Enjoy your CDU newsletter
Published: Fri, 05/26/17
545
26th May 2017
Message Bank
If you haven't seen a K4 racing before, be
at Ascot Kayak Club on Sunday as there will be 9 K4s, racing
around a 4 kilometre course 3 times. The racing starts at
8.45am.
There will also be 70 other paddlers racing,
most going to Barker's Bridge & return twice.
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New Zealand Gold Rush
New Zealand kayakers have stormed to their
best-ever World Cup performance, collecting four gold medals
after some team boat heroics on the final day of the opening
event of the season in Portugal.
A day after Caitlin Ryan's upset K1 500m victory, Aimee Fisher
and Lisa Carrington paired up overnight to win a dramatic
K2 200m and 500m double just 50 minutes apart, before linking
with fellow Olympians Ryan and Kayla Imrie to capture the
K4 500m crown near the end of proceedings.
Capping a remarkable three days at the Montemor-o-Velho venue,
New Zealand's younger paddlers also recorded a flurry of final
appearances, leaving the team delighted.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/sport/other/watch-unbeatable-nz-kayakers-dominate-world-cup-in-portugal-collecting-four-gold-medals?auto=5443035613001
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Avon Descent
DISCOUNTED ENTRY PRICES
Receive 10% OFF the Standard Entry Price
New in 2017! Stand Up Paddle Boards are coming to the Avon
Descent!
Stand Up Paddle Boards receive an additional $50 rebate on
entry fees as our promotional category for this year only.
NOMINATE FOR PRIORITY GRIDDING
This year top grids will be determined by a Qualifying Race
held at Scrutineering in Bayswater on the 23rd of July
Want to be in the top grids? Then you need to nominate! You
can do so during EARLY BIRD ONLY (14-31st May) and you must
tick the appropriate box in your online entry form.
All following grids will be determined on a First Come First
Serve basis.
NOMINATE FOR YOUR OWN RACE ID
If you enter during Early Bird you will be able to nominate
for your own Race ID number
Paddle Craft can nominate any number between 302 and 999.
This number will then be reserved for you for the following
year should you wish to use it again.
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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
Having Seat Problems
Bumfortable
Seat
The Bumfortable is a replacement seat
for your kayak. If you are having trouble with your original
seat and need comfort, well here's why the bumfortable is
great:
Warm closed cell foam - warmer and
more comfortable than fibreglass. Less abbrasive and much
less likely to make your legs fall asleep.
Lightweight & non-absorbent.
Lower centre of gravity - as compared to the fitted seats
that most racing kayaks come with as standard the bumfortable
actualy sits on the bottom of your kayak, lowering yourself
that few centimetres to the hull can make a huge difference
to your stability. Ensure that you don't impede your paddling
by being too low though
Flow tunnels on the base of the seat to allow you to pass
tubes underneath for drinks.
Smooth finish to allow sufficent paddling rotation for long
races.
Designed to support your back.
Price: $170.00
Optional Extra: Backstrap Kit: $18.00
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Stretch Cover
Boat Bag
The Stretch Cover Kayak or Ski bags
protects your kayak from the sun.
Easy to put on - just slip the kayak
or ski, that is at one end, into the opening.
These Stretch Covers are available for
a K1 kayak, all the Epic Skis V8, V10 Sport, V10 and V12 and
other boats of a similar size to the above.
Prices vary depending on boat length.
For kayaks/ski longer than 5.2m price varies from $100.00
- $125.00
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Be Seen at Night
The Guardian Light is the
lightest, brightest, toughest light for its size. It is also
our most popular light for kayakers and rowers. This light
is visible from all sides (360 degrees) and extremely impact
resistant.
In addition, the Guardian is very lightweight
and will not restrict movement. The product comes with an
attachment that can either be fastened to the user or to the
equipment.
Features:
Waterproof.
Visible over 1.5km.
Wearable LED Signal Light.
Light can either be constant or flashing - Flip battery to
change function.
Over 100 hours of constant light.
over 250 hours on flashing light.
Price $28.00
You can put the light
on top in the middle of the cap but if you have two, one in
front and one at the back you will be easily seen.
It is best to
have two lights so you can be seen from both directions and
sides
Replacement batteries
Stories
Beavers in the
North American Waterways
Over my time paddling on waterways in
North America I have come across a large number of Beavers.
They are great to watch in the water but the damage they do
to the environment is heart breaking to see. I have had to
climb over beaver's dens, thread my way around and over fallen
tress felled by the beaver, I even had a beaver nearly land
on my kayak when it jumped off the river bank. Seeing it fly
through the air towards me was a startling experience.
At night when in the tent or around
camp it's very common to hear the slapping of their tail when
the are about to dive. They are part of the wild but it's
like Australian native animals, too many of them can cause
a lot of damage.
I caught this guy having
a feed as I paddled up the Winnipeg River
A Day in the Life
of a Beaver
Beavers are the largest
North American rodents. They're semi-aquatic and tend to build
their dens near any available water sources that also have
a good food supply. It's a common misconception that they
prefer fish, but they are, in fact, strict vegetarians gnawing
on bark, shrubs, trees -- anything that will keep their teeth
growth under control. Their eating habits lend to their den-building
habits, as they use their sharpened teeth to fell trees and
engineer their mansions.
