It now looks as if the Avon Descent will have some water in the river to paddle in.

Every year we seem to go through a guessing game. Will it be low or high? The weather certainly keeps us on our toes.

I had decided not to take part in the Avon Descent due to being on hormone treatment and the fact I didn't want to wear myself out or injure myself as I have the World Masters Canoe Marathon less than 4 weeks after.

However I was easily convinced to take part in a 4 person team, which will be my first time and I will be paddling the easier less bone breaking sections. I still consider the Avon Descent is all about doing it solo, but this year I will have to eat my words and enjoy doing it with 3 other friends.

• Dan The Weather Man
• Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships 
• The Yukon River Quest Race
• Meet Leena
• Peterborough (Canada) Lift Lock
• Bedford River Festival, UK!
• Kids Waterlogged Bike Trail
• Coming Events

Coming Events

• 28th July 2024 - Walyunga N/P to Middle Swan
• 2nd Aug Friday - Avon Scrutineering afternoon.
• 3rd August 2024 Saturday afternoon -Wild Water Races #6&7
• 10th - 11th August 2024 - Avon Decent
• 17th & 18th August 2024 - WA Wild Water Championships
• 7th September 2024 - Nanga Challenge
  12th October 2024 - WA Ocean Racing Championships
  
  Avon Descent Competency 3rd August
  https://education.paddle.org.au/courses.php?register&eventId=3239

Tashka Gosling ready for the Avon Descent.

Jeannette Busch and Kate Crossing happy to be on whitewater.

Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships 

opening ceremony where team captain and flag bearer 

WAs Luke Egger 

represented our nation with pride

Steph Bedden-Smith didn't win a gold medal 

but she is just happy to be on the water.

Progressive Racing Group - Grid six.

Penny Bates a kayak paddler, surfer, board paddler and long time member of Ascot Kayak Club relishing her paddle in the rain.

The Yukon River Descent

The Yukon Quest Race

After landing at Carmacks checkpoint I checked the leader board and to my surprise we were in 8th position overall and 6th in the canoe section. Although we had lost a position in those last few kilometres we were stoked. We’d done little training, had no knowledge of the river, Ed had a break, but still we were doing okay. I instantly had thoughts of bettering our position. However Ed had other thoughts; he had a sore arm, a sore bum, blisters and his immediate plans were to rest. We erected the tent under the shade of a tree and he crawled in, but nothing could have prepared him for the near 38° Celsius temperatures that made sleeping in the middle of the day virtually impossible.

I returned to the canoe to drain the water, to clean our equipment and to prepare our gear for the next leg of our journey. A guy from one of the other support teams had bought us a 10 litre bottle of water and offered to carry some of our gear to the end. We only accepted the water. Many of the leaders were camped in mobile homes, apparently with air conditioning. For some mad reason I wasn’t at all jealous; I didn’t mind roughing it, but it was extremely hot!

We had a seven hour break to enjoy on the outskirts of the town of Carmacks. Most paddlers tried sleeping; I worked around my canoe and watched other paddlers arrive. I always knew when competitors had rounded the last corner as a big cheer was given by both supporters and organisers. Some of the crews were inexperienced in moving water and misjudged the speed of the current and ended up further downstream of the jetty than they should. Most wobbled as they got out of the boats and walked up to the camping area.

I took the opportunity to have a shower; it was refreshing and absolute bliss, but that refreshed feeling was quickly lost once back in the baking sun. A food van in the car park was doing a roaring trade, so I, too, thought that a hamburger and chips would do me no harm. Waiting for the food however was quite distressing as the sun beat down scorching my head and frying my body. Standing there in the extreme heat for so long was the most difficult part of the race so far.

With all the activity around camp and my desire to miss nothing, I made no attempt to sleep and in fact I didn’t really feel tired. Organisers however kept encouraging me to sleep, but it was impossible with all the cheering and the scorching temperature. Eventually about three hours after arriving I decided to try to get some rest. The lady at the leader board promised to wake me up if I overslept.

