Enjoy the CDU Newsletter
Published: Fri, 05/01/15
Issue
464
1st May 2015
Message Bank
Around South America paddler, Freya Hoffmeister will finish
her trip on the 1st of May in Buenos Aires. Can you imagine
paddling 26,832 kilometers?
In January Bryan Lee and a group of WA paddlers took on
the mighty Franklin River in Tasmania
and had a great time. Read report below.
This weekend is the John Sims race but entries closed today
Friday at noon. Next Saturday there is the WW buoys race at
Ascot Kayak Club. This race is for Wild Water kayaks and Wavehoppers
(no rudders). A course of buoys are set along the river's
edge for paddlers to use their skills to negotiate and fitness
to race around them at a rapid pace.
****************************************
Ben Pope said he had a fast run in the semi finals of the
World Under 23 Slalom Championhips and was only a couple of
seconds off the pace of the top 10, however two touches near
the start of the course put him into 28th place. Still, he
was pretty happy about his first world championships debut!
****************************************
Jarrad Eaves, who is still a little wobbly in his K1 was
out paddling last Sunday when a big power boat wash came by.
He said he was amazed at the fact that he kept upright when
he hit the big wave. When the wash dispersed he then had some
dolpins circling him as they chased a school of fish. When
I caught up with him at Claughton Reserve he was taking a
couple of tiny fish out of his kayak which had jumped out
of the water for freedom.
****************************************
Last Saturday was such
a special day, it was Anzac day so I had to do something special
to commemorate the day. It was time to bring out the Cockle
mark 7. It wasn't part of the first World War but it was made
in 1944 and used in the second World War.
Bruce and I getting ready for a fast sprint off the line
in the 54kg Cockle mark 7. No one dare get too close to us.
It's like a big truck, get it going and it takes a long time
to stop.
Dexter, Alaine's dog on his first outing in
a canoe eyeing up Michael Leahy who is paddling away from
a beautiful sunrise.
Young Luke Dooley will be in Perth this weekend
to take part in our Saturday morning race and the John Sims
Race. Luke lives in Kalbarri so he gets little opportunity
to paddle with other paddlers so he comes down every so often
to beat many of us.
****************************************
Freya Hoffmeister who paddled around Australia,
New Zealand, Iceland and other expeditions is very close to
paddling 26,832 kilometers around
South America
****************************************
Three WA Girls Win Medals at
the World Championships
in different categories
Congratulations to Kate Eckhardt, Noemie Fox
& Georgina Collin (WA) on winning bronze in the JNR K1
teams final at the World Canoe Slalom Championships in Brazil.
Jess Fox, Ali Borrows & Georgia Rankin
(WA) won silver in the U23 K1 teams final at the World Canoe
Slalom Championships in Brazil. They finished 1.82 seconds
behind Austria who won the gold in 119.21.
Kate Eckhardt, Noemie Fox & Demelza Wall
(WA) won bronze in the junior C1W.
****************************************
WWR Buoys Race
9th May
Venue: Ascot Kayak Club
Rego time 12.00-12.30
Online Registration: www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=40491
Fee: $10.00 CWA members (pay on day)
Briefing: 13.00 - 13.15hrs
Start: 13.30hrs
Race Director: Alan Moreby mob: 0411 565 283
Training & Courses
Saturday
Morning Fitness Training
Race Start 7.30am on the dot!
PFD MUST be worn
Sandy Beach Reserve, West Road, Bassendean
Please make sure you
bring your PFD
$5.00 for paddlers who have bought a boat from CDU
$10.00 for other paddlers
Danny and Maya at Saturday
morning fitness training
************************
SOUTH GEORGIA
ISLAND
SEA KAYAK CIRCUMNAVIGATION
PRESENTATION BY ANDREW MAFFETT
6.00pm on Wednesday 6th May at the State Library Theatre
Perth Cultural Centre, 25 Francis St, Perth
Tickets $10 - Bookings Essential from Peregrine Travel Centre
Phone: (08) 9321 1259 / Email: sales@peregrinewa.com.au
************************
Avon Descent
Rescue Group
The ASU is having its
first Land Based training session at Bells Rapids on Sunday
3rd May 2015.
