June 2005 - Derwent Canoe Club - Australian Canoeing

Chooos ya own advencha® Childrenbooks presents…

Southern Canoeist The Official Magazine of the Derwent Canoe Club

2005 Annual Report with extra Oooomph!

Chief Editor Tim Watson, Assistant Editor, Commodore, Treasure and general chieftan John Borojevic

Ian Smith featured on the back page of the Examiner in January. The photo was memorable but the photographer could only be described as malicious. That photo wasn’t available but heres another great picture taken from Ian and Harrys awesome Franklin trip where they were blessed with superb water levels. Ed.

www.derwent.canoe.org.au

Some Words from the Commodore This year, believe it or not has been a really really busy year for the Derwent Canoe Club and for Canoe Tasmania.

Derwent Canoe Club First up we held a come and try day with the TIS and selected 5 young paddlers for our TIS squad, and added a few extras. Dave Gray and Carol Hurst, Katie, Rosie and Andrew Mollison did stacks of coaching work. This group is still going. . The year kicked-on properly with our annual Back to Bronte Paddle and Party fest in September– a bit quieter this year as people saved their energy for October and the hugely successful Teva Lea Extreme Race with a massive party attached. This year should be even bigger. November dawned with the fortnightly Brown’s Rivulet World Cup race and Barbecue Series running over summer. Building on last year this attracted 50 paddlers with a minimum field of 25 and a maximum of 35. Seakayaks V DR Boats V Multisport V Sprint V Short Boats. Amazing. December saw the famous DCC Champs at Brady’s with Ball Races, Slalom, Rapid Sprints and more. January came and Dave, Jen Brown and I were running around helping run the Australian Wildwater Champs at the Mersey and Brady’s where DCC and TCC paddlers starred. Lots of DCC paddlers competed in and helped run the Teva Cataract Extreme Race in Launceston – a monster event. February and March the Brown’s Races continue and we had a successful Surf Comp to break up the flatwater – Brady’s was out of action. Broken Bridge Slalom sessions were also popular. April and we had the quiz night, and polo Rosters started again at Clarence with heaps of school kids playing. We hired a container for gear and have now decided to buy it. Lots of flatwater training April and may as the rains stayed away. June we applied for grants for River Rescue courses, Coaching courses, and for a stack of Polo Gear to make us self sufficient. Fingers crossed. Canoe Tasmania We rewrote the constitution to be compliant with Australian Canoeing, reduced CTs size and complexity – it is now a 5 person board with committees appointed each year, and much tidier accounting (we hope). A decision was made that as CT mainly existed for state-wide coordination and development, where possible it should not have physical assets. Consequently we have moved various bits and pieces out to clubs to use and manage.

We also wrote a Strategic Plan and Business Plan, and a Development Officer Duty statement; recruited Andrea McQuitty as the Development Officer; gained some funding from Sport and Recreation and Australian Canoeing for a Development Program;

and are now putting Canoe Education back together after the almost demise of the Skill Centre who acted as our Registered Training Organisation.

And CT also ran the Aust Wildwater Champs in January – a big success with mainly Tas Canoe Club personnel with help from DCC. A busy year.

Canoe Tasmania Development Officer Andrea McQuitty

Last year Canoe Tasmania reached a crisis point when there were not enough volunteers to fill all of the positions needed to run the organisation. Not only that, but the few volunteers who remained simply didn’t have the time to do all of the administrative work necessary to bring into reality the vision they had for canoeing in Tasmania. On top of this, the Skill Centre collapsed resulting in no Canoe Tasmania Board of Canoe Education courses being run. So after a little restructuring, Canoe Tasmania has re-emerged as a smaller and more functional organisation employing a development officer to assist with the implementation of their strategic plan. The position is jointly funded by the Office of Sport and Recreation and Australian Canoeing. The title of “Development Officer” may create visions of a tanned youth in shorts, Tevas and body piercing driving around with a trailer load of playboats getting kids to try paddling for an afternoon. Nothing could be further from the truth! I’m a middle-aged mum (who is still pretty handy in a DR Boat – Ed) who will be aiming to bring about sustainable developments for canoeing in Tasmania. The Australian Canoeing role includes:

• assisting in the reestablishment of AC Canoe Education courses, including coach and volunteer training

• acting as a liaison person between AC, Canoe Tasmania and the RTO that will administer education courses for us

• implementing strategies to increase club membership.