The hot sun had made my tent even hotter than before and when I crawled in Ed crawled out, he said he hadn’t yet slept so he would try sleeping in one of the big communal tents, he thought they might be cooler. I stripped off and bedded down. It was like a sauna inside. I used my clothes as a pillow which wasn’t at all comfortable. As it was day light I covered my face with my T shirt, but instead of blocking out the sun I almost smothered myself and made me sweat even more. The camp was filling, the noise increasing and the probability of sleep was nil.

Sweat continued to run down the entire length of my body, God it was hot! Here I was in the far north of Canada and sweating like a pig. I thought it was supposed to be cold up here? So with no chance of having a nap, let alone rest in the unbearably hot tent, I decided to dismantle it and forget about sleep.

Feeling hungry I wandered over the food van again and almost suffered heat exhaustion whilst waiting in line. The seven hour break had slipped by pretty quickly. With no sleep and another 275kms to paddle before our next 3 hour rest, I could sense that the next leg wasn’t going to be fun!

Other competitors were getting ready and it was time to wake Ed. Ed was resting in the communal tent but it seemed that he didn’t get much rest in there either, due to all the noise. His shoulder was worse and giving him pain. The British team had their support crew and film crew running around. Joe, in the kayak, who came in just before us had his beautiful partner fill his water bottles and tape his hands, it seemed that everyone had some sort of support except Ed and I. We were orphans! Never mind, success is greater when you have achieved it by yourself. Mind you, on second thoughts, having a beautiful looking woman to make life easier wouldn’t be bad!

Getting ready for the next leg of the race.

It was nearly time for us to take off again. We had out 7 hour break and we were ready. I was a little concerned about Ed’s condition, but youth is strong and he gave no indication of giving up. Joe paddled off a few minutes before us and after the count down, 3-2-1 we took off after him. The water pushed us quickly towards the Carmack’s Township and under the first road bridge we had seen in 304kms. It felt good.

As we powered by the swirling currents of the bridge pylons and around a number of sweeping corners at a swift speed, our thoughts were of our next obstacle, the Five Finger Rapids some 38kms away. These rapids were the only real hazard along our route apart from the lake. Five Finger Rapid apparently splits into several channels, the safest being the right one. I had seen pictures of it on the internet, a wide river with several high cliffy islands across the river. As we closed in on the rapids the adrenalin began to pump, and although very confident with our skills we were not going to take any unnecessary chances to get an extra thrill. The water was too swift and far too cold.

We turned a corner and there it was. We could hear the roar and see the water funnel down the channels between the high cliffs. We couldn’t capsize, we couldn’t capsize. We just couldn’t capsize!!! Two towering cliffs, one from an island the other from the right shore, channelled the water into a funnel. We looked beyond it to see the water join together and create large standing waves to bound downstream and then swirl and bounce into a frenzy. The power in the water looked awesome.

Five Finger Rapids 

I focussed beyond Ed’s shoulders and suggested that we keep the boat straight, and follow the tongue of water and try to miss the highest waves. We suddenly slipped down the drop at a great speed following the large volume of water to the base of the large V. The rapid was actually bigger than it looked from the top and when we hit the collection of big waves I just concentrated in getting through. No fancy tricks. Ed’s end of the canoe sky rocketed as it bounced off the first big wave. I could tell from the yell he gave that he loved the thrill and the experience. Wow! “This rapid is not to be messed with, just keep the canoe straight Terry”, I said to myself. What a ride! Although the rapid wasn’t technical, the waves were big. One slip up and we could capsize. How would I live it down if we did?

We were on a roll when we conquered the worst of it and nothing could trip us up now we thought. We moved between the shoreline and an island where a rescue crew boat was based. The water was still fast as it funnelled further but without the roller coaster of rapids. We moved around a right hand corner and away from the main danger, the current still pushing us on. I thought about all the poor inexperienced souls behind us who would have to paddle it in the middle of a cool dim lit night. We heard later that some competitors had capsized and had difficulties getting ashore, and that the rescue boat failed to start and got swept downstream whilst attending to a rescue.

Relieved not to be swimming we pushed on a few kilometres further towards the Rink Rapids. Apparently if the correct route was taken, this rapid was not classed as difficult. As we closed in we could see Joe well ahead of us taking the correct line without incident. When it was our turn it was tempting to take the left and more exciting side of the river, but we chickened out and paddled the safe way. What a boring pair we were!

