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For those people getting this newsletter on their phone or ipad, remember to click View Entire Message to make sure you get to see the entire newsletter. Because of
Australia Day you are getting the newsletter a day early.
Tuesday was a big day. We walked Nikki, had a kayak training session, talked to some old guys at the club, had my hair cut, posted a few bird books, took Nikki to the vet, had an appointment with the doc, paddled my SUP, organised the Progressive Racing Group handicap race, but most importantly I started Hormone Therapy for my
Prostate Cancer. As most of you know I had my prostate out in 2018. 3 years later my PSA levels (prostate specific antigen) started to rise indicating that I still have some cancer cells somewhere in my body. I then had another scan and nothing showed up but my PSA levels were still rising. Several months later I had another scan, but still nothing
showed up, but my PSA level kept rising, which it shouldn’t. So early last year the doc suggested that the most likely place for the cancer to be would be in my prostate bed, so in June/July I had 33 sessions of radiation. The radiation didn’t seem to affect my energy levels or training, (although it was a good excuse if I lost a race,) so I competed in the World Canoe
Marathon Championships in Demark and many other races. Since then I have had more blood tests which indicated that my PSA levels were still on the rise, so it appears the radiation treatment that I had, had not worked and it was most likely that the cancer wasn’t in my prostate bed like they thought. So with two more different scans before and after Christmas there is a suggestion that I might have a cancerous lymph node. With my PSA level still going up, and it shouldn’t be, my doc has advised me that the best treatment at this point is to have Hormone Therapy and Radiation. The hormone therapy will go on for six months, but the side effects will last a year. So this next year might not be all plain sailing and it even might test of my resolve, and change some of my ambitious plans, but I am confident that I will get through it and be better off for it in the long run. I could have delayed treatment and waited longer, but I feel I’m in the best shape mentally and physically to
take on this next challenge and I believe that at the moment I have the best chance to get through it with a minimum of distress. So I'm ready - so lets go.
Have you bought my Bird Book yet? The book highlights the natural beauty, diversity and bird life of the middle reaches of the Swan River.
If for some reason you find me grumpy in the next year, I haven't thrown any banter towards you, I have said nice things about you, or I get beaten by paddlers who don't usually beat me - this could be the reason... The side effects of hormone therapy are caused by lowered testosterone levels.
Why does hormone therapy cause side effects? Testosterone plays an important role in the
physical make up of men’s bodies.
If testosterone is taken away or blocked by hormone therapy, prostate cancer cells will usually shrink, wherever they are in the body. But reducing or blocking testosterone can cause other things to change in your body too. Some of the side
effects are:- Hot flushes - Hot flushes are a common side effect of hormone therapy and can affect men on LHRH agonists or anti-androgens. (LHRH agonists are drugs that lower the amount of testosterone.) Up to eight out of ten men on LHRH agonists (80 per cent) get hot
flushes.
Extreme tiredness (fatigue) - Hormone therapy for prostate cancer can cause extreme tiredness. For some men this can affect their everyday life. Fatigue can affect your energy levels, your motivation and your emotions.
Weight gain - Some men put on weight while they are on
hormone therapy, particularly around the waist. You may find that you start to put on weight soon after starting hormone therapy.
Strength and muscle loss - Testosterone plays an important role in the physical make up of men’s bodies. Compared with women, men usually have more muscle and less body fat. Hormone therapy can cause a decrease in muscle tissue and an increase
in body fat. Breast swelling and tenderness - Hormone therapy may cause swelling and tenderness in the chest area. This is caused when levels of oestrogen and testosterone change because of hormone therapy. Bone
thinning- Testosterone helps to keep bones strong. Long-term hormone therapy may cause your bones to gradually lose their bulk. Changes to your memory and concentration - If you’re having hormone therapy you may find it difficult to concentrate or focus on certain tasks. Some men also say they struggle to remember things as well as they did before having hormone
therapy. Risk of other health problems - Evidence suggests that having hormone therapy might increase the chance of developing heart disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes. There is also some research that suggests having hormone therapy can increase your risk of getting blood clots and anaemia. But more research is needed to help us understand the links
between these conditions. Loss of body hair - Some men lose their body hair while they are on hormone therapy. This is because testosterone plays a role in hair growth. Having hormone therapy affects your sex life in different
ways. How might hormone therapy make me feel? Hormone therapy itself can affect your mood. You may find that you feel more emotional than usual or just ‘different’ to how you felt before. Some men find that they cry a lot.
You may also get mood swings, such as getting tearful and then angry. Just knowing that these feelings are caused by hormone therapy can help.
Everyone’s different – some men are surprised by the side effects and how upsetting they find them. Others have fewer symptoms or are not as worried by them.
