2011 11 newsletter

1

Volume 35 Issue 11 November 2011

Newsletter F

rom

e C

an

oe

Clu

b

Frome Canoe Club is affiliated to the British Canoe Union and is a Registered Charity (Number 1104728)

See p10 for full report, and back page for more photos

Jack is back at the top of the leader board again! See p19 to find out where you are!

Club detectives at work!

See p15 for the full story

2

Send articles for the next issue to [email protected] by 25th November

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President

Graham Warnecke

Vice Presidents

Richard and Jane Arney

Jim and Catharine Croft

Chairman

Andy Bell

Vice Chairman

Rich Carter

Treasurer

John Kent

Secretary

Pam Dixon

16 Blagdon Walk, Frome, BA11 2YH

Committee Members

Debbie Ashdown

Howard Charlesworth

Sam Charlesworth

Mandy James

Alun Jones

Gareth McGiveron

Karl Waldeck

Sara Withall

Jack Smiles (Youth voice)

Kit Officers

Tim and Sally Smiles

In this issue

3 Calendar in brief

4 River Tavy

4 River Walkham

5 River Dart

5 River Barle or Exe

6 Pool sessions

7 Monthly meets

8 Man of the month

10 Tiverton training

15 Club detectives at work

6 Some good news about Jim Croft

9 The Ultimate WW Safety Tips

17 Chris Harvey: a donation

19 Coppernose Points

CALENDAR: details

REPORTS

SLALOM MATTERS

SPECIALS

FCC ‘THROWLINE ’ CLUB MAGAZINE

3

Calendar 2011/12

Date Event Standard Contact

November

6 Sunday morning session All Pam D

12/13 Dart Training weekend One Star + Pam D

16 Wednesday DVD night All Pam D

27 River Tavy Two Star + Alun J

27 River Dart - Lower and Loop One Star + Rich C

December

4 Sunday morning session All Pam D

18 River Barle or Exe One Star + Rich C


23 NO POOL SESSION All Pam D

30 NO POOL SESSION All Pam D

January

1 New Year’s Day paddle Passport/One Star

8 River Dart One Star + John K


21 Social and Awards ceremony All Pam D

29 Welsh rivers Two Star + Alex N

+ in the table above means that you must have had some moving water

training or experience, eg Tiverton Training or the Dart Training weekend.


The next issue will be ready for you to pick up from the pool session on 2nd December

4

Calendar in detail - day trips

River Tavy: 27th November Meet 7.30am at the Clubhouse Cost £15 Organiser - Alun Jones

The Tavy is a beauty of a river, graded 2 with one grade 3 rapid, similar in difficulty to the Dart Loop, but with-out the crowds of people! And it is only about 20 miles further on from the Dart - worth it!

This paddle is about 6 miles long. We start in the centre of Tavistock. Fast easy rapids take us out of town, but watch out for a stopper lurking under one bridge in high water. A series of chutes form a grade 2 rapid as we leave the last houses. Below this the Tavy winds through woodland away from civilisation and roads, with fre-quent grade 2/3 rapids and some great surf waves in high water.

Eventually the River Walkham enters from the left and a little way below is the biggest rapid on the river. The final mile has big continual waves in high water. Just before the takeout bridge is a tiny sloping weir which produces a good surf wave/ stopper in all levels.

You will need warm paddling gear, sensible thermals and lots of energy food.

NOTE THE EARLY START FOR THIS TRIP

And for something NEW River Walkham As part of the Tavy trip 27th November Organiser - Alex Nicol

This tributary of the River Tavy is very water dependent and we will make a decision on the day if some of us can do it. If not, we join up with the Tavy mob.

The river starts with grade 2 rapids surrounded by pleasant wooded valley. It changes dramatically as it steepens over a series of small ledges, which finishes with a sharp 1m drop.

Collect your wits, as there are now mostly continuous rapids between here and the Tavy. The river narrows and is confined by bedrock, forming numerous eddies which are excellent for practising eddy hopping.

The trip finishes with a short paddle on the Tavy to the get out including the grade 3 rapid. We may just catch up with the paddlers on the Tavy trip and join them for the rest of the way.

A grade 2/3 river.

We will have to limit the number of places on this section because of the size of the river. So a maximum of 8 on this section.


