Enjoy the CDU Newsletter
Published: Wed, 04/26/17
541
26th April 2017
Message Bank
The Canning Race took place on Sunday and it was such a beautiful
day. The competition was again fierce, the atmosphere was
very social and the Canning River Canoe Club had a lot of
prizes to give away. Although the tide was quite high I did
notice the shallow areas, which has many in this race. It
was an exceptionally good day, thanks to Canning CC but unfortunately
I didn't get any photos or see anyone taking any.
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Pinjarra to Ravenswood Race this Sunday so
get you entry in before Thursday night.
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Easter Friday evening Alaine, Luke and I went
for a semi-social paddle to Bassendean jetties. It's not far,
probably 8 kilometres round trip but good enough for a Friday
evening. Just before the jetties Luke was riding the wash
of a passing power boat before it turned around. Another boat
which had stopped suggested they would give him a ride. Unfortunately
when they were about to take off their engine wouldn't start
and suddenly they were stranded 1.4kms from the boat ramp
they put in at.
We were about to turn around and paddle home
but Alaine suggested we tow them to the boat ramp which was
okay with me because the tow rope would have to be tied around
Alaine's waist. So one rope was tied to Alaine and another
tied to Luke's waist so we had a 3 horse power motor. We started
our tow and although there was some jerking Alaine's waist
seemed to take the impact of the jarring rope and all went
very smoothly.
We knew how far the boat ramp was in our heads
but I suppose we didn't realise it was 1.4kms. The slow tow
was going well and as we passed the twin jetties at Bassendean
a lady took a photo. It would have been interesting to see.
By now the current was getting stronger and making our tow
just a little more difficult.
A little further a power boat came by but they
didn't offer to assist which was a bit miserable on their
behalf but being able to see the boat ramp a few hundred metres
ahead we were happy to go the whole way. The current got stronger
as we pulled our cargo through the Guildford Road Bridge pylons
but it just meant our workout was a little harder than our
semi-social paddle session we had planned.
We slowed our pace as we approached the boat
ramp and let the boat drift towards the ramp, untied it and
said our goodbyes to the couple. We took off like rockets,
it was amazing how easy our paddle back home was.
With the rope unshackled we were free to head
home
The couple appreciated the tow
Have a look further below at a few of Dave
Millar's photos he captured from his kayak recently
Back in 1978. Steve Pilton, Terry Bolland,
Roger Smith and Frank Salter on Rottnest Island.
Our kayaks used for the crossing were Lettman
Olympic 75 and a Cole S 67.
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Back in the 1980s and 90s Darryl Long, Piers
Goodman, Neil Long and Keron Hepworth were four WA Wild Water
paddlers who were top of their game. Back then WA had several
top Wild Water paddlers representing Australia
At the end of July WAs Kieran Simpson has
been selected to represent Australia in the U23 Wild Water
team to compete in Austria. Being a young paddler he hasn't
got a lot of money so if could help him by donating a few
dollars he would be very grateful.
To donate go here: https://www.gofundme.com/kieran-u23-world-champs-austria
WAs Genie Collin is now living in Europe and
she is also representing Australia in Wild Water
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Get ready for a wild winter
2017 WW Race Calendar
Race 1 : 13th May, AKC Buoys Race.
Race 2 : 11th June, Drain Race
Race 3 : 25th June, Upper Swan Race
Race 4 : 9th July, Walyunga to Bells Race
Race 5 : 19th August, Bells Rapids Race
Race 6 : State Championships and Geegelup Cup : 2nd &
3rd September, Bridgetown
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John Simms Race
7th May
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Kalbarri Canoe & Cray
Kalbarri Murchison River Dash on Sunday 4th
June,
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
Featured Products
Illusion Ski
(Kayak Centre)
Special Price: $1 200.00
List Price: $2 500.00
You Save: $1 300.00
The Illusion is a ski
designed to suit most water conditions. It of course depends
on the paddlers skill level. It's not suitable for a beginner
on a rough ocean but they would soon get used to it on flatter
conditions.
Because the hull has good volume through the tail, the deck
is fairly low and this in turn stops the wind effect the craft.
The other advantage is the ski is able to ride a shorter/steeper
run for longer periods before the nose digs into the waves.
It has enough rocker to allow it to have a tighter turning
circle.
The unique cowling stops water filling the cockpit area, saving
about 50% of the volume of water when punching through a wave.
The pedals are fully adjustable and are regarded as one of
the best systems in the world.
Length: 6.3m
Width: 440cm
Weight: 15kg Vacuum Infused
ONLY ONE LEFT on the Special Price:
$1 200.00
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Stories
The Newsletters
of the Past
Printing the Ascot Kayak
Club newsletter in 1978 on a Spirit Duplicator
Before the computer, before
the photocopier, even before the Gestetner all articles that
needed to be duplicated and made into newsletters had to be
typed on type writers on special paper and put through Spirit
duplicators like the one in the picture. It was a manual process
so you had to turn a handle to create every page. This time
consuming process wasn't the best of quality but it was all
the club had to make a newsletter until purchasing a Gestetner
which was similar machine but made slightly better quality
print. Again it was a manual process. Eventually we used photocopiers.
