Enjoy the CDU Newsletter

Published: Fri, 02/01/19

1st February 2018 CDU Newsletter 604

Terry 0417 977 330

terry@canoeingdownunder.com.au

https://canoeingdownunder.wordpress.com/ website

https://www.facebook.com/canoeingdownunder/ facebook

The young guns being coached by Jesse Phillips on a Friday evening.

Progressive Racing Group.

This Saturday several of these paddlers will be racing a 3.1km course at Sandy Beach whilst the Saturday morning regulars will be racing 4.1kms.

Would you like to take part?

9 to 13 paddlers on Tuesday and Thursday evenings take part in the coaching, training and racing

If you get this newsletter you most likely love paddling. I have started up a new group at Ascot called the Progressive Racing Group. The aim of this group is to introduce new paddlers to easy racing in a more gentle way. It can be a bit intimidating for a new paddler to show up to a race and get mowed down and left behind within 500 metres of the start and be finishing the race when everyone has gone home. So this course and these shorter races that I have been running are for paddlers who haven’t yet got the speed or the endurance to take part in a 12km race but want to race against someone more equal to themselves.

Every Tuesday night I have had 12-13 paddlers for the last four weeks and 9-10 every Thursday night. With a good number of paddlers taking part there is friendly rivalry and paddlers go home having enjoyed themselves. Although it’s more like a social outing paddlers go home fitter with every week that passes but pretty tired.

We are getting fewer paddlers coming into racing so our numbers are dwindling. So we have to convince some of our current paddlers who haven’t yet had the taste of racing to start racing.

You might not have time to run a course but you might be able to convince a friend, a neighbour or even someone in a club to join this group. It can be intimidating to take on a new venture so giving new paddlers a little help can get them on their way.

This Saturday several of these paddlers will be racing a 3.1km course at Sandy Beach whilst the Saturday morning regulars will be racing 4.1kms.

If you have a kayak or ski 4 metres or above and you want to join in with these new racing paddlers why not come down and give it a go. PFDs recommended.

Be at Sandy Beach for 7.15am for a 7.30am Start.

A boat speeds passed the novice group without any regard to their safety

Down River Training

around the buoys

We have two more 6.00am early morning sessions left for the summer season so if you want to better your skills be there.

It's easier to get fit than it is to become skillful.

Maya rounding a buoy like a true professional

Over the years I have noticed that many ski paddlers who have changed to paddling kayaks have a real problem adjusting to the kayak seating position and suffer with dead legs or aches and pains. New paddlers may also suffer with the same problem. A different posture, even very slight can cause muscle aches and it can take time to get those muscles used to the different seating position. So don’t give up kayaking or change boats until you have tried a few things

If it is just a back ache or a leg ache it could be that you have to adapt to a new sitting position by going out paddling for a short time at first and increasing the time and distance over a few weeks. Once your muscles have strengthened that ache may go away.

Sometimes it is a seat that is too narrow for your hips or just downright uncomfortable so a different seat might do the trick.

If it’s a dead leg it is more than likely due to the pinching of a sciatic nerve. A little compression of the nerve and bingo you have little feeling in the leg in 20 minutes and no feeling by 40 minutes.

If you get dead legs these two articles by By Eoin Ó Conaire a physiotherapist paddler might help:

http://www.ebtc.ie/painful-numb-legs-when-kayaking/

http://www.ebtc.ie/painful-numb-legs-when-kayaking-2-exercises/

DRAW STROKE (PULLING)

The Draw Stroke (pulling) is used to move the kayak sideways, and are particularly useful for side-slipping towards the bank or keeping position in a racing line-up. They can also be used to line up the kayak in rapids and to avoid boulders and obstacles.

Sit up straight and rotate your body slightly in the direction you wish to side-slip towards.
Raise your top arm (the arm that is furthest away from the direction you intend to draw towards) so that it frames your face. Keep your forearm no lower than your forehead and your top hand should remain steady over the side of the boat you are drawing towards.
Reach away from your hips with your lower arm extended and plant the blade deep into the water.
With the blade face parallel to your kayak, pull the paddle towards your body between your hips and mid-thigh. The kayak will then side-slip towards the blade as you pull on the paddle.
It is important to keep your top arm high and framing your face until the entire stroke has been completed. Your top hand should remain steady over the side of the boat and only move on the Recovery Stroke. Ensure the paddle remains as vertical as possible to produce the maximum amount of power.
Before your blade hits the side of the kayak, pause, turn the blade through 90 degrees by rolling your wrist inwards, and slice the blade away from the boat to its original starting position. (It can help to slice the blade back in a slightly forward arc motion, keeping the drive side (face) of the blade facing the stern.)