5

Calendar in detail - day trips

River Dart: 27th November Meet 8am at the Clubhouse Cost £15 Organiser - Rich Carter

We are scheduling this trip for the same day as the Tavy for those peo-ple who could not get onto the Dart Training weekend.

It will cater for two abilities depend-ing on who signs up.

The Lower Dart for an easy paddle and open boaters; the Loop for those who enjoy a fling down some more seriously moving water.

We will use the day as an additional training day for moving water skills so if you are a beginner, the lower section will be good for you. Do ask if you are not certain.

Barle or Exe: 18th December Meet 8am at the Clubhouse Cost £15 Organiser - Rich Carter

This trip will either be the Barle or the Exe. Not sure which at this stage. De-pends on water levels.

At low/medium levels the Barle offers pretty much continuous grade 2 con-ditions. It is a very pretty river into the bargain, and suits most levels of ability.

The Exe has good weirs and rapids with a lot of flat water between! If we do the Exe we will run right down to Bickleigh.

Whichever we do, you will need warm paddling gear, sensible ther-mals and lots of energy food.

And for those of us who need an

excuse to avoid going on these

white water trips, turn to page 9

for some hints and tips.


6

Calendar in detail - weekly sessions

POOL SESSIONS FROME LEISURE CENTRE FRIDAYS, 8-9pm Cost

£2.50 for Youth members £3 for Adults Pool sessions are for everyone. Come to learn how to roll or capsize, or come to just paddle about. You can bring your own boat provided it is dead clean!

SOME LATE NEWS We have just heard the EXCITING news that Jim Croft, seen here with his wife Catharine, has been offered a role at the Olympic Games Canoe Slalom. This is good news indeed! Jim is our Vice President and of course also the BCU Slalom Administrator. He is delighted and said “Of course I accepted it, but it still won’t be as good as Langham Farm”.

Ed: You’ve got to be joking, Jim! But we are all very pleased for you.


7

Calendar in detail - monthly sessions

RIVER TRIP PRICES

(DAY TRIPS)

Local trips cost £3 Exe and Barle costs £12 All other day trips cost £15

Morning Paddle First Sunday of the Month At the Clubhouse 10am-noon

Over the winter season we meet once a month on Sunday mornings to stay in touch with each other and of course to paddle the River Frome.

Last month we had wall to wall sun-shine and of course there was swim-ming and rolling practice. Fun and games we had, although some did use the slalom poles for training too!

Meet at the Clubhouse between 10 and noon. You can stay perfectly dry and chat to other like-minded souls in the meeting room, with a cup of tea in hand. So don’t be put off if it’s rainy or you are feeling a bit under the weather – come to catch up on the news!

November 6th December 4th

DVD night Third Wednesday of the month At the Clubhouse 7-9pm

Last month we did manage to watch Alex’s production of the Scotland 2011 trip, after a frustrating wait while Pam’s computer was sorted. And it was definitely worth waiting for. A brilliant dvd indeed! As we were waiting, we filled the time with the first viewing of George’s compilation of Tiverton 2011 (and very good that was too), and we also had time to watch some other Scotland dvds! It was a very social eve-ning with a over 30 people, and there was plenty of time for chit chat!

Come to November’s meet we shall be watching the Means of Production dvd.

Viewing commences about 7.30pm. Tea, coffee, cakes and soft drinks will be available from 7pm.

November 16th December 21st


8

Reports


KIT LOAN The Club is happy to lend kit to members for trips

Please remember:

Kit is for use by all members (so you can’t ’borrow it’ and then keep it in your garage for an extended loan!)

Kit needs to be at the Clubhouse for weekends now that the winter trips have started

Kit must be looked after – please report any faults to a committee member

Kit should be borrowed for one trip at a time

If you need to borrow some kit, please speak to committee member and log the item(s) on the chart which is kept on the clubhouse notice board nearest to the kit store.

Man of the month

There is a person in the club who empties his van on Friday night before a club trip and then brings it to us on Sunday so we can fill it full of kayaks. I guess no one thinks about the work this in-volves? Maybe 3 hours on the Friday night to empty it and then there is the loading it back again on Sunday night, so he can be ready for work on Monday.