They will be covering the following
units:
– Incident Management
– Roping equipment refresher
– Patient Packaging
Packaging a casualty
Non-technical (>15degrees)
Low angle (15-40degrees)
Steep angle (35-60degrees)
Medical and special considerations
If you would like to join them, please
register at www.avonsupportunit.com [ http://www.avonsupportunit.com ]
*********************************
CANOEING WA
ARE NOW THE AVON DESCENT EVENT MANAGERS
Canoeing WA, have been asked to assist
in the running of the Avon Descent.
The Avon Descent is an Iconic Western
Australian event and has a world-wide reputation as one of
the toughest, most gruelling paddling challenges as it takes
place on white water and flat water. It is also the only event
in the world where both power craft and paddle craft race
compete.
Canoeing WA is a not-for-profit organisation
with a team of passionate people who are excited to play their
part is seeing that the Avon Descent doesn’t only survive,
but grows.
I would like to take this opportunity
to introduce to you the team members who will be working on
the Avon Descent this year.
Dione Anthony: Event and Promotions Manager
Dione is our wonderful Event and Promotions
Manager. She acts as community group liaison, deals with suppliers
and manages all aspects of applications and approvals with
local Governments. Have a question for Dione? You can contact
her at info@avondescent.com.au
Fiona McGrath: Registrations Manager
Fiona is our registrations wizz! She
will be handling all things registrations-related. Need to
get in touch with Fiona? You can email her directly at registrations@avondescent.com.au
Melissa Newcombe: Digital Marketing Manager
Mel is our resident geek and runs all
things digital, including our social media and website. Want
to contact Mel? Feel free to email her at info@avondescent.com.au
or via Facebook message. Mel can’t wait to see all the
footage and images you share with the #avondescenters. Join
in the conversation now!
Best regards, Rosalie Evans, Chief
Executive Officer
Featured Products
On Special
FURY & PRS
Fury - Elite Lightweight Shell - Metal Pedals Trailing Rudder
Special $1495 .00
PRS - Elite Lightweight
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*********************************
EPIC SPECIALS
Epic V10L Club
Club 17.5kg Blue nose
Price: $2900.00: Special Price $1900.00
************
Epic V12 Performance
Performance Black Nose 15.5kg
Price $3700.00: Special
$2995.00
************
Epic V14 Performance
Performance Black Nose 15.kg
Price $3700.00: Special
$3300.00
*******************************
Avon Cap
Back in Stock
Price: $20.00
*******************************
Avon T Shirt
Price: $40.00
Stories
Racing the Cockle
mk 7
It was such a special day,
it was Anzac day so I had to do something special to commemorate
the day. It was time to bring out the Cockle mark 7. It wasn't
part of the first World War but it was made in 1944 and used
in the second World War.
With the Cockle 7 being 71 years old,
I was hoping that 75 year old Ray Smith was going to be at
the training session to paddle it with me. Unfortunately he
had family commitments so Bruce McWhirter took the front seat.
Alaine would have paddled with me but she had something more
important to do, time the race.
There were 32 paddlers who turned up
for the training, some had already been to a dawn service
and others like me were going to the 11.00am service.
Bruce and I took to the water to get a feel of the heavy kayak.
The Cockle 7 is a 54kg, aluminum, three piece kayak, it has
a round hull with two stabilizing channels on the hull. These
channels fill with water making the kayak even heavier to
paddle but they do help with stability.
We had no rudder on the Cockle 7 so
we practiced a couple of turns as we needed to get around
two spit posts in the race and do them at racing speed. The
kayak didn't spin on a dime but we leaned it over and used
sweep strokes and it came around. Well at least we knew now
we could turn it.
We paddled to the line, but this wasn't
your average kayak we were paddling, this was a heavy tea
pot as it is sometimes been called, which is rarely seen on
the water anywhere in the world. You might find 2 or 3 of
them in museums and you might find another one still floating,
but I shouldn't think you will find another one racing. Alaine
and I have raced the Perth to Fremantle, the Barkers Bridge
and return and a few others. So we knew what it is like to
be last.
