Adelaide Canoe Club

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23 Aug 2010	Report from Australian Canoe Polo Teams mascot Spike
6 Aug 2010	Sea Skills and Leadership Program
6 Jul 2010	Presidents and Vice Presidents Reports from our 2010 AGM
5 Jul 2010	Rob's June shoreline bird count from the Murray Mouth to Pelican Point

Frances Goble, Monday, 23 August 2010 Report from Australian Canoe Polo Teams mascot Spike   Australian Canoe Polo Tour Milan 2010 Spike’s Report 23rdth August 2010 (London to DePaddle Belgium)   Finally we are on the road away from the Welling scout hall and out in the Kent countryside, lush, green and only a little bit of rain. Ahh… the joys of an English summer. Due to a small oversight CJ’s vehicle was not booked on the ferry at the same time as the others so one group of U21’s were on the road at 08:00 to catch an earlier ferry. The remaining vehicles hit the road at 10:00 to arrive at Dover in plenty of time for a brief look at Dover Castle, only from the outside. Lunch in the queue to the ferry and then we are on the way to France.   Despite some stiff competition from Siobhan, Sarah won the award for the most likely to get sea sick on a mill pond. Only staring at the horizon and the timely arrival of Calais docks saved us all from the inevitable regurgitation of breakfast. Admittedly the channel did have a bit of a swell running.   Departure from the ferry saw the remaining U21 vehicle head to Dikkebus and the Women and Men to St Omer, guess what it is raining again. 20 minutes down the toll way it was time to turn off to St Omer. Note to Matt Heard.. Wait till the boom gate allowing exit from the motorway to open before driving through! Clearly this has happened before as the boom gate is covered with foam and breaks away from its mounts.   St Omer: I am in polo heaven. (well would be if there were some leaves I could eat) Two permanent fields with filtered water from the canal, lights for night games, a clubhouse with hot showers and a boat shed. After drooling at the facilities I organised the unloading of the boats we were escorted to the sleeping arrangements and it got better. We have been placed in the new accommodation block of the local school, one to two per room, hot showers and beds. The whole building is in our hands. At 20:00 our hosts from the St Omer club escorted us to ‘le Zinc’ restaurant for dinner. It doesn’t get any better. Early to bed as there is I have to get the teams up and on the water for training.   I was wrong, it does get better. Breakfast 60 seconds walk away, cereal, baguettes, cold meat, butter, jam, fruit and coffee. Lunch? a sit down affair of three courses at the Station restaurant. Are the French trying to fatten us up so we can’t play as well? Wednesday afternoon it was time to meet the dignitaries that made it all possible. We stood around while speeches were made and translated with. With my help, being fluent in French, Ailsa responded in French much to the delight of all assembled. It was then time for the interviews with the local newspapers and radio station. The managers and captains tried to steal the lime light but the photographers were wise to their plan and my picture ended up in the local paper on Friday morning. Dinner once again at ‘le Zinc’ went well into the evening for some. There is a story going around that one manager, in the interest of international relations, did not return to the accommodation till after midnight. This is yet to be confirmed.   Friday morning saw me, with great reluctance, supervising the packing of the vehicles for the drive to Depaddle, 60 minutes up the road. It was difficult to leave such great facilities and hospitality. A quick calculation shows that the organisations in and around St Omer that made it all possible sponsored the teams to the value of Euro 4000 making them the single largest sponsor of the Australian teams.   On to DePaddle.. A quick conference with the U21 Manager and Coach revealed they had been enjoying the rain, mud, sleeping in a tent and cooking for themselves so much they were not the least bit jealous of what we had had to endure. Secretly I think they are lying.   De’ Paddle - Belgium 21/22nd August I felt rather nostalgic as I lay down in my army tent, so similar to those used 4 years ago. The teams were pumped, the lake set up – the comp had started.   The women (finally playing in a womens division) had 4 games the first day, starting with the Danish National team, beating them 5-1. Next up was France, currently 2nd in the world, but the girls played hard and won 2-1, a great win. Next was Canada under 21, whom the girls beat 7-0. Finally was Game On, made up mostly of the National GB team plus some extra players, and again the girls came through and beat them 3-0.   There was a dinner that night, with lots of salads to keep the vegetarian men happy and ribs to keep all the other boys happy. There was also a band and drinks available, and I was very ready to mingling, talk to some international teams and scope out potential mascots. However, after the band was still playing past midnight when I was trying to sleep, I did get a bit tired of them. The finally stopped playing and fell asleep straight away.   