THANK YOU Gareth. We know it makes our trips so much easier but it’s a lot

of work for you. We do all appreciate it!

GARETH’S VAN

9

Reports


Reproduced by kind permission of Foxy from Blind Probe.

20% discount from BCH Trowbridge, Bath &

Chippenham If you are interested, talk to Pam.

We have a card you can borrow which will get you 20% off, when you shop in BCH.

20% discount from

BCH Trowbridge. FCC has a discount card for BCH. If you want to buy anything from them ask Pam to borrow the card so that you can get things cheaper.

Do you have an article for the newsletter? Send it to [email protected]

10

Day 1: Pack kit, talk, laugh, drink tea/coffee, eat, talk, wash up, laugh, put on kit, talk, paddle, eat chocolate, laugh, paddle (swimming op-tional), eat cake, drink tea/coffee, take off kit, laugh, eat, talk, wash up, laugh, drink beer (over 18s), eat sweets (no age restrictions), talk, sleep. Day 2: Repeat in slightly different order. Another happy FCC weekend. Jane, India, Philippa and Bee.

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped to organise the Tiverton weekend. Myself and Alex had a great time. We both came away much better paddlers and it put it into perspective all the bad habits I have picked up. My only regret is not doing the trip sooner and it just goes to show you that you can't learn to paddle from YouTube (my chosen method since 1 Star). Alex was planning his next trip before we left ..... Alex and Peter.

Ed: Dart Day Trip will be a good one. And the Barle.

An amazing weekend ....

Overheard by Alex as he ear-wigged a conversation

that George was having on the Sunday morning

"Pam learnt from the best, I was in bed, turned over,

and there was Pam looking over me. Never heard

her coming. Ninja like".

Cheers Rich, Pam and all the coaches! What an

excellent weekend. Everything just went so well. And the patience of everyone is incredible to watch.

I can’t wait till the next time.

Thanks Pam for the

food, but a real shame

you are not on the

water…we missed

you. Pip.

At the very end, in the round-up session, Rich asked the participants for comments/reports for the newsletter. Here they are!

Just to say a huge thanks for another amazing trip. The support I got on and off the water was second to none, I have now gone out and bought myself a paddle and am going to test drive, if that’s the word, Alan’s kayak on dvd night, and it’s all down to you guys. Many thanks, Hilary.

FCC TEST DRIVE CENTRE


Reports - Tiverton Training weekend

11

Pip and Dave’s Group.

We led Bee, Lily, Jonathan,

Lucas and Kieran who were

a great group of paddlers,

down the river.

All tried most of the skills

that we showed them and

gradually they gained more

confident as the weekend

progressed.

Lucas and Kieran both

demonstrated great pres-

ence of mind and skill, when

alone at the top of the rapids

at Bolham Weir, they found

themselves off the correct

line and being dragged to-

wards rocks. They took

evasive action by back pad-

ding and repositioning

themselves and then safely

coming on down.

A great bunch of youngsters

who I will always be happy

and proud to paddle with,

Pip

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped to organise the Tiverton weekend. Myself and Alex had a great time. We both came away much better paddlers and it put it into perspective all the bad habits I have picked up. My only regret is not doing the trip sooner and it just goes to show you that you can't learn to paddle from YouTube (my chosen method since 1 Star). Alex was planning his next trip before we left ..... Alex and Peter.

Ed: Dart Day Trip will be a good one. And the Barle.

Thank you to Rich and all the coaches for an-

other fantastic Tivi Weekend. Somehow Pam

you make it all look so simple but I know that it

isn’t. You must be like the swans we saw on the

river – all calm on the surface but paddling

frantically under the water to stop being

swept away by the task.

Jane

At the very end, in the round-up session, Rich asked the participants for comments/reports for the newsletter. Here they are!

Just to say a huge thanks for another amazing trip. The support I got on and off the water was second to none, I have now gone out and bought myself a paddle and am going to test drive, if that’s the word, Alan’s kayak on dvd night, and it’s all down to you guys. Many thanks, Hilary.