Side effects will usually last
for as long as you are on hormone therapy. If you stop your hormone therapy, your testosterone levels will gradually rise again and some side effects will reduce. Your side effects won’t stop as soon as you finish hormone therapy – it may take several months.
- 2024 Oceanic Canoe Slalom Championships
- Paddling around the Buoys
- Masters Sprint Training & WA Sprint
Champs
- Mandurah Canals Race
- 33 Years to the Day - Murray River Rapids (Victoria)
- Coming Events -
- WA Sprint Champs - 3rd & 4th Feb
- Pinjarra to Ravenswood Race - 11th Feb
- City Lights Race - 24th Feb
White Water in Perth? We really need a white water course in Perth, not just to help our local up-coming white water paddlers to get to a World Championship or an
Olympics but also to hold on to our best paddlers here in Perth and to help new paddlers and Avon Descent competitors to develop skills. A white water park will also create a fun activity for locals, visitors to our state and be a great training venue. It would mean that every person who uses it, be it on a kayak, a canoe, a surf ski, a SUP or a raft will have the opportunity to develop skills, but most importantly have fun in the sun in WA.
West Australian athletes preparing for the
2024 Oceania Canoe Slalom Championships. West Australia has always had slalom paddlers representing Australia in World Championships. You can understand that when we had the amazing Harvey White Water course we had some very good slalom paddlers, but for the last 30 years our slalom paddlers have only had flat water to train on for 10 months of the year. In winter there is the Walyunga Slalom course but compared with international venues, Walyunga is very tame. We still have some top slalom paddlers, but for a slalom paddler to reach their potential now they have to move to Penrith and leave their family behind. With them goes a lot of experience, coaches, paddlers that inspire other juniors and most of all they marry locals girls and never return to WA. WA
is a rich state, we are an isolated state and to benefit our future paddlers we certainly need a white water course that has been on the cards for 30 years. Before we can even consider getting a white water course though we must first find $50.000 to cover a business case. Without a business case nothing will happen. Up to now only $8,028.00 has been raised over the last
two years so if we don't crank up the promotion of the white water course, it will never happen. An artificial white water course create rapids, plus diverse, exciting add-on activities. Such a facility will offer immense community and economic benefits
for the local Perth and wider West Australian communities and will be a key tourist attraction for the State. Go here if you can help or want to donate. Perth White Water Centre - Business Case | Australian Sports Foundation (asf.org.au) Paddle Australia Penrith
Whitewater
2024 Oceania Canoe Slalom Championships
Ben Pope, George Pankhurst, Brody Crawford, Steven Lowther and last weeks Paddler of the Week, Hunter Florisson will be taking part in the championships. These are dedicated athletes that have been training to be the best for many years, moved away from their family and friends and virtually put their life on hold.
Paddling Around the Buoys This Friday Morning 6.00am Australia Day Claughton Reserve, Bayswater
Dave Tuplin having fun. We also have a Monday Evening Race at Sandy Beach Reserve. Bassendean. This Monday 29th January, 5.30pm as well as a race on at Ascot Kayak Club on Monday evening
February 5th.
John Breed taking it a lot more serious.
26 paddlers of all fitness levels took part on Tuesday evening.
Are You Going To the WA Sprint Champions
Last year I paddled a C1 in the Sprint Championships, as well as K1 - this year it will be on a Stand Up Board.
The Florisson family, minus Hunter with Lily Farrel and John Hilton after the AKC club race.
Mandurah Canals Race It was a perfect day to be racing around the canals of Mandurah. I had teamed up with Steve Stasiuk. We had never paddled doubles together before so it was going
to be an interesting race. I tell a lie we had a practice run on Saturday morning at the Sandy Beach 4km race. Warren and Bruce were racing as well and although we wash-rode them about 2 kms they got away from us after a turn and finished well ahead. They were also racing today so although we knew that they were a faster team we also knew it all depended on how the race was going
to pan out. Having so many corners and the fact that we will have to pass about 80 paddlers, many in narrow channels anything could happen. Last year paddling with Chris Watson we beat Warren and Bruce by 11 seconds. Was it just luck! Can we do it this year?
Division 4. Photo Geraint Maddison.
