Bristol Canoe Club
Bristol one-star course
Bristol Canoe Club AGM
Annual reports, election of officers, and all the other traditional AGM highlights, including the ‘chunder bucket’ and ‘fish of the year’ awards Friday 25th October 1996
Followed by ‘light refreshments’ and Skittles
At the University of Bristol Social Club
News
Chairpersons report
Its been an exciting time since the last Magazine with a number of Club events well attended. Foremost has been the Norwegian Expedition which involved a large number (15) of Club members covering all abilities. More importantly, it was good to see the less experienced paddlers developing their skills throughout the week …. and surviving! All in all it was a great trip, with lots of in-jokes that probably those of you who didn’t go have heard ten times already; (what’s that about “big birds”?). More recently, we had a very impressive turn out at St David’s, again with all abilities enjoying both the surf and the good weather. I am also pleased to note a healthy and revived interest in Slalom during the summer, with a number of members taking up the sport and getting promoted. For those of you who haven’t tried Slalom yet, it provides an ideal method to improve your white water skills in a safe and structured way, so try it!
Each of these events epitomise the benefits of this Club, where members can get together and develop their skills within the sport to whatever level they wish, and do a bit of socialising on the side! Also, with the Club membership now exceeding one hundred, its great to see more experienced paddlers continuing to encourage, develop, (and sometimes save…) newer members.
Other issues that have been under consideration by the Committee is Youth membership. Currently, the Club policy is to not actively encourage youth members (i.e. those under eighteen), because of the legal responsibility put on adult leaders these days. Obviously, it is sad since a number of our youth members are some of the best paddlers in the Club and of course will provide the future for the Club. Do any of you have any views on this; if so please talk to me about it.
Due to holidays and canoeing events held through the summer, little work has been completed on the Boat Storage Facility at the Baltic Wharf. However, we have put a policy in place for the opening and closing of the Barn. The policy is published later in the magazine. Again, if you have any views on this please let the Committee know.
The Club Annual General Meeting is to be held on Friday October 25th, 1996. The AGM is a very important meeting for any Club, and the choice of the University Employees Social Club provides an excellent venue for the meeting, allowing a bit of socialising afterwards ( ….. and Avis’s sandwiches I hope!). If any member is interested in participating in next year’s Committee at what ever level, please see me or any of the current Committee to discover the joys and tribulations of the job. Even if you do not wish to join the Committee, it is very important that as many Club Members attend as possible. The AGM is your formal opportunity to question what the Club is doing and where it is going. So please be there, and make a note in your diary! …. NOW!!!
Sadly, Thursday nights at the Baltic Wharf have come to an end, signifying that the white water season is on its way. So I look forward to seeing everyone learning or practising their rolls at the Pool, ready for those river trips starting in October.
Remember, “To stay dry….stay in your boat ……”
Mark Gillett
BCC Chair
Bristol Canoe Club Baltic Wharf Key Policy
The Canoe Storage Facility at the Baltic Wharf will offer storage facilities for Bristol Canoe Club, throughout the year between 8a.m and 12 p.m. While this has major benefits to the Club, the Committee must ensure that the equipment remains secure. The following is a proposal on how security can be maximised.
Key Holders:
The only Key Holders will be: 1. Current Committee members 2. Two senior members of the Marathon Group; (unless one or more appears on the Committee).
Summer Club Sessions at the Baltic Wharf
It is proposed that each Thursday evening, each committee member take a turn as Duty Officer to issue club equipment, and ensure it is returned. The Duty Officer should be available from 6-00 p.m. until 9-00 p.m. each Thursday during the summer, and therefore will not be able to paddle.
Non Club Session Access
Club members will be offered access on the following basis: 1. The member contacts a Committee member and negotiates a time when the Facility can be opened! 2. The Equipment Officer may loan his/her keys following payment of a refundable deposit of £20 cash.
Member Storage
Those members permanently storing their own private boats in the Facility, will be charged £75 per year. The Club will not be responsible for any loss or damage what so ever.
A key will be made available following payment of a £10 deposit. The members must also sign a document stating they will ensure the Facility is left tidy and secure, and will not loan their key to ANY other person.
Bristol Canoe Club on the Internet!
Bristol canoe club is now connected to the Internet. Those of you who have access to the Internet might like to have a look at Bristol Canoe Club’s new web page:
[Old web address deleted, and replaced:] http://www.bristolcanoeclub.org.uk
I have created this to provide information about the club. I have not put much there yet, mainly due to lack of time, but I will slowly add more details as I can. If you have any particular suggestions about what you think should be there, or suggestions about the format, then please tell me.
I have just today received my first enquiry about the club by e-mail. I will also collect together information about other relevant canoeing pages, so if you know of any, please tell me.
Conor O’Neill webmaster@bristolcanoeclub.org.uk
Quotes of the month
“Even I have more sex appeal than Mark Aplin”
Conor
“I didn’t have any money, she paid”
Justin
Anyone wanting to paddle in Scotland
Contact Stuart Young, 49 Armond Bank Terr, Edinburgh, EH11 1SR (0131 – 337 4749)
Canoe Repairs
A phone number that might be worth remembering is Ian Hutchison, who runs Weirwolf , Ian sent us his leaflet describing himself as “specialist Canoe and Kayak repairers” based in Cinderford, Gloucestershire. Ian will also modify boats for people of non standard build, mend glass fibre or plastic boats, and build boats to commission. The number is 01594 826273, or 0831 255411 (mobile).
Lisa is now an Instructor
Congratulations to Lisa, who is now qualified as an instructor.
A Legend Recognised
Some off you may have noticed that the Sunday times has been running a supplement called “1000 Makers Of Sport”. It was with some interest that I picked up the second issue covering Ch to Fr. Sure enough, but slightly to my surprise there it was “Richard Fox Canoeist, England, b. 1960“. Following was a short but fascinating summary of a career of almost total domination of the men’s K1 slalom discipline.
Fox was World Champion 5 times up to 1993 and during that period also won 5 team World Championships. I can remember watching the TV coverage of the 1993 World’s from the USA’s Savage River – Fox destroyed the opposition by 5 seconds – a massive margin for a slalom event. Most of his time gain came from a perfect cross move between upstream gates – surfing high in the meat of the top wave where others slipped downstream.
The greatest disappointment of Fox’s career came in 1992 when Slalom was readmitted to the Olympics after a 20 year break – he finished 33-100ths of a second outside the medals. His comment, “Not good enough on the day”. Some conciliation when both he, and his wife, regained their titles at the 1993 World Championships. To have Fox rated alongside such sporting greats as AJ Foyt (Daytona, Indianapolis & Le Mans winner), Juan Manuel Fangio (Greatest racing driver of all time?), Linford Christie and many others is both a fitting tribute to the greatest slalomist of all time and a powerful recognition of a sport requiring a unique combination of skill, strength and stamina.
The accompanying photograph of Fox is a classic – surrounded, almost buried, in a maelstrom of whitewater Fox’s expression is one of total concentration and control, his grip on the paddles still relaxed.
