Bristol Canoe Club Magazine – Summer 1998
EDITOR
Apologies for the delay, Nick’s been very busy with a new job and lots of building work on his house so I am helping by putting the mag together.
Since the AGM a lot of thing have been going on in the club. Earlier in the year there were lots of river trips with varying levels of water. Some of us had a trip to Scotland which was excellent fun and thanks to Janet for organising this. David Brain has run a 1 star course for the beginners apparently they all past well done to those that have and thanks to David for running the course and Paul Coyne for helping.
Several of the members took part in the Bristol marathon that is run by the club and other members helped out as marshals. The weather turned out for the race and a good time was had by all.
Recently a few of us went the Spain and France canoeing where its sunning and the waters warm (well in Spain the waters warm in France the waters freezing.) I’m sure there will be a report in the next issue on the many exiting things that went on over the two weeks.
This issue
* Paddlers return home.
* When to give up canoeing
* Symonds Yat
* Polo
* Slalom
* Rolling comp
PHOTOS FROM SPAIN AND FRANCE
[ not available electronically (yet!), I’m afraid! ]
Chairman’s Chatter !!!
Just a brief note as Conor has kindly volunteered to get the mag out & I don’t want to hold him up!
Please have a look at the programme included with this magazine – lots of events are planned & we have started to set out dates for the coming whitewater season. Lets all hope we have some more rain (I expect we may have used it all up & be in for another dry season).
Important dates to note are:-
St Davids weekend – August bank holiday 29 to 31 August
Pool sessions start- Wednesday 9 September
Club diner – Friday 18 September
Club AGM – Thursday 22 October
Dart weekend – 5 & 6 December
See you on the river
Mark Aplin
The Paddlers returns Home
This is a “modified” extract from a Home Economics text book, printed in the early 60’s
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Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready on time for your Paddlers return home from the River Trip. This is a way of letting him/her know that you have been thinking about them and are concerned about his safety.
Most paddlers are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially a cool beer) is part of the warm welcome needed.
Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of cold weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His death defying day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.
Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives. Gather up schoolbooks, toys, papers, etc. and then run a dust cloth over the tables. Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by.
Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.
Minimise all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him. Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first, remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours. Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to Canoe Polo, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.
Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquillity where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit. Don’t greet him with complaints and problems. Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner, or even stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.
Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange the pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice. Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement or integrity.
Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness…
signed Nathan!!!!
Editor’s comment:- Things have change haven’t they. For one thing what happens when women paddlers return home from their hard days canoeing are they allowed to put their feet up. Let me Know? Certainly not in my case as Conor comes too.
It’s time to give up canoeing when…
Here are a few warning symptoms for those of you worried about becoming canoeing freaks. Obviously for some of us it far too late, but beginners be warned, this is what you could end up like.
IT’S TIME TO GIVE UP CANOEING WHEN…
A shirt and tie no longer bother you, because they’re looser than a dry cag neck. All career, personal and financial decisions are made by the criteria “how will this maximise my paddling time?” Your boat is worth more than your car You’ve stopped worrying at all about getting undressed in public You measure major purchases relative to the cost of a new boat Your only considerations when buying a car are ground clearance and the size of the rain gutters You build a 2 car garage and still can’t park your car inside. You look at the water slide in the theme park and try to figure out the best line Driving 800 miles for a weekend paddle doesn’t seem strange
IT’S DEFINITELY TIME TO GIVE UP PADDLING WHEN…
“waterproof” means “a little damp” or “might float” Your friends or relatives are shocked when you answer the phone at a weekend.
You can ID make and model on a car topped kayak at quarter mile Every once in a while you touch your paddle, just to touch it Every once in a while you let go of your paddle, just to eat or something. You often find yourself responding “what smell?” You’ve never set up a tent when it’s light You visit Niagara Falls and think “this may be runnable”
RETIRE NOW, WHILE YOU CAN STILL FEEL YOUR LEGS, WHEN…
You rank your trip by the number of cuts and bruises You choose a new car based on whether or not your rack system will fit it Your wife catches you in bed with your kayak You manoeuvre your car on five lane streets by eddying out behind trucks and making S-moves in the left turn lane, and you lean into the turns. You leave your glasses strap on at night. You always have sinus congestion on Monday morning
Recognise anyone…?
