Despite being only able to paddle 11kms on the days of lockdown, I still managed to paddle 152 kms for the week. So in 5 weeks I have paddled 812 kms, paddling 20 kms or more every day except for the 4 lockdown days.

 

Sunday was a busy day. We had a Wild Water Race (it wasn't very wild) in the T Trees at Amiens. It was only a 3km race, but by the time I paddled upstream to the start, I did some extra paddling before and after, I managed 12kms.

Then it was off to Walyunga National Park to do some assessments for 10 paddlers entering the Avon Descent. It rained a lot, the weather was wild, but I had a great crowd and they paddled well.

I returned home at 4.45pm, unloaded my gear, had a shower, had a coffee and took Nikki for a walk. She walked 20 metres and decided she didn't want to go any further and returned to the car.

Then about 5.50pm I decided to go for a paddle to make up my 20 kms for the day. The rain suddenly stopped and it was beautiful on the river. After 8 kms it was back home for dinner and to start another newsletter.
 

An Ascot Kayak Club member for many years.

Great paddling Genie.

DOB: 19/06/1996
Hometown: Perth
Club: Ascot Kayak Club
Institute/Academy: WAIS
Coaches: Zlatan Ibrahimbegovic, Mike Druce, Robin Jeffery
Nickname: Bcrawf

Brody is a reserve C1 paddler at the Tokyo Olympics.

An Ascot Kayak Club member.

Shannon and Jaime are WA paddlers.

Happy 73rd birthday Dave Tupling
 

Dave Tupling (far right) with a few of his friends several years ago.
He looks even younger now.

Dave has been paddling about 20 years. I remember when he came in the shop and told Alaine and I that he wanted a kayak to do the Avon Descent. Weeks later he completed it. He has never looked back. Like most paddlers he has made lots of paddling friends.

And at 73 he is still going!

PRG Race Night at Ascot

It was raining cats, dogs and all the other animals in Redcliffe on Tuesday evening.

 

The brave paddlers who turned up for training Tuesday evening. (Greg is missing.)

We usually have 25 paddlers so where were they!!

High Tides
 

The tides were extra high on Monday and much of this week.
 

Slalom paddlers will be using the new course this Saturday.

Wild water or slalom certainly help to develop good white water skills.
 

Andrew Griffiths at Bradys Lake, Tasmania in 1979. Andy was a Swan Canoe Club member and one of WAs best paddlers in the 1970s. He moved to the USA many years ago and lives in the Colorado mountains. He is still an epic paddler, paddling rivers many of us just don't go near.
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Ascot KC Avon Descent 
Competency Assessments
On Sunday after the Wild Water Race I ran an Avon Descent white water assessment for 10 paddlers at Walyunga National Park.

Upcoming Courses
Sunday 11th July | 1pm - 4pm
Saturday 17th July | 9am - 12pm or 1pm - 4pm

Friday, 13 August  9:00 am - 12noon

Terry Brooke - Terry Bolland

Register here:

https://www.ascotkayakclub.asn.au/for-sale/
 

This years Avon Descenters.

A great group. Some are even young. We need some new blood.
 

Jeff Pond has done it all before several years ago. Now he's back.

And doing a lot of training.
 

Ferry gliding is part of the assessment.
 

Nice boat control coming down the drop.
 

It was such a wet day.
Photo Jane Liddle.
 

Wild Water Upper Swan T Trees
 

Kris gives the briefing.

Photo Isabel Combe.
 

Masked up and rearing to go.

Photo Tim Edwards.

The last S bend was quite tricky.

Photo Tim Edwards.
 

Laurent Palmero at the last bend.
Photo Tim Edwards.
 

John Dinucci at the last bend.

Photo Tim Edwards.

I was number 28 and I had some fast paddlers before me but because I had beaten them in the other races I was seeded better than them. Going off before me were paddlers like Grant Pepper who is no doubt a faster paddler than me, then there were Nathan Jamieson another paddler usually faster than me as well as Peter Gigengack who was a faster paddler but because they hadn’t been training much I had beaten them in other races. But they came to realise that they can’t have a 70 year old beating them, so they have increased their training in the last couple of weeks.

One minute behind me was Steven Stasiuk. I beat him in the first race but he beat me in the second race by 9 seconds and he was determined to beat me today. If he did catch me up he would beat me by a minute.

