Enjoy your CDU Newsletter
Published: Thu, 02/16/17
533
16th February 2017
Message Bank
With the Avon River still in flood it is lure for paddlers
to get out there and give it a go as it's usually a once in
a 6-10 year event. For the skilled, experience paddler there
is less chance of getting into difficulty but if you put that
same skilled paddler into a kayak that is super unstable,
then that skilled paddler suddenly becomes an intermediate
paddler because they don't have the same control of the craft.
So remember to choose the right boat for the water conditions.
We don't always do what the safety code tells us for varying
reasons. It says we should always paddle white water with
a minimun of three. This becomes more important in higher
water levels where you might need rescuing. At Bells at the
weekend there were kayakers paddling on their own and I noticed
not all of them had the skill to be out there in the kayak
they were paddling. Make sure you pick a kayak that you are
stable in, have control of and are comfortable with and not
a kayak that you are jittering with every wave paddled over.
Experienced playboaters and slalom paddlers are usually more
highly skilled than most paddlers and can better handle the
rougher waters, but when negotiating big rapids even experienced
paddlers should be paddling with others. Remember if you paddle
alone and have a spill, who will know?
So what happens if a paddler gets into difficulty and wraps
their kayak around a tree in the middle of the river. The
water is generally going that fast that paddlers can't turn
around to help, especially if they are in an unstable, less
manoeuvrable kayak. (Even good rescue paddlers with ropes
and safety gear would be struggling to help a pinned paddler.)
The pinned paddler might be lucky enough to get washed out
of the cockpit and be safe, but if the paddler is forced against
the obstacle by the powerful current and can't get free, then
what happens?
Even if you are an experienced paddler, when on trips you
really need to consider your weakest, less skilful paddler
with you. If you think that paddler can't handle the rapids
you shouldn't be taking them or they need to be paddling a
stable craft that they are comfortable with and can handle.
The water speed is so fast that there is so little time to
react. Fast water needs quick reflexes and decisive decisions,
a misjudged decision could be fatal.
Unstable K1s are not really suited to flooded rivers where
there are big rapids. Even DR kayaks are not suited to the
average DR paddler in flooded rapid rivers where there are
a multitude of trees. They are hard to manoeuvre if you get
pushed off line. You only need to see the force of the water
it has on the spit posts down here on the flats in Bassendean
to see how dangerous a slender tree can be. Leave K1s and
DRs at home unless you are super experienced or wait for the
water to drop.
We all do crazy things which are life threatening, that's
part of life for many and I have been there, but before you
take on that flooded river think how prepared you are, think
about the consequences if things should go wrong, not just
for yourself, but for your friends you have with you or your
love ones at home.
Much of a flooded river can be easy to paddle if you keep
within the river banks but it's usually the big rapids between
the easy bits that will catch you out or that tree that just
happens to be in your way.
If you know your skills are not up to the conditions just
pick the easy sections to paddle or wait until the river drops.
Don't forget what happened the last time we had a flooded
river down south. It affected a lot of people.
Bells Rapid 11th February 2.1m at Walyunga.
Photo Royd Bussell
Emu Falls 11th February 2.1m at Walyunga.
Photo Royd Bussell
A play paddler at Bells. Some paddlers can
paddle and have control, where others just try to survive.
At least these two paddlers put in below Dogs
Breakfast but hitting a tree in the middle of the wide river
and having to swim without safety gear is asking for trouble.
************************************
Into The Wild
In 1982 we didn't have mobile phones, satellite
phones, GPSs, reliable EPIRBs, digital cameras, Go Pros cameras
so when you went on a remote expedition it was just you and
the wilderness and it meant that if you were going to survive
or get out of a sticky situation you had to be prepared and
organised.
The 100 day solo expedition around the remote
Kimberley Coastline was the most defining expedition I have
undertaken. There was no doubt that swanning around the remote
Kimberley Coast going up rivers and creeks and walking where
no other white person had ever been was a little dangerous.
