Clint will be running some flatwater 1-on-2 technique sessions in the mornings and 1-on-2 technique or downwind sessions in the afternoons.
2 hours each session and $200 pp.
These 1-on-2 sessions really get down to the nitty gritty

For booking and for more information contact Terry at 9378 1333

Epic Boat Stands

are now back in stock

Like the Epic skis the boat stands are very strong and stable

The Epic Easy-Store Boat Stands. They are great for washing or working on your craft, or just using then as a boat stand.

Lightweight, very strong and easy to fold up to place in your car or in your shed.

Fold away

$145.00

Canoeing Down Under

Summer Series Downwind Race

Some 98 paddlers assembled at City Beach with the prospect of some juicy skates on offer courtesy of the 20knt south westerly. Launching off the beach at City required precise timing and some nerve, but with the support of the advanced paddlers everyone made it safely to the start line.

Working the runs in heavy traffic was quite a challenge early on (no brakes on a surf ski !), but as the field spread out the consistency of the skates helped the field to race over the course in an amazing average of 5 minutes faster than Race 1 and 18 minutes faster than Race 2. The fastest time and first across the line was recorded by Brendan Rice (41:46 ) with Race 1 winner Reece Baker only 30 seconds behind . Ruth Highman again dominated the female field and scorched back to Sorrento in 50:16 . Shaun Rice and Muz Latham showed superior downwind skills to claim their first victories of the series in the 50+ and 60+ categories, and GDaddy Beament has a strangle hold on the 40+ category as well claiming 3rd fastest overall time.

For the full racing results you'll need to visit http://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=32321

There was a fairly big swell and a 20kt wind so getting out through the surf was challenging for some

Ruth Highman pulls herself through a decent wave

Ruth then pulls herself through another wave just before it breaks

Paddlers were waiting for the best and safest time to go

Brendan Rice arrives at the finish first with Reece Baker 33 seconds behind

Get ready for a wash

When the main field of paddlers started coming in there was a lot going on with boats and paddlers darting all over the place

The girls timed everyone in. Where would we be without volunteer timers?

The next Canoeing Down Under sponsored Summer Series Downwind Race is on the 17th January

Ascot Pairs Enduro

The Pairs Enduro is a different type of race, it can go really well and both paddlers will enjoy it or it can become a doddle in the park for one paddler and really tough for the other. The secret is to make sure you paddle with another paddler that is very close to your own speed.

This year I paired up with young Michael Liddle. We have heard a lot about his dad Peter, his mum Jane and his sister Baillee who have improved out of sight in the last year, now it's time to hear about Michael. Michael has been paddling less than 6 months and this was his first official race. He has raced on Saturday morning at our training but no more than 4 kms. He is getting stronger each week and is good at taking off at high speed but at times he tends to fade a little along the way, so it was going to be interesting to see if he could keep a good pace for 14kms.

There were certainly a lot more paddlers taking part this year than the first one that was run about 8 years ago which had 21 teams. This time there were 44 teams. Lawrence Greed was organizing the event for Ascot Kayak Club. It was going to be a hot day, 36 degrees but at least we were off quite early. Lawrence had seeded Michael and I number 10 slowest so I don't know if he thought I was too old to paddle 14 kms or if Michael was too young and too new at paddling to beat more than 10 teams. We hoped to beat more and we certainly needed to beat his mum and Erica and his sister and Bonnie or we wouldn't live it down.

Today there were some notable paddling stars taking part, a couple of Olympians and several of Australia's best paddlers but most of the paddlers were just ordinary paddlers like me, who just wanted to enjoy the race and beat as many of the competitors as possible.

Michael was using my Epic V10 and I was using a V14 which is the ultimate ski speed machine when a strong paddler is paddling it. I suppose when I paddle it I don't really do it justice, but I just love the ride it gives. Because Michael is fast out of the blocks our aim was for him to take the lead and I would try to wash hang him, taking my turn when necessary. I expected he would be able to go about 6kms before I would have to take the lead, so until then I would just hang onto his side wash.

