into 7th place out of 17. We were quite pleased with the result considering we were both sniffling, coughing and still feeling a little under the weather. At least tomorrow we can take some cold tablets to help us recover quicker.

We were duelling with a couple of teams most of the way. 

When you are up against past world champions it does make it hard to get on the podium. Maybe next year!!

Thinking about taking part in the 
Marathon Championships.

2024 Paddle Australia Canoe Marathon Championships
Encounter Lake in South Australia 
from 5 – 8 April 2024

2024 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships
Metkovi, Croatia, 16 - 22 September 2024

2025 Paddle Australia Canoe Marathon Championships

Perth, West Australia
 

2025 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships, 
Gyor, Hungary

Commentator at the Championships Ivan Lawler, right, entered the K2 masters but only managed one lap. I'm not sure what happened. I dare not ask.

The following day after our races had finished Dave got stuck into 3 cakes.

He earnt them so he said!

Visiting the town of Vejle.

Progressive Racing Group

Tuesday Nights

for beginner and intermediate paddlers

Julie MacDonald & Anita Haarmann flying.

Sharon, Steph, Kate & Izzy giving the K4 a testing.

Peter Martin putting in the kms.

Thursday Evening Island Sprints

for the more racey paddlers

The slower group take off first.

The faster group give chase.

Albany Kayaking

Photos Chris Fry

25 Years to the Day

6^th October 1998

The John Muir Trail

I arrived at the Yosemite National Park by cycle. I had been in the desert areas for the last few weeks, passing through places like the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley where it had been around 30-40 degrees celcius, but crossing the mountains into Yosemite it was snowing. This was part of my 8 month Walk, Cycle and Paddle around, and up & down of the USA. 

Now I was about to backpack the 350 kms John Muir Trail that passes through Sierra Nevada Mountains which has the finest mountain scenery in the United States. This is a land of 13,000 - 14,500-foot mountain peaks, lakes in the thousands, canyons, waterfalls and granite cliffs. 

The trail starts in Yosemite Valley and finishes at Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the 48 conterminous U.S. states.

If you haven't been to the Yosemite National Park you must go.

It's amazing. Best out of school holiday times.

The scenery is magical.

A bit of a drop.

There were some challenging climbs.

The weather was glorious and all the students had gone back to school or college so I had the track virtually to myself.

Lambert Dome. I camped nearby. 

The moon appeared at 7.30pm and as it rose, it shone directly on the tree tops creating such a bright light that the trees looked snow-laden. It seemed like Christmas had come early. The moon was full and it virtually turned the night into day. The sky was completely clear as I sat on the rock watching the moon come over the hill, and the aircraft vapour trails, the aircraft flashing lights and thousands of twinkling stars that were starting to appear. 
The air was crisp, in fact distinctly chilly, and yet it was one of those perfect nights. The water cascaded along the river in front of me skirting around rocks and falling over ledges. Although it was not canoe-able, I sat beside it listening, thinking and imagining that it was much bigger and that I was in my kayak forging my way through the rapids.

Apart from the cascades the evening was otherwise still. Lambert Dome which was right in front of me formed a spectacular backdrop. All I needed now was a little company and a bottle of port. Instead I sat in solitude and though company would have been nice, I savoured the moment and watched a deer graze on the other side of the river. As the night drew on and with a sense of deep contentedness I continued to reflect on my incredible journey.

I left my wild and serene spot by the river for a moment to put my food away. I had forgotten about the raccoons and bears that may strike if I was away from my food stores too long. I returned to a place by the river and found a large boulder formed much like a chair. I sat on it and looked on. The cold chill was kept at bay by the warm down jacket that I wore. Spruce trees standing erect like arrows were becoming more visible as the moonlight brightened. The water swirled in front of me and on the other side of the river, upright boulders looked like people. I had my own little amphitheatre and beyond it the high rock dome. I reflected back to the time when two guys at the Yosemite camp told me that they climbed Half Dome on full moon. What a great idea! It would be absolutely beautiful to do it tonight, but my chance was lost as I was too far away.

