2011 12 newsletter

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

Grand Social

P5 for details

Dart weekend: did they really do it like this?

For more about the Dart trip see P10 - 14. And for a full set of photos look in the gallery on the website! (See back page for answer to question above)

Volume 35 Issue 12 December 2011

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Send articles for the next issue to [email protected] by 28th December

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 Barle or Exe

4 New Year’s Day paddle

5 River Dart

5 Club Social

6 Pool sessions

6 DVD night

7 Tryweryn weekend

8 River Barle trip

9 River Frome trip

10 Dart Weekend by Rich

11 Lower Dart by Pip

14 Members’ comments about the Dart

15 Cartoon

16 The Alternative Frome Trip

17 Bits and Pieces

18 Photo competition

CALENDAR: details

REPORTS

SPECIALS

FCC ‘THROWLINE ’ CLUB MAGAZINE

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Calendar 2011/12

Date Event Standard Contact

December

4 Sunday morning session All Pam D

18 River Barle or Exe One Star + Rich C

21 Wednesday DVD night All Pam D

23 and 30 NO POOL SESSIONS All Pam D

January

1 New Year’s Day paddle Passport/One Star

8 River Dart One Star + John K

18 Wednesday DVD night All Pam D

21 Social and Awards ceremony All Pam D

29 Welsh rivers Two Star + Alex N

February

5 Sunday morning session All Pam D

8 AGM All Pam D

12 River Usk Two Star + Arthur B

19 River Frome Passport/One Star Rich

26 River Dart One Star + Sam C

March

9-11 Tryweryn Weekend 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.

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Calendar in detail - day trips

New Year’s Day Paddle Meet 10am at the Clubhouse Cost £3 Organiser - Rich Carter

This trip is likely to be the River Frome from Woolverton to Langham Farm. Well that’s what it has been since anyone can remember. (Apart from Graham!)

You need to have recovered from the partying of the night before be-cause it’s better if we don’t have anyone over the limit on this trip or any sleepy heads!

Seriously, this is a lovely paddle and gets you out of the house, doing something energetic after those days of eating and sleeping and being polite to the family.

You do need to have sensible water-proof kit and warm thermals, because it can be very cold.


Barle or Exe: 18th December Meet 8am at the Clubhouse Cost £12 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/gently moving water between. It’s the river we did at the Tiverton training weekend, but if we do the Exe today, 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 as usual you can pick up any club kit you need to borrow when we meet at 8am.

NOTICE THE MUCH LATER THAN NORMAL START

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Calendar in detail - day trips


River Dart: 8th January Meet 8am at the Clubhouse Cost £15 Organiser - John Kent We’ll be doing Lower and Loop today, and possibly the Upper.

Lower: This is the same stretch as

some will have done on the Dart weekend, Buckfastleigh to Staverton, a total of around 5 miles. We will get on just below the stepped weir at the South Devon Railway. There are nu-merous small rapids (grade 1/2) all the way to Staverton. There is a good boulder garden for eddying in and out and some other gentle play spots which are good for surfing.

Loop: The trip will be from New-

bridge to Buckfastleigh, about 7 miles. With its many play spots and rapids, it makes a really good paddle. Check with John or Rich if you’re not sure which section to do.

At this time of year it can be cold and the light fades quickly. Remember to wear warm clothes and bring food and drink for the trip.

Meet at 8am at the clubhouse where you can borrow all the club kit you need .

Club Social

21st January

At Trinity Hall,

Frome

£5 adults

£3 youth members

Food is included in the ticket price, plus a complimentary first drink, then buy more drinks at the bar. You need to sign up or let Pam know so that there is enough food to go round. This is the night that we present our annual awards for members who have shown great promise or made significant achievements. Turn to P17 to see last year’s winners.

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Calendar in detail - Club 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!

DVD night Third Wednesday of the month At the Clubhouse 7-9pm Come to December’s meet where we shall be watching the Relentless River of Everest, The Dudh Kosi.