Unfortunately, the music played up with the fields started from 6:30am, waking me from my dreams of eucalyptus pizza, and the next day started.   The girls had their first game against New Zealand, beating them in a penalty shootout. Their next game was against the Italian National Team. The girls won – the only goal scored was a 6m penalty received with 4 seconds to go. Nice under pressure Sarah!   This put them through to the grand-final, against New Zealand. Nerves were high, but the girls pushed hard and played their game the whole time, winning 2-0. A very exciting game.   The under 21s started off great, with a 5-1 win to GB team Nomad, and a 14-0 win against Belgium club team IRWV. To cap it off, they then won 7-0 against French team ‘Suce Beach’ and 7-2 against Netherlands team Viking Veno. Good work lads!   Finishing top of their group, they played a team called Willems, only just losing 2-3. They still had a chance at the grand final but they had to win the rest of their games. They played Netherlands team Trekvogels, winning 3-1 and then Willems again. This time they played harder and faster, and won 1-0. They got into the grand-final, and although they played well they were beaten by the GB under 21 team 10-2. 2nd place, awesome work boys!   The men had a hard game to start off the competition, and lost 4-0 to the French Under 21 team. They got the fire back though, beating French team St Nazare 1 6-0, and beating French team Thury Harcourt 2-0. They fought hard and drew with Netherlands team Michiel de Ruyter, 4 all, and ended with a win against Wales team Dragon 5-2.   The next day started with a great win against St Omer, 8-1, and another great win against France under 21 5-3. Their next game, to get into the grand-final, was against the French National team. They fought hard and got so close, but lost 2-1, putting them in 4th place. Top 4! Well done lads! After such an exciting weekend I am ready to have a eucalyptus beer, put on my iPod and relax. I don’t know how these guys do it! What champions!   Australian Canoeing Canoe Polo would like to thank our major sponsors for their assistance.   Australian Canoe Polo Tour Milan 2010

Rob Bowen, Friday, 6 August 2010 ACC members are working towards sea leadership skills to benefit the club for future trips. Sea Skills and Leadership Program   A handful of ACC members have joined the new Sea Skills and Leadership Program being run by Canoe SA, with Phil Doddridge as the Instructor in Charge. The aim of the program is to develop a sea kayaking community that enhances the sharing of skills and knowledge through training and mentoring, with monthly workshops covering all aspects of the Sea Instructor Award. The program is still being developed with the second workshop completed on Sunday 1st Aug - further information can be found on the Canoe SA website.   The first workshop covered areas such as the AC Award Scheme, weather and navigation basics and on-water skills tune up.   The second workshop was to be a weekend paddle from Seacliff to Pt Willunga, camping overnight at Moana and performing deep water rescues, towing and surf zone management along the way. However, the weather was somewhat unkind and we relocated to West Lakes for an off-water session on kayak setup and trip preparation before heading out to North Haven. Warm ups out of the way, we practised towing in the North Haven marina before venturing out into the rough water with 15-20kn winds and 1-2m seas where we soon discovered the added complexities in those conditions. Some rolling and capsize rescue training in the marina ended our day on the water, followed by a short evening session back at CanoeSA hq where Phil showed a presentation of his Bass Straight crossing adventures.   Sunday's weather proved no better so we made our way to Angas Inlet to work on skills such as edging, stern rudders, support and draw strokes. With the wind in our face we again rafted up and got our V tows underway, hopeful of ironing out some of the bugs we encountered the day before. We finished off with Geoff demonstrating some of his UK surf rescue techniques which saw most of us in the water giving them a go.   All in all a great weekend's paddling providing opportunities to learn and practice in an atmosphere conducive to increasing each participant's sea kayaking knowledge and skills.   Rob