6th October 1998

25 Years to the Day

It had been cold in the night, my water bottle was frozen and so was my hanky that I had washed and left out to dry overnight. It was so stiff, like a piece of cardboard and I could have thrown it like a frisbee. I took my food from the bear-proof locker nearby and slammed it shut knowing it was the last time on my hike that I would use this safe system. Yosemite N/P has had its share of bear problems mainly due to people leaving food in their cars and the bears smashing their way in to get it. The car usually comes off the worst!

Yosemite National Park is home to 300 – 500 American black bears. Apparently though, very few are black, they’re more likely to be found in a variety of colors ranging from black to brown, blond, or cinnamon.

Black bears are omnivores and will eat almost anything. They spend most of their days foraging for grasses, seeds, berries, acorns, and insects and occasionally feed on carrion. Bears tear open rotten logs or old stumps in search of insect larvae. Unfortunately, many Yosemite bears have also perfected the skill of obtaining food from humans.

I left the Tuolumne Meadows deserted campground and moved on along the trail of the Lyell Canyon meadows and followed the Lyell River, the waterway that kept me spellbound the previous night. Between a number of wooded areas, small grass meadows appeared next to the meandering river. Deer grazed and further up the valley where the meadow became wider, a lone coyote trotted beside the river. It moved along with confidence and seemed to have little to worry about. I stopped and waited for it to come closer. The coyote trotted on, it hadn’t sensed my presence. My pack lay heavy on my shoulders, as I stood motionless like an old tree stump. It continued to follow the meandering river, and then suddenly it stopped, raised its nose and sniffed. It looked very relaxed and poised, but it still hadn’t smelt me, probably due to the wind blowing down the valley. By the time the coyote drew level with me, it was less than 100 metres away. It paused again, looked all around and then trotted off disappearing behind a line of rocks. I lost sight of it and after a few minutes I walked on following a fairly flat trail. What a magical moment. You can see it on the telly, but there is nothing like seeing it in real life. I was stoked!

As I continued on there were large numbers of Prairie dogs scrambling about in the small meadows. They kept me amused as they darted in and out of their holes. As I moved on, the river came closer to the trail. I stopped and relaxed and watched ripples and swirls create and fade away and small pebbly races form tiny rapids. I watched, studied and daydreamed.

I moved on again to find that grit had got into my socks and was creating friction under my big toe. I stopped on a rock platform to tend to it. The sun was hot, so I took off my shirt and pants to dry off the sweat.

All my drinking water was purified.

I walked on and met Ollie Oliver, a hiker who was from Somerset in England. He had been enquiring about the John Muir Trail at the wilderness information office in Yosemite at the same time as me. He had just come from walking around the Yukon area in Alaska. He said that the people in the office knew very little about the trail, which I had to agree with. Most of the people that worked in the park over the summer period were students and hadn’t walked out of Yosemite Valley. With 99% of the people asking for information about the Yosemite Valley, they probably didn’t need to know that much. We were two of very few people that were actually walking more than two days at a time. Ollie had taken a bus to Mammoth Lakes and was walking from Mammoth back to Yosemite Valley.

Chipmunks scurried from tree to tree as I pushed higher towards the pass. The meadows were becoming smaller and often disappeared for some time. However small the meadows were, the little patches of grass were still popular with Mule deer, which grazed happily.

My easy day walk began to change as the track steepened up a mountainside. Trees closed in and the climb increased my heart rate and as I followed a winding but beautifully paved cobblestone path, a recent landslide had demolished a wide line of trees down the mountain. There were now steps on the trail which had once been built by prisoners but now they are built by volunteers. The steps had been built at the perfect height for climbing, which I must admit reduced the strain on my legs.