We had Doug and Simon 2 minutes in front of us and Steve and Jason 1 minute behind. Doug, Simon, and Jason were close to my speed with Steve being faster but all duos had to work as a team so it will be an interesting to see who were more compatible. Although Michael was faster than the four of us over 4kms, Steve was faster than him, so would Michael have the willpower and stamina to go 14kms?

Michael was soon setting a great pace and I was certainly panting and struggling to keep up with him but I just managed to. We caught up with a couple of slower teams and I could see we were getting closer to the pink shirts of Doug and Simon which was good news as Doug is always trying to beat me. By Barkers Bridge we had passed 4 teams and I couldn't see any other team behind that were close so that was a relief.

By Guildford Bridge I had expected Michael to be struggling a little and I would need to take the lead but when I tried to push ahead he was still on fire and came with me so I let him him lead again. We were getting closer to the pink shirts which meant that if we pass Doug and Simon before the end we will beat them by two minutes and at this point we knew we were going to pass them. As we leveled with them I put on the pressure and paddled faster to make sure that we passed them easily.

Shouts of encouragement were let out as we passed Ascot Kayak Club. By now Michael was tiring so I was able to take the lead, he had done a good job as we only had about 2kms left. As we came up to the turn point at Claughton Reserve, Grant and his friends in two inflatable kayaks, looking more like slugs were turning just in front of us. At the same time two big power boats pulled away from the boat ramp and stirred up the river into an angry ocean, so not only did we have to go wide to get around the inflatables we had big waves to contend with.

Michael fell back so I waited and just as we got our rhythm back another power boat came by and curdled the water. We could now see Doug and Simon, Steve and Jason, Jane and Erica, Bonnie and Baillee and they had no hope of catching us. We were happy paddlers.

The water flattened so we managed to get back into rhythm again and with the end being close we were feeling pretty pleased but just as we were coming up to the line the wash of another power boat ruffled the water.

As we crossed the line to cheering admirers the race was suddenly all over. I was very proud of Michael, and I could see that Michael was also very proud of himself. He had kept up a solid pace and not wavered. It was his first race and I could see it was only the start of a big future in paddling.

Ist place Reece Baker & Stephen Bird crossing the line

2nd place Josh Kippin and James Morfitt and 3rd place Mark Lawson and Brett McDonald crossing the line

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Canoeing Down Under TV Slalom Challenge

The team of young aspiring slalom paddlers with one oldy Bevan

Ben Pope and Izzie Choate laid down sizzling runs on the hottest day of summer sofar to take out the top place in the Men’s and Ladies Open divisions in the 2014 Canoeing Down Under K1 Challenge. Videoing the event were 30 students & staff from Broadcasting course at Central Institute of Technology.

Employing a wealth of technology with seven Cameras and broadcast grade vision and audio mixers, the students put together an excellent TV coverage. Supervising lecturer Peter Wharram was delighted with the students performance, “they did a great job with a fast moving sport on a hot day”. Coach Robin Sanders returned to lend his golden tonsils to the commentary team; joining him was WA Coach and olympic veteran Zlatan Ibrahimbegovic providing expert comments.

Bevan Dashwood set a course that was tight and technical, stretching the paddler’s skills and endurance. Senior paddler Andrew Pope found the 22 gate course tough going, “I was tired by gate 6?. No problems for David Burdett and Alexandria Choate who paddled the course well to take top place in the U14 boys and girls divisions.

Terry Bolland from Canoeing Down Under again sponsored the event

The cameras captured the action will be turned into a short film.

