Enjoy the CDU Newsletter
Published: Fri, 04/07/17
539
7th April 2017
Message Bank
On Tuesday night I had an interview with Jenny
Wallace from the 91.3 Sports FM radio station.
Click here to go to the interview. Also listen
to the ladies chat away after the interview.
http://www.sportfm.com.au/20170404_sports_chat.mp3
Go to the 27th minute to the 46th minute
SportFM 91.3 is a Perth-based community radio station that
offers a unique service to the community and the world.
They provide an outlet for grassroots – and even elite
level – that receive little to no coverage from commercial
radio.
**********************************
A Trip Around Falcon Island
I joined Alan and John for a 27.5km paddle
around Falcon Island. Here the wind helps to blow us home.
In July John Breed and I will be returning to
Canada to complete the Across Canada Paddle I started some
years ago. On that trip which was from the Rocky Mountains
to Lake Superior I completed about 3800kms. To finish that
trip we will paddle 2500kms from Thunder Bay in Lake Superior,
the biggest lake in the world, to New York City USA.
We start off by paddling 550kms along Lake Superior, another
320kms along Lake Huron, before paddling up the French River
skirting the rapids to Lake Nipissing. Once over the ridge
and a portage we then paddle down the Mattawa River and into
the Ottawa River which has huge rapids, many we will have
to portage. We pass through Ottawa City and Montreal City
portaging locks along the way, before paddling up the Richelieu
River and into the USA. It's here we hope the Americans will
let us through the border.
At the top of the Richelieu River we paddle
through a canal with many locks to get to the Hudson River.
Once on the Hudson River we paddle down to New York City.
After the French River there will be many rapids
and locks to portage.
***************************************
Rod Fry Race
When most paddlers were thinking about which
boat to paddle in the Rod Fry Race John Hilton never doubted
his skill in the rough water. Despite the rough he still paddled
his K1 which is a feat in itself but he and young Tom Green
paddled them without a spraydeck.
I asked Tom how he went and he admitted he
was doing a lot of bracing and it was impossible to get into
a good rhythme.
***************************************
Can you believe it. Duckling are back
The information says that they breed in September
to November in the south; and after rain in the north!
*******************
Unite on the Swan
This Sunday
Date: Sunday, 9 April 2017
Time: 7-9 am
Cost: Adults: $10.00 and Children: $5.00
Location: Claisebrook Cove, East Perth - Swan River
Being early on a Sunday there shouldn't be to much motor
boat traffic, but still be vigilant.
We won't be corralling or rafting in the motor boat channel
or the No Go Zone. If you do drift into the channel or no
zone please paddle out of there and move another spot on the
river.
Accepted Craft
Canoes, skis and kayaks are accepted under the Guinness World
Record regulations. This includes peddle and paddle propelled
kayaks.
Book here: http://waterwanderers.com.au/booking/index.html
Training & Courses
Saturday Morning Training
7.15am for a 7.30am start
Sandy Beach Reserve, West Road,
Bassendean
10km Race this week
*******************
Monday Night Training
Ascot Kayak Club 5.45pm
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***********************
Are You Ready
for an Epic Ski
or an Epic Paddle
Stories
The Rod Fry
Race
I try to get to the Rod
Fry race every year as Rod was a paddler I used to race against
in a C1slalom, downriver and sprint. At the age of 15 or 16,
in 1981 I invited him to paddle with me in a slalom team event
at the Australian Championships in Nymboida NSW. Although
he had only just started paddling he managed to do a better
job than I did and he never looked back becoming extremely
skilled paddler, especially in C1 & C2.
Rod was killed in a car
accident whilst returning from a paddling holiday at Yallingup
some years later.
The briefing
The conditions were not
that good for the race, well at least the first section. Just
trying to keep upright at the start was a challenge and two
or three boats decided not to paddle.
Once we got going it wasn't
quite as bad and as long as we avoided the large boat wakes
we were pretty happy. I paddled double ski with Alaine and
only 500 metres from the start we could see we were out classed.
Darryl and Bae Hooper were off with Michael and Jane Liddle
not that far behind and Ray and Ann Smith also well in front.
I was trying to work out how we could get more speed. I'm
sure others would have thought of about getting rid of Alaine
on the back, but not me, she was too valuable an asset.
Heading down to the yatch
club with the wind and boat washes was great. We even started
catching Ray and Ann and we were going good heading towards
Fremantle Bridge but then a big boat wash came through and
it didn't seem to help us to go in the direction we wanted
to go so Ray and Ann got a little further away again.