I turned to see the scenic valley, which was flanked on both sides by mountain ranges, disappear behind me. It was sad to see it vanish as I crossed a small footbridge over a stream. I paused to watch four chipmunks chase each other up the trees as well as gaze at the snow-covered mountain range before me. Further on, after a steep climb I found another small meadow just below the mountain range. There, two young deer were frolicking with mum. At a distance they had no fear of me being there, but they decided to flee when I was about 30 metres away. This hidden meadow was almost water logged and the overflowing stream running through it slipped over a rocky mountain side.

The track’s vertical ascent not only had me slowing down, it also had me labouring for breath. I paused at a small stream to filter a litre of water, just enough to get me over the range. The track was soon covered with snow making it difficult to follow, but the higher I climbed the finer was the view of the other snow-clad mountains in the distance. I passed a small lake prior to my final assault to the top. The warmth of the sun diminished as it slowly descended behind the mountains giving fuel to the already cold wind that swept up the valley. My body soon felt the force of that cold wind, so much so, that I needed to increase my layers of clothing to three.

By 5.15pm I was out of Lyell Canyon and I had conquered the 11,050 ft Donohue Pass. I now had a completely new view of the mountain ranges and valleys of my southern route. As far as my eye could see there were mountains, lakes and open wilderness. With the light fading quickly, the cold rapidly moving in and no suitable camping sites close by, I felt a sudden sense of apprehension and loneliness. I paused to view a razor sharp peak that lay in the far distance, and below me beyond a watery valley, I could make out an area with scattered trees and big boulders with small grassed patches between them. It looked promising like paradise compared with the rocky steep and uneven surroundings at the top of the pass. I descended into this new found world in search of a lower campsite.

There was a little light when I arrived as the sun was still filtering through the patchy northern clouds. Before me however, in the southern sky the clouds were layered and formed in such an amazing fashion. Red was blazing and bleeding in horizontal streaks. I looked around in all directions and the views were awe-inspiring and breathtaking, and I was so moved by the beauty before me that I could have cried.

Now that I had a place to camp and an amazing view my mood completely changed as I was now neither apprehensive nor lonely. A stream snaked down the valley around the boulders and trees. I hurried to find the perfect piece of turf to set up my tent and to take some hopefully stunning photographs of the incredible scene surrounding me.

This was me 2nd night on my 16 day hike and although I thought this was the most beautiful place to camp I had several later that were better.

As I sat on a rock shelf I was entertaining the thought, that this was probably one of the most beautiful places that I had ever camped. Then I heard a rattle of pots a few hundred metres down the valley. I investigated and found Charlie and Tim who were doing a circuit walk and heading to the Banner Peak in the Mt Ritter region. These were the two peaks that we could see prominently in the distance. I chatted for a while and returned to cook my tea. Before retiring I placed my food drum behind boulders away from the tent and put my toothpaste and other food in a bag and hoisted it up a stunted tree.

The evening was cold but my down jacket kept me snug. At 8.05pm a near full moon rose from behind a mountain lighting up the area and enabling me to continue to view the beautiful surroundings in a subdued light. It was still bright enough to walk, and later I strolled down the track absorbing every bit of the wilderness. Although a little tired from my 26 km trek, it was difficult to drag myself to bed.

After the hike I had a few thousand kilometres to cycle to complete my 16,000 km solo walk, cycle and paddle around the USA.

Birds Along The Way

Keep a look out for the Sacred Kingfisher. There are usually a pair about every 500-600 metres along the river upstream of Tonkin Highway Bridge.

These Little Corella's were having a great feed this morning.

************************

Willy Wagtail are now feeding their young.

Willy Wagtails have a very small nest and always hidden in the branches of the trees. I have seen 3 babies crammed inside a nest.

It's not often you see 18 ducklings in a litter survive to this age. 

Even the geese have produced 3 babies.

Welcome to 2023 Marathon #1 
Island to Island 15th Oct

Register 2023 Island to Island here:

https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=330908

Note for insurance purposes, you need to enter your Paddle Australia number with PA in front, if your Paddle Australia is less than 6 numbers, add PA & 00 [zeros] to make 6. If you have any difficulty entering, email marathonwa@gmail.com or text/call 0417938596 [it will get sorted]

Rego closes midnight Thur 20th. No entries on day. Full season payment available at first two regos. 