This is a film about 6 kayakers who started at the Khumba glacier and canoed 90 miles of freezing water. With the river running unusually high and at over 30 miles an hour in places, the canoeists battle with waterfalls, stoppers, whirlpools and giant waves where the slightest mistake could be fatal.

Regarded by kayakers the world over as the best film ever made about their sport, this one is differ-ent from the others we watch on a Wednesday evening, because rather than being a compilation of drop after drop, it tells the story of an epic first descent.

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

December 21st


REMEMBER NO SESSIONS ON 23rd and 30th DECEMBER

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Calendar in detail


TRYWERYN WEEKEND MARCH 2012

We’re going to North Wales for a weekend to paddle that wonderful river, the Tryweryn.

We leave Friday as early as possible after work and travel to the bunkhouse hidden in the heart of North Wales. The bunkhouse is booked for two nights, Friday and Saturday. It has beds made up, central heating, self catering or you can book meals. Bill says the breakfasts are very good. There are drying facilities there but they are not brilliant, so two sets of thermal are advised. The bunkhouse is a 20 minute drive from the CT.

The river we paddle has got a harder upper section (3/4) and a more gentle lower section. Alex is organising this weekend and is planning to have the flexibility so that people can paddle the section(s) they want.

A £24 deposit books you a place in the bunkhouse. Catering will be yours to arrange. We know there are lots of good (cheap) places in Bala and there are pubs local to the bunkhouse. Or you can self cater. Transport will also be yours to arrange. But we expect people to share cars and nearer the time we will get lists of drivers and help match people up. It’s a little while since we did a club trip to Tryweryn, so be sure to get on the list for your place in the bunkhouse.

Staying Friday night 9th March and Saturday night 10th March at Tyddyn Bychan bunkhouse

Paddling on the Tryweryn, Saturday and Sunday The sign-up list is in a folder, which is available every session. Deposits secure your place in the bunkhouse. (ps the bunkhouse this time is NOT Stella’s)

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Reports - The Barle 23rd October


Bumping down the Barle 23rd October By Alun Jones

The day began with the usual prepa-rations at the clubhouse and discus-sions about the water levels. The Barle can be run providing the gauge reads 250mm or above, we expected a bumpy paddle based on the re-ports.

We arrived at Tarr steps in the sun-shine and warmth, a new experience for many of the party who have be-come to expect a cold wait for the shuttle to be completed. Our group was bolstered in number by some regular Barle veterans, Pip of course and Chris who brought some friends Ricky, Lynda and Shaun.

The journey was punctuated with stretches of shallow water and punt-ing off the river bed to make progress but we soon began to find the deeper water routes and were able to appre-ciate the views and wildlife.

At our regular lunch stop we enjoyed the sunshine and took a rest before pushing on the outskirts of Dulverton and the excitement of the weir and the fast flowing water.

We had paddlers with a mixture of abilities amongst the group and we were able to occupy many of them

with unexpected capsize practice, rescues, route finding, coaching and group leadership.

Although there were some anxious faces during the trip these were re-placed with smiles in the car park at the end.

Thank you to all the coaches and leaders for their help on the water and the drivers for making the trip possible.

Points done, and to all the others who remained upright dry, con-gratulations.

Ed: Points and paddlers were in last month’s newsletter.

Frome Trip Paddlers See next page for report

Girls: Ellie H, Lia H (3), Isi M and Philippa T Boys: Ben L, Ben N (1), Nathan H (3 for a swim and 2 awarded for a short tow!), Rich N Ladies: Amy B, Jane T, Lynda S, Pam D and Sam N (3) Men: Alan C (3), Chris H, Ian J, Jona than H, Mark B, Nick K, Rich C, Ricky, Shaun and Stuart M.

23 paddlers. In open boats were Lia and Sam, Amy, Alan, Stuart.

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River Frome - 30th October


There were treasures to be seen Copper and bronze, silver and gold. Autumn’s arrived and the leaves are all changing. They glowed in the sunshine And shimmied in the breeze.

It was good to be out and enjoying the air. And I spied in the sky Three herons up high With their huge floppy wings, silent and strange.

You cannot deny it was peaceful and pretty Placid and calm: warm for a change.

