19th June 2020                                                CDU Newsletter 656
 

Terry 0417 977 330

terry@canoeingdownunder.com.au (email)

https://canoeingdownunder.wordpress.com/  (website)

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

https://terrybolland.wordpress.com/ (trips & achievements)

Roy Farrance, Dita Pahl and the Canoes Plus racing team on the East Kiewa River, Victoria. Photo Dita Pahl.

Meanwhile In WA
 

Geraint Maddison checks out the water levels below Bells main rapid.

It was pretty grim.
Photo Isabel Combe.
 

Trying to find a bit of white water on the Helena River.
 

Sandy Beach on Saturday morning.
 

Mark. Dave, Terry and Wes.

Saturday Morning AM Dash. Photo Photo Tomas Terra

Race starts at 7.30am Sandy Beach Reserve. Register at 7.15am.
 

Peter, Sharon, Peter and Matt take on the 4km race. Most paddlers were paddling their Avon boats. Photo Photo Tomas Terra
 

John Liso, Julie McDonald and Nigel Emmett being passed by Anthony Clarke on the Tuesday evening PRG time trial. Anthony beat his best K1 time in the Epic V14.

Photo Tomas Terra
 

Some of the PRG group warming up. Photo Tomas Terra
 

Kate Martin, Isabel Combe and Peter Ward love the discussing their tactics after the race.
Photo Tomas Terra

When there is no white water, white water paddlers make do and race around 30 odd buoys, and 10 posts placed in the river to make a zig-zagging course.

39 paddlers took part on Sunday.

Results here:

https://www.webscorer.com/seriesresult?seriesid=215303&fbclid=IwAR3pXezEoesGgnxEtIW_y6EpTfdisYsY4w5bGYJt2nl8oAj58bG7V7yKTN4

Paddlers gather before the race. Photo John O'Sullivan
 

Wayne Martin and David Worthy ready to race. Photo John O'Sullivan.
 

Luke Dooley the winner beating Dave Worthy and David Burdett.
Photo Tomas Terra
 

The most difficult part of the course is threading through the poles and trying not to lose time. 
Photo John O'Sullivan

 

Dallas Rodgers takes off in the sundry class. Photo John O'Sullivan.

 

Upcoming Race
WWR #2 Drain Race 28th June.

Starting and finishing at Hester Park, paddlers make their way upstream to the starting point (drain) with the return leg being the race.

Like the Buoys Race this is a flatwater course, designed to test the paddlers ability to manoeuvre the kayak through narrow sections of river with low hanging trees and slight current.

As with previous seasons however, the location may change if the Avon river levels rise.

 

SPECIFICATIONS 
Length: 5.79m (19'0")
Width:  49 cm (19'3") 
Depth: 32 cm (12'6") 
Capacity: 120 kg (265lb)

The V9 was designed to fill a sweet spot between the V8 Pro and V10 Sport 
The V9 has been optimized for downwind surfing, with increased rocker, and stability.
The seat ergonomics of the V9 are superb, incorporating the shape of the Gen 3 V10 seat, with a lower “hump” under the knees for improved leg power.
The cockpit configuration, with the fully adjustable Epic footboard, accommodates paddlers from 4’11 to 6’6” tall (1.5 to 1.99 m).
Side carry handles make it a breeze to carry solo. Also includes bow and stern carry handle.
The V9 also comes with Epic’s revolutionary high-volume bailer system. The bailer can be completely closed for flat or cold water environments.
Rudder moved forward for increased steering sensitivity.

They started gathering early April and they are still around in their thousands. It's quite a spectacle when you are amongst them and you can watch them feeding and then the pelicans fly towards a cormorant to steal their fish.

This has been happening virtually every day since early April.

This morning the cormorants were out in force. I was lining up to take some photos when Phil, who was doing circuit training around the island just happened to come along.
 

Mixed among the cormorants were a few pelicans after a feed as well.
 

Phil pushes on and the cormorants leave a gap for him to get through.
 

With Phil gone they continue to fly around the island and later move along the river searching for a feed.

The Mississippi River Expedition continued

Part 14

Tuesday 28^th July.

The last day.  

It didn’t seem as if I was in bed for too long and the morning was hot even before the sun got too far into the sky. The lush grass and weeds and all the water around me was a brilliant breeding ground for mosquitoes that were attacking me as I got ready to go. However I was very happy I found  the area to camp at late last night.