Mark Aplin
Results of the Treasure Hunt, July 11th
The average time taken was 58 min 30 sec, and to work out the time penalty for each missed or incorrect answer I divided this time by the average number of correct answers which was 12. This gave me the figure of 4.875 minutes, which I rounded up to a penalty of 5 minutes per wrong or missing answer. [simple, eh? – ed]
| Time | Correct Answers | Penalties | Result | ||
| 1st | Conor O’Neill | 48.45 | 14 | 5 | 53.45 |
| 2nd | Simon Reid | 50 | 12 ½ | 12.30 | 62.30 |
| 3rd | Justin Sims | 48 | 12 | 15 | 63.00 |
| 4th | Mark Gillette | 59.10 | 14 | 5 | 64.10 |
| 5th | Pete James and Tom Gibbs | 47 | 13 | 10 | 67.00 |
| 6th | Ruth & Terry Black | 63 | 13 ½ | 7.30 | 70.30 |
| 7th | Lisa Gunton & Craig Todd | 71 | 14 ½ | 2.30 | 73.30 |
| 8th | The Wainwrights x 4 | 60 | 12 | 15 | 75.00 |
| 9th | Mike & Daniel Perrot | 71 | 14 | 5 | 76.00 |
| 10th | Jenny Briggs & Margaret … | 77.10 | 14 | 5 | 82.10 |
| 11th | Mark Healey | 52.30 | 8 ½ | 32.30 | 85.00 |
| 12th | Quentin Nichols | 75 | 12 | 15 | 90.00 |
| 13th | Paul Coyne | 39 | 2 | 65 | 104.00 |
Western Isles Challenge
Not just 50 miles of sea canoeing, but 200 miles on land, half on foot, half by some other form of human powered transport, including 20,000 feet of ascent spread over three days. Pete James won the individual event – Avis spotted this in the Bristol Orienteering Club Mag
Penguins vs. Canoeists
Q. What do canoeists have in common with penguins?
A. They leap onto rocks on the incoming surf and smell [shouldn’t that be ‘swell’? – ed]
Q. What don’t canoeists have in common with penguins?
Penguins rock hop as part of their natural life style whereas canoeists do it because they’re cool dudes.
Penguins do it with grace and finesse whereas canoeists thrash around for a few seconds before getting on top.
Penguins dive off like efficient well -oiled machines whereas canoeists dismounts like a walrus going down the beach to the waters edge.
Penguins usually have the ability to stay on the rocks all night, whereas canoeists usually last a minute at most
Here’s one for all the squares: Penguins don’t look like canoeists
Final note: Which member of the canoe club has a 3 foot tall stuffed penguin?
Phil
Fish of the Year
The new ‘Fish of the Year’ award will be presented to the most deserving swim. Throughout the year, members may send in nominations with a short description of the swim for publication in the mag.
Editors Bit
This bumper edition of the Canoe Club Magazine has to be the best read since “War and Peace”. Curl up with it on a long winters evening for a stonking good read. The BCC Mag. newsroom has been working overtime to put together this issue, despite catastrophic system failure the weekend before publication (Thanks Ben and Tom for trashing my PC).
Thanks to all the people who keep writing up trips and articles for me. As usual, I prefer it by email (to njw@hplb.hpl.hp.com) or on a floppy disk. I will type up hand-written notes if necessary. Next copy deadline will be Friday 22 November to make it into the Xmas edition. Let’s make that another bumper edition
And also …. Apologies if your article got lost – it happened once to Avis who wrote a poem for the last issues, and I lost it. Your editor suffers from administrative dyslexia – in other words I can never remember where I’ve put things.
Finally, I was so peeved at missing the Norway expedition that I’ve signed myself up for a weeks paddling course in Scotland with Glenmore Lodge, 6 Oct. If anyone else fancies coming along to keep me from drowning, it’s £260, all in.
Nick
White Water
NORWAY TRIP 1996
See also a separate write-up intended for non-club-members; Norway 1996.
MONDAY – River Sjoa – Jon Stranks
This was are warm up river so we picked a ”nice easy” paddle (as can be seen from the fish of the week score). The surf wave at the get in produced a punt off the bottom from Mark Aplin and the FROT from Justin. The scenery was spectacular, clear skies, sparkling water, picture postcard views and nude women on the bank.
Following a roll of my own Mark Aplin took Andy and Jon to recce an awkward pair of waves. Andy went through like a pro, we are considering evicting him from the morgue (the room of the hopeless). Jon however, fell in and while trying to roll up was wrenched from his boat by a passing troll. (FSOT).
MONDAY – River Sjoa – Mark Gillett
The second team, hereafter called the B team, had the dubious task of following the Aplin crowd at a ‘fair’ distance. After ferry gliding from one side to another, investigating every stopper available, and checking for flora on both banks, we inevitably caught them up. By the time the gorge converged, we fell into usual Bristol canoe club mode, with all 17 paddlers piling down after Martin Green.
One interesting anecdote, preceding this trip was the Great White Water Leaders Team Talk. Segregation into two teams, paddle signs, and the inevitable warning that this river was not like the Dart, pumped us all up for the challenge ahead. A round of applause then followed this momentous speech.
POEM – Phil Millener
Our chairman is called Mark Gillett, and he hasn’t done a hard bit yet, The grumpy git has a size 12 boot, but it doesn’t stop him doing the chicken shoot.
TUESDAY – River Lora – Lisa Gunton
After a heavy night testing our drinking skills, Mark G woke us up by practising his so called football skills against several doors and walls. The journey started with Jon Stranks dutifully sitting with the couple of the week (Quentin and Nathan) after it was commented that nobody wanted to ride in Nathan’s car. We finally arrived at the river after the map had been misread giving the drivers lots of reversing practice Mark Aplin had eaten lots of wine gums to calm his nerves down. This journey took us all of 2 hours to drive 3 miles.
Figure 1 Bristol Canoe Clubs Finest …. Justin takes a kip in his boat
The river started fairly simply with a few rocks to miss. Then Martin stopped in an eddy and went to inspect the first drop of the day. He told us to paddle over to the right side of the river then take the fall in the middle. I watched Conor descend first then followed his line or so I thought, but the current was faster than I had anticipated and I didn’t really make the right hand side of the river. Instead I headed straight for a big rock face thinking all the time lean towards the rock. One bruised elbow later, I descended the drop with no problem. Apparently Andy Millener wasn’t so lucky and on meeting with the same rock descended the fall up side down. He had some impressive bumps on his head and couldn’t remember descending the full or being rescued (maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing). At this point Jan and John decided to portage the rest of the trip, with Maggie and Andy joining them.
The next major drop that we came to we had already inspected from the bridge and I had decided that the line down the right hand side would be the best line. Martin said that the lead in was fairly tricky. Mark went in front of me and seemed to have some trouble in a stopper. I decided to try further to the right, this seemed to be fine but as I went under the bridge I bounced off several rocks and scraped along the bridge pillar. I thought ‘this is bigger than I had anticipated‘. (On reaching the bottom safely I yippied with excitement – had I really just gone down that?) There were a few drops after this and apparently Justin decided to play in a stopper. Now this would have been fine if he hadn’t let go of his paddle while capsizing. This didn’t deter Justin and he demonstrated his skill of hand surfing and rolling. (What we’re not sure about is whether he really meant to roll that many times.) Several paddles thrown from the bank later Justin caught the left handed pair and managed to paddle out of the stopper. (Quite difficult when you’re right handed).