Our excitement heightened as the British pair, who had beaten us to Carmack’s by fifteen minutes, were now ahead, drifting with the current and nibbling on food. We crept up on them like mischievous kids and excitedly powered past them with cheeky grins on our faces. It was a fantastic feeling and now, we were in 7th place.

The British pair seemed to be tiring which gave us a good chance to stay in front and put a few hundred metres between us. With a big bend and short cut coming up it was an ideal opportunity for us to widen the gap. We were really eager to leave them behind so after a quick debate and the fact that we were feeling cocky and confident we decided to take the short cut. It was a risky option but one worth trying.

At first the channel seemed to have a good current, so I thought the gamble was working, but the further we went the more we were being sucked into a slower channel. Our triumph soon changed to concern. Shit! Damn! We were now in trouble. With butterflies in my stomach and a frantic feeling of despair, I just hoped that Ed would keep powering on to get us back on track.

Then when we saw Joe far across the other side of the river accelerate around the sweeping corner at a swift speed, we thought “oh bugger, what have we done?” No matter how hard we paddled our speed was slow and getting slower as we moved into shallower water. The route we had taken looked quite short on the map but in reality it meandered for kilometres. When we saw the British team, way over to our right, catch the sweeping fast current as well and start to overtake us it was enough to make a grown man cry!

We kept up a solid pace but our spirits were very much dampened. The British team were flying with the swift water leaving us trailing. It was disheartening but the race was not yet over, and I was sure that they were looking much more tired than us. At last, but well behind, we joined the main channel where our speed increased considerably and we were a much happier pair. There would be no more short cuts for us!

The British pair of Jason Merron and Charmain Gradwell tackling Five Finger Rapid.

As the kilometres rolled on we could see another canoe ahead. It was just the tonic we needed to lift our spirits. They were stroking quickly, and changing sides every few strokes, which caused them to wander back and forth across the river like a snake. We started to gain on them and although their paddles were the super light tear drop carbon fibre ones, they didn’t seem to be of particular benefit to them at this time. It was time to overtake. God it was a good feeling passing Team 42. We powered by, stroking long and strong, pretending that we were actually relaxed and that we weren’t putting in any effort at all. We were now back in 7th place.

We distanced ourselves fairly quickly and I hoped that we had destroyed their confidence as we left them in our wake. I looked behind to see them zig zag and then slow. Ed and I were able to keep the canoe relatively straight because we paddled on opposite sides and I only changed over in the rear when it was needed. I usually did a steering stroke called the ‘J’ stroke but in our rented canoe it was difficult to do it efficiently due to the expensive spray deck. When I do a ‘J’ stroke I pull the paddle against the gunwales, but if I did it in this canoe I would damage the spray deck.

We rounded a corner and entered a straight and there way ahead was the British pair. My heart almost burst with excitement as the adrenalin pulsed through my body. Every so often the pair would slow, which was brilliant, – it gave us another opportunity to catch up. I asked Ed to pick up the pace. Stroking in time and feeling strong and powerful, we quickly gained on them and the beauty was, they didn’t even notice. By the time they could hear us breathing it was too late, we were on a roll and nothing could stop us passing. We just kept up the pressure long enough to appear not to be hurting. However, when we were out of sight we eased a little.

It was such an amazing feeling as we paddled by them as if they were standing still. We were so quick that they couldn’t climb onto our wash and take a ride. They looked too tired to get by us again, unless of course, we took another wrong channel! I looked behind a few minutes later to see them slowing even more. Yes, we were now back in the race and in 6th place!

Ed was stroking well and we felt confident and in control, all we needed now was to get past Joe. That would certainly lift our spirits. He was always several hundred metres in front. We would get closer to him and then he would surge away to be lost in the haze. We thought that if we kept him in sight we could follow him down the right channel but that rarely happened. He would lose us at the critical time. Joe was our leader, our judge of speed, our inspiration to power on. Joe actually became our friend, though he didn’t know it and at that particular time we didn’t even know his name, – he was just the kayaker in front.