So what of the hazards? Well yes! Anglers as usual, but only five!

Trees were the obstacles, lying over the water. We’ll have trouble with those when the level gets high But today they were fun as we wiggled and squeezed.

The water was low and some weirs quite dry We felt cheated at Beckington: no stopper to play But that didn’t stop us enjoying the river And even the walking was OK today.

A good trip? Yes! One of the best! Well that’s what we said. Ed: see back page for the photo of Ben and Mark on the very dry Woolverton weir.

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Reports - Dart Weekend


Dart Weekend 12th/13th November By Rich

Hi, all of you paddlers out there!

Did we have a good trip or what? We had groups on the lower, middle and upper sections all at the same time and on both days!

Paddlers were able to pick their groups, move around on the different days, and hopefully get some train-ing. Even if they think they are not, they are better paddlers than when they started on the Saturday morn-ing.

The only fly in the pot is that we are restricted to the number of paddlers we can take by the size of the bunk-house where we stay at Powdermills, a great place about 3 miles from Princetown, quite literally in the mid-dle of Dartmoor. Except for the entry road you are surrounded by marshes. By good accounts no snoring was to be heard this weekend.

We had Pam and John with our Devon contingent, Pip, leading the Lower group, with John swapping to take a lead role on the Sunday on the Loop. Also leading on the Loop were Arthur, Gareth, Bryony, Rob, Mark and myself on the Saturday. Alun helped on the Sunday, which left

Arthur and me free to do the Upper on Sunday. Saturday on the Upper saw a small group of brave or foolhardy un-der the leadership of Nick. The water was a good level for them by all ac-counts. Sunday’s Upper trip was joined by 6 paddlers from the Loop and Ar-thur and myself. Fortunately the wa-ter levels were perfect for those want-

Paddlers for all or part of the weekend Girls: Ellie Boys: Aaron, Ben N, George, Kurt, Rich N, William Ladies: Amy, Becki, Bex, Bryony, Chloe, Hazel, Hilary, Kate, Linz, Megan, Nadine and Pam Men: Alex, Alun, Arthur, Carl, Chris H, Gareth, Guy, Jack, Joe, John C, John K, Jonathan, Mark, Mike, Nick, Pip, Rich, Rob, Stu, and Terry.

Sunday paddlers at Powdermills, with that view over the moors

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ing to learn, and for Arthur and me because we were a bit nervous, not having done it for a long time. But I do know the Saturday’s Upper crowd would have liked a higher level.

Swimmers: we had a few, but more importantly, smiles of joy, armfuls of excitement and eyes of wonderment, of how did we get that eddy, wave or

Continued on next page


Reports - Loop continued and Lower

Oh how my voice went up a pitch!

OR A little of what went on at the

Dart’s lower section By Pip

Some of Saturday’s group started a little nervously, negotiating the first ‘ferry gliding’ with heaps of concentration and the odd twitch as their kayak caught a wave. Oh what had happened to those supports stokes....well this was soon remedied after Pam’s instructions and most excellent demonstrations.

Soon Hazel, Amy, Hilary and William were ferry gliding like experts.

Paddlers for all or part of the weekend Girls: Ellie Boys: Aaron, Ben N, George, Kurt, Rich N, William Ladies: Amy, Becki, Bex, Bryony, Chloe, Hazel, Hilary, Kate, Linz, Megan, Nadine and Pam Men: Alex, Alun, Arthur, Carl, Chris H, Gareth, Guy, Jack, Joe, John C, John K, Jonathan, Mark, Mike, Nick, Pip, Rich, Rob, Stu, and Terry.

miss that rock. And for me in new boat, I rolled first time in a boulder choke, and yes Andy, it must be 15 years since I last saw you swim. Oh happy days!

My star paddlers of the weekend were Ben Nicol and Rich Norman. Really up and coming they are, and I will be look-ing at them soon to rescue me, I expect.

With Pam leading the feeding of us, and lots of help we how could it go wrong?

So sorry if you could not make it, but let’s hope for a good trip in 2012.

Hope to see you on the water soon, Rich.