The gorge section still to come, I did a deep support at the end of a drop after bouncing of a rock that I didn’t manage to miss. Janet managed to have a fight with a stopper. Mark bashed his arm on an undercut rock after descending a drop. Phil apparently lost his blades in a crevice. I thought I had been doing well until I hit a stopper, capsized, and failed to roll and spent some time swimming around in an eddy. (It was the river troll that grabbed me from my canoe).
The other group caught up with us to report that Kath had rolled three times, and Justin eleven times. Nathan had followed Quentin into an eddy that he would have rather not have done due to the stopper below.
I decided to after getting out to inspect the river that I would portage the last mile or two due to feeling cold. I just managed to see Crispin capsize next to an undercut rock and roll up. Back at the cars injuries were inspected, and drops on the river expanded in size and difficulty.
We all survived for another day’s paddling another night’s drinks where someone decided that Niblett’s name should be changed (to “Noblett”), and that the description “most normal member of the canoe club” being given to Simon Reid. The other question is whether Nathan makes it to his bed tonight.
POEM OF THE NIGHT – Phil Millener
Bristol canoe club trip is winning. All the car wheels, they are spinning, Taking off all the gravel, From the road as we travel
WEDNESDAY – River Atna – Jan Prior
Martin woke us all up at the agreed 10am, our starts so far had been considered a bit late. We had already settled into 10.30, 12.30 out and 3pm on the river. Today was to be different despite our efforts. Sandwich making for 17 was getting slick, choosing cars for the day civilised and we were off. Today’s river was a mountain range away and the views across the top of 1500 metre snowcapped peaks were stunning. An hour and a half later we arrived at the get in, another dirt track 100 metres from the water through rocks, bog, and pine trees. We sat by the river for an hour while the shuttle was sorted out. Well, most of us sat quietly enjoying the tranquillity, while the rest of us poked at an ants nest, fed it beetles, threw logs into the river and generally fidgeted a lot.
We finally got on the river at 3.30 and it was predicted to be a grade 1-3 for 11km, 3-4 for 3km, then 1-3 for the end. For most people to days trip was a bit easy but for me and Jon still challenging enough.
The river began quite flat and wide and progressed to small, fast moving rapids dotted here and there, no problems so far. Group A were far ahead led boldly by Mark Gillett (a good sign that there’s nothing scary coming up – only chicken shoots). And group B practised breaking in and out where it didn’t matter. The first big rapid we came to I fell out on the eddy line at the top and only just managed to hang onto a rock in the middle of the river. I looked upstream at the torrent of water coming down and the force was too strong to wade through. Mark Aplin thankfully came out to rescue me attached to a throw line and we scrambled out, a lucky escape, it would have been a horrible swim.
This was followed shortly by a rapid with big bounding waves for about 50 metres with a sharp right hand turn at the bottom with waves coming from the left. This was I think the hardest part of the river – surprise, surprise over I went at the bottom.
The rest of the trip seemed long with quite predictable grade 2 rapids, lots of rocks, a few bouncy waves and 2 more swims from me. The get out bridge was a long time coming and as I rounded the corner I saw Martin being given the bumps in the water – he was shown no mercy.
THURSDAY – River Jori – Mark Gillett
Trial by Jori, start 3.00pm
FEAR
FEAR
FEAR
Finish 10:25 pm (team A finish 9:00pm) -Thank god we’re home!
PS Dinner was on the table- thank you Jan
FRIDAY MORNING – River Jori – Martyn Green
Maggie, Lisa and Gary had climbed out of the gorge yesterday, leaving boats behind. I was to paddle Maggies boat out so it was an early (10am) wake up call and an hours drive, then a long walk down the gorge (almost a canyon) to the boats. Paddling a boat over 1.5 times as long as the spud feels a bit different, but on such a wonderful stretch of river I’d have been happy in any thing from a bathtub to a river racer (but not a marathon boat which would not have lived). Good one – no problems- even got Lisa down the stretch the group portaged yesterday (due to sub-optimal paddler states) although she did make a strategic bounce off a rock wall.
FRIDAY – River Sjoa – Martyn Green
We did the same stretch of the Sjoa as we did on Monday. Played a lot on waves and stoppers – hence the massive Fish score of 83 (higher than any other river). Still sunny – good stuff.
SATURDAY – Sjoa Gorge – Janet Adcock
I woke up and was really frightened. When we arrived at the get in point we discovered later that it was the steepest part of the river. The rest of the Canoe club sat there brooding in their bunks except for Lisa who was injured and Nathan who could barely stand up!
There were several meaty rapids to be navigated on route, but on the whole it wasn’t too difficult. The weather was fine and the Sjoa gorge scenic. We finished the paddle and then I got in the ‘Lurve’–mobile and was transported at great speed through the Norwegian countryside. Mark and Mark treated their passengers to 2.5 hours of break-neck driving. On one occasion we overtook 5 cars in one go!
SATURDAY – Sjoa Gorge – Jon Stranks
Last trip made possible by a flash of enthusiasm from Crispin and final attempt to prove that we can get up before midday if we really want to. Slight misgivings when Martyn got his faceguard out at the get in and said he expected it to be like the infamous Jori (oh no – will we ever get out of this gorge alive?….) Turned out to be loads of fun and not nearly as scary as the drive back across the mountains. Only half of us did it – reasons for not paddling varied from physical inability to lift a paddle, to too hungover to get out of bed, but at least it showed a bit of individual decisions – we’re not all sheep really (Baa).
DAMAGE REPORT FOR THE WEEK – Mark Aplin
2nd day – Andy grazed his head
3rd day – Nathan has a hangover
4th day – Nathan has a hangover
5th day – Nathan has a hangover & Maggie gets mild Hyperthermia
6th day – Nathan has a hangover & Lisa damages her thumb.
7th day – Nathan has a hangover
8th day – Nathan’s tyres need replacing.
9th day – 3 million brain cells in Justin’s brain die, and Nathan’s brakes decease.
Also – Most canoeists get blisters on their thumbs. Mr Aplin got them on his thigh!!!!
PADDLING PROGRESS REPORT – Mark Aplin
Martyn Green Could stoppers be the chink in his armour?
Mark Gillett Stayed resolutely upright all week – needs to push himself harder.
Lisa Gunton Same old Lisa!
Conor O’Neill Same old Conor!
Kath Cotton Best Bristol woman paddler since Liz Sharman. (Edited to avoid too much vomiting Most upside down woman paddler)
Mark Aplin Best Bristol male paddler since Richard Fox, stopper skills continue to evolve’ (Very biased statement).
Janet Adcock Has recovered her confidence and started to use her skill!
Crispin Waddy Marked improvement, strong nerves!
Andy Millener Massive improvement, recovered well from head banging incident.
Jan Prior Marked improved and starting to paddle with some aggression, well in tune with her own skill and able to decide which trips to miss!
Jon Stranks Another massive improvement, first white water roll!
Nathan Scott Plenty of muscle, too heavy for his boat?