The Office of Sport and Recreation funded role involves implementing the CT strategic plan on behalf of the Board of Directors, including:

• Assisting clubs in planning, development, seeking funding and any other club specific issues or projects

• Re-establishing a Junior Development Program

• Managing the CT website • Producing a state-wide calender of events

I am currently meeting with clubs and individuals to gain a current picture of the status of clubs and paddling activities, and to gain ideas and input into strategies for developing paddling. So if you want to get in touch email [email protected] or ph 0407 407 001. The Development Officer work plan appears later in the magazine.

mailto:[email protected]

News In BriefKatie Overseas

Kate Mollison is currently in Europe as part of the Australian Junior Slalom Team. Incidentally the tour coach is Booger. The Australian Junior Team competed in a double header slalom competition at Ceske in the Czech Republic over the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of July. Kate came 6th and 7th respectively for each of the two races at Budovice, NSW athlete Emmie Barratt produced the best form finishing 2nd and 3rd.

Dan, Carol, and Daves’ Wildwater World Championships trip

Dan Hall, Carol Hurst and Dave Gray went to the United Kingdom to compete in the World Championships for downriver racing. They competed in races in England, Nth Wales and Ireland. All three paddlers demonstrated that they were truly world class paddlers. Carol has a World DRR Championships ranking of 15th, that’s two rankings higher than Dan Hall who came 17th whilst Dave Gray had also had a great ranking coming in at 39th. Carol swam at the Nottingham course but didn’t get sick from the disgustingly polluted water, unfortunately Dan did get sick from the same water (that he didn’t swim in) and was unfortunately not feeling so well for the next big race.

DCC Quiz night The recent DCC Quiz night was a huge success. Organised to help fund DCC paddler to compete in Europe it raised over $1200. Thanks to Krystina Wnekowski and Alex for all their work, and a big thanks to ourn sponsors – Kayak4Play, Sea to Summit, Creative Cars, Hill Street Grocers, South Hobart Butchery, Solution Spray Decks, Barcelona, Darcy Street IGA, Bridie O’Reilly’s, Playhouse Theatre, Cabbages Café and Flower Shop, Snowgum.

Boogers Tibet trip Cam Folder and Anthony O’Hern were part of an expedition to Tibet led by fellow DCC paddler Booger. On the first part of Boogers expedition they paddled some tough first decents, if only I could remember the names of the rivers but one of them was a minor milestone of whitewater paddling! Antho was on the first part of Boogers Tibet expedition and then choose to stumble (due to dehydration) through the desert along a large section of the Great Wall of China, he has become a minor celebrity. Booger and Antho in Tibet. Cam Folder was on the second part of the expedition along with former DCC Treasurer and born again New Zealander, Duncan Catanach. Read Cams ditty about Tibet deeper in the newsletter.

The Mollie Show Kate Mollison is the current Australian Junior Slalom Champion. Kates dedication to slalom paddling won her both the 2005 Pre-Australians Championships race and the 2005 Australian National Slalom Kayaking Championships. The races were held at the Penrith White Water stadium.

Katie and Rosie Mollison came 3rd and 4th respectively in the Australian Youth Olympics in Februrary 2005 also held at Penrith. The winner came from France and the second place getter was Emmie Barret from NSW.