Sunday paddlers at Powdermills, with that view over the moors

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Reports - Lower Dart continued


I should mention at this point that Megan, John K and Chris H were also with us providing extra cover. Not much more to say about this day .... well just maybe one little thing .... in the process of trying to rescue Amy, I also had to be rescued .... so let’s just leave it there, no more to be said.

Now for a word of warning to any paddler who has a brain lapse as I did. Having a soaking wet ‘long john’, I thought it would be a good idea to put it in the tumble drier ready for next day....Oh no...as next morning

trying to get it on was a real struggle. So if my voice had gone up an octave or so, you know why.

Sunday found a smaller group of us (Amy, Hilary, William, Chris H, Pam and myself). Oh what a difference a day makes, as all of our three were straight in to breaking in and out, ferry gliding, both forwards & back, eddy hopping and riding any wave that could be found. With the river slightly lower, we could find many more small eddies behind rocks and a competition started to see who could

ALUN AT EUTHANASIA ON THE UPPER

Looking good. Smiling too! On course for a good line...

OH dear! Where IS he going?

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Reports - Lower Dart continued

hit the most. Oh yes Hilary continued to have a few swims, but only be-cause she was trying so hard and the odd eddy line caught her out.

As we proceeded down the river the coaches soon noticed the increased confidence of the paddlers, all smiling as they tried different manoeuvres and strokes. Several times we all got out and walked back up the river to have another go at a stretch, taking the opportunity to look at the rocks and river layout to see which eddies we could get in to. William led us

down much of the way safely.

A most lovely comment I heard was from one of the ladies who said ‘doesn’t Pam make paddling look so effortlessly when she is demonstrating a manoeuvre. Thank you to all my fellow paddlers, but especially to Amy, Hilary, Hazel and William who put every effort into their paddling and showed such an improvement. Cheers for now. See you soon, Pip

OK, back with us ..... But.... Not for long! Over he goes. What a shame! Did he swim, we wonder?

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Comments from members!


From Andy V: Great weekend, thanks to the organisers, cooks, leaders, and fellow paddles for making it fun. And thanks to Rich for being so entertained with my swim. I would like to say it was just for you, but unfortunately it was actually due to the high atmospheric pressure, inadequate frictional properties of Dart valley riverbank rock face, and the wrong type of water.

From Rich: My shoulder hurts. Anything to

do with my roll, or from too much clapping

when Andy swam?

From Hazel: awesome weekend.

First time on the Loop, all good!

What a weekend to try your new boat! With a good river level, the boat did what was asked of it, my hips worked lovely, feet were nice and snug and I was able to use arms with out hitting the boat. The only ques-tion I have is ’Is it meant to float so low in the water?’ Apart from one little swim it was great, bring it on. Yours Sporty.

I thought I should write a few

words about the Dart weekend. I

had a great time as I know my kit

was getting very dirty and smelly,

so I was able to give it a pre wash

on Saturday, with a full wash on

Sunday, and yes it has come up

like new. So my thanks go to FCC

for organising this fantastic

washing weekend. Yours Soggy.

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Was there any of this on Sunday’s Upper trip?


Reproduced by kind permission of Foxy from Blind Probe.

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The alternative River Frome trip


What a beautiful day! A trip down our very own River Frome. Spoilt, I’m sorry to say by Jane’s uncharacteristic bad behaviour on the day and Isi’s and Philippa’s inability to splash properly – lift and throw! Not that splashy splashy nonsense! You’ll get there, girls. Just keep at it.

There were, I suppose three different groups on the water. There were the graceful gliders Stu and Amy, who be-cause of their age, chose to paddle in gert long boats making it much easier for themselves. Then there was the ‘I’m a big boy’ group: Ben N and Rich N who spent most of the time trying to do things with their boats that most ordinary people do with their old tin bath when they are not sitting in it: that is hang it vertically off something. And then there were the sensible Sun-day paddlers ie Jack a recently quali-fied instructor in basket weaving, Rich (in his tank), Jane (who did nothing but giggle and misbehave all trip), Nick the wobbler (he needs to get a bigger boat or learn more support strokes), Chris H (I was the only one to see his boat go over in the huge stopper at the bridge), Nathan (‘the brave’ as he is now known) and Ellie the leader. All the other paddlers distributed them-selves amongst these groups.