An alternative method of returning the blade, is to slice the blade fully out of the water and replace it in the starting position.

Water should pass under the hull and not run onto the deck as the boat slips sideways. To achieve this, keep the boat level or raise the boat's leading edge very slightly by lifting it with your knee and thigh.

COMMON PROBLEMS

1. The paddle is too horizontal, causing the water to spill off the bottom of the blade and resulting in a loss of power.

Solution: Keep the top hand high so that the paddle remains vertical.

2. A curve shaped paddle does not slice back to its original starting position in a straight line.

Solution: Slice the blade back in a slightly forward arc motion, keeping the drive side (face) of the blade facing the stern.

3. The boat side slips to and fro without moving sideways. This is due to the blade being pulled and returned at the same pulling angle (ie parallel to the side of the boat).

Solution: Ensure that the blade is turned and sliced away from the boat on the recovery.

4. The boat's bow or stern swings sideways instead of remaining parallel to the paddle.

Solution: Ensure the paddle blade is pulled directly (at 90 degrees) towards your body between your hips and mid-thigh.

5. The wind and current causes the boat to swing off course.

Solution: Adjust your stroke by drawing towards the bow or stern, depending upon which way the boat is turning. If the bow is turning towards the drawing side, try drawing the paddle slightly towards the stern; if the stern is turning towards the drawing side, try drawing slightly towards the bow.

Epic V10
gen 2

Length: 6.45 m
Width: 45.0 cm
Depth: 33.0 cm

Weight 12.3kgs

Normally $4990.00 Special $4490.00

Kimberley Kayak Expedition 2

Back in the 1980s I spent one year paddling the Kimberley Region on 5 different expeditions. It was like exploring a remote wilderness world for the first time as there was little information around about the coastline, no-one had paddled it and there was certainly no communications. (Paul Caffyn rounded the coastline on his around Australia Expedition at the same time I was there in 1982).

On one of those trips, the second in 1983 I used a double kayak with outriggers and sail paddling with a single bladed paddle instead of paddling a kayak using a double bladed paddle. The reason for this was that on my first trip I was hit several times by sharks and I had several crocodiles chase me. I thought the outriggers would give me more stability if I was attacked by a shark or crocodile and make me safer. The extra weight of the double kayak and outriggers though made it much harder to handle on land so on the future trips I went back to paddling a kayak.

This 1983 expedition started with a trip around Lake Argyle, down the Ord River until hitting a quarantine section on the Ord which I wasn't allowed to paddle so I got a lift to Wyndham. Putting back in at Wyndham I paddled out of the Cambridge Gulf into the Timor Sea and then paddled west visiting such grandeur places like the Berkeley, King George and King Edward Rivers, Kalumburu, Truscott abandoned airfield, Cape Londonderry, Cape Bougainville, and areas around Mitchell Plateau.

Only a handful of paddlers have explored the Kimberley Coast.

Read about that journey here:

https://terrybolland.wordpress.com/kimberley-kayak-expedition-2/

It was fantastic being and knowing I was at the far edge of remote Australia.

My kayak sits on a ledge of the dry waterfall. It was my camp for the night.

Camped on a ledge of Casuarina Falls. The tide came up to the bottom ledge in the night and my torchlight revealed several crocodile eyes.

The Berkeley River

A big following sea with breaking waves had me a little concerned for a while.
There was no rescue out there.

Using wheels to drag my kayak ashore. I used a double kayak and loaded my gear in the front and behind the rear seat and I sat in the rear seat and paddled with a canoe paddle. The kayak had a sail and outriggers.

The coastline around King George River

Shark for dinner. I carried day food packs that weighed just under one kilogram but the extra meat was welcome.

At the end of the world or so it seemed. When I am alone in a vast wilderness far from help I have to be extra careful with even the little things that I do. A fall, a broken limb or just a sprained wrist could cause one hell of a big problem.

However it was fantastic being and knowing I was at the far edge of Australia.

Read about that journey here:

https://terrybolland.wordpress.com/kimberley-kayak-expedition-2/

SunSmart Marathon #4 - Canning River Race
Deep Water Point, Sunday 10th February

The next series race starts at Deep Water Point, Mount Pleasant, and finishes at Riverton Bridge, Riverton. A car shuffle will be needed, so try and make arrangements before the race for a stress-free morning!

Course lengths are 14km (main), 6km (short) and 3.5km (guppy). Note that there is no longer a portage at Riverton Bridge.
Registration 6.45-7.45am, briefing 8.00am, race start 8.30am

Entries close Thursday, 7th of February

Rod Fry Memorial Race

Sunday 17th February
Swan Canoe Club

Link | Link | Link | Link