Quentin Nichols Massive experience and comprehensive skills put to good use as always
Phil Millener See “Mark Gillett”!
Justin Sims The usual virtuoso performance!
STRANGE GOINGS ON
4 am in the morning: It has been reported by Phil (who was cleaning his teeth at the time) he heard voices in the shower that belonged to Nathan and Mark. In the morning when this incident had been reported to the rest of the group, Nathan explained that he looked at it in the shower and it went off!
The couple of the week were Quentin and Nathan. They were only separated from one another when Jon Stranks decided he would be assertive and sit in the front of Nathan’s car.
Mark had problems keeping his hands away from Kath and they were certainly inseparable (what it is to be at the start of a relationship). Quote from Kath “…… I didn’t realise I was going out with someone with worse manners than Nathan” (This could have been the end of the relationship).
Mark Gillett is Jon Stranks’ hero . He has the same toy box and towel, and moves his body on the dance floor with the same grace as Mark.
Your Ex chairman’s comment: BAAA!!!
AMOUNTS OF SMUGGLED BEER
Conor & Lisa – 22 litres
Justin – 12 litres
Jon – 8 litres
Mark Gillett – 12 litres
POEMS – Phil Millener
If we drive too fast, we may get a fee, But we don’t care, As we fiddled the duty free.
He may be a hero, Because he paddles a canoe, but he’s a bit of a perv Because he’s in love with a ewe!
ON THE FERRY
Mark showing everyone how to dance and Jon joined in to groove his bit. Various men on the trip showed us their sophistication when they chatted up two Swedish women. (I can’t understand why they left so quickly.) Big bird (Mark Gillett), the lager lout, who reckons that he was sea sick the next day. (Not a wave in sight). Janet wasn’t impressed by Nathan’s chat up line: “would you like to come to bed with me?”
FISH OF THE WEEK – Conor O’Neill
This was scored by the following cunning scheme which was dreamt up by Martyn to ensure that one of the ‘lads’ won. In the end, the winner was Mark Aplin, mainly because his five previous foreign trips lent extra weight to his experience. Maggie’s score unfortunately cannot count because she is not a member of Bristol Canoe Club. Both Mark Gillett and Janet are pointless.
The scores are calculated as follows:
1 point For a roll
2 points For an unnecessary portage or roll, or a chicken shoot
3 points For a swim
The individual scores are multiplied by the number of foreign trips (previous trips and this one) undertaken by each paddler.
| Sjoa | Lora | Atna | Jori | Sjoa | Sjoa | Tot | |||
| Maggie | 6 | 3 | 12 | 2 | = 23 | x 3 | = 69 | ||
| Mark A | 1 | 1 | 6 | = 18 | x 6 | = 48 | |||
| Quent | 1 | 1 | = 2 | x 12 | = 24 | ||||
| Crispin | 4 | 2 | 5 | 9 | = 20 | x 1 | = 20 | ||
| Justin | 5 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 5 | = 18 | x 1 | = 18 | |
| Kath | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | = 8 | x 2 | = 16 | ||
| Jan | 2 | 12 | 1 | = 15 | x 1 | = 15 | |||
| Andy | 6 | 5 | 1 | = 12 | x 1 | = 12 | |||
| Lisa | 3 | 1 | = 4 | x 3 | = 12 | ||||
| Jon | 5 | 5 | 1 | = 11 | x 1 | = 11 | |||
| Phil | 1 | 1 | = 2 | x 5 | = 10 | ||||
| Gary | 1 | = 1 | x 7 | = 7 | |||||
| Martyn | 2 | = 2 | x 3 | = 6 | |||||
| Nathan | 1 | 1 | 1 | = 3 | x 1 | = 3 | |||
| Conor | 1 | = 1 | x 2 | = 2 | |||||
| Mark G | = 0 | = 0 | |||||||
| Janet A | = 0 | = 0 |
Canoeing in New Zealand, Part 2.
The final day at Ian’s in Wanganui and we elected to have a game of golf. This was interesting as I had never played golf before. It was several holes before I managed to hit the ball, but when I did I wondered where it had gone! The highlight was when Ian’s club head flew off never to be seen again establishing a new meaning to the cry of “fore”. The man at the clubhouse seemed imperturbed when a stick with a handle was handed back at the end of the round!
Anyway, after this we set off for Wellington to catch our boat to the South Island. A quick zoom on the catarmaran and two hours later we were across and entering Queen Charlotte Sound. Immediately you realized that this was a more hilly place, the towns were smaller and less developed too. The vegetation was less lush and not so tropical looking and driving down the road to Murchison on a bank holiday Tuesday saw us with the tarmac completely to ourselves and no other cars in sight. Murchison as Mark put it ,was yet another NZ shithole ![ apologies to New Zealanders in order here] It’s a culture shock as basically this was a well known place with only one main street a few shops and houses and a pub all looking a bit out of the fifties and rundown with it. However we camped one night and then decided to look at the famous Buller River as we headed down South.
As far as we could see there were no rapids on the Buller, but how could this be? This river is famous for them including O Sullivans and the Earthquake section with nine named rapids notwithstanding the other five named rapids on the upper sections. Where were they? We would have to find out on the way back.
Our holiday was to include a two/three day walk or “tramp” on one of the major routes but one that was not so popular and a little bit harder, so we had to head down to a place called Makarora for the start. We took the coast route with the Tasman Sea on the right and mountains to the left taking in the Franz Joseph glacier on the way and going via a god forsaken spot called Haast.
Makarora was a one horse town ie. one campsite with shop/cafe [ too grand a word for it] and a ranger station/tourist info place, nothing else. Enquiries established the Wilkins/Young track, the tramp we had in mind to do, was just still do-able it being the end of season, but there would be three feet of snow on the Gillespie Pass, and no, no special equipment would be needed ie. ice axe/crampons, yes, the path was well marked, no need to take tents, huts were available well stocked with fire wood, it would be no problem to do if you were reasonably fit,” you are reasonably fit aren’t you?”. Before I could say no, Mark had said yes ,so that was it. There were four people out at present and ,no, the river was not fordable but the jet boat was going in to the Siberia hut that afternoon, we could take that. Our book said it would be easier to do the trip from the other end and we weren’t ready anyway so we decided to risk paying extra to get the boat out in the morning.
Next day dawned bright and ,wet, but we duly presented ourselves at the ranger station at nine am for the jet boat. No other takers so we had to pay full fare for the 400 metre trip. They must make a good living from us tourists and we were duly dumped on the other side of the unfordable river knowing the only way out was up and over into the next valley, the boat might or might not be there to pick us up,eeek. It depended on if there were any people wanting to come in or not from the other end x, there were’nt many people about. The boat left, noise receeding into the distance with only the drip of rain and running water left. We were alone with a nine mile trek ahead of us and a thousand feet to climb to the hut.