Alaine shouted go and we were off. I
thought we would have more trouble with the wash of all the
other boats but we seemed to just plough through the wash
like an ice breaker. All the fast paddlers were gone leaving
some of the slower paddlers to paddle alongside of us. It
was a bit of shock paddling such a heavy kayak but it wasn't
just the weight that made it so difficult to paddle. We were
sat fairly low and with the kayak being so wide we had to
avoid hitting our knuckles on the fittings. Being aluminum
and stainless steel they weren't soft to the touch. Occasionally
I would hit one of sail rope tie off cleats and it hurt my
finger but at least it encouraged me to paddle higher and
wider. Our seats weren't very far apart so every so often
I would clip the back of Bruce's PFD, but he didn't complain.
We pushed on keeping up with Helen and
Mason and there were even paddlers behind us. Occasionally
Bruce would clip one of the outrigger posts that stuck up
off the deck and certainly were a problem to miss. Knowing
that we would be clipping parts of the aluminum frame we paddled
with conventional paddles rather than our Epic paddles.
Getting your paddle close
to the boat on the catch is important but it is much harder
to achieve in the Cockle 7 due to the outrigger stays
It was tough going and I was quite pleased
to have reached our first turn. I steered us wide and with
Helen and Mason beside us we took the turn carefully. We didn't
want to be swimming like Peter Liddle was, who had a tangle
with Spencer and came off second best. We cornered well but
not as good as Helen and and Mason who got a few metres ahead.
With over two kilometres to go we could see a long line of
paddlers well in front of us. We would have been up there
with them if we had paddled a normal boat, we thought!
I clipped my finger on a cleat again.
It hurt but I was strong and didn't cry, I kept paddling.
Helen and Mason were leaving us behind, they were either feeling
good or we were slowing down? We kept slogging in but we seemed
to be leaning to one side which steered us slightly to the
right so I was paddling harder on the right to compensate.
Unbeknown to me, Bruce thought we were heading to the left
so he was paddling harder on the left to get us over to the
right. So we were paddling slightly against each other and
we didn't realise it.
I have done hundreds of Saturday morning
races but today hurt my body more than any other. At least
with Alaine I could take it a little easier but I had no chance
of doing that with Bruce, we were powering along. This was
probably the fastest that this type of kayak had ever travelled
by paddles alone.
As we came up to the jetty some of the
other paddlers were finishing and we still had about 600 metres
to go. We came up to the second spit post turn where we started
our turn a little too soon but we managed to correct our path
and get around to do the the last 300 metre sprint to the
finish line.
The 54 kilo kayak bear heavy on our
bodies as we tried to accelerate around the last corner. The
finish line was in sight and with muscles aching we sprinted
to the finish. I thought I had a fast rating but I was finding
it hard to keep up with Bruce's rating. We finished and what
a great feeling and what a relief.
Bruce said, he might not come to training
next Anzac Day!
Because the Cockle mark
7 was going to see active service in tropical places like
Burma they decided to build it in aluminum instead of the
usual plywood or canvas due to tropical conditions, sharp
hard coral, attacks from wood boring beetles and other bugs.
The British made several
versions of the Cockle kayak first from canvas, then plywood,
then aluminum. They also made a motorized version and they
even had a diving kayak like a submarine.
************************
You don't have to go far
on the Swan River to see a good range of birds. This Brown
Falcon wasn't in a hurry when we passed it by the other morning.
It was perched high on a dead tree on the South Guildford
side of the river and it was still there when we returned
but unfortunately I didn't have my good camera with me to
get that clearer shot. Even if you race it's refreshing to
get in a canoe or a stable kayak to relax and look to see
what is around you. There are more than ducks, darters, cormorants
and pelicans on the river that we see every time we go out.
Alaine checks out the
Brown Falcon while Dexter checks for fish
************************
Freya Hoffmeister
26,832 kilometers Around South America
It's all Over
I have the pleasure to invite you to
the ceremony on May 1 for Freya Hoffmeister, the best expedition
kayaker in the world, coming to Puerto Madero finishing the
first circumnavigation of South America. Freya paddled from
Buenos Aires on August 30, 2011 and after 26,832 kilometers
traveled back to the city where she was starting from with
a new world record under her belt, being the first person
to perform this feat.
Freya, 50, will be escorted by dozens of kayakers, and she
will be received with full military honors of the Argentine
Navy at the Fragata Sarmiento, both by local authorities and
members of European diplomats and media Argentines and international.