Div 3 with div 4 up ahead. Photo Geraint Maddison. We were on the last grid with
the male doubles although Kent Jenkinson was paddling with Nikita Fredonnet a female because she was extremely strong. When we took off I couldn’t believe we were keeping up with 4 of the faster teams. We were flying for about 350 metres, I thought, whow Steve is strong. But then we lost our ride and got left behind. As we crossed the river to enter the canals on the other side,
Warren and Bruce caught up and came on our right side. We settled in and tried to keep pace with them. Knowing that they were a stronger team there was no point in us trying to take them on unless we got some sought of break. At the 3.8km mark, as we moved into another canal Warren and Bruce paused and we just kept going and got ahead. Ahead of us were several female doubles. We were
closing in and passed Wendy and Anne before moving into another canal which had a narrow bridge crossing it. With several double and single boats in front of us going at a slower pace the narrow one boat bridge was certainly a bottleneck. Several boats were going through ahead of us so we had no choice but to slow right down and take our turn. I didn’t really know where Warren and Bruce were, but it was certainly a good place for them to catch up unless other boats were in their way. As
soon as we were out of the tunnel we increased the pace, but it wasn’t easy to get past the line of slower singles and doubles that were spread across the channel in front of us. It took us a little bit of time to pass, but once out into a wider channel it gave us more room to slip by the slower paddlers. As we passed Sharon Cobley and Bronwyn Martin they latched onto us, which
was better to have them on our wash than Warren and Bruce, but photos later showed us they were directly behind the girls and not far away. We were halfway across the river heading for the canal on the other side when Sharon shouted, they are coming up on the right. They soon caught up so I steered over to them to make sure we didn’t lose them.
Steve & I pass slower boats with Sharon & Bronwyn on our side and Warren & Bruce close behind. Photo Geraint Maddison.
As we leave the canals and cross the river for the second time Warren & Bruce are tailing us. Photo Geraint Maddison. We left the river crossing and filed into the canal to meet a couple of swans who were hanging around. We had already seen dolphins but we had no time to check them out. It was a kilometre to the turn buoy and as we were sitting on the best side of them for the turn it gave us the advantage. As long as Warren and Bruce didn’t get a boat length ahead we would control the turn and they would have to go wider. They tried getting away,
but we sat comfortably beside them. As we approached the turn buoy I steered a little wide which gave us a pretty good turn and several metres advantage. We were ahead again, but we knew they would hunt us down, which they did over one kilometre later. With just 4 kms to go we only had one tricky section, a narrow canal near the finish so we just needed to stay with them at all costs.
Bruce had been having a bit of trouble with his hand going to sleep so occasionally he would have to let go of his paddle and shake his hand and Warren dipped his hat in the water a couple of times to cool off. They might have only lost a couple of seconds but it helped us. About 2 kms out we started to catch Peter Pawlow, Matt Jones and Simon O’Sullivan. We had to be careful when
passing other paddlers because we wouldn't be fully in control of what they would do. If they somehow got between us and Warren & Bruce it could change the outcome of the race. Luckily for us it all went well and I think only Peter managed to get a wash ride from Warren and Bruce.
We were catching up with Peter Pawlow, John Hilton and Simon O'Sullivan. Photo Helen Murphy
With two kilometres to go we were still with Warren & Bruce. Photo Helen Murphy We cut the corner out of the canal and led into the river where we took slightly different paths across it. However, as they were a faster team I steered back over onto their wash so they didn’t leave us behind. We had five corners left and they had the advantage on 3 of them to our 2. As we moved into the last narrow canal I could see Erica next to Simon Thorpe. I thought bloody hell how did she get here, she was way ahead of her other rivals. What a champ. She
definitely has to go to the Australian Marathon Championships in a kayak as I’m sure she would win her age group. With two corners down we came to the sharpest, narrowest two and although we had the advantage on these we caught up with Erica McKnight and Simon on the last sharp corner and had to slow. Although we stumbled as we tried to pass, Warren and Bruce had a similar problem so
we raced to the last corner with them slightly in front. With the last corner taken and the fact that we were still beside them made me feel pretty happy. The race was on.
So with 400 metres to go we still had a chance, it might have been a slim chance, but we were in the same position as our opponents to fight for a win. As soon as we moved under the footbridge we accelerated even faster. For the next 50 metres we
were still neck and neck, but then we started to take the lead and I could feel a win coming on and we did thanks to Steve. It was only by a second but it was a great win against two solid opponents.
Helen Murphy shouts encouragement from a bridge. Photo Helen Murphy. With this race having so many corners and the fact that we had to pass about 80 paddlers, many in narrow channels, there is always some luck in doing well, but there is certainly a lot of concentration, boat positioning and tactics involved, making it a great race course.
Sharon, Johan, Izzy & me.