****************
The Spirit duplicator used
two-ply "spirit masters". The first sheet could
be typed, drawn, or written upon. The second sheet was coated
with a layer of wax that had been impregnated with one of
a variety of colorants. The pressure of writing or typing
on the first sheet transferred the colored wax from the second
sheet to the shiny/coated back side of the first sheet, producing
a mirror image. This produced the same result of a sheet of
carbon paper put in backwards. The two sheets were then separated,
and the first sheet was fastened onto the drum of the machine,
with the back side facing out, acting as a printing plate.
There is no separate ink
used in spirit duplication, as the wax transferred to the
back side of the first sheet contained the ink. As the paper
to be printed moved through the printer, the solvent was spread
across each sheet by an absorbent wick. When the solvent-impregnated
paper came into contact with the back side of the first sheet,
it dissolved just enough of the pigmented wax to print the
image onto the paper as it went under the printing drum.
*********************
This week Ascot Kayak
Club Slalom Committee organised a slalom kayaking holiday
program.
One of these young paddlers
may just turn out being Olympians like Robby Jeffrey
WAs Olympian Robbie Jeffrey
in his early days
The first timers having
a good time
Thursday night training.
Josh Kippin leads the field at this training session. Even
with a ocky strap tied around his kayak the other fast paddlers
still can't keep up.
Some of the regulars-
James Morfitt, Bernard Hoffman, Todd Coulter, Peter Tomczak,
Australian Marathon Champion Josh Kippin, Luke Dooley, Trevor
Thompson warm up before the session. Terry Bolland brings
up the rear.
Paddle of the Week
The Cockle 7
The Cockle 7 kayak is a
very rare World War II British Military sailing canoe. It
was designed and built by Warwick Aviation in late 1944/ early
1945. Constructed in Aluminium to aircraft specifications.
It measures 18ft long, 8ft main section,
5ft bow and stern. 26 inch wide, 4ft 7inches with outriggers
extended
The canoe comes in five main sections
(including the outriggers) so that it could be transported
in submarines or seaplanes. Each section is watertight. Front
and rear sections have round hatches so can be used as storage
areas, handy for limpet mines etc. The center section has
two seats, compass (or machine gun?) mount, anchor mount and
mast fitting.
Two outriggers can be attached to the
center section via an sliding mount which allows them to be
locked in an outer position for sailing or an inner position
for paddling. They can also be folded over for storage. The
outriggers are filled with "ping pong" balls so
the outriggers still float when holed (handy for when the
bullets start to fly). A folding rudder which I don't have
can be cliped onto the rear section.
Designated "MOST SECRET" it
was designed to be used by sections of the "Small Operations
Group" such as the "Combined Operations Pilotage
Parties" and " Detachment 385 " in the far
east in Commando style raids. They were tested in Ceylon (now
Sri Lanka) by Blondie Hasler who was one of the two survivors
from the Famous "Cockleshell Heros" raid.
This kayak I have below
was used in Burma.
Anzac Day Morning
Paddle
It was such an important
day and such a beautiful day for a paddle in my Cockle 7 kayak
which was built in 1944. Anzac Day was a fitting day to take
it out for a paddle in the city.
I'm pretty old but not
old enough to remember the Second world War and to have the
opportunity to paddle a 73 year old military kayak on Anzac
Day is a privilege.
Luke was back from his
fishing, mountain biking week at Pemberton so he was eager
to give this special craft a paddle. We loaded it onto my
trailer as it was a little heavy to lift onto my landcruiser
and drove to Coode Street in South Perth. Other years I have
gone out at dawn but this year we waited until the morning
was brimming with a blue sky and what a morning it was.
At Coode Street it was
paid parking for trailers except the machines didn't want
to take coins. I usually leave my wallet at home but luckily
I had it with me today with my credit card in. Technology
taking over.
Luke was a little sceptical
to if the Cockle 7 would float or if it did would it leak
and fill up halfway across to Perth. I had airbags and foam
blocks in the two compartments as a bit of security but we
have paddled it several times without any problem so I was
very confident.
Luke wondering if this
73 year old kayak was going to float.
We put the boat in the
water and a gurgling sound and bubblings started rising from
the water. It appeared as if the boat was sinking but it was
the two hollow skeds on the side of the hull filling with
water. Luke was happier to know that. We climbed into the
cockpits and started paddling away along the South Perth shoreline.
I'm sure Luke thought he was still in the Australian Marathon
Championships as I could feel the power coming from the front
seat and we were travelling at a good speed. It was important
to keep in time and I had to be careful not to hit him with
my paddle as the seats were fairly close together. With it
being so wide and having cleats and things on deck it was
easy to hit our fingers so concentration on the paddle stroke
was pretty important to avoid bleeding hands.