All paddlers are very much welcome to
be part of the arrival ceremony on the water. You will be
paddling a short distance on sheltered waters inside Puerto
Madero. The start will be from the new jetties at -34.62043,
-58.36295. The kayakers will wait for Freya at the port entrance
at -34.59508, -58.36479 while she is paddling in from her
current arrival spot , and escort her to the Fregata Sarmiento
at -34.60893, -58.36571.
Please contact Javier Perez chango70@hotmail.com
to sign up on a list for the paddling escort and for possible
access to the ceremony on the Fregata.
Every non-paddler is surely welcome
to watch the event from any spot on the harbor!
http://freyahoffmeister.com/
Trip
of the Week
The Franklin
Jan 2015:
Tall Stories from a deep river
Bryan Lee
Part One
Our 10 day trip started on Tuesday Jan 13th with some very
promising sunny weather for our 5 hour drive from Hobart up
to the put in on the Collingwood River (which is about half
a day's paddle above the Collingwood- Franklin confluence).
As a consequence of the last week or so of sunny weather in
Tasmania the water level on the Collingwood River was quite
low at only 0.7m and the first day proved quite arduous for
the heavily laden support rafts scraping their way down the
shallow GII rapids. In contrast I felt a bit guilty how easily
I and the other paddlers drifted down the shallow river in
my unladen Mamba 8.1 creeker. All our camping gear was in
the rafts as planned so that we could travel light and fully
enjoy the white water to come.
The other WA paddlers on
this trip included Alastair Fyfe (aka Ali or Alice), Demelza
(Melzi) and Rob Wall (aka Alby Mangels), Mal Henning, and
Duncan Ellis. In the gear support rafts also from WA were
my wife Susan Lee (currently doing the women of the Avon course),
David Fyfe and Michelle Fyfe (Alastair's Dad and sister).
Little did we know however,
that first day was going to be the last day of fine weather
until 8 days later. Most of the days the rain was quite fine
and intermittent but by the second and third days the river
was definitely starting to rise. The first rapid of consequence
on the Franklin occurred on day 2 at a place called Log Jam
where a log across the river required us to scout first before
deciding it was safe to shoot the small 1.5m waterfall. Having
a competent paddler in my nephew Alastair in the party, I
chivalrously offered him the lead giving him the first shot
at the drop which he expertly negotiated with the minimum
of fuss....
Next
was myself who to make it a bit more challenging (intentionally
of course!) ran the drop somewhat sideways and got sucked
slightly river left where a side current forced me to edge
strongly downstream in order to maintain balance. I was glad
to find all those canoe polo edging drills were finally paying
off! The rest of the paddlers and rafters had no problems
and we continued the long haul down Descension Gorge to Irenabyss
campsite.
At one particular point
just before Irenabyss, the river narrowed through a deep gorge
and young Ali, Michelle and Melzi having been couped up in
their kayaks too long from a long day of paddling decided
to tackle a bit of rock climbing up the cliff face to stretch
their legs. On reaching a ledge about 20m up both Ali and
Melzi decided the quickest way back down was to jump off into
the chilly waters below. In fact I was not surprised that
Melzi decided it was so much fun she needed to do it again.
What was more surprising I thought was that Alby, her Dad
and a rock climber of well known local repute refrained from
joining her. I secretly think he was trying to disprove the
"idiot gene" theory we had ascribed to him for previous
crazy antics (but that's another story!). Oh well, never mind
Melzi, you're are not to blame. It does sound like this idiot
gene theory is hereditary after all!
Irenabyss campsite was quite damp that afternoon with the
constant drizzle and low cloud cover but myself, Michelle
Fyfe and Duncan Ellis not to be put off decided we would at
least start out on the Frenchmans Cap walking trail. "
Walking trail" as indicated on the trail map, was a bit
of a misnomer.... the first couple of hours it was more like
vertical climbing on all fours over slippery tree roots and
muddy foot and hand holds. Eventually we had to abandon going
any further due to poor light and since the low cloud cover
precluded seeing any of the views our enthusiasm had somewhat
dampened. Bugger, this was a real disappointment for me but
the weather Gods were not cooperating (as they tend not to
in Tasi!). I heard later that another WA party consisting
of Mike Wood, Pete Nidd and Greg Harvey (amongst others) who
were a week ahead of us on the river enjoyed gloriously sunny
weather for most of their trip and successfully negotiated
the 10 hour side trip to the top of Frenchman's Cap. Such
was their luck.