Ohhhh shit …..The guide book said the track up to the head of the valley was an easy stroll, what were the hard bits going to be like then? This was a bit up and down. We kept up a good pace despite the steamy conditions through the woodland and grass areas which were accompanied by instant soakings, even through gaiters my boots filled with water. Six hours later the pace had fallen dramatically,some of the hard bits over washouts [landslips] had taken their toll as had some very steep but mercifully short sections. Mark’s knees were beginning to give him some trouble and we were having to stop for rests much more frequently. Suddenly we came across a sign exhorting us to collect firewood as the hut was only thirty minutes away and we were about to leave the woodland for the alpine zone. This happened very abruptly and we were out on the open hillside with mist all around. Sure enough ,the hut soon loomed out of the mist, we had made it. The first thing Mark did was to get all the wood he could find and get the stove going the aim being to get the whole thing red hot! This was achieved very rapidly and the temperature rose and rose until I was contemplating sleeping outside it was so hot! All our wet stuff dried out nicely though.
We had been told not to try the next bit over the Gillespie Pass if the weather was bad but the morning was perfect. There was a stunning view of Mount Awful from the window of the hut and the sky was absolutely clear of cloud, let’s go for it . Today was supposed to be less hard ,the guide book said but this was to include a 400 metre steep climb and would take 7 hours hut to hut. At the end of the valley there still did not seem to be a way up the mountains to the pass, oh no, there it was ,a poled route straight up a vertical cliff! A steep climb was’nt the word, it was vertical. I was scared, 1000 feet up with a 30lb pack you could lob off very easily, every pole we came to we hung on to for fear of falling off! We lost the route a couple of times but eventually we reached the snow and the slope became manageable. We still had to worry about sliding on the snow slopes though, and it was clear people before us had had ice axes due to the holes in the snow. After a considerable time we reached the top and collapsed for lunch. The view was magnificent, absolutely brilliant. My GPS registered 1650 metres and it felt like it. Struggling down the other side was a nightmare in ¾ feet of soft snow, was there a path, was there hell! However, going down the side we had come up would have been a lot worse. We were just about to leave the snow when , lo and behold, three people appeared climbing strongly, a bloke and two young women [steady Denis]. They told us to look out for a dutchman who was still preparing his gear when they left their hut that morning. It was’nt til we got down to the tree line that we met the dutchman coming up looking mighty unprepared clutching a plastic carrier with orange bits in. He was on his own and awfully late if he was going to make the hut on the other side before dark. We made it to Siberia hut exhausted, but from now on it was supposed to be easy!
There was a detour to see the Crucible Lake where the best scenery in the park was to be seen, but Mark’s knees were in a bit of a state so we thought we would see if the plane was coming in to the strip near the hut. The warden had left for the winter on the last plane , we discovered, so there was no one to tell us if either the plane or the jet boat would be at the pick up points. Mark tested his knees on a recce to the strip but could’nt cross the river to see any info on the planes movements. He decided his knees were up to the four hour walk to the jet boat pick up point to see if it would come, if not, we would have to swim to the Kerin Forks hut on the other side of the river!
It was a hell of a walk, but we made it, Mark’s knees just made it too and we lay on the grass in the middle of nowhere hoping the boat would come. A strange character appeared loping along with his trousers held up only by his ‘equipment’ it seemed and told us a plane had come in earlier with Siberian Experience people ie fee payers who want a taste of wilderness without the danger, fly in ,short easy walk, jet boat out . Relief, the boat was coming! He also told us that the dutchman had been found floundering about in soaking wet jeans on the point of exhaustion in total darkness with his torch batteries exhausted near the Young Hut. He had lost some of his kit coming down the vertcal bit in the dark , unbelievable. He was very lucky to be alive really. The jet boat turned up and had room for us, it seemed they had been expecting us. We were almost too exhausted to appreciate the 50 mph trip back but really had to hang on as they did three 360 degree spins at that speed and arrived back wetter that ever we had been on the walk! Wow, what an experience we really did it, the Wilkins/Young Track, and a ridiculous, manic jet boat ride with a lunatic at the controls! It was now decision time, go on down to Queenstown ,Te Anau and Fiordland or go back and catch some canoeing on the Buller. Canoeing won, so we headed off up to the East in heavy rain towards Christchurch, turning off to Arthurs Pass – more heavy rain – and up to Murchison – even more lashings of rain! When we got there, we still could see no rapids, wait, was that something, yes, O’Sullivans yes and it was stonking, flood conditions ,water running off everywhere. After some deliberations with the info we had, we decided to do the bit of the Buller from the source at lake it flows from. After considerable driving about we found the access road ,or I should say track, an unmade dirt road with some four streams flowing across it. Mark’s off road driving experience came to the fore here but even he was worried when at the last stream the water was over the tops of the wheels and we pushed a huge bow wave in front of us. With a sense of isolation we pushed off from the jetty on the lake to do a river we had never done before, was the info we had correct? As it turned out it was all go from the start. A continuous grade three belting along with very few breakouts or stopping places, and they use this for their beginners and improvers . Lovely bit of river though, in isolated surroundings. We’d left a towel in a tree so we’d know where to get out, I could’nt see it but Mark did quite easily , it was still a major task to get up to the track through the bush. We saw no other canoeists at all. Next day, after some thought and looking at the Granity Rapid, grade 4, we thought we would take a chance and run this section which was supposed to contain four named rapids. I was , as usual, nervous but as we were changing at the start three other Kiwi canoeists appeared, students from Otago Uni and asked if they could paddle with us. At least there were more people to rescue me I thought. We took off down the river with these guys playing in every hole they could find ,and me avoiding them! Soon they pulled out an announced the proximity of Granity Falls. They said they had done it the day before, no problem, just paddle down the middle and avoid the bit on the right! They were off,so it was run it blind or get left behind, I went. So that was a grade four, I could’nt see a thing there was that much water flying about and most of it up my nose! The Kiwis were laughing about my small boat having disappeared from view for periods of time, they’d never seen a boat that small before, it was a joke to them but it had looked after me well and I was still the right way up at the end. Agin , we deliberated what to do the next day and decided on the Matakitaki which contained the Gripper stopper. Nervous again but Mark had just deposited our transport, a hired mountain bike, in a bush before going up the get in when the Kiwis appeared only to say that this was the most dodgy river in the area and we should go with them to do the Earthquake Section of the Buller which contained nine named rapids most of them grade four. This seemed pretty dodgy to me especially since we met up with a rafting party who claimed the river the day before had been commercially unraftable, too dangerous, to high. Today would be optimum and we would have to watch out for ‘Gunslinger’ and the stopper twice the size of our van!
Further worry was given when the Kiwi ,Charles , who was the only person to have done the river before announced that he was not going to do it this time but we should look at ‘Gunslinger’ before doing it.