As we paddled on at a near
racing speed the footpaths were full of walkers and runners
and people sat on walls relaxing. They didn't take any interest
in this strange kayak going by. Kings Park where the dawn
service had taken place was right in front of us. The crowds
had dispersed and many may have headed for the parade in the
city. After the South Perth ferry jetty we turned and paddled
straight over to the city. The ferry was making a few waves
but the kayak handled them very well.
We passed under the footbridge
and into Elizabeth Quay as a few runners and walkers fled
by. The quay was vitually deserted most likely due to the
parade that was going to take place. We did a circle stopped
and looked around before leaving the cove which looked like
a trap for dirty water.
Luke pretty happy to
be seeing the city from another angle
Leaving Elizabeth Quay
We left the quay as two
power boats were entering, slapped through their wash waves
and headed along Riverside Drive. We could see a big screen
showing the parade that must have been going on at the same
time, probably the reason why very few people except for joggers
and walkers were around. I was a littel sad and a little guilty
that I wasn't watching on.
There was just enough wind to affect the steering and not
having a rudder meant that I had to compensate in the rear.
I could feel some of my back muscles hadn't been used lately.
After a couple of kilometres we turned right and headed straight
back to Coode Street. Luke was still powering away. We were
about a quarter way across Perth Water when all of a sudden
the kayak came to shuddered halt. Luke had jammed his paddle
between the outrigger post and the water deflector. For a
moment I wondered what had happened. Luckily the jolt wasn't
enough to turn us over.
We arrived back at Coode
Street and even with a large number of walkers going by there
was hardly a turned head towards this very different kayak.
That was apart from a two year old who run over to have a
look. Her mum soon shouted her back.
Luke checked out the bow
and stern hatches expecting to see water lapping inside but
apart from a little moisture they were dry. It's thanks to
Andre Villemin that the main centre section of the kayak is
watertight as he put a new alluminium skin on it a few years
ago.
Although the famous Cockleshell
heroes used canvas kayaks the Cockle 7 kayak was used later
on in the war in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Burma (now Myanmar).
Have a look:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3K62EG3lF8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7aMrrQrIGU [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3K62EG3lF8 ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GLhK6Zy3Wc [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3K62EG3lF8 ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypb1WhGXri8 [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3K62EG3lF8 ]
Photos
of the Week
Dave Millard
did a couple of social
photography paddles recently and these are just a few shots
he took
Dave watching and capturing
the birdlife
The old jetties along
the Swan River are an asset to all bird lovers and shouldn't
be removed. They are great perches for our wildlife
About 30 pelicans live
around the Bayswater/Bassendean area and there wouldn't be
a day passed without seeing one whilst paddling
You often see the Egret
in the mud but they are always snowy white
The darters are so common
on the Swan but when you look close you can't help but to
see their beauty.
An Osprey about to take
off. A pair have a nest on Ron Courtney Island
Look at the detail of
this Spoonbill
Races
Pinjarra to
Ravenswood
This Sunday 30th April
Entries close Thursday
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**************************
Kalbarri Canoe
& Cray
Kalbarri Murchison River
Dash on Sunday 4th June,
PADDLING EVENTS
Registrations close saturday 3rd June
@ 4pm
Early bird entries into the Kalbarri
Murchison River Dash on Sunday 4th June, go into the draw
to win a weeks accommodation at the Kalbarri Palm Resort.
Early Bird Entries by 30th April.
Entries include, brekky roll after the
race, bus out to the start line at Murchison House Station,
(real shot gun start). Trailing rudder is highly recommended
as the river is tidal and parts can be shallow.
Lots of prizes to go around.
This year Simone Ralph will be cooking
fresh crays on the foreshore.
Join in the carnival, market stalls,
kids events and activities, music and bar on the foreshore,
presentation s at Finlay’s bbq , (also with music, fire
pits and bar) awesome atmosphere, great for the family.
If you have any questions check the
web page www.kalbarricanoeandcray.com face book page or email
canoeandcraycarnival@gmail.com
Hope to see you there!
16.5km Dash – $45.00
(Price includes bus transport to Murchison
House Station and a food voucher for breaky)
Stand Up Paddle Board – $2.00
Kids Mini Dash – $2.00
Mixed Novelty Canoe Race – $FREE
- See more at: http://www.paddlewa.asn.au/2017/04/26/kalbarri-canoe-cray-carnival-2017/#sthash.ERB59glD.dpuf
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2017
WW Race Calendar
Race 1 : 13th May, AKC Buoys Race.
Race 2 : 11th June, Drain Race
Race 3 : 25th June, Upper Swan Race
Race 4 : 9th July, Walyunga to Bells
Race
Race 5 : 19th August, Bells Rapids Race
Race 6 : State Championships and Geegelup
Cup : 2nd & 3rd September, Bridgetown