Order your end-of-race $6 burger from Swan Café here

Team boat paddlers pls all register individually

Full Course: START: 350m upstream of Ascot Jetty Downs to right of Ron Courtney Island Under Tonkin Bridge (1.4 km) & Garratt Rd Bridge (3.4 km) Past Maylands boat yards Turn anti-clockwise rnd Red Spit Post into Ascot Waters Thru Ascot Waters, exit right Back under Garratt Rd Bridge (8.5 km) & Tonkin Bridge (10.5 km) 1.2 km to finish at AKC Jetty, right of Island on way back

Short Course: START: 350m upstream of Ascot Jetty Paddle down to right of Ron Courtney Island Before Garret Rd Bridge, turn around red Spit Post off Bayswater Paddlesports Jetty Finish at AKC Jetty, right of Island on way back

Guppy Course: START: 350m upstream of Ascot Jetty Downs to large orange buoy before Tonkin Bridge Return to AKC jetty Turn through the finish line Paddle downstream to the right of Ron Courtney Island U10: Paddle around the Island and return to the AKC Finish Line at AKC Jetty. – 3.2 km U12 & Novices: Continue downstream to large orange buoy before Tonkin Bridge. Return upstream to the Finish Line at AKC Jetty. – 4.4 km

Hazards: Boat Traffic: Rowers, Ferries, Pleasure boaters Ascot Waters: Very low bridges

Paddler Preparation: Make sure boat has an number holder or bring $15.00 to buy one - Drink plenty of water - Put sunblock

Race Day Schedule:

Check-in     7.30am to 8.00am

Briefing       8.15am

Start            8.30am [or as soon as possible after briefing]

The Mandurah Cut Run 

Saturday, November 11, 2023

The recently formed Mandurah Ski & Kayak Club (MSKC) is holding its inaugural race on the same course as the Mandurah Duel race was held in previous years. 

Ensure you get your unique The Mandurah Cut Run cap by entering now!

The race is part of the Australian Ocean Racing Series (AORS) 2023, promoted and organised by Oceanpaddler. We are proud to be associated with Dean Gardiner and his team and look forward to having them back in Mandurah once again.

The Mandurah Cut Run has a 1 Star rating in the AORS Series so there's up to 1,000 points on offer. 

The 12.5km course is well known to paddlers, being a fast downwind race that starts at the Dawesville Cut, follows the coast north to Halls Head and finishes at Doddis Beach in front of MSKC.

This exciting race is the perfect warm up for both The Doctor and the ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships off Perth.

We moved the event to a Saturday to enable competitors and their friends and family to come and spend the weekend in this special part of the world.

Race categories are the same as for AORS events such as The Doctor.

Early bird pricing ends October 11 at 23:59.

Timing:

10:00 - 12:00        Registration

12:00                    Safety briefing

13:48                    First wave starts

14:00                    Final wave starts

To all our sponsors and in particular the City of Mandurah, we thank you for your support and encouragement - we couldn’t have this event without you. 

Go here to enrol:

The Mandurah Cut Run 2023 | Event registration | Webscorer

Paddle Australia is excited to be staging the 2023 ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships in Perth, Western Australia; home to some of the best conditions for Ocean Racing in the World. Race Window 30 Nov - 3 Dec. https://2023icfoceanracingworldchamps.org.au/

FOR SALE

Epic V8 Pro Ultra

• 12.3kg
• 1 Owner
• Excellent condition
• Limited use
• Stored at AKC since new
• Epic Club Carbon paddle included
• $3800 ono (kayak + paddle circa $5500 new)

Contact Trudy on 0413 563323

FOR SALE

Epic V8 Performance

• 15.5kg
• 1 Owner
• Excellent condition
• Limited use
• Stored at AKC since new
• Epic Club Carbon paddle included
• $3000 ono (kayak + paddle circa $4400 new)

Contact Trudy on 0413 563323