Well all three groups had wonderful times – all different times of course.

Ed: first seen in a newsletter in 2004. No changes then - except the people!

Mark enjoyed getting stuck on top of the first weir or rather half way down it. A hugely sensual flick from those hips managed to dislodge his boat without any problems. Rich N man-aged to drive the front of his boat continuously under the rear of Jona-than’s for the sheer hell of trying to upend it, all in the spirit of providing rescue practice for would be coaches, you understand. Although Pam re-fused to play in the stopper at Rode weir, others were brave enough to have a go. Even Rich with his tank did well, despite carrying two spare sets of clothes, 4 spare paddles, food for an army, a mini metro, cuddly toy, 2 road cones and 4 JCBs. (Vastly over-stocked: we only used 2 JCBs to get Stu back into his boat after lunch.)

We saw a moorhen’s nest with three eggs in it and a kingfisher. We walked some of the weirs because they were awfully dry and we emerged at Langham Farm all in one piece. Well done to everyone for their sheer stamina and tenacity. And well done to the River Frome for just being there.

Aren’t we lucky? The weekend before I paddled with someone from the Isle of Wight. Advised her to take up sand dancing or move nearer to Frome.

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Bits and Pieces


Mandy James Steve Allen Trophy (best newcomer)

Stuart Miles Ivor Morgan Trophy (coaching)

Kate Johnson A special prize from the President

George McGiveron Youth Cup

John Kent Bayman Trophy (best result in a national competition)

Danny O’Gorman Langham Trophy (best result at Langham Farm

Sam Charlesworth) and Jack Smiles )

Alex Nicol Editor’s Award (best contribution to the newsletter)

Jack Smiles Coppernose Clip Award (most swims)

shared the Volunteers Cup,

Here are our winners who were awarded prizes at the 2011 Social

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

A rubber band was confiscated from an algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.

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Bits and Pieces

CONGRATULATIONS TO JIM AND CATHARINE Recorded in the BCU Slalom ACM minutes: A Canoe England award for “Services to Paddlesport” was presented to Jim and Catherine Croft on behalf of the Eastern region.

Ed: About time! And congratulations from the Somerset contingent too!


Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

Photo competition: can you guess who these two are?

Entries to [email protected] for a chance to win a box of chocs at the Social!

Christmas present idea! Buy an article of FCC cloth-

ing for your nearest and

dearest(s).

Find the link on the Website

and go mad with colours and

wording! Andy has added a

new version. Take a look!

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Our 100th

facebook member:

Mark Baines

Bits and Pieces


COPPERNOSE POINTS The final tally for 2011 will be available at the Club Social. We start a new list for 2012 on 1st January, The New Year’s Day Paddle.

Have YOU looked at our FCC facebook page?

Get to see what’s happening, what members are doing and saying. It’s all quite light hearted and good fun really! To make it easy for you, John has put a link from the web page (top right).

LAST ONE FROM THE DART: I have to report that, yes, I did take a swim on the Dart. As part of the Dart weekend I was trying my best but I am not up to it any more, I think my age is getting to me. Should I give it up for a life of being looked after? It has been many a year since I have swam out of my boat, or was that swimming after my boat? I hope you will let me come again as I need the company of good paddlers to help me get back to my old self.

Calendar information In the event of you losing your Newsletter during the course of a month, go to the Calendar section of the Website and click on ‘more de-tails’’. There you will find info relating to the event which might avert that frantic call or email to Pam!

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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!

Dart photo answer: No, of course they didn’t do it like this! They took this rapid, called Euthanasia, one at a time and waited till each was through before the next one came! Nick Kent just used the wizardry of photo-shop to compose the picture! Nice one Nick!

Mark and Ben at the dry Woolverton weir on the River Frome Trip (P9 and P16 for the reports)

Kurt on the Upper Dart at Surprise Surprise

Documents

2011 12 newsletter