Tony watching a beaver
swim up and down on the Athabasca River Canada.
In the background the damage done by the Oil Sands production
Beavers are known for their
natural trait of building dams on rivers and streams, and
building their homes (known as "lodges") in the
resulting pond. Beavers also build canals to float building
materials that are difficult to haul over land. They use powerful
front teeth to cut trees and other plants that they use both
for building and for food. In the absence of existing ponds,
beavers must construct dams before building their lodges.
First they place vertical poles, then fill between the poles
with a crisscross of horizontally placed branches. They fill
in the gaps between the branches with a combination of weeds
and mud until the dam impounds sufficient water to surround
the lodge.
Paddling the upper section
of the Mississippi River was challenging
Problem Beavers
Dens provide fantastic homes and protection not only for beavers
but also for other animals that will nest on top of lodges.
In addition, larger mammals will feed on materials from downed
trees and shrubs, while woodpeckers will call these materials
home. Beaver dams can even create new environments for aquatic
species. Unfortunately, this beaver behavior works against
the economic interests of humans, with damage to the timber
industry and agriculture crops as fallen trees can cause significant
flooding.
It doesn't take a beaver
long to fell a tree. The lakes in Canada
Beavers are known for their
alarm signal: when startled or frightened, a swimming beaver
will rapidly dive while forcefully slapping the water with
its broad tail, audible over great distances above and below
water. This serves as a warning to beavers in the area. Once
a beaver has sounded the alarm, nearby beavers will dive and
may not reemerge for some time. Beavers are slow on land,
but are good swimmers, and can stay under water for as long
as 15 minutes.
Beavers are herbivores, and prefer the
wood of quaking aspen, cottonwood, willow, alder, birch, maple
and cherry trees. They also eat sedges, pondweed, and water
lilies.
Beavers do not hibernate, but store
sticks and logs in a pile in their ponds, eating the underbark.
Some of the pile is generally above water and accumulates
snow in the winter. This insulation of snow often keeps the
water from freezing in and around the food pile, providing
a location where beavers can breathe when outside their lodge.
Beavers have webbed hind-feet, and a
broad, scaly tail. They have poor eyesight, but keen senses
of hearing, smell, and touch. A beaver's teeth grow continuously
so that they will not be worn down by chewing on wood. Their
four incisors are composed of hard orange enamel on the front
and a softer dentin on the back. The chisel-like ends of incisors
are maintained by their self-sharpening wear pattern. The
enamel in a beaver's incisors contains iron and is more resistant
to acid than enamel in the teeth of other mammals.
Beavers continue to grow throughout
their lives. Adult specimens weighing over 25 kg are not uncommon.
Females are as large as or larger than males of the same age,
which is uncommon among mammals. Beavers live up to 24 years
of age in the wild.
The beavers cover their
lodges late each autumn with fresh mud, which freezes when
frosts arrive. The mud becomes almost as hard as stone, thereby
preventing wolves and wolverines from penetrating the lodge.
A Beaver lodge over
7.m in diameter on the upper reaches of the Mississippi River
The lodge has underwater entrances,
which makes entry nearly impossible for any other animal,
although muskrats have been seen living inside beaver lodges
with the beavers who made them. Only a small amount of the
lodge is actually used as a living area. Beavers dig out their
dens with underwater entrances after they finish building
the dams and lodge structures. There are typically two dens
within the lodge, one for drying off after exiting the water
and another, drier one, in which the family lives.
Beaver lodges are constructed with the
same materials as the dams, with little order or regularity
of structure. They seldom house more than four adults and
six or eight juveniles. Some larger lodges have one or more
partitions, but these are only posts of the main building
left by the builders to support the roof. Usually, the dens
have no connection with each other except by water.
When the ice breaks up in spring, beavers
usually leave their lodges and roam until just before autumn,
when they return to their old lodges and gather their winter
stock of wood. They seldom begin to repair the lodges until
the frost sets in, and rarely finish the outer coating until
the cold becomes severe. When they erect a new lodge, they
fell the wood early in summer but seldom begin building until
nearly the end of August.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver
Leo and Alaine dragging
the kayaks over a beaver dam. A river between two lakes in
Canada
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Missouri River
4th September 2006 the
day that Steve Irwin died
Tuesday 5th September 2006.
Day 23
I found a campsite on an
island at the 1331 mile mark, a few hundred metres after a
farm. I pulled into the shallows and just sat in my kayak
for a few minutes taking it easy and discovering my surroundings.
A beaver cruised up the deeper channel to my right. It kept
slapping its tail and disappearing. On the island insects
were hovering above the vegetation collecting in clouds and
then breaking up into smaller packs. Other insects were flying
amongst the foliage like miniature jet planes in combat. It
was good to see life and it didn’t have to be big things
that I could see easily, the little insects were part of life
when camping. Sometimes they are annoying, but today they
were intriguing. In a few minutes I’m sure the mosquitoes
would be biting, but for now the multitude of insects that
were living in the undergrowth were a joy to watch and quite
fascinating.