I was confident that after
the turn we could make good progress and catch them up as
I could feel it in my blood but somehow it didn't work out
that way, they got further ahead. I thought someone had said
the tide was coming in but it didn't feel like that and it
seemed we were about to come to a standstill after Point Roe.
However we were catching Warren Southwell which pleased us
but then he stopped and backed up, I suppose to get weed off
his rudder. What ever he did it worked because after that
he took off leaving us behind.
By now we were cursing
our speed but a paddler who was close by said afterwards that
we were going great and had left him well behind. How strange
is that!
Once we got to Chidley
Point and we could see our destination things got better but
then the chop seemed to get worse but probably not as bad
as an hour earlier.
Although we were the forth
double ski we made it and we had an interesting paddle once
again
Chris Watson after he
finished
Doug Hodson on his way
over the line
Bradley Stewart and Andrew
Hewlett powering home
As we waited for the presentation
we enjoyed a sausage sizzle up in the Swan Canoe Club clubrooms.
Their new alterations look fantastic. They now have a outdoor
balcony with a million dollar view. It was great to see paddlers
that we don't usually see that often and have a good chit-chat.
Results here: https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=96720
Young Luke Dooley had his
fill of food but couldn't wait for the presentaions as he
had bigger things to do. He wanted to paddle home which was
a mere 25kms, not that far for a young paddle.
Luke taking off from
Swan Canoe Club and heading home, only 25kms to go.
As I was having coffee
on the balcony Luke arrived back after his 25km paddle.
He so much reminds me
of the things I used to do.
*************************
Circumnavigating
Falcon Island (Mandurah) 27.5kms
Alan had a rostered day
off, John was retired, I was semi-retired so John thought
we have a day to spare so let's go and circumnavigate an island.
Ron Courtney was too small, Rottnest Island was too far away
and too much of a challenge to get there, Garden Island was
35kms from Woodman Point and back, a little too many kilometres
for three old guys, so he thought of Falcon Island at Mandurah.
Falcon Island, didn't used to be an island until they dredged
a great big channel (the Dawesville Cut) from the inlet to
the sea. I don't even know if the man-made island has a name
but because we had a very good cheap $10.00 breakfast at Falcon
Bay, lets call it Falcon Island.
Leaving Mandurah
Not having visited Mandurah
for sometime I was surprised to see a new road bridge being
built. The works were taking up all the parking on the northern
side so we instead parked just south of the old bridge and
unloaded. There was talk on the way down about which way we
should go around the island. It was probably more sensible
to take the river / estuary route to the Cut and paddle back
with the wind in the ocean.
However John was told about
a $10.00 breakfast at the cafe at Falcon Bay so we decided
to paddle in the ocean first and as there was virtually no
wind it worked out being pretty good, we arrived at our breakfast
spot sooner than if we had paddled the estuary/river first.
Alan passing a rocky
part of the coast
The Falcon Bay Cafe: $10.00 breakfast
John and Alan couldn't
believe you can get a coffee, toast, bacon, 2 eggs, harsh
brown, 1/2 tomato and me to chat to for $10.00
Landing at Falcon Bay 11.5kms
after starting, we walked across the road and found the cafe.
And yes it was true, they did serve breakfast for $10.00 which
had been hard to believe. Coffee, toast, bacon, 2 eggs, harsh
brown, 1/2 tomato for $10.00, surely they couldn't be making
any profit.
We sat there enjoying our
breakfast talking about other expeditions and about the one
that John and I were going to embark on in July. How good
was it to be socializing!
Back on the water the wind
had picked up and the ocean was a lot more stirred up than
before breakfast, nevertheless it made paddling more interesting.
We eventually reach the Dawesville Cut where the water calmed,
fisherman lined the banks and where two dolphins were sauntering
near the bridge.
The bridge at the Dawesville Cut
In no time we were in the
estuary and heading north for 10kms. I started telling more
stories of my previous expeditions. By the time John and I
have finish our 2500km expedition in Canada and US he will
probably be bored of hearing them over and over again. I mentioned
that no one usually goes on one of my expeditions more than
once and in Johns case it might be because he is bored of
my stories.
The wind started to increase
and we were helped along and the closer we got to Mandurah
the stronger the wind and the faster we went. This sort of
paddling was good fun so I didn't need to tell any more stories
to fill in the day or put a smile on Alan and John's faces,
they were enjoying the ride too much.