On the water and the river was wide and very heavy, we were very careful, skirting round the big waves and wondering when the big rapids going to start. A rock in the river looking like a piece of toast appeared, that must be ‘Pop up Toaster ‘., ‘Gunslinger must be soon.. Round the corner and there seemed to be a rapid riverwide, it must be the infamous ‘Gunslinger’! It looked big and unlike the other rapids, you couldn’t sneek down the side until after the lead in . The two Kiwis set off down the far side and I decided to go after them. They soon vanished in the waves and I realized my boat was not fast enough to get to the right so I changed direction to cut left. I was soon in the big stuff but there was nothing dodgy, just big water. Mark was surprised when I went left as he was following me to start with and thought we had agreed where we were going. He later claimed the waves had been six or seven feet high, yes it had been big water, but the Kiwis reckoned the Karawau at Queenstown had three times the volume. Perhaps it was just as well this was our last river of the holiday! The river suddenly went flat and we paddled on in the hope of more rapids but nothing was followed by nothing. The Kiwis were getting withdrawal symptoms and claimed enough was enough and beached. The road was just up there through the impenetrable bush, had we missed the the get out point? None of us knew where we were but despatched Mark to look for the road , he was gone for a very long time considering the road was just up there. He reappeared after some three quarters of an hour having found the road hacking his way through the bush with his paddle which he then left up there as a sign for the others. he had followed a creek back down to the river and swum downstream to us . We paddled up to the creek and struggled up the stream to the road where we flagged down a car and sent Mark to look for Charles and our van which he duly found and despatched back to us.
We had indeed overshot the egress point by at least two miles, Ah yes, lucky to be alive.! We said our goodbyes and the Kiwis headed off down to Dunedin and we went the other way up to Auckland. We took in some more of NZ on the way up through Nelson across the Marlborough sound and back via Ian’s home where we again stayed overnight, and caught the plane back to England.
Yes, definitely an expedition and even if it did rain a lot ,we still had a great time. I’d certainly do it all again, but not next year or the the year after that!
Quentin Nichols
Sea Kayaking
St David’s Weekend
By the time most of you read this the lazy, hazy days of early June will be long gone, but on these chill autumn evenings it will be good to remind yourselves of the Bristol Canoe Club ‘Sea Paddling Experience’.
There was the usual helter-skelter and confusion at the docks, where the first trip casualty was taken. Our apologies to Declan, who ‘missed the bus’ owing to a communications error. The driving was trouble free and fast, at least in Mark A’s case, and the obligatory visit to Twr-y-Felin outdoor centre’s bar was made after pitching camp at Glan-y-Mor, St David’s Pembrokeshire.
On a glorious June morning it was back to Twr-y-Felin for a quick planning session. You never have to worry about water levels or access agreements at sea, but imagine paddling a huge river where the current changes direction every few hours, you haven’t got a bank close at hand from which you can organise a rescue, and you can’t say ‘I think I’ll just walk round this bit.’ The weather also becomes a crucial factor; force 5 is a mere breeze on land, but it can turn a sea paddle into a bit of a handful. Then there’s the tide; since your average sea kayak can be paddled at about 3 Knots, with tides running anywhere between 2 and 5 knots, you need the tide on your side, so tide tables, Admiralty chart, Pilot book and weather forecasts also enter the equation.
We opted on a day’s paddle in ‘proper’ sea kayaks from Porth Clais, SE along the coast to Solva harbour. We headed away from Porth Clais after a short spell of re-orientation A sea kayak goes fast in a strait line and doesn’t behave like your average Acro-whotsit-Mountain-Micro Bat. They turn best by setting them on the outside edge, for example, which can be really off putting! We took our first casualties early on when a combination of deasel fumes from a fishing boat and the swell relieved two of our crew of their breakfast. Fortunately the beach at Caer Bdy enabled these to go for an early bath without too many problems.
Further down the coast we paddled out to some offshore islets to watch the seals, (dolphins and sea birds will also come close to a sea kayak and you can have some very rewarding close encounters). We swung back into another handy bay for lunch. Mark Aplin could beach combe for England it seems, and returned with, amongst other things, a pair of old trainers and some bits of (cow?) bone from the base of the cliff. Our resident vet couldn’t decide whether it had jumped or was pushed. Much sun bathing was indulged in before we again put to sea and explored some of the local caves (If you can paddle a 15′ sea kayak backwards in the dark slalom gates will never pose a problem again!).
Finally we pulled into Solva, where waffles and ice cream awaited. The verdict from those trying this aspect of canoesport for the first time – a really enjoyable day out, but I think they preferred short fat whitewater boats that don’t go in strait lines (I’m forever trying to make my whitewater boat go in a strait line, and perhaps this is my problem!).
Day two dawned grey and blustery which complicated our assault on the infamous ‘Bitches’. Back in our whitewater boats the outbound journey was a bit of a slog, but the ‘big river’ that is Ramsey Sound can be crossed using the sea paddler’s adaptations of your average river skills; using the current (tide), eddy-hopping (but on a much bigger scale) and ferry gliding (over 400M!) were all deployed. The final leg of the journey was a bit wet and wild, but the group arrived on the ‘Bitches’ having lost only 3 members – only because they decided to form a surfing posse instead and headed back to Whitesands Bay.
It’s difficult to describe the ‘Bitches’ – reactions ranged from ‘awesome’ to ‘what’s all the fuss about’. Nevertheless, they are fun. The standing waves are slightly unstable and change in height and shape as the tide goes up and down. Surfing them is testing, and the extremely confused white water which forms behind them makes for some very interesting rolling if you get it wrong. The trick is to stop playing before you’re tired and retreat to the tea shop on Ramsey Island before starting for home.
The homebound trip across the sound was long and tiring, with the group scattered by a combination of large swell, wind and fast tidal currents. I seem to remember surfing the gap between Caer Geffreliog quite by accident and have made a mental note not to do it again! The beach at Whitesands was certainly a welcome sight and I called it a day, while those with more stamina carried on surfing.
The sea paddling season tends to draw to a close at the end of December, ‘cos it gets a bit cold out there and survival times in the water are limited. If you fancy some sea paddling next year, however, let the club know and I’m sure we can arrange another trip. If you want to try your hand sooner give me a call and I might be able to arrange a day-trip sometime before Christmas.
Dave Brain
Polo
Not a lot to report from our proud polo teams – where are you sports reporters with the polo reports?
– ed.
Marathon
Bristol Marathon, June 1996
A total of 66 paddlers took part in our own south west regional Hasler event – a good turnout – we always are a popular venue. The weather was hot once again and the standard of racing was very good. Many paddlers did well. Notably Ross Lloyd (newly imported from South Africa – a very experienced paddler) promoted to Div. 4. Daniel Szelig who came second after falling out again and got himself promoted to Div. 6. Lee west won Div. 6. Nick Pagan and Chris Meredith one Div. 5/6 K2, and Berni Cole and Janet Adcock won Div. 9 K2. In the points table we finished first, with 219 points. Second were Plymouth with 205, third were Bradford with 129.
I would like to thank everybody who turned up to help, especially Chris and S… Gazeley, Brian Wost, Conor, Tim B, Nick T, Linda and Tony Cox, all my mates whom I have used up my last favours by getting them to marshal the bridges, Judging and portages again. The harbourmaster and his staff for their co-operation and to Bev for doing refreshments and for her back up all year round – or is it patience?
We gave away quality prizes again and still made a profit. Marathon paddling is fun and rewarding at any level. You don’t have to be competitive to enjoy it. It is a good workout if you train seriously and master the technique and fitness and do well at races you get a huge sense of achievement. So, anyone who fancies a go in one of the K1s or K2’s contact myself, Ron, or Colin on a club night and we will only be too pleased to take you out on the water – the more aspects of canoeing you try the better canoeist you will be.