The camp I heard that
Steve Irwin had died
I eased myself from the
kayak seat and started erecting my tent trying to avoid the
scrubby roots of the vegetation. After my simple dinner, another
pasta meal I sat beside my boat watching the night mature.
I rang the shop to find out how it was going and Alaine told
me that Steve Irwin had been killed by a stingray. (A few
days later she said Peter Brock had died in a car rally accident.)
The news left me feeling numb. I sat beside the kayak feeling
sad and sorrowful. Life on the river was often lonely, and
I was well used to being by myself, but tonight I was really
lost. Sometimes it is good to be with people, and tonight
was one of those times.
The near full moon lit up my camp, it
was a lovely night, but it was a sad night and the beaver
was still out in the channel swimming up and down and slapping
its tail. I sat and reflected before moving into the tent
and writing my diary.
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Are Galahs Doing
Damage?
This tree is about 20
metres from our balcony. It appears to be a favorite tasting
tree for galahs. They are steadily peeling the bark off the
tree so I'm wondering if it will eventually die if it loses
too much bark?
A big patch of bark
being peeled off by galahs
Photo
of the Week
Sean Sinclair having
fun doing a nose stand in the 80s. Photo Roger Smith
The Chicken Chute at
Syds Rapid in high water.
Avon Descent 1979. Terry
Bolland & Stephen Pilton
It was low water in 1979
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24 Hour Canoeathon
1979
I get out of the kayak
after paddling for 24 hours and having limited rest and creating
a world record
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So that's what these
twirling things are for
Race of the Week
Ocean Warriors
Down Wind
May 27th - Race 1
Time to break out the thermals and winter neoprene. The IOP
doesn't take kindly to members skiving off just because its
a bit brisk out there on our ocean playground.
The 2017 Winter Series start this Saturday, and is planned
to consist of 5 ocean time trials that start and finish in
front of the Sorrento Surf Club . Open to all paddlers not
just members of CWA clubs. There is a small race entry free
of $10 , which is to cover the cost of water safety for the
event. These events replace the traditional Saturday morning
training session led by Heap Big Chief Dean B.
The series is once again generously brought to you by Astute
Capital Management .
The details:
o Race day registration is from 7.00 am, at Sorrento Beach
.
o Race briefing will be at 7:25 am .
o Race starts at 7:30 am ( first wave ) on the water, with
self grading into Aspiring, Intermediate and Fast categories
.
o Race starts and finishes in front of the Surf Club at Sorrento
Beach .
o The course will depend on conditions on the day, but the
most likely scenario is an out and back run to Trigg Island
( approx 11 km ). The committee may change the course depending
on forecast conditions, one or two days preceding the event.
Any changes will be posted on Facebook and our website, and
e-mailed to you via our newsletter.
The usual safety kit will be required for participants. PFD
and leg leash are mandatory. We ask that you consider wearing
a bright fluoro green/pink/orange cap to help water safety
spot you out among the white tops ! . Don't forget to bring
along the green race bracelet we give out at our races ( if
you have participated in our previous events ) to re-use.
You can register to race at
https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=99330
or via the race link on our website event page.
You can check out who's already entered at
https://www.webscorer.com/registerlist?raceid=99330.
Hoping to see you all for Race 1 on Saturday morning and then
a chat and hearty breakfast afterwards at SoSLSC Cafe.
The IOP Events Team
iopevents@canoe.org.au
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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 : Bridgetown.
Date to be decided
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Kalbarri Canoe
& Cray
Kalbarri Murchison River Dash on Sunday 4th June
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16th Australian
Masters Games
being held in the North West of Tasmania in October this year
-
Dates/Times
Flatwater: Saturday 21 October –
Monday 23 October 2017, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Venues
Flatwater: Lake Barrington International
Rowing Course, 520 Staverton Road, Promised Land
16km Ocean Race Start: Wynyard Yacht
Club, 2A Old Bass Highway, Wynyard
Finish: Burnie Surf Life Saving Club,
West Beach, North Terrace, Burnie, if weather is westerly.
Alternate venue will be Penguin Surf
Life Saving Club to Burnie if the weather is easterly.
- See more at: http://www.paddlewa.asn.au/2017/05/23/16th-australian-masters-games-being-held-in-the-north-west-of-tasmania-in-october-this-year/#sthash.2E2S30i6.dpuf
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2017 Ocean Racing
World Championships, Hong Kong
The 2017
ICF Ocean Racing World Championships will be held in Hong
Kong in November.
See more at: http://www.paddlewa.asn.au/2017/05/25/official-bulletin-2017-ocean-racing-world-championships-hong-kong/#sthash.Bfv6D1M0.dpuf
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2nd Hand Boats
380 Kayak
A great kayak for whitewater
or as a general kayak for learning all the paddling skills
Very manoeuvrable
Price: $250.00