David & Bernard, Tuesday, 6 July 2010 These articles show the scope and direction of our club. 'Your requests become our programmed trips and activities for all to enjoy!' Presidents and Vice Presidents Reports from our 2010 AGM   ADELAIDE CANOE CLUB                        PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2009-20010   Thanks to Bernard Goble, Vice President; Peter Carter, Secretary; Michael Griffin, Treasurer; Francis Goble, Canoe Polo rep.; Lee Bruland, website organiser; and members who were contacts for trips - for another great year. Special thanks to Dave Watkins who recently gained his Flat water Guide award and then immediately agreed to help out by leading two trips that I was unable to attend. Congratulations to Bernard on gaining his recent award qualification.   Congratulations also to club members involved in national and international competitions.   This year, club members enjoyed another white water trip to Eildon (thanks to Wayne Hooper). Plus we have been to the river Murray & backwaters; Coorong, Pt Pirie, surf kayaking as well as sea kayaking along the metro coast, to Cape Jervis and on Kangaroo Island. We have also had a skills day, a rolling session (sponsored by Roof Rack City), and a kayak maintenance session.   ACC members have supported others such as the Arrows program led by Rob Tanner and the Canoe Challenge organised by Canoe SA. These are worthwhile and enjoyable activities and I encourage members to be involved.   I am very keen for more ACC members to qualify / re qualify as leaders or guides. Thanks to Phil Dodderidge, we now have a series of sea skills activities offered, and I would encourage all interested members to take advantage of this. For Flat water leaders, I hope to assess club members over this spring and summer during the proposed evening sessions at West Lakes and on club trips. Please do consider gaining a leadership award; but if not, then you can still contribute by suggesting trips and activities and offering to be a contact person – this role is greatly appreciated by trip leaders.   I also encourage members to join with others for trips outside the club program. Some of us have been doing this for many years – Dave Mallett, Margaret, Wayne and Libby and I had great trip to Katherine gorge in 2002 and spent 6 weeks in Tasmania earlier this year. Other members have paddled the length of the river Murray and a group paddled to Wardang Island. Hopefully, through our club, members can gain necessary skills and confidence and meet others interested in expanding their kayaking activities.   Dave Mausolf   VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT  2009-20010  It would be true to say that the Adelaide Canoe Club has amongst its members the broadest range of paddlers in SA, from complete novices through to top elite kayakers representing Australia in both Canoe Polo and Flatwater Sprint on the international stage.   We also have the largest base of recreational paddlers enjoying tranquil inland water paddling, white water trips, through to challenging Sea Kayaking expeditions exploring our beautiful coastlines.   As is evident from our activity programs issued every six months, our aim is to ensure that there is something for all our members to enjoy, whether being a beginner requiring a safe and supportive environment to develop new skills and take part in a recreational activity that has so many benefits, or for more experienced members wanting new challenges, opportunities to increase personal paddling skills and activities best enjoyed with the club’s support.   Our club members have continued enjoy the support of Canoe SA who have provided our additional Skills programs for both Flat water and Sea kayaking enabling several members to both work towards and achieve competency awards, thereby increasing the skills base within the club.   Our club is fortunate to have amongst its members some of the states top instructors who are all very accessible and willing to provide guidance to members seeking help.   A role provided by the club to wider community activities that has been acknowledged is the involvement of ACC members in events such as the annual Canoe Challenge run by CSA where our members have helped provide much of the logistical support to ensure the smooth running of this event involving up to 200 students and support staff.   Another very important activity our members are involved with is the Arrows program run by Rob Tanner, providing a very rewarding weekly paddle through summer months for both participants and helpers; and we encourage our members to continue their support.   Our aim for this coming year is to continue providing these opportunities and would encourage all members to contribute to the club’s planning meetings, as your requests become our programmed trips and activities for all to enjoy!   Happy paddling, Bernard Goble

Magnificent cumulus clouds reflected in the mirror-like surface. Rob Tanner, Monday, 5 July 2010 Canoes do the footwork to record migratory birds from China. Rob's June shoreline bird count from the Murray Mouth to Pelican Point   A COORONG SHOREBIRD COUNT (30/1)-6-2010   The big shorebird issue of the moment is the development, by Korea and China, of the wetlands that our summer migrants use as staging posts during their long migrations between their summer breeding grounds in the Siberian and Alaskan Arctic; and their over-wintering wetlands in Australia and New Zealand, of which the Coorong is an important one. To argue internationally against the development of key wetlands in the Yellow Sea requires extremely good data on the status of the populations of the key shorebird species that need these wetlands. If we don’t have good data on the shorebird populations that use our wetlands in winter it weakens the credibility of the data collected on our summer migrants!     