We paddled under the new
bridge with speed. Dolphins were ahead and one ducked under
our double kayak and swam in front of Alan. It straightened
up and for several seconds Alan was surfing in the wake of
the dolphin. It was as if the dolphin was leading Alan somewhere.
Then it disappeared and we were left to talk about the experience.
Meanwhile, while we were
enjoying life, most people like young Luke Dooley were at
school taking part in a maths exam or Alaine who was at work
in the office dealing with people.We thought of you all.
In a few minutes we had
landed at out start point after paddling 27.5kms and having
such an enjoyable time and it wasn't even the weekend.
***************************
Dawesville Channel
(Cut) 1994
The channel was constructed
to alleviate an environmental problem which had developed
where much of the 136 km², two metre deep estuarine system
had become eutrophic. The adjoining estuaries' ability to
support the natural flora and fauna had become seriously degraded
and the smell of rotting algae, particularly during the summer
months had caused increasing complaints from residents. Stocks
of the normally abundant fish and crabs had become depleted
and recreational use was impacted. The deteriorating environmental
situation became a major political and environmental issue
for the Government of Western Australia during the mid-1980s.
The channel allows seawater from the
Indian Ocean to regularly flush in and out of the estuary
using the daily tidal movements which in turn prevent the
buildup of algae.
After several years of
deliberations, a decision was made to build the channel at
an estimated cost of $37 million. The channel's construction
commenced in 1990 and was completed in April 1994. It is about
2.5 kilometres long, 200 metres wide and between 6 and 6.5
metres deep. Construction involved the excavation of about
4.5 million cubic metres of material.
Race of the Week
WA State Championships
2017
Luke Dooley with Tyler
Armenti
It was looking I'd have to wear my white water helmet when
I was woken at 0300 by what sounded an awful lot like hail
on the roof. Thank fully, it soon subsided and by the time
I properly rose at 0530, it was just a drizzle. The winds
unfortunately did not calm and it remained very gusty and
cloudy, putting Sunday's weather in stark contrast to Saturday's
which was near perfect.
Earlier in the week, I got a message on my phone from Doug
reading: "Hi Luke. Terry has put your name down for volunteering
to help set up the course. I'll see you at 0645 Saturday and
Sunday". My immediate thought was "that's awfully
kind of you Terry to put my name down to save me the bother
of doing it myself".
So, Terry and I arrived at Ascot at quarter to seven on the
windy, cold and drizzly morning and got straight down to the
business of setting up all the tents, the portage and chairs.
I was paddling in the mixed doubles with Tyler Armenti; our
main competition being the more experienced mixed crew of
Mark Lawson and Bronwyn Martin. I had faith that we could
both beat our respective rivals in a K1, but whether or not
we could pull it off in the K2 together was what we had no
idea about. After some pre-race predictions and excuses in
some cases, it was time to hit the water. This was a nervous
moment for both of us as we'd only met the day before, never
paddled together before, never seen each other paddle and
I'd never done mixed doubles before so it was going to be
a race filled with new experiences for both of us.
After the K1 race the previous
day, we had at least well-rehearsed the laps of the course
and considering mixed doubles didn't portage and we were only
doing 15 kilometres, the race was going to be over in a flash.
We got onto the water and didn't capsize; so far, so good!
We did a few sprints to warm up and seemed to be able to achieve
a pretty fast pace with no leans and perfect timing, so it
was looking like it was going to be an enjoyable race. We
lined up nice and early for the start because I didn't want
to miss it after the unexpected one yesterday. It seemed like
a long wait and it was hard to hold the line with the buoy
getting in the way and the gusty winds pushing us onto it.
Finally, we were off!
We headed off straight
into the wind but still managed to keep a decent speed. The
K2 of Luke Egger and Tom Green looked as strong as, if not
stronger than what they did in Sydney during their K2 race.
We tried to hang onto their wash, but weren't able to keep
up with their immense pace. They left us behind without a
hope of catching them. We then tried to hang onto Darryl Long
and John Hilton's wash, but were quickly left behind when
we got into the shallows and were hit by the wind. Brad and
Glen Steward gave us some wash until the first turn, but after
rounding the buoys, it was clear we'd have to hold off Mark
and Bronwyn under our own steam. We did manage to get a much
better start to the team and were able to make the work to
gain our wash.
Luke Egger & Tom
Green lead Daryl Long & John Hilton. Photo John Sullivan
I was impressed when Peter
Liddle and Warren Southwell turned out to be behind us. The
K2 team is very hard to beat on a Wednesday night at the club
race from the point of view of a 14kg K1. They seemed to be
catching us very slowly, but after we'd paddled through the
portage they had to run, we saw no more of them for the rest
of the race. By this stage, we were more than half a lap into
the race and we'd not yet seen or heard from Mark and Bronwyn.