The shore was made up of big rock blocks intermingled with steel cables. I expect the small clearing I camped on must have been an anchoring point for barges. I had to be careful not to tread onto the steel spikes of the frayed cables when moving around.

It wasn’t easy to carry the kayak down over the rocks and cables to the water’s edge and then load it with my gear in the deep water. To help I put some branches down on the rocks to protect the kayak from being scratched and help to launch it.

My last camp 

There were some cattle grazing downstream, they might have been the ones that littered my campsite with cattle turds. A little further on the left there was a gas or petroleum industrial site with huge tanks the entire complex sitting in the middle of a giant swamp with channels leading into the Breton Sound which was part of the Gulf of Mexico and less the 10kms away. It was also swampy over the levee bank on the right side but there was a narrow strip of land high enough above the water table to support a road and houses and small communities beside it. I crossed over the river to the right side when a barge went by and before a big ship came through.

I was getting closer to Venice the last community on the river so I stopped to ask a man on a barge where the main centre was. He sort of pointed and walked away. A little further I saw a man welding and after asking him he was much more pleasure and asked me if I wanted a beer.

I could have done with some liquid as the heat was becoming unbearable but it wasn’t a beer I needed. It had been very hot for several days but it seemed to be getting hotter so I was sweating and drinking a lot.

I came up to a channel which veered off to the right and had lots of boats in the area. I had arrived at the community of Venice, but I could see nowhere to land. I then saw a man on shore and he told me there was a boat ramp around the corner I could land on. The water at the ramp was quite yucky. I was greeted by Mike and Nancy and 3 other people who all worked for the Wildlife Authority who’s ramp I landed on.

I must admit I was in two minds about going to the end of the river after being abused by a couple of the barge skippers  on the way down from New Orleans but Mike and Nancy encouraged me to go on saying that the barge people think they own the river and have no rights in stopping me.

I got ready to go on, leaving some of my gear there, phoning Joey to say I had arrived and filled out a form with all my details on so if I was to get lost or didn’t return they would know my name.

I left at 12.15pm and headed upstream in the channel and ferry glided across it to get into the main river. There were several boats going downstream and within minutes 2 men in a dingy stopped and offered me a can of coke.

It was extremely hot as I followed the rock shoreline with cattle grazing on the low lands beside me. There were several diversion channels and restricted areas heading into the swampy areas. Another boat stopped to have a chat near the 7 mile mark. It was uplifting to be so close but the heat belted down and started draining my energy. The channel was full of work boats and barges, but I kept pressing on hoping to get to the 0 mile mark before 1.30pm.

There was a big boat stopped over to my front left. It looked like a government boat and they were looking through binoculars so I went over to see if they wanted to talk to me. They were actually taking photos.

There was a channel on my left and then some tanks and boats at Pilot Town which was no more than about 3-4 buildings. It was so hot and I was pretty tired but just ahead was the start of three channels and the Mississippi delta and the 0 mile marker that I had been waiting for. There was a cattle ramp just a few hundred metres before the 0 mark, I thought this is it, I need go no further. I pulled my kayak between the rocks and jumped out and left the kayak see-sawing with the waves. There were crabs and crustaceans amongst the rocks and big spiders on the cattle ramp which I climbed on to take some pictures of the low land and the Gulf of Mexico.

I reach a cattle ramp close to the end of the river.
 

I climbed the cattle ramp to view the swamps and the Gulf of Mexico.

I still hadn’t reached the zero marker though and although I was hot, thirsty ,tired and longing to return to Venice by 4.30pm, because that’s the time I put on the sheet I filled out, I knew I had to go all the way or I would always regret it.

It didn’t take long to get to the 0 mile marker. I took a photo and celebrated by saying I did it. The celebrations lasted a few seconds, in fact it was really a little let down having no one to share this moment but it’s not the first time I’ve been alone when achieving a special goal. I started paddling back but that wasn’t as easy as getting there as I had to paddle against the current which felt stronger than I thought it was on the way down. Only 18 kms to go!

I continued looking at the shore wanting to see some movement but my speed was slow. I cursed the heat and the current as I just wanted my journey to finish. I had worked so hard for 35 days and even harder in the last 12 days paddling really long hours to keep to my schedule and now although it was nearly all over, it was such a challenging day.