Steve Bennet
40th National Marathon Championship (Reading, 13/14 July)
The races were held on the |River Thames and all the races were of an extremely high standard with many of Britain’s best canoeists taking part.
My race was on the Sunday 14th, and was the first of the day at 10.30 AM. This was the Junior Men and under 14 K1. There were 27 competitors, the highest was ranked Division 4.
Although the River Thames is fairly wide the start line seemed fairly crowded and quite early in the race someone collided with the stern of my canoe causing me to spin and lose contact with the leaders. This meant a hard chase for the remainder of the race and although I worked hard (with the vocal support of James Auser of Plymouth who cycled along the footpath) and caught most of the entries I finally came fourth, missing out by two seconds from gaining the bronze medal, it was a hard but enjoyable race.
Looking forward to the 1997 Championships
Lee West
Marathon Round-up
The good news is that the club has qualified for the year’s Hasler Finals in Norwich on 22 September. A good start was made at the first two races held last Autumn followed by steady progress at the other races. Unfortunately this year’s races have been marked by low entries.
Regional races resumed on 12th May at Calstock Cornwall on the River Tamar. It was also an excuse for a camping weekend involving playing pitch and put golf on a bumpy course and hitting the back of the ball off the course. The race clashed with members other commitments so I was the only one there. Greta and others cheering me on. They did not know that I and another competitor had decided to finish together.
Two weeks later Greta and I raced at the Dart circuit race in Totnes, with Greta winning the Div. 8 K1 race, the club gained bonus points which enabled the club to pip another club in the final results.
At that Bristol Avon race on the 16th June, a young paddler and I chased each other for most of the race, finishing 3rd and 4th respectively. Easing off would have been better because I am now in Division 4 where the competition is harder.
Lee West continued to do well by winning the Division 6 K1 race. In contrast, Steve Bennet and Tony Musson were thrashed in the Div. 3-4 K2 race. As usual the club won the race and awarded good quality prizes. It was good to see Janet Adcock and Berni Coles racing together. A big thank you to all the helpers who contributed to this race being the best organised one in the west.
A week later the circuit was in Exeter. In the Div. 3 K1 race Steve Bennet lost valuable time at the turn around as there was no buoy in place pin-pointing where to turn. The same situation faced me in the Div. 4 race – Steve had a no-nonsense conversation with the organiser about the matter.
The next race in Truro 2 weeks later is one Steve and I would like to forget, paddling against the tide and into a moderate win, it sapped us of strength and we finished poorly.
Bradford on Avon’s race on Bank Holiday Sunday was the last one in the series. Daniel Szalig gained promotion from Div. 6 into Div. . Steve finished fourth out of eight in the Div. 3 K1 race.
This is a good time to thank Bryan West for all the help he gives.
Colin Chudley
Slalom
Langham Farm Div. 4/5 Slalom (6th/7th June 1996)
This slalom is held on a small stretch of the River Frome between Frome and Bath at Langham Farm and is a section of the river which we passed on the New Years Day River Frome trip. It is a beautiful setting with trees overhanging a narrow stretch of quiet water at the start. This leads onto a sharp left hand turn under a small humped bridge, where the water speeds up, and then while the river itself continues off to the right, the slalom course doubles back on itself to the start. It is a sort of circular course and the spectating and camping goes on in the grass in the middle.
There was a good turnout of fifteen people from the club. Most of us camped over on the Saturday night. All of us novices were in the single kayak competition whilst our more accomplished slalom paddlers entered the team event and the C1/C2 event. This involves kneeling painfully in a 1/2 person slalom boat with half a paddle each.
Langham Farm Div 4/5
The course involved going through eighteen gates as fast as you can, some upstream, some downstream, hitting as few as possible and not missing any out, both of which you get penalty points (seconds added) for. The most difficult gates were coming out from under the bridge. The current through the bridge was the fastest moving on the course and so you came hurtling through the bridge and then had to get to Gates 12+13 which were immediately on either side just under the bridge i.e. either a fast breakout or a hard paddle back, being careful to avoid the strategically placed gate 14 which the current swept you towards. Going through this one before 12+13 gained you 50 penalty points. The course took about three minutes to do and was completely exhausting to do against the clock.
Canoeing wise the weekend was a great success with four people being promoted from Division 5 to Division 4 and all promoted received a little plaque to put on their mantel piece. The weather was perfect for sitting on the bank of the river all weekend watching everybody else and generally lazing around, the atmosphere was friendly and encouraging, we got some expert tuition, had a nice evening out in the pub and a very relaxing, fun weekend. Highly recommended.
Jan Prior
Div. 2 slalom (Washburn) and Masterful’s party
After being told that this slalom used a good piece of river we set off on Saturday morning at some horrendous time ( 5 o’clock A.M. to be precise ). We passed Avis and Bernie on the way , well actually we passed them three times, but were still not sure when they passed us on route. On arrival at the slalom at 9.30 A.M. we were raring to go, one problem – the dam wasn’t releasing until 10.30. Lets go and look at the course anyway. The poles seemed to be very high off the river bed, was it really going to rise by six foot? ( Let’s leave now – I don’t really want to do this).
Mark Aplin arrived at a much more sensible time of 1 o’clock just in time to enter a team run. I entered the veterans team with Avis and Bernie where we managed not to come last. Conor managed to cause his team member to break his canoe and this also caused his team mate to swim. ( Don’t join a team with Conor if you want to stay in one piece). The course was good fun with fast moving water and plenty of opportunity to miss gates or hit them.
After two runs and some fairly reasonable results, me, Conor & Mark set of to Martin’s party, where we were joined by Justin, Quentin & Nathan. Quick description: couple split up, arguments, phone numbers given out to opposite sex, Nathan had head in sink, Justin molested by some women and didn’t notice, lots of trials on the water bed, ( can two people really sleep on one of these comfortably?) went to sleep at three in morning ( Great party – thanks to Martin).
Next day drove back to slalom with Justin joining us for the day’s competition. We were all feeling fit and well for the coming competition (well they do say paddling gets rid of a hangover). Results :- Avis had a good second run and was well placed in Div. two, Mark, Justin and Bernie were all about half way and jostling for place between themselves but Bernie the veteran still managed to beat them both. Conor had the misfortune to swim on the last gate while trying to lean around it , he rescued himself but the boat travelled for about a mile and had several bashes. His second run wasn’t as good as his first, except that he managed to finish, his reason being that he just wanted a result. Now my first run I had 7 penalties but due to great improvement I held onto my half way position, but I had managed to achieve my greatest ambition which was to beat Conor at a slalom. No more can he say that even though he’s Div. 3 and I’m Div. 2, he always beats me.
Lisa
BCU Slalom Committee Special General Meeting – 8/9/96
Those involved in slalom – both competitors & organisers have noticed a steady decline in participation in slalom over a number of years. This prompted the setting up of a working party under Sue Lyons to find a new way forwards and attempt to halt the sports decline. The SGM was called to here the working parties report & vote on motions to put in place their recommendations. Bristol Canoe Club were entitled to 3 votes having organised 2 slaloms in 1995, Mark Aplin and Conor O’Neill attended on our behalf.