I was very pleased with our performance which I mentioned
to Tyler who was holding a very good pace without too much
trouble at all. As we passed the start line again, indicating
we'd already done a quarter of our race, I was beginning to
question what had happened to the pair. Had they taken a swim
at the start? Did they miss the start like many yesterday?
Had they even started? Or were we just so fast they weren't
able to catch up?
As we came past the shallows
on the outside of Ron Courtney Island, I got my answer. It
was of course none of the above. It seemed we'd just had a
really good start and they simply had a bit of catching up
to do. The race was back on again! They'd snuck up onto our
inside and we hadn't noticed. That was until, I, and everyone
else in the race, heard Mark 'the freight train' Lawson begin
to catch his breath. We did a little burst to put pressure
on them, but it seemed completely useless as we only managed
to increase the pace by .2kms/ hr against the stiff, gusty
winds. They were on our wash now and it seemed it was going
to be a 10 kilometre warm up for the 500 metre sprint to the
finish.
Luke & Tyler and
Mark & Bronwyn at a turn buoy. Photo John Dinucci
After a relatively uneventful
second lap, it was time to start planning our all- important
final lap. My plan was to take it as easy as possible on the
next lap and a half, particularly the first half of the final
lap, to ensure we were in a good way to put up a very strong
finish. We hung on their wash as much as they'd allow for
the third lap, only taking the lead when absolutely necessary.
Unfortunately, Mark had been splashing me with his paddle
for much of the race and by that stage and the pool of water
in the bottom of the boat was starting to get big enough to
be of concern towards our speed, particularly as we were nearing
the final lap.
Once clear of the shallows of the island,
I asked Tyler how she was feeling, to which she replied a
reassuring, "very strong". We were on the side of
Mark and Bronwyn who began to, as they'd done so many other
times in the race, drop back to have a ride on our wash. We
had only about two kilometres to go so I thought, "right,
this is it!" Just as they began to drop and look for
a ride, I put the power down very hard, which Tyler thankfully
has able to more than keep up with. Our boat surged ahead,
leaving our opposition on our rear wash. I thought, "you
beauty, that's the first time I've tried that move so close
to the finish and it's paid off!" We could hear the cruelly
delightfully sounds from behind of Mark shouting at Bronwyn
to hurry, but then losing his breath as they struggled to
catch us.
Photo John Sullivan
Around the turn they tried to catch
up, but we matched their speed, meaning they dropped back
again. At this point, I thought, "right, let's really
put the hurt on them", and did another sprint directly
following Mark's failed catch up attempt. Once again, Tyler
matched my rhythm and pace perfectly. We now had nearly a
whole boat length margin on the other two which was fantastic
coming into the final half of the lap. Just before the portage
entry, the other two tried a sprint again with the same outcome.
As we passed the crowd, I could hear cheers of encouragement
coming from everyone chanting our names as best they could.
We were powering toward the finish and all I could heard behind
us was Mark becoming increasingly angry at poor Bronwyn. It
really was music to my ears, however I knew the final straight
was a long one. Being 500 metres or more, I kept the power
down as I knew the race wasn't nearly over yet.
Photo John Sullivan
I knew the final turn would
make or break our race. If we managed to get round with the
other two still a couple of boat lengths back, we were in
with a fair shout of winning it. If, however, the other boat
managed to catch us on the turn, it was really anyone's guess.
And by just our luck, they caught us. This time, it was a
very sarcastic 'you beauty' as I knew we were in for a 500
metre all out- leave nothing behind- sprint to the finish.
And off we went. It was a real struggle against the horrifying
winds to get a decent rhythm going, but it had to be done,
no matter what. I knew the odds were against us as we were
sitting in a lot of water and our lightweight speed was not
as much of an advantage against the strong winds, especially
against Mark the freight train, which wasn't stopping for
anything. Funnily enough, as the finish line slowly neared,
the power in our opposing boat seemed to be coming from Bronwyn
who'd seemingly kept quiet for the majority of the race. It
was anybody's guess for the last fifty metres. I was at full
throttle and couldn't give anything more. It felt like my
face was about to fall off at one point! Tyler seemed to be
keeping perfect time as usual, however I had no idea what
else was going on as all my attention and energy was going
into trying to get our nose those few millimetres in front.