At one point, probably at Minto, we saw campers and support crew on the right hand shore. It was late in the night yet cheers from the bank echoed across the water to give us a lift. The hours passed and Joe was still up ahead fading in and out of the smoke haze. If we didn’t see him for a while we fretted.

The night was now cool, the river wide and we just kept paddling stroke after stroke, hour after hour. On the left side of the river we could see a settlement of small houses. A handful of people were cheering from the bank, one shouted out for our number. My reply echoed across the vast river plain, it was a shame to make a noise in such a peaceful place. At the time we didn’t really know where we were but later it dawned on us that it was the checkpoint at Fort Selkirk. The time was 2.50am. We found out at the end of the race that Joe had passed by at 2.47am only 3 minutes ahead. Team 42 crossed the checkpoint at 2.58am and the British team went through at 3.02am, so the two teams that we had passed hadn’t been that far behind us.

Fort Selkirt checkpoint.

The smoke continues to cut down visibility.

 It had been a long night and in the early hours of the morning I turned to see Team 42 creeping up from behind. Oh shit! Ed was feeling the strain and resting, lying back dead to the world. I was hoping that he wouldn’t rest for too long. There was no way I wanted to let them pass. I drove the paddle in the water powering even harder than before, surging the boat forward in leaps and bounds and watching Team 42 slowly catch up. It was agony to see the gap closing as our canoe just didn’t skim along with one person paddling. Fortunately the erratic motion of the canoe stirred Ed and he came back to life giving us the boost we needed to draw away from them once more. I was much happier, but later that hour Ed slept for a few minutes again. I let him be, knowing that he had to run his own race. If I pushed him on and he injured himself, it could ruin our chances of completing the entire Yukon River as planned.

Throughout the night Joe had been in and out of our distant vision and because of this I hadn’t kept track of where we were on the map. Now the hours had passed by and Joe was lost from sight and the kilometres and the landscape had all but blended into one another. I didn’t want to waste time stopping and without my glasses I had little hope of finding our position on the small A4 map sheets. To make matters worse the smoke haze had been fairly thick and I started having niggling thoughts that we may have passed the check point without knowing it. I was pretty sure we hadn’t, but the niggling doubts persisted. We had used a GPS at the beginning of our journey to track our distance but the batteries hadn’t lasted long. We didn’t bother to change them and instead put it away.

Although the smoke haze blanketed most of the defining features on shore, I looked up at some hazy hills, glanced at my basic river maps and thought I had found our position. Although not admitting to not knowing exactly where we were, I told Ed that we must be getting close to our rest stop. This woke him up and spurred him on. He fired on all six cylinders and just powered along showing no signs of giving up. It was great, life had returned to the young dog and we were back out of the doldrums. I looked behind to see our opposition fade in the distance. Yes, oh yes, I loved it!

The right bank was full of rock bluffs and cliffs, but the beauty of it all was spoiled by the smoke. I just wished our river maps had contours that indicated the mountains, – I might have been able to pin point our position, but the maps were only pen drawings and didn’t show the terrain. We paddled on and on becoming more and more concerned that we hadn’t reached our destination. Just the fact that I told Ed that we were close had kept him alive, but as the kilometres dragged on our spirits began to wane.

Just when I thought all was lost, I saw a kayaker in the haze ahead paddling very slowly. I imagined it was an official paddling out to meet us so we didn’t pass the checkpoint. But as we got closer the kayaker started to pull away. Then Ed filled me in, it was actually Joe who had stopped and we had caught him up. It was then I realised I wasn’t quite as alert as I had thought.

Joe slowed considerably and when we were next to him we asked him if he knew where we were, “Not exactly” he said checking his map. Was he just saying that as a ploy or did he really not know! By now I accepted that if we had passed our checkpoint, due to the smoke, we just had to keep going. Somehow that made me feel better but I don’t think Ed had the same thoughts, he just wanted to rest.

We passed Joe and a little further on I could see two male canoeists camped on an island. I just had to know if we had passed the check point so I steered the canoe across the current, jumped out of the canoe and then ran 50 metres across the island to where they were sitting. “Have you seen any canoeists come this way”, I asked. “Yes we’ve seen a few go by,” they replied. With no time to explain I ran back to the boat jumped in and sped off once again chasing Joe. I was now a happy chappie, at least I knew that we hadn’t missed the checkpoint but the campers must have thought I was a real idiot.