Photo Johan Dryer with his very tiny camera. Results 2024 Mandurah Canals
33 Years to the Day
Descent of the Murry River Rapids Sheltering under our tarpaulin, which was pulled out from the vehicle, we watched the rain, so heavy that it flooded the ground beneath our feet within minutes. Gusts of wind violently ripped the tarpaulin from its stays, making our shelter quite useless in this horizontal rain storm. Lightning strikes illuminated the darkened sky, and powerful claps of thunder vibrated the ground and echoed through the forest. Gezza, Carl, Tim (support) and I stood in amazement
watching this summer rain storm unleash its powerful forces; the trees bending like javelin poles and the Murray River beside us rising with every hour that passed. The following day I was to attempt the full descent of the 2,500 kilometre Murray River. I was 8 months into my 24,000km, year long, walk, cycle and kayak around Australia and because of the grade 4 rapids on the upper
reaches of the Murray River I had to employ two experienced paddlers, Gezza and Carl to paddle with me. I also had to rent a white water kayak from Paddy Pallin from Jindabyne to do the rapid section of the river. As we sheltered from the powerful rainstorm, we planned the start of my Murray River descent. Gezza, who had expected the river to be low, was now a little apprehensive about
the rapidly rising waters, and fearless Carl didn’t ease our minds as he told stories of the mishaps he and his parties had previously experienced rafting down these turbulent waters.
In the early morning, the severe storm suddenly stopped and we continued our breakfast in a more comfortable and civilised manner, talking about the rapids which had grown even larger in the night. I could see that Gezza was not completely happy with the conditions and talk of putting the trip off filtered towards my ears. When a very excited Frank
Bakker, another experienced canoeist, arrived, I was relieved when we all decided to take the plunge.
I was eager to get away, so after securing safety gear in our kayaks, we had a few seconds to warm up before Tim Fry, my support person, started the countdown. At 8.15 precisely we left the Tom Groggin picnic area. ‘Oh what a feeling,’ only 2500 kilometres to go! It’s strange to think that 3 days earlier the river
had been very low, powerless; a stream threading itself through and around the bouldery bottom. But after 3 days of heavy rain it was now a raging torrent and the river would be surely testing our skills. Only minutes into our trip, a small waterfall blocked our path. I approached it with caution. On a short practise run the previous day, and being a little rusty, I had capsized, and
been forced to roll in its mangled mess of turbulence. But today my determination was high and I shot it without incident. A few kilometres downstream of the waterfall, we had to portage a concrete bridge. Then we forged on, working our way down the river, pushing through the easier grade 2 rapids and pounding through some grade 3s. Carl, enjoying himself, had a constant grin on his face, especially when a larger rapid approached. I was now becoming more familiar with my borrowed kayak, and my confidence began to soar, as we threaded ourselves around large boulders, deep holes and giant ‘stoppers’. Then suddenly our progress came to a halt as we approached one of the bigger rapids, ‘South African Swim’. It was a technical rapid, so we paused to check the big stoppers and bottomless holes, and posted rescuers with throw bags at strategic positions. One slip
on the top rapid, one slight mistake sliding down the next drop, could mean a capsize, a swim or even worse, an injury. After a faultless run down SAS, our concerns were eased, our confidence grew and we didn’t bother checking any more rapids, we took them as they came. At times, when the paddler in front dropped out of sight I knew that a special surprise was waiting at the bottom of the drop. As Carl led down ‘The Thing’, he suddenly disappeared over the last drop and failed to surface. A few
moments later, still no Carl. It looked like a rescue attempt would have to be put into operation, but after a roll Carl finally surfaced with a cheesy grin across his face. Then it was my turn to face the drop!
Near the start - the easy bit.
Checking out South African Swim.
Me paddling down South African Swim - above and below.
As we moved down the river, blasting through ‘stoppers’, standing waves and holes, we manoeuvred skilfully as a team. There were few mishaps, but we had our moments…Gezza got plastered against the wall at ‘Easy Over’, and I capsized between two giant holes on ‘Roller Coaster’, which resulted in a quick roll. Carl did a few tail stands and other
uncontrolled stunts, and Frank had great fun in his high buoyancy kayak sliding down backwards, sidewards and treating the rapids as if they weren’t there. By the late afternoon, we had conquered the most dangerous grade 3 and 4 rapids: Sharks Tooth, Head Beater, Hole in the Wall, South African Swim, Himalaya Wrap, The Thing, The Wall and many more. And I was still in one piece. Having
no injuries at this point took a huge weight off my mind. Now I could concentrate on the ‘easy’ bit, 2450 kilometres of flatter waters to the end of the Murray River in South Australia.
After saying goodbye and thankyou to Frank, Gezza and smiling Carl, I hopped into my 5.2m racing kayak, and headed towards Tintaldra 60 kilometres away. As I threaded my way around dozens of weeping willow trees which the storm had demolished the evening before, I also had to watch out for barbed wire fences that jutted out into the river. By the
second night, I was heading across the Hume Dam with a strong wind blowing. In the darkness it was difficult to cut through the rough waters, let alone see the dead trees that once lined the river bank. My midnight finish at Hume Weir turned out to be the earliest stop in 20 days.
After the rapids it was into my flat water kayak to paddle to the end of the Murray River. Total time 21 days - 2500kms.
Come on pet give me a kiss, don't be shy.
Thanks love that was beautiful. What about another.
Pinjarra to Ravenwood Race 11th February 2024
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