Reports - Tiverton Training weekend

12

Tiverton Training weekend continued

Also from Pip: No names, but oh what a night of

‘Snoring’! Even a pair of head-

phones and music played at full

volume could not disguise the

racket! - Pip

And one more from Pip: No names, but who was the paddler in the bright green

fluorescent helmet that I called a ‘flower pot’ as they passed us by? (someone said

my helmet looked like an old motorbike helmet) - Pip

Hi Pam

Thanks again to everybody for a great weekend. Harry

was buzzing all the way home and all last night .... he's a bit tired this morning, though.

Dave

Ed: It’s a great shame that school gets in the way of canoeing isn’t it?


Tiverton 2011 - the survivors! Still smiling!

13

Tiverton groups and points

Pip and Dave Bee (3) Lily (3) Lucas (4) Kieran Jonathan W

Total points 10

Rob and Jonathan Alex B Max William (2) Ben M Aaron

Total points 2

Alex, Rich N, and George (3) Kyra (6) Isi India Philippa

Total points 9

Rich Harry (3) Ellie Nick T (6) Ben L

Total points 9

Jack (5) and Megan Georgia (5) Felicity (8) Liz Sarah (3) Shelley (2)

Total points 23

John and Alun Ian (9) James (2) Byron Mark (7) Aidan (2) Nick M (13)

Total points 33

Arthur and Gareth Jane (3) Hilary (2) Rich H Guy Peter Chris

Total points 5

Stuart (2) The open boats Ertha and Carl Kate and Mike Debbie and Howard

Total points 2

Ed: Jack, I see you got 5 points. Aren’t the instructors supposed to stay in their boats and not go swimming?


14

Reports - Barle trip

It was a great day with 33 paddlers. We racked up some points which have been included in the totals on P19, but you will have to wait till next month for the full report.

Barle paddlers plus points Girls: Isi M (2) Boys: Ailbhe O, Ben M (2), Ben N, George M, Jonathan W (3), Kurt D, Max C and Rich N, Ladies: Amy B, Bex T, Kate J (3), Lynda (2), Megan J, Pam D (3) and Veronica F (6) Men: Alex N, Alun J, Chris H, Gareth M, Ian J (6), Jack S, Jonathan H, John K, Karl W (6), Mike B (5), Pip H, Rich H (1), Rich C, Ricky (3), Stuart M, Terry O and Sean, a guest paddler.


Look out for Alun’s report next month!

15

Reports


SPOT THE DIFFERENCE A night of vandalism spurred on three of our finest FCC sleuths to use their little grey cells. Our metal letter box on the outside of the club was ripped from the wall some-time around 14th October. So it was left to Rich, Alex and Stu to get their heads together and work out a way to look at the CCTV footage we have. It wasn’t easy! Sadly we weren’t recording at the time of the incident, so there is no evidence for the police, but Stu and Alex have fixed that now and we are firing on all cylinders again.

Copper nose clip points de-mystified - see P19 (If you’re new to the club and don’t quite know what ‘points’ are all about...)

Members acquire points on club trips when things don’t go as planned.

If you capsize and swim, we award you 3 points If you need to be rescued, we award you 2 points If you capsize but roll up without assistance, you get 1 point

During the year we keep a running total of points in the Newsletter and at the end of the year, the person with the most points gets that prestigious award, the copper nose clip at the Club Social.

Ed: Who will it be this year? There are definitely a few contenders. Not that getting the clip is something one should be aiming for....

16

Bits and Pieces

Membership Prices, 2011

Youth £16.50 Adult £26.50 Family £42

Repro

duce

d b

y kin

d p

erm

issi

on o

f Foxy

from

Blin

d P

robe.

Thank you Stuart! Stuart has made us safe in the storeroom, thank heavens.

He replaced a malfunctioning socket with a waterproof version and now we can hang wet things all around without a risk of electrocution.

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.


. . . . . CONTINUED FROM LAST MONTH

17

Bits and Pieces

Chris Harvey

presents the

cheque and

pennant to John

and Rich at last

month’s commit-

tee meeting.

Thank you Chris.

And thank you to

Tom Kimber,

Andy Plumb,

Chris and a friend for doing the safety cover at the Wells Moat Race this year.

No one guessed that this charming little boy is none other than our coach extra-ordinaire, Jack!

Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.'

The other says 'Are you sure?'