Jo
SYMONDS YAT RAPIDS –
River Wye
There is now a chance to buy this invaluable training ground which has been used by Novices to International paddlers. Once purchased this site will then be secured for all canoeists to use. It is hoped that enough money will be raised to provide free use and access forever.
The intention is to provide proper portage and access including for disabilities, establish permanent jetties and Slalom facilities. To do this and more £250,000 needs to be raised. If you thinks you can help, want to know more or just want to give a donation (no matter how small as all the money will go into the fund) then contact
Symonds Yat Rapids Preservation Group, 33 Golden Vale, Churchdown, Gloucester, GL3 2LU
Tel/Fax 01452 531218.
Symonds Yat Rapids Preservation Group is a local group, representing all Canoeists, working with the National Governing Body through the South West Region of the BCU.
POLO
Polo has been well attended over the winter and the two teams have finished the regional and national competitions. The National div 4 team struggled earlier in the year and lost most of their matches but the last couple of competition they improved. They will stay in Div 4 next year. They did well much better in the invitation league.
The regional south West league team improved greatly and rather than being last or second from last like the last two years we were position half way about 6th out of twelve teams. I like to thank Rachel and Sarah for there excellent goal defending. Rachel’s now moved to Ireland and has apparently being doing more canoe surfing than Polo. Amanda has also moved for a new job and will probably join a team near Bracknell. Thanks to Harvey, Darren and Lee for attending the matches and for some excellent goals they have all be promoted to the first team.
We are playing on the dock on Thursdays over the summer and will be back at the pool in September on Wednesdays
Also well done to Lee who has passed his grade 3 Ref’s qualification.
ROLLING COMPETITION RESULTS
Bristol Canoe Club Rolling Competition Held on 11th March 1998.
This competition is part of the Club’s Phil Longrigg competition. The results will be combined with other events to determine the winner of the Phil Longrigg Trophy, presented at the AGM.
The following timings are for three rolls, in seconds.
Paddle rolls:
1 5.94 Simon Curtis 2 6.36 Justin Sims 3 6.60 Nathan Scott 4 7.58 Conor O'Neill 5 7.99 Andy Millener 6 8.37 Quentin Nichols 7 9.03 Paul Coyne 8 9.10 Paul Niblett 9 9.42 Harvey Lyons 10 10.07 Mark Healey 11 11.54 Steve Bennett 12 12.86 Clive Weston Ladies:
1 8.20 Janet Adcock 2 9.04 Lisa Gunton 3 9.52 Jan Prior Hand rolls:
1 4.60 Nathan Scott
2 4.70 Simon Curtis
3 4.87 Justin Sims
4 5.44 Harvey Lyons
5 6.30 Paul Niblett 6 5.60 Janet Adcock
7 6.74 Andy Millener
8 8.16 Paul Coyne
9 9.99 Lisa Gunton
Well done to all who entered.
Slalom
This summer has been fairly quiet for slalom, as far as I am aware. This seems, unfortunately, to be in line with the continuing general decline in the sport nationally.
We had to cancel the club’s slalom at Llandysul because of very low numbers of entries. It was simply not worthwhile to spend all the effort of running the event and still make a substantial financial loss for the club. We are still intending to run the event next year, and we will try to think of ways of increasing the attendance.
Other events have arranged to help to mess up this year’s calendar. The Ironbridge slalom at Easter was cancelled due to too much water, as was the Washburn in June. Having said that, Avis, Janet, Jan, Lee and myself have all attended various events this year.
Congratulations, though, must certainly go to one of our younger members. Dan Goddard may not be very well known within the club, but he is an excellent slalom paddler in both kayak and canadian. As I write this, he is currently ranked first in K1 Div 1, and at the same time is third in C1 Div 1. And he is still only 14 years old! We all wish Dan every success in his slalom career – he is obviously on his way to great things.
As you can see in the programme, there a few beginner’s slaloms listed later in the year, notably another at Langham Farm in October. Also, we have a fun slalom evening at the docks on 27th August, so come and join in.
Cheers – Conor