With the checkpoint being close and the thick smoke haze cutting visibility we stayed to the right of the islands to ensure we didn’t miss it. At last we saw a sign on the end of an island saying Kirkman Creek, yes our checkpoint. I can’t begin to describe how happy we were. It wasn’t far now.

It seemed that in this wild land where smoke had engulfed the sky and penetrated the forests, that the world was void of life. Would there be life at the checkpoint, we wondered! Only Joe, just ahead of us, was experiencing the same world as us. Although we had only spoken a few words to Joe, he was becoming an important person in our challenge.

We finally saw Joe paddle to shore and be greeted by a figure. Great the check point was just ahead! At 11.16am we pulled in at Kirkman Creek ready for our 3 hour stopover and very pleased to be there. Joe had pulled in 2 minutes earlier but we were 12 minutes ahead of the other canoe team of Curt Kelly and Tammy Green (Team 42), who had been chasing us, and 62 minutes ahead of the British team. We were now in 6th place overall.

We reached Kirkman Creek.

 About four officials were on the river bank to greet us at this isolated place. The only way here was either by boat or float plane, so there were no support crews waiting. The muddy banks with long grass and sloping shores allowed little room for us to drag our canoe away from the water. However space wasn’t an issue as the field was so spread we would be gone before many other paddlers arrived. I walked over the bank to see an old cabin, a rotunda and two large canvas tents that the locals had erected. The tents were held up by tree branches cut down from the forest, a practice that would be frowned upon in Australia but very useful out here. With no tent poles to carry, it was certainly one way to cut down the weight when transporting the huge tents.

Ed was soon at the rotunda devouring sandwiches, soup, cake and coffee supplied by the organisers. As I entered the cabin, a lady gave me a bag full of goodies; it was like Christmas. I then joined Ed in the mosquito proofed rotunda. The soup was only luke warm but it was one of the most delicious and appreciated snacks that I have ever eaten. Just shows you what a bit of paddling can do for your appetite! As Ed left to go for a lie down in one of the big tents, the guys in the canoe behind us had arrived, so I sat talking to them for a while. It was then time to find the outside loo to have a good sit. Once that was done I went on to empty our canoe of water and get things ready to go again. After completing these jobs, there was nothing more to do except stand around getting bitten by mosquitos so I retreated to one of the tents to attempt a sleep. Although it was the middle of the day and the heat was quite intense, I found a camp bed to lie on and eventually I drifted off to sleep.

I think I managed to grab an hour of disturbed sleep before getting back on my feet to prepare for the next part of the race. The smoke hadn’t lifted at all. Visibility was only 300 metres and it seemed as though the world had come to an end. There was little happening, the camp was quiet, apart from a few murmurs from the people in the cabin giving out snacks, and the officials clocking competitors in and out. The few competitors who had arrived were either trying to sleep or quietly getting ready to move off.

The outpost of Kirkman Creek.

A tent erected for paddlers to take a nap.

Meet Leena

We have another rescued greyhound. Her name is Leena. She is five years old and has been racing. She is great. 
She is very inquisitive and will stand like a statue looking at paddlers go by, or any other thing that takes her attention. 
She is very loving. When she is awake she always wants a cuddle or a stroke. She comes to me when I'm trying to put the newsletter together and will expect me to stroke her all day.

Jenny is very happy.

Is that a paddler going by.

She loves walking on the jetty and looks at the river or a fisherman, bird or any other movement.

She loves a cuddle and a lot of attention and stroking. 

She made sure I wasn't going anywhere so just lied on me.

Paddling Across Canada

Peterborough Lift Lock

In 2017 John Breed and I paddled into the biggest lift lock in the world. On that journey we paddled 2800kms - crossing lakes. paddling rivers and passing through 128 locks of all different sizes on our way across Canada.

The lift lock at Peterborough was pretty special. We paddled into it to find we were 20 metres up. Looking over the edge of the lock chamber down to the river below was quite an experience and a spectacular view. There are two chambers side by side full of water. When one is lowered the chamber on the other side goes up 20 metres and its a very smooth high ride. 