Tyler was working her heart out, as was I, Mark's paddle sounded
like a paddle steamer had been hooked up to a very fiery V12
engine at full steam and Bronwyn was pulling an elephant out
of a hat. Crossing the line would have been more interesting
to watch than the finish of the Open Men's section in the
world championships. It would have been just the best photo
ever. And we sure needed a photo! We crossed the line and
the world seemed to pause for a few seconds. We'd pushed so
hard, I wasn't sure if I was alive!
After I seemingly regained
consciousness, we paddled over to the other two who were looking
about as good as we probably did. The trouble was that none
of us had any idea who'd won. We headed over to the timing
tent where it was revealed that the margin was .05 seconds.
Mark and Bronwyn had beaten us by .05 seconds after a 15 kilometre
race! I wasn't sure how they decided that, perhaps they'd
flipped a coin? Anyway, it was decided. Mark lit up with a
massive smile across his face, Bronwyn, who was still a little
out of it, managed to muster some sort of an expression, I
was the same and Tyler had the same happy smile she seemed
to have all weekend long.
It really was one of the best races I'd ever had. We were
strategically perfect the whole way round, but were just pipped
to the post by a more experienced crew. I'm sure there'll
have to be a Wednesday Night rematch sometime! We went back
and put nearly all of the water back into the river. I'm sure
the fish would have been grateful to be swimming again! I
was very fortunate to have Tyler as my partner. She managed
to keep time absolutely beautifully throughout the whole 15kms
which is really something considering she had to keep time
with a technique like mine and the very strong surges and
gusts of winds we experienced throughout the entire race.
If ever there was going to be a day not to paddle a flatwater
marathon in the back of a K2 with someone you've never met
before, this was the day! Completely to her own credit, Tyler
managed to tackle the conditions with ease.
After all that, it was
time to watch Terry complete his last lap with his race and
future adventure partner, John Breed. Running through the
portage, Terry was on a mission. At one point, it seemed he
was going to get back in the water and sprint all the way
to the finish whether John was in the boat or not! Poor John
was trying to lift the back of the boat, along with whatever
was left of the river after our race, and run keep up with
Terry. Thankfully, Terry took a bit of a break and allowed
John to put some of the water back into the river. I was very
impressed with their tight finish with Peter and Warren, whom
they finished only seconds behind due to capsizing.
John Breed & Terry
B. Photo John Dinucci
Catching up with everyone
after wards is always the more looked forward element of a
race and often one of the most entertaining. Terry was very
pleased with his race, especially having such a close finish
with Peter and Warren who are very fast together. Their unfortunate
spill allowed for an unexpectedly close finish between themselves
and John and Terry. It was quite a relief for me, only having
to paddle four laps and not having a portage. It was a bonus
to have a slightly easier race for the second day, as opposed
to the nationals where Max and I had two races over the weekend,
both around 22.5 kilometres each. Terry didn't quite share
my relief as he'd just done a race 1.5 times the length of
mine and made sure I knew about it! Perhaps I needed to have
paddled the mixed doubles, then hop into my K1 and do another
three or four laps to make it more of a challenge. The problem
with Terry is that while nowadays it doesn't take too long
before the younger paddlers can beat him in a race, trying
to keep up and compare with his list of accomplishments requires
the work of entire lifetimes. What's more is that he's still
adding to his list!
It was a fantastic race as we've come to expect when Doug
Hudson, Peter Martin and their crews are involved in the organisation.
I would definitely give mixed doubles a go another time; that
is of course, if Tyler will have me again!
Luke Dooley
Photo
of the Week
Captain James
Stirling Re-enactment
After our Saturday morning
training we saw this old sailing boat sail by Sandy Beach
Reserve, Bassendean. It was a sight to see. I was told later
that they were reacting Captain James Stirling exploration
of the Swan River in 1827, 190 years later. They had rowed
and sailed up to the upper reaches of the Swan River as far
as they could go. Now they were on their way back, this time
sailing and lying back like all good sailors do!
Heading back into history.
Captain James Stirling
was so impressed with the area that he wrote in his diary:
...the richness of the soil, the bright foliage of the shrubs,
the majesty of the surrounding trees, the abrupt and red colour
banks of the river occasionally seen, and the view of the
blue mountains, from which we were not far distant, made the
scenery of this spot as beautiful as anything of the kind
I have ever witnessed...