It poured on Tuesday and Geoff phoned to ask whether to put his boat on the car? One weather forecast predicted NW winds 25 knots on Thursday; another winds of 7-10km/hr on Wednesday and Thursday at Goolwa. Confused; so was I!     Water levels were right up in Lake Alexandrina and at the ‘Narrows’ by the Narrung ferry. When we reached Mark Point we found the Coorong brimming full of water too. It was calm when we launched from Rumbleows Fishing Camp at 9.30am. We paddled to Panmurang Point opposite Tauwitchere Island and stopped for a drink, then paddled to Mosquito Bay where I pointed out some landmarks explained the layout of the channel and where Godfreys Landing is. We reached the G. Landing at 12.45 and stopped for lunch and to pitch camp.    The task was to do a shorebird count from the Murray Mouth to Pelican Point at the southern end of the Tauwitchere barrage.  The count was to be along the western shore taking in all the bays and inlets, a paddling distance of about 20km with all the ‘ins and outs’. This survey was part of the ‘push’ by Birds Australia to accumulate a lot more information about winter birds in wetlands across Australia. With short winter days, cold weather and a possibility of heavy showers it was important for the camp to be dry and well set up before venturing out to count shorebirds. Godfreys’ Landing provided a welcome shelter to cook and eat in, and toilets too.    We left the camp at 3pm and began scanning the shoreline for shorebirds of which there were few. A sign against a steep sand-hill warned us the sand-boarding was not allowed and that we could be fined on the spot if caught. We passed Barkers Knoll, then the shacks, and parking area for the trucks used in cockling. Up ahead the Murray Mouth resembled an industrial site. A line of orange buoys isolated the pumps, dredgers and infrastructure from ‘itinerants’ like us. The diesel engines of a large dredger throbbed and growled in the main Coorong channel while a smaller dredger worked the channel through to the sea.  A large static box-like structure stood in the water attached to pipelines.  I turned and paddled into the nearby bay to identify some Terns, while Geoff and Mark paddled through the buoys and headed for the Mouth. When we met up again by the Shacks they described the seal colony of about 15 animals they had watched on the far shore of the Mouth and how the seals had come up near their kayaks. We arrived back at Godfreys Landing at 5pm, changed into warm dry clothes and cooked our dinners. We were glad of the shelter as it was becoming cold and showered heavily before we went to bed. After a wet start to the night I woke at 3pm and thought it must be time to get up as the moon was so bright!     We were up at 7 am and on the water at 9.30, tents and equipment still wet. Bird surveys can be slow when you have the time to search most of the shoreline. Wading birds are well camouflaged and can be hard to spot in the fringing salt-marsh vegetation. Mark and Geoff who are not birdos enjoyed the time to potter and explore while I searched for birds. We had our morning break enjoying the views from atop the sand-hills behind ‘Hook Point’ and checking the salt-marsh of which ‘Hook Point’ is part from this high vantage point. ‘Hook Point’ has no name on maps, but also on the map, it resembles a hook, hence my nick-name. It is found just to the S.E. of Mosquito Bay which is opposite the Ewe Island barrage.   At Tauwitchere Pt at the other side of the bay behind ‘Hook Point’ is a small island. Water levels were high enough to fill the channel between this and the main peninsula so Mark went through the channel while I went round the outside of the island. Neither of us found any birds. At the other end of the most easterly shoreline of the Panmurung peninsula (opposite Tauwitchere Island) is a wonderful campsite. We stopped here for lunch and to enjoy viewing the magnificent cumulus clouds reflected in the mirror-like surface.   After lunch we set off to check the 4 small bays along the northern shoreline of the Panmurang Peninsula. These were all flooded allowing access by kayak, which has been most unusual in recent years. The first two only had Silver Gulls in them. We paused in the third to watch 2 Emus wade right across the middle of the bay. They are probably used to taking this path when the bay is dry as it has been for several years. In the fourth we found 7 Greenshank working the mud looking for a feed.   Then we followed the shoreline round to the shacks on Gnurlung Point. On the way a Black Falcon passed low over my kayak heading for the peninsula, with its short, powerful, almost lazy wing-beats. The water was so shallow on this ‘leg’ that we had to paddle 50m offshore.   From here it was a 3 km paddle to the cars at Rumbleows Fishing Camp which we reached about 3pm.   I arrived home in Bridgewater at about 6.30pm after stopping for a cup of tea in Tailem Bend to get my blood sugar levels up.   Rob Tanner.