Cram in guys.

Lock and Paddle returns to the Trent-Severn Waterway this Saturday (July 20), bringing together paddlers of all ages and skill levels for an exhilarating trek to the top of the Peterborough Lift Lock.

Organized and hosted by Parks Canada as a highlight of Parks Day, the event will see again hundreds of canoes and kayaks, many of them decorated, converge for what has become quite a spectacle.

Ontario Waterways spokesperson Karen Feeley says the event was started in 2016 and has grown more popular every year since.

Squeeze in a big more.

Only a few more before the doors are closed.

Up we go.

Bedford River Festival, UK!

The ever-popular Bedford River Festival takes place in July every other year, and will next be held on on the 20th & 21st July 2024. As always, the River Festival is a community event which is free to attend and offers something for everyone, including live entertainment and activities, a funfair, raft and dragon boat races, the Sports Island and water sports arena.

Amazing tricks.

Oops. Epic kayak vs Budapest city bus.

Is your ski overhanging too far?

Would a flag may have helped to avoid this collision?

Kids Waterlogged Bike Trail

I'm not sure if the organisers were expecting a high tide and so much rain at the weekend, but it didn't seem to dampen the enthusiasm of these kids who were trying their best to pedal through the water.

At the the river flats of South Guildford. 

In the last month six other WA paddlers and I took an on-line Community Officiating Essential Skills Course.

We also completed three on-line workshops and further on-line tests.

It's all part of having some qualified people in WA to run or help out at an Australian Canoe Marathon.

Last year before I could compete in the World Masters Canoe Marathon I had to complete two on-line Anti Doping tests.

It took hours.

The Little Black Cormorants were out in force again this morning.

Downwind Winter Series Race

Tough conditions didn’t stop our SoSLSC members at the Indian Ocean Paddlers, Inc Winter Series Race off Sorrento Beach yesterday! 

Despite the conditions it was a fantastic turnout, including many youth members who are new to ocean ski paddling. Well done to everyone who participated, and a big thank you to our mentors for their incredible guidance! 

After the race, IOP and SoSLSC members came together to celebrate the strong relationship between the two groups and enjoy each other's company. 

SoSLSC Head Coach Michael Booth shared exciting updates on our ski development program, plans for expansion of the program in the coming seasons, and talked about the how our partnership with IOP is key to the success of our ski program.

Thank you Dean Beament and the IOP committee for the generous contribution last season, which the club used to purchase a new double ski. This key piece of equipment will be essential to the growth of our ski development program and success at future States and Aussies competitions. 

Thanks also to club partners Vaikobi and Shaw and Partners Financial Services for their ongoing support of our ski development program.

https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=359151

Coming Events

• 28th July 2024 - Walyunga N/P to Middle Swan
• 2nd Aug Friday - Avon Scrutineering afternoon.
• 3rd August 2024 Saturday afternoon -Wild Water Races #6&7
• 10th - 11th August 2024 - Avon Decent
• 17th & 18th August 2024 - WA Wild Water Championships
• 7th September 2024 - Nanga Challenge
• 12th October 2024 - WA Ocean Racing Championships

Change of Date for the Inaugural Paddle WA Ocean Racing State Champs. 
Due to a race conflict we have changed the date to 26 October 2024. 
Add this new date to your calendars by clicking on the link below:
https://paddlewa.asn.au/event/state-ocean-racing-champs/

Collie River Water Release

There will be a max flow 450ML+ water release from the Wellington Dam on the Collie River Saturday 27 July from first light until approximately 5pm

The Collie is a technical white water river with multiple channels, potential hazards and grade 2-3 rapids. It’s essential that if you haven’t paddled it before you go with a group who know your skill level and know the lines.

Thanks to Harvey Water and PaddleWA for enabling notice of this release to be provided. Please direct any enquiries to duncanellis80@yahoo.co.uk and not Harvey Water.

King of the River

King of the River will be even bigger and better this year, with a new head to head distance race following the sprint. We are looking forward to a good water level, with William Hovell about to spill. Come and join the fun. https://www.learntokayak.net/contents/en-us/d2045760961.html