It felt forever reaching the channel near Pilot Town which was 3 miles from the zero mark and 8.3 miles to go. The waves and wakes of the boats passing by made paddling close to the shore, to take advantage of the eddies and slower water virtually impossible. Many of the power boats were quite courteous though and slowed down.

I bounced along getting more tired as the day went on. I think it was the most exhausted  I had been on the trip but I think it was more the heat that was sapping my energy.  Nancy said they were in one of the hottest heat waves they have had in memory getting up to 48 degrees.  No wonder I had been feeling hot.

 I looked for the 7 mile marker with eagerness. A slight breeze lifted my spirits and gave me a little reprieve from the intense heat. It encouraged me to keep pushing on and helped to energise me and get into a rhythm. Then I saw the 7 mile marker and that really boosted my morale. I didn’t think I had any energy levels left but somehow my speed increased, I was surging away towards the end and my final destination.

Along the shore there were now steel posts just breaking the water which I needed to keep away from. Power boats continued to pass me and then came the moment I had been waiting for, it was the magical moment, I had arrived at the channel leading to Venice and the boat ramp.

I rounded the last corner and paddled into the channel. Two work barges entered from the south, another towing a long pipe came up the channel which caused the channel to be chopped up and disturbed but at least for those last few hundred metres I had the current with me.

As soon as it was safe I crossed the channel to the other side and into a side channel to the Wildlife Authority boat ramp with a fishing boat chasing me and Nancy taking photos. At last I had reached the ramp and my time on the river was finished which I was disappointed about a few days later. It was a relief to be able to get out of my kayak without falling in the water, but I was buggered.

I had paddled 4000kms in 35 days. That meant I averaged 115 kms a day, my best day being 150kms. Several days closer to the end I was paddling up to 15 hours a day to make the necessary kilometres to try to stay on target.

The end of the river near the 0 mile marker.
 

A journey taking 35 days self supported.
 

The river runs beside 10 states.

I dragged the kayak up the boat ramp and the guys who were washing their boat congratulated me. Nancy had left a coke in the esky next to the shed. I got it out and sat between the shed and a van in the shade and laid down eating honey buns, snickers bars and drinking coke. I hadn’t eaten that much all day, just a few nuts as I was too buggered and in too much of a hurry to think about eating.

When I had recovered a little I got one of the guys to help me lift my kayak from the boat ramp, then it was time to have a shower which was amazingly beautiful. I couldn’t remember the last shower I had - it could have been at Gary’s place on the 15^th, 13 days ago.

Mike offered to take me home to wait for Joey to arrive and he was eager to get going so I quickly put my things together, took a photo of the crew and then jumped in Mike’s truck. When we arrived at Mikes he allowed me to ring Jenny to let her know I had finished the trip. He made me a cheese and ham sandwich, gave me a beer and I relaxed and talked. Mike who was the main man at the Wildlife Authority at Venice patrolled all the islands of the gulf checking the wildlife, alligators and poachers.

The gang at the Wildlife Authority.

Just after 8.00pm the phone rang and it was Joey and Paul who were waiting at the Wildlife compound so we jumped in Mike’s truck and met them. We introduced ourselves as it was the first time we had met as I had only talked to Joey on the phone. We loaded my kayak onto Paul’s van and off we went.

We stopped at a pizza place for a feed. It was certainly different driving down the road next to the river rather than being in it.

We arrived at Joeys about 11.00pm, I met Joeys partner, had a bit of a chat, took the cushions off the sofa to sleep on and it was bed time.  What a day. What a journey.

Six years later Joey’s house was under water.

Cyclone Katrina passed southeast of New Orleans August 29, 2005, winds downtown were in the Category 1 range with frequent intense gusts. The storm surge caused approximately 23 breaches in the drainage canal and navigational canal levees and floodwalls

The failures of levees and floodwalls during Katrina are considered by experts to be the worst engineering disaster in the history of the United States. By August 31, 2005, 80% of New Orleans was flooded, with some parts under 15 feet (4.6 m) of water.

Joey at home.

His home was flooded after hurricane Katrina.

Seven pelicans catching fish in front of Ascot Kayak club on Wednesday morning.
 

Pelicans have a rest from fishing at the Ascot Kayak Club.