It came my time to go. I took off with Grant being one minute ahead. I couldn’t see him but I was hoping I would catch a glimpse of him along the way. If I did it would mean I would be gaining on him. I went for it and all along the way I probably lost a second or two but I was happy with the way I tackled the most difficult sections and although I was going well I still couldn’t see grant which was a bugger. He would not live it down if I beat him.

Having one minute intervals and being seeded correctly makes a difference. It means you don’t catch other paddlers up and be slowed down. Although I couldn’t see Grant, after a sneaky glance I couldn’t see Steve behind me either.  Looking behind is not regarded as a sensible thing to do as you can lose concentration, but we do it.

Everything went well and I couldn’t have raced much better so the only thing I could hope for is that my opposition didn’t have such a good run. Unfortunately that didn’t happen.

When I arrived at the finish Grant had a smile on his face so I knew he had beaten me, but could I still beat Steve. I looked at my watch and by the time he crossed the line it looked like he was going to beat me by 12-15 seconds and it was actually only 9 seconds so that made me feel better. Grant beat me by 29 seconds so it looks as if I won’t beat him again. I beat Michael and Peter Little and Jane Pankhurst but Peter Gigengack beat me by 5 seconds, Darryl Long beat me by 8 seconds, and  Nathan Jamieson beat me by 32 seconds so I will never beat him again either.

We certainly need more paddlers to participate in Wild Water as the numbers of paddlers paddling Wild Water Kayaks are few so why not give it a go, it improves your skills and it’s fun.

Wayne Martin crossing the line and winning the race.

Beating Luke Dooley and Dave Worthy who were 2nd and 3rd.
Photo Isabel Combe.

Results here: https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=246654
 

The love birds - Kris and Steph.
Photo Isabel Combe.
 

The top guys at the finish.
Photo Isabel Combe.

How things can Change
 

Bells Rapids on Tuesday.

Photo Jane Liddle.
 

I left Hat Point knowing that I couldn't waste too many days before finding water and as I paddled across the silent glassy sea again, sharks started following me. I headed towards two un-named rivers hoping to find fresh water. There was a beach to land on but it was impossible to camp on because of the rising tide. I landed and then and dragged the kayak up onto a rock ledge to a place the tide wouldn't reach me. I landed one kilometre from the nearer river so after I had settled in I took off for a walk to the river.

The walk was not easy as I had to fight through chest deep spinifex, wattle thickets, ravines, large boulders and mangroves. The agonizing walk took an hour, and the return trip carrying water in the blistering heat, was even more painful. As I hadn’t washed in fresh water for two weeks, it was a welcome relief.

I landed on a beach but it disappeared under water on the high tide so I camped on the rocks.
 

I dragged the heavy kayak up the rocks.
 

I took all my gear out of the kayak and made myself at home.
 

A native rat? visited me and loved nibbling on a few nuts.
 

It had been a long time since I was able to have a swim in fresh water. I just had to be careful to watch out for crocs as the pool was only a few metres up from the ocean.
 

A good sized freshwater croc. They are not supposed to be dangerous.

For three days I explored the river and surrounding bush. Birds, lizards, fish, oysters and other shell fish and animals were abundant. In such a vast inhospitable wilderness, places like these would be very important for survival if I became stranded. Here, the crocodiles were so cheeky that they slept only a few metres below my rock ledge. It was good to have a home for a few days to relax, bathe in fresh water, explore and to hunt for sea food. I now could drink as much fresh water as I wanted and didn’t have to ration it. I would usually drink 4-5 litres a day so finding a fresh water source was very important. Some was used for cooking. On my first trip around the Kimberley one time I tried cooking in salt water but I only did it that once and it ruined my dinner. 

Refreshed, I continued on the last leg of my journey to Mitchell Plateau. Within a few kilometres I sighted my first sea snake, and saw more sharks, turtles and dolphins. As I paddled closer to the plateau, passing the Osborn Islands the terrain became familiar, as it was less than a year since I had last paddled these waters.

On arrival at Port Warrender I met ten people in three four-wheel drives vehicles. The canoeing part of my trip was over but I had to get my kayak back to Derby so a spare roof rack and $100.00 soon solved that problem, and the kayak was spared the burial that its predecessor received the previous year.