The Working Party Report
The report painted a picture of declining numbers ranked & attending events over a 10 year period during which the ranking structure has become increasingly top heavy with an excessive proportion in Divisions 1 & Premier.
The Proposals
The working party came up with 5 proposals to rectify the situation
- Move to re-establish a “pyramidal” ranking structure over 3 years
- To relax the rules to make Division 5 events easier to organise e.g. by using flat water & fewer gates or running on a weekday evening.
- To allow experienced canoeists direct entry to Division 3 events without first having to obtain ranking status.
- To support the enforcement of a managed calendar to provide the optimum mix of events over the year.
- To establish action groups to move forward & provide further detailed proposals for consideration at the AGM in November.
All these motions were voted through, not without some controversy! White water paddlers have been identified as a willing market for slalom and motion 3 should go a long way towards removing barriers to their entry into the sport.
Conor & I were pleased to support the motions on your behalf, if anyone would like to read the working party report or to talk over the proposed changes please feel free to contact me or Conor. We will also be sending representatives to the AGM – if you have strong opinions which you want put forward please get in touch.
Mark Aplin
STOP PRESS – Slalom report
Congratulations are due to Jan Prior, Kath Cotton, Paul Niblett, and Nick Wainwright, who have all made it into Division 4 over the Summer. Current Bristol Canoe Club ranked slalom paddlers are:
| Martyn Green | Still in Premier |
| Janet Adcock | Regained her place in Division 1 earlier this year |
| Beccy Smith | Division 1 |
| Lisa Gunton | Division 2 |
| Avis Noott | Promoted to Division 2 at Mile End Mill |
| Bernie Cole | Been in Division 2 for donkey’s years |
| Mark Aplin | Division 2 |
| Justin Sims | Promoted to Division 2 at Woodmill |
| Conor O’Neill | Still in Division 3 |
| Alison Day | Division 4 |
| Jan Prior | Division 4 |
| Kath Cotton | Division 4 |
| Paul Niblett | Division 4 |
| Nick Wainwright | Division 4 |
| Andy Millener | Division 5 |
| Ben Wainwright | Division 5 |
| Tom Wainwright | Division 5 |
Plus, sundry people have various rankings in Division 4 and Division 5 in C1 and C2. (Apologies again if I’ve missed anyone out – I hope I’ve got them all correct this time!)
There are still a few slaloms left this season – Llandysul, Martley, Langham Farm and French Weir are all Div. 4/5 slaloms. Plus there will be a contingent of paddlers going to Llandysul Div. 2/3 again (as competitors rather than organisers for a change!)
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Canadian Canoe, Kayel construction, 3 paddles, 4 (old) buoyancy aids, small condition, just rubbed down and revarnished, £100 ono. Pete James, 0117 9073757
Sea Canoe, Nord Kapp HM, full expedition, 2 hatches, Chimp bilge pump, Good Condition, £500. Pete James or Pete Augsberger 01727 869951
Personal
Wanted: More holes for a T shirt. Please contact Crispin.
For Collection and Destruction; An assortment of old Canoe Club T Shirts and a yellow anorak for the less fashion conscious. Please contact Kath Cotton for immediate collection.
Lift: Lift Required to Oxfordshire on regular basis. Please contact Justin.
Health: Nathan Scott, a skilled and trusted counsellor, offers sensitive therapy support to all. Experienced with all of life’s problems such as excessive drinking, party vomiting, continually repeating the same jokes (over and over again), or suddenly being alienated by other people. If you share these problems, then see Nathan Scott for the discerning, the caring, and the professional support through times of stress and change.
Lost: Underwear, Black, on the Ladies Night Out. PO Box 69
Poultry: Chickens a speciality. Also bigger birds. Mark Gillette
Programme
Updated 10/09/96 Bristol Canoe Club Programme Issued 10/09/96
| Sat 28/Sep/96 | Severn Bore | Four star bore meet Newnham @ 8.10am (Bore due 8.28am) | Mark Aplin | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sat/Sun 28/29 Sept 96 | Symonds Yat | Double Division 3 slalom | Justin Sims | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sun 29/Sep/96 | Monnow? | Beginners trip | Nick Wainwright? | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sat/Sun 5/6 Oct 96 | French Weir | Bristol CC slalom outing to double div 4/5 slalom – event is open to all paddlers | Justin Sims | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sat/Sun 12/13 Oct 96 | Llanduysul | Division 2/3 slalom | Conor O’Neill | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sat/Sun 12/13 Oct 96 | Langham Farm | Division 4/5 slalom | ||
| Sun 13/Oct/96 | Exe | Bollom to Bickley beginners trip | Mark Gillett | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sat/Sun 19/20 Oct 96 | Serpents Tail | Division 2 slalom | Mark Aplin | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sat/Sun 19/20 Oct 96 | Martley | Double division 4/5 slalom | ||
| Fri 25/Oct/96 | Bristol | Bristol Canoe Club AGM – NOTE CHANGE OF DATE | Mark Gillett | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sun 27/Oct/96 | Barle | Beginners trip | Nick Wainwright | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sun 03/Nov/96 | Usk | Intermediate | Justin Sims | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sun 10/Nov/96 | Barle/Frome | Beginners trip | Lisa Gunton | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sun 17/Nov/96 | Exe | Exe Descent river race – just the thing for both whitewater (9 weirs) and marathon (19 miles) paddlers | Mark Aplin | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sun 24/Nov/96 | ?? | Beginners trip | ||
| Sun 24/Nov/96 | Lyn/Erme | Advanced | ||
| Sat/Sun 30 Nov/ 1 Dec | Dart | Weekend trip staying in Holme Barn £3.50 per person per night – names to Justin ASAP | Justin Sims | [ tel number deleted] |
| Dec 96 | Plymouth | South West region pool slalom team selection | Conor O’Neill | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sun 15/Dec/96 | Lyn/Erme | Advanced | ||
| Sun 05/Jan/97 | Usk | Intermediate | Justin Sims | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sat 11/Jan/97 | Dart – Upper & Loop | Intermediate (Loop) & advanced (upper) | ||
| Sun 12/Jan/97 | Dart – Upper & Loop | Intermediate (Loop) & advanced (upper) | ||
| Sun 26/Jan/97 | Lyn/Erme/Plym | Advanced | ||
| Sat/Sun 1/2 Feb 97 | Nottingham | BCU slalom organisers conference | Conor O’Neill | [ tel number deleted] |
| Sun 09/Feb/97 | Dart – Upper | Advanced | ||
| Sun 16/Feb/97 | Interregion Pool Slalom | Conor O’Neill | [ tel number deleted] | |
| Sat/Sun 22/23 Feb 97 | NEC | National Canoe Exhibition | ||
| Sun 23/Feb/97 | Dart – Upper | Advanced | ||
| Sat/Sun 3/4 May 97 | Llanduysul | Bristol CC Div 2/3 slalom | Conor O’Neill | [ tel number deleted] |
| June 96 | Bristol | Bristol CC Div 5 Slalom in the docks | Mark Aplin | [ tel number deleted] |
Notes
We are expecting a good turnout on all or trips this year so please contact the organiser in plenty of time.
Some rivers have limits on numbers imposed by access restrictions.