The next two days paddling was fairly relaxed and scenic with
many class III-IV rapids and numerous pristine waterfalls
cascading into the river. The waterfalls now flowing at a
good rate with all the rain were a welcome relief to paddle
under and enjoy a sparking fresh shower and drink without
even leaving our kayaks. Blushrock Falls were a sight to see
and Sideslip, the Churn and Corkscrew rapids were all negotiated
with some paddling and some electing to portage.
The other encounter of note on this stretch of river was the
gigantic whirlpool encountered by me just above Camp Arcade.
Unfortunately apart from myself, Ali was the only other witness
to the horror and being somewhat unfirm of mind (well he did
jump off a perfectly good rock ledge into the river - he must
have knocked his head?) his retelling of the details tend
to be somewhat unreliable! This whirlpool was so powerful
that it sucked me down, kayak and all, holding me under for
at least 15 minutes before ripping me right out of my creek
boat, spray deck and all! Meanwhile Ali unperturbed by my
precarious clutch at life happily continued filming (on my
Go Pro no less) to add insult to injury! I gather there might
even be some selectively edited video footage of this escapade
floating around but don't always believe what you see. Of
course, you've heard the true story here from me.....don't
be deceived by any heavily photo shopped video of me drowning
in a tranquil backwater millpond!
Bryan Lee at the top of Corkscrew rapid
By the time we reached
the start of the Great Ravine at the end of day 4 we decided
to camp at the top of Coruscades and save the portage for
the next day. Coruscades being a rather gnarly rapid with
two massive holes blocking pretty much the full width of the
river was a compulsory river left portage for all the kayakers.
We did not relish becoming another Franklin fatality statistic
as per the dozen or more people who have perished on the Franklin
in the last 30 years. We were happy to portage any of the
rapids that had previously claimed lives and for the most
part this was done with varying degrees of difficulty on river
left. However at Coruscades, we were hopeful that we could
line the two heavy gear rafts down and save the tedious job
of unpacking, portaging and repacking them, at minimum a half
day exercise. As we set up camp against the thunderous roar
of this massive rapid the rain had by this time really set
in. Sleeping under just a single large tarp was no longer
sufficiently water proof but fortunately we had plenty of
spare tarps to close in the sides of our entire shelter perched
5m up the wall of the Great Ravine.
The next morning all the
accumulated rain in the river catchment over the last few
days had pushed the river level up another 3+m overnight,
so much so that Alby and Mal who were camped closer to the
river had a rather disturbed sleep having to shift camp to
higher ground or get washed away. No way were we going to
be able to line the rafts down Coruscades this day and indeed
not for another 2 days until the water had dropped back.
The same rapid the morning
after
Don't miss Part 2 next week.
Race of the Week
Pinjarra to
Ravenswood 2015
I didn't get to the race
due to preparing to move our shop location across the road
but it looked as if it was a good race.
Division 3 line up and
start. Photo Peter Ashby
Bonnie being pushed by
the double. Photo Peter Ashby
Division 2 taking off.
Photo Peter Ashby
It's hard enough paddling
17kilometres in a K1 but Wendy Burdett paddled her new Epic
V7 and did a very good time of 1:47:57. Photo Peter Ashby
Results here: http://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=41245&did=47082
2nd Hand Boats
******************
WWR Buoys Race
9th May
Venue: Ascot Kayak Club
Rego time 12.00-12.30
Online Registration: www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=40491
Fee: $10.00 CWA members (pay on day)
Briefing: 13.00 - 13.15hrs
Start: 13.30hrs
Race Director: Alan Moreby mob: 0411 565 283
******************
Paddle Challenge
17th May 2015
Garret Road Bridge to
Guildford Bridge and around Ascot Waters Island
http://wa.canoe.org.au/2015/05/01/be-active-paddle-challenge-2015-entry-form/
******************
Double Barkers
Sunday 24th May Marathon
# 6 --
Location Ascot Kayak Club, Garvey Park, Barkers Bridge &
Ron Courtney Island