When Stirling returned
to establish the colony in 1829 he created three settlements:
Fremantle as the port; Perth as the major commercial and political
centre; and Guildford on the southern end of the Swan Valley
region. Descendants of many of the early families still reside
within the shire. Within the first ten years, two of Perth's
oldest churches had been built there: the first was St. Mary's
Church in Middle Swan, followed by All Saints Church, Henley
Brook built at the site of Stirling's 1827 camp. St. Mary's
was rebuilt in 1869 but All Saints still retains its original
structure and is thus Perth's oldest standing church.
History
Guildford, 12 km northeast of Perth city centre was established
in 1829 on the Swan River, being sited near a permanent fresh
water supply. During Captain Stirling's exploration for a
suitable site to establish a colony on the western side of
the Australian continent in the late 1820s, the exploration
party of boats found a fresh water stream across the river
from the site of Guildford which they called Success Hill.
Guildford was primarily the centre of the Swan River Colony
before Perth succeeded in being the dominant location on the
Swan Coastal Plain.
*******************************
Captain James
Stirling
Born 28 January 1791
Drumpellier, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Died
22 April 1865 (aged 74)
Woodbridge, Guildford, Surrey, England
Admiral Sir James Stirling
(28 January 1791 – 22 April 1865) was a British
naval officer and colonial administrator. His enthusiasm and
persistence persuaded the British Government to establish
the Swan River Colony and he became the first Governor and
Commander-in-Chief of Western Australia. In 1854, when Commander-in-Chief,
East Indies and China Station, Stirling on his own initiative
signed Britain's first Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty. Throughout
his career Stirling showed considerable diplomatic skill and
was selected for a number of sensitive missions. Paradoxically,
this was not reflected in his personal dealings with officialdom
and his hopes for preferment received many rebuffs.
Stirling entered the Royal
Navy at age 12 and as a midshipman saw action in the Napoleonic
Wars. Rapid promotion followed and when he was 21 he received
his first command, the 28-gun sloop HMS Brazen, and,
in the War of 1812 between the US and the UK, seized two prizes.
The Brazen carried the news of the end of that war to Fort
Bowyer and took part in carrying to England the British troops
that had captured the fort. On return to the West Indies,
Stirling made two surveys of the Venezuelan coast and reported
on the strengths, attitudes and dispositions of the Spanish
government and various revolutionary factions, later playing
a role in the British negotiations with these groups.
In his second command, HMS Success, he carried supplies
and coinage to Australia, but with a covert mission to assess
other nations' interest in the region and explore opportunities
for British settlements. He is chiefly remembered for his
exploration of the Swan River, followed by his eventual success
in lobbying the British Government to establish a settlement
there. On 30 December 1828, he was made Lieutenant-Governor
of the colony-to-be. He formally founded the city of Perth
and the port of Fremantle and oversaw the development of the
surrounding area and on 4 March 1831 he was confirmed as Governor
and Commander-in-Chief of the new territory, Western Australia,
in which post he remained until in 1838 he resumed his naval
career.
From 1840 to 1844, in command
of the 80-gun HMS Indus, he patrolled the Mediterranean
with instructions to 'show the flag' and keep an eye on the
French. In 1847, he was given command of the 120-gun first
rate ship of the line HMS Howe and his first commission
was to conduct Her Majesty, the Dowager Queen Adelaide on
trips to Lisbon and Madeira and then back to Osborne House
on the Isle of Wight. After that, the Howe was assigned to
the eastern Mediterranean, where she reinforced the squadron
led by Vice Admiral Parker using gunboat diplomacy to secure
an uneasy peace in the region.
Stirling's fifth and final command was as Commander in Chief,
China and the East Indies Station, and his flag, as Rear Admiral
of the White, was hoisted on HMS Winchester on 11 May
1854. Shortly afterwards news arrived that war had been declared
on Russia. Stirling was anxious to prevent Russian ships from
sheltering in Japanese ports and menacing allied shipping
and, after lengthy negotiations through the Governor of Nagasaki,
concluded a Treaty of Friendship with the Japanese. The treaty
was endorsed by the British Government, but Stirling was criticised
in the popular press for not finding and engaging with the
Russian fleet.
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The first European to explore
the river was Dutchman, Willem de Vlamingh, in 1697. It was
Vlamingh who named it ‘Swan River’ after its black
swans: to European eyes black was an unusual colour for swans
and worthy of note. In 1801, French explorer, Ensign Francois-Antoine
Boniface Heirrisson, sailed up the Swan River. Continued French
interest in the western part of the continent prompted New
South Wales’ Governor Darling to take action.
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2nd Hand Boats
Ace 415
One of the most popular
kayaks in the Avon Descent several years ago.
Great for white water touring or general paddling.
$350.00 each
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