Once my kayak was gone my plan was to explore the Mitchell Plateau area by foot walking from Port Warrender across to Surveyors Pool and onto the Mitchell River. After several days’ walking I arrived at the tidal section of the Mitchell River not far from a four tiered waterfall and camped under the overhang. The following day, to my surprise, a couple with two dogs walked into my camp and started chatting. Gordon and Heather spent a lot of time exploring the Kimberley region and were true bush people. A little later we walked to the tidal waters and on spotting a school of fish Gordon quickly picked up a rock and threw it into the school and stunned a fish. Dinner was soon collected.

The Falls near the saltwater section of the Mitchell River.

I spot two people on the falls from my camp.

Leaving Gordon and Heather the following day I set off across country to another beautiful smaller gorge which had a waterfall, abundant animals, fish and green ants that dropped from bushes and inflicted terrible bites. Then my last major goal on this trip was to head back to Mitchell Falls, a magnificent stream of water that tumbled over a hundred metres. The falls are one of the most spectacular I have ever seen and although I had seen them before I was still extremely impressed.

Not only was the area full of bird life there were plenty of lizards and other small animals.
 

A small falls along a creek about 6 kms from Mitchell Falls.
 

Mitchell Falls 
 

Mitchell Falls

Fifty four days after starting my expedition, I again met up with Gordon and Heather near Mitchell Falls and they kindly offered me a lift back to Derby which was just perfect. They were keen cave painting explorers and bush survivalists and fishers so on our way back to Derby we detoured several times to explore many rivers to find Aboriginal cave paintings and to catch several huge barramundi fish. When we arrived in Derby two weeks later we found out that Australia had won the America’s cup and a Korean Airliner had been shot from the sky.

Although I was quite happy with my kayak with sail and outriggers, I only used it in the Kimberley that one time. It was too fast when I had wind and too slow when the wind was against me. I had to use a single canoe paddle because of the outriggers were in the way when using a kayak paddle. My other trips to the Kimberley I went back to paddling my traditional Nordkapp kayak.

Gordon and Heather and their two dogs.
 

Aboriginal paintings.
 

Gordon was an expert fisherman.
 

On my previous trip, one year earlier I had to bury my kayak for 6 months because I had no way of transporting it from Mitchell Plateau. A friend dug it up 6 months later and then I used it on my other trips to the Kimberley.

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

Folding J Style Kayak Carrier

Like the Gen 3 V10, the V9 has been optimized for downwind surfing, with increased rocker, and stability. Flatwater speed is a step up from the V8 Pro due to the slightly narrower beam. This is the boat many paddlers have been waiting their whole lives for – the one that launches you onto the swells, glides efficiently across the water, and keeps you in the “zone”.

Length: 5.79 m (19'0")
Width:  49 cm
Depth: 32 cm
Capacity: 120 kg
Ultra 12kgs
$4900.00

Sunday 11th July | Walyunga National Park

Registrations are open for the Slalom Winter Series #2 held this Sunday at Walyunga National Park. The water levels are rising so you won't want to miss out on this one!

8.30am | Setup and registration
9.00am | Racing starts
$10 Race Fee $10 (pay on the day or direct debit)
Helmets and PFDs are compulsory.

This race will also include juniors who have just completed a 3 day whitewater/slalom course, for some this will be there first slalom race on moving water!

Sunday 18th July | Broome Terrace to Duidgee Park

There's just one more week left to enter the LiveLighter Northam to Toodyay race, which looks to have a good amount of water in the river!

After being relocated in 2020 due to low water levels, Paddle WA is excited to be hosting this race again on whitewater, which is now one of three
Avon Descent Seeding Races.

The 30km race is held across the same first sections of the Avon Descent, and features a mixture of flatwater, whitewater, weirs and portages.

Entries close 11.59pm on Thursday 15th July.
Strictly, late entries will not be accepted.

20th-21st August | Murray River, Dwellingup

The Murray Whitewater Festival is WA's biggest event of the like, and is set to be bigger and better than ever.

After spending a guided river trip of the full Lower Murray River along with extreme races, festivities continue back at the campsite with accomodation included in the entry fee.

9th-16th October 2021 | Perth WA

There are already more than 50 registrations for Canoeing at the XXVIII Australian Masters Games, 6 of which are from states outside of WA!

Paddle WA is coordinating events across the following disciplines
Canoe Marathon 10th & 11th October 2021
Canoe Sprint - 13th October 2021
Canoe Ocean Racing - 16th October 2021

Entries are now open so check out the Canoeing page in the link below for more information!
Note: to be eligible to race you must turn 35 on or before 
the 31st of December 2021.

Early Bird Registraitons close on the 30th July
All Registrations close 10th September