The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'


18

Bits and Pieces

THANK YOU, ANDY V Club trailer is

restored to

working order in

time for the

Tiverton

weekend.

Apparently this

involved some

serious ‘sticking

back of brake linings’.

Trust a naval architect to use glue

to stick things together !


Club Social 21st January At Trinity Hall, Frome £5 adults £3 youth members Food included plus a complimentary first drink then buy more at the bar.

Sad news about one of our club members Terry Vine passed away on the 24th September. He was out walking on Pen-y-fan with his Scout group when he suffered a fatal heart attack. Terry has been a long time member of the club . Not a local man, he travelled from Wareham to paddle with us and, in the early days, he joined many of our club trips and other activities. Terry developed his own personal paddling skills with the club, gaining his One Star, Two Star and Canoe Safety with us. He then went onto gain his Instructor award and straight away started helping young people in Wareham with his friend Phil Main. For a few years now he has not been able to take an active role in the club but he and his wife Rose, always came to our Socials and caught up with us all there. We shall miss Terry. He was the most positive person you could meet, always having a good word to say about others and giving his time unstintingly to others, especially young people. Our thoughts, of course, are with his wife, Rose at this very sad time.

19

What a lot of Coppernose points!


Jack Smiles 27

Jonathan Waldeck 25

Bill Fryer 24

Jane Thomas 24

Ian Jones 24

Karl Waldeck 18

Miles Benjafield 17

Sam Charlesworth 17

Rich Carter 17

Nick Mayell 16

Arthur Belbin 15

Tim Cottle 14

Mike Bullen 14

Veronica Francis 14

Becki Fryer 12

Chris Harvey 12

Andrew Francis 12

Ellie Howell 12

Kyra Brake 12

Alun Jones 9

Jaz Shillabeer 9

Alex Nicol 8

Bob Barr 8

Joe Gregory 8

Ben Miles 8

Bex Tanti 8

Hazel Cottle 8

Lia Hobbs 8

Felicity Hockaby 8

Stuart Miles 7

Lily Charlesworth 7

Jonathan Howell 7

Isi Miles 7

Mark Hemmens 7

Fred Hobbs 6

Jon Cox 6

Peter Thomas 6

Alex Waldeck 6

Ben Lemon 6

Kate Johnson 6

Terry O'Neill 6

Bee Thomas 6

Nathan Howell 6

Nick Tyler 6

Mandy James 5

Neil Dixon 5

James Munn 5

Howard C 4

Hilary Pound 4

George McGiveron 4

Lucas Wheeler 4

Alan Carpenter 3

Andrew Lyall 3

Gareth McGiveron 3

Jack Kimber 3

John Kent 3

Mark Baines 3

Nadine Robson 3

Julia Rowley 3

Nathan Howell 3

Andrew Lyall 3

India Thomas 3

Philippa Thomas 3

Julia Rowley 3

Vicky Bennett 3

Linz Kimber 3

Georgia Dunne 3

Sarah Mayell 3

Tom Kimber 3

Harry Bloodworth 3

Pam Dixon 3

Ricky White 3

Lynda Shields 2

Danny O'Gorman 2

Katie Hobbs 2

Kurt Doel 2

Max Charlesworth 2

Sam Nicol 2

Debbie Ashdown 2

Robert Francis 2

Rich Norman 2

Shelley James 2

Aidan Williams 2

William Jones 2

Carl Gilder 1

+Matt Norman 1

Sam Bloodworth 1

Andy Bell 1

Jack Hobbs 1

Richard Heal 1

20

www.frome-canoe-club.org.uk

CONTACTS

Chairman: Andy Bell 07966 203309

Vice Chair: Rich Carter 01373 864623 [email protected]

Treasurer: John Kent 01225 765168 [email protected]

Secretary: Pam Dixon 01373 473836 [email protected]

Youth Voice: Jack Smiles [email protected]

Canoeing and kayaking are “Assumed risk” – “Water contact sports” that may carry attendant risks. Participants should be aware of and accept these risks, and be responsible for their own action and involvement.

Get all your canoeing

things from the Family

Adventure Store at

Hilperton. BA14 7PJ

Check out the photos of club events or put a comment on the message board!

SMILING FACES! HAPPY PEOPLE?

Documents

2011 11 newsletter