Ben Pope takes out top spot

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Sandy Ready to Cross the Border

I have paddled 82 km so far on this stage and reasonably cruisy except crossing shipping lane on the Hugli which got me doing a bit of circle work waiting for the right moment to get across behind a big ship and without getting too close to the many trawlers. Then at Sagar Island I had some crowding on the beach as I launched. I am always a bit concerned about launching in waves with crowd surging around and unaware of where they should not be standing. I wonder if this crowd thing will be unique to India or continue into other nations. There is always someone here to give a push through any shore dump so my skills are likely a bit lazy for launching without them. I am gonna miss the friendly people in India and their plea "just one photo madam" when I am sweating it out trying to get my kayak packed and launched quickly. I will ask them for just one photo now as I leave to Bangladesh and say goodbye to the 9 months on the coast of India in a kayak over 3 stages of my expedition. You get attached to a place and its people in that time.

I am having to stash my kayak close by with the coastguard and head back to Kolkata to finalise permits for my entry to Bangladesh. I hope not too long a wait. Fingers crossed

Sandy

Pacific Black Duck

This weeks photos were taken in Ashfield which has a big population of black ducks on the river. It has been a busy breeding season with duckling still hatching out

Black ducks can be most readily identified by their distinctive yellow and black striped faces. They have a greenish grey beak, smart dark brown body feathers with pale brown edges, and a purple-green “window” (called a speculum) in the hind wing that is readily seen when the duck is flying, and sometimes when it is walking. Black ducks are monomorphic: the males and females look pretty much the same.

The speculum is a patch, often distinctly coloured, on the inner remiges of some birds. The Pacific Black duck usually has an iridescent green, edged light buff. So why then does this one on the right have a blue patch? Is it because it is a male? Is it because it has been inbreeding with a Mallard duck which has a blue speculum? Is it a Black Duck/Mallard Hybrid Wing?
Or is it because it can change colour in a different light? This morning I was watching a black duck which had a green speculum but when it turned a different direction the green turned into a blue. Does anyone know?

The Black Duck is easily identified by their ancient Egyptian-style eye markings, pacific black ducks are the most numerous and well-known ducks in Australia, and are also found in Indonesia, New Guinea and New Zealand.

The sexes are also easily identified by their calls – the females uttering a series of quacks, to which the male responds with a single grunt.

They belong to a group known as dabbling, or dipping, ducks, and are non-diving surface feeders that live on freshwater lakes and rivers. Their bills are adapted for filtering and they feed on water plants, insects and crustaceans by either dredging the mud at the water's edge or "dabbling" by upending themselves. They also feed on the seeds and flowers of waterside plants.

In southern Australia black ducks breed from July to October - often twice a year – and their courtship includes a great deal of bobbing and wing flapping.

Unlike most ducks, the pacific black duck – which despite its name is neither black nor restricted to the Pacific region – prefers to nest in tree hollows up to 10 metres above the ground.

When the ducklings hatch, they are ready to forage but not to fly, so they first have to leap from the nest to the ground below and follow their mother to the nearest water.

When a hollow tree isn't available the females will happily lay clutches of up to 16 eggs in nests on the ground among thick reeds or long grass – thus sparing some ducklings from that first dizzying plunge – but despite this, only about 20 per cent will survive to breeding age.

Known to the Noongar as Woonan, black ducks were a valuable food source and hunters used the hollow stems of reeds as snorkels to creep up underwater and catch them by their feet.

Moore River Race
Sunday 16th November
Registration 8am-9am
Briefing 9.15am
12.5kms

Must have registered before the day
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West Coast Downwinder (Ski Race)
22nd of November 2014
1:30pm - 2:00pm

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The Doctor Race (Rottnest to Sorrento)
29th/30th November 2014
For the more experienced Ski Paddler

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2014/15 Summer Series Time Trials

Next one
4: 17 January 2015 City Beach Sorrento Beach 3:30pm
Sponsored by Canoeing Down Under

5: 14 February 2015 City Beach Sorrento Beach 3:30pm
6: 14 March 2015 City Beach Sorrento Beach 3:30pm
7: 18 April 2015 City Beach Sorrento Beach 3:30pm
The Rules
Leg leash and PFD are mandatory on all paddles.
Surf Life Saving craft and members have the right to tell you to get off the water.