To lesson those dangers I had to make sure my skills and abilities,
my physical fitness, my equipment and my mental state was
ready for whatever was thrown at me. You just don't go out
there hoping for the best, you train and prepare.
I had come 2nd an 3rd in the Avon Descent and
I had paddled 220kms in 24 hours as well as doing a lot of
ocean paddling slalom, down river, canoe polo and flatwater
racing. I was brought up on a farm so I wasn't afraid to get
my hands dirty or butcher an animal. I had worked up in the
Kimberley so I had some sort of insight to the conditions.
By the time I started that expedition I don't
think I could have been any more prepared for the 10 metre
tides, the whirlpools and overfalls, the heat, the isolation
and the crocs and sharks.
With four weeks of food and heaps of equipment
the kayak sat low
Because I wasn't allowed to take a firearm
I decided to take a bow, however it still wouldn't protect
me from the crocodiles
My 16mm camera and housing was heavy and I
improvised and adapted different types of tripods to get footage
of myself. I slept in a hammock whenever I felt that crocodiles
were around, sleeping as high as possible. The hammock turned
into a swag and it was also used as a fly for my mosquito
tent.
My split spare paddle was also used as tent
poles. My hammock/swag was used as a tent fly, however it
wasn't used very often as the weather tended to be good.
I walked to investigate the country around
me daily. I was always on the look out for fresh water. I
always took with me my spear which I made out of a young wattle
tree and was tipped with a metal rod and bound by copper wire.
I made it when I stayed with local Aborigines at Lombadina
for ten days. They taught me alot about survival in the bush.
When I carried the spear I felt safer and I also used it as
a walking stick through the rough terrain. I had 100,000 maps
of the entire coastline which were great.
One of my main problems was finding fresh
water and a lot of the time I would have to paddle way up
to the end of creeks to find water which were always the habitat
of salt water crocodiles. I would carry 50 litres of water
which would last me ten days. I also fished to supplement
my diet of dried foods.
Whenever I ran out of fresh water I would
have to boil saltwater and the steam would condense into freshwater.
Unfortunately because the bottle and tubes were made of aluminium
the water did have a taste. I usually mixed it in with my
cooking.
You need to be a good white water paddler
if you are paddling the Kimberley Coast
If you take the right precautions, have the
skill, the fitness, the equipment you will be safer and can
enjoy the journey that you are on.
Read about that expedition here:
https://terrybolland.com/kimberley-kayak-expedition-1/
https://terrybolland.com/kimberley-kayak-expedition-1-part-2/
Training & Courses
Saturday Morning
Training
7.15am for a 7.30am start
Sandy Beach Reserve, West Road,
Bassendean
*******************
Monday Night Training
Ascot Kayak Club 5.45pm
Today unless the Avon Descent
is near most paddlers paddle lightweight composite skis and kayaks.
************************
In the good old days - when we were younger,
most paddlers paddle plastic. Photos 2006
Look how young they are
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************************
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Extracts Weir
Rapid
Stephen Pilton tackling
Extracts Weir in the 1983
Steve's daughter Sam
Pilton tackling Extracts Weir in the 2017, 34 years later.
Some rapids can be safer when they are high, than when they
are low
John Carol has just completed
the NZ Coast to Coast for the second time.
Paddling in paddocks.
The flood plain at Guildford Tuesday morning
8 Swans paddling against
a fast current between Ron Courtney Island and Garvey Park
on Tuesday morning
A cattle turd floating
down the river. Just don't swim in the river until it is fully
flushed out and returns to good health. It might take a while.
Nikki
Over two months has gone by since Nikki
broke her leg at a dog wash facility. She has now had her
plates removed from her leg and although most of the break
is healing well she still has part that needs more healing
so the large bandage is making sure that she cannot move that
leg.
So she still can't go on walks other
than to the toilet or to the car to visit the vet. However
she seems to be managing very well with three legs. She is
happy but she would be happier if she could go for a proper
walk and a good run.
Nikki having a snooze
after visiting the vet. At first she had troubles trying to
stand up from the lying position.
Race of the Week
City Lights
Race
5th March