2006 Australian White Water Champsionships The Australian White Water Champs are going to be held in Tasmania, in January at the Mersey River with Slalom and Down River, and some Rapid Sprints at Brady’s, All Schools Champs at Forth and maybe Freestyle at Brady’s. So dust off your long pointy boats this spring and weave your own bit of magic on the Mersey. Keep an eye out on the DCCFlash for news about slalom and slalom course fixing weekends at the Mersey this Spring. Development Officer for Canoe Tasmania: Andrea McQuitty has been appointed as the Development Officer for Canoe Tasmania. Andrea is a multi-time winner of the Australian Womens Wildwater champsionships, and has extensive experience paddling in Europe and in Coaching and Administration. A long time chair of the State Slalom and Wildwater Committee, Andrea is a life member of Canoe Tasmania. Andrea’s role is to assist CT and clubs to improve membership, activities for members, volunteer support, accreditation, etc. An overview of her activities for the year is detailed elsewhere in Southern Canoeist.

Brown’s Rivulet World Cup Series 2005 Big Thursday on the Brown has yielded 2 new world records for Kingston Beach paddler Matt Dalziel. Said Dalziel "We moved here 6 years ago with the intent of setting an unbeatable time on the International Brown's.” "I've now got that strange mixed feeling, of having my wildest dreams come true, yet no longer having a reason to get out of bed in themorning". Dalziel negotiated swift moving logs, benches, duck housing and signs to get to the start of the course, taking in the devastation along the way and offering moral support to the shocked locals. "It took me a minute before I got around the golf course bridge, and some hard paddling to cross the par 5 fairway to break back into the strong current, but by the time I reached the notorious haystack alley at the end of the straight I knew I was on a special time. The rest is a bit of a blur, but I had the presence of mind to record the time- 6:29 for the full 1.8km traditional run and a ridiculous 5.29 for the DCC World Cup Course.” Full results for the Browns Rivulet World Cup series are available on www.derwent.canoe.org.au

DCC paddlers dominate at the Wild Water Nationals

Tasmania continued its Wildwater Racing dominance. Dan Hall and Carol Hurst are the current Australian Wild Water Champions after successful races at the Nationals at the Mersey in January. Dave Gray finished with a very respectable Australian ranking of 6th. Tom Gibb from Tas Canoe Club won the Junior Championship is convincing style.

Checkout the club website (www.derwent.canoe.org.au) for the full results from each race.

http://www.derwent.canoe.org.au/

http://www.derwent.canoe.org.au/

Swarzes accident Craig Swarze Chivers had a horrific near death experience in Far North Queensland recently in a horror car smash, which worst of all ruined his paddling holiday. Want to know more, ask Craig. The word is that he is REALLY keen to tell everyone about it (not!).

Burnie Paddler Sam Norton now the British Champ 3 time over

Tasmanian junior kayaker Sam Norton is now the Australian and British National champion in junior sprint kayaking. At Nottingham in England, Sam won the Under 17 K1 500, 1000, and 2500 metres, and 2nd in the Under 19 K2. Ealrier this year Sam won 7 Gold medals at the Australian Flat Water Championships at Penrith.

One Summers Day We Chose An Apsley Adventure By Ed

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!... THUD! To get up or stay in bed, hmmm? It had been 2 or 3 days since the big easterly (in Jan 05) that flooded NWB and all the East coast catchments. After a moments thought you:-

..mutter “Stuff it” and sleep moorrrreezzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzz. Then go to section 11. (Chooos ya own 11 advencha®)

..get up because when will it next rain (4 months time!). Then go to section 6. (Chooos ya own 6 advencha®)

Chooos ya own 1 advencha®

Somewhat fortuously stumble onto what seems to be an old disused 4WD track cutting a swathe towards Rigels’ chariot: despite the very real possibility that we might have crossed the disused 4WD track where it wasn’t obviously a disused 4WD but just another piece of bush to battle through. Only wearing Tevas, paddling shorts and a short sleave thermal we could have experienced a cold uncomfortable night out in the bush. However we arrive back at the ‘cruiser relieved and stocked that it had only taken 90min to walk through the bush above the Apsley Gorge and that all we needed to do was drive back to the waterhole. Whilst driving back we see a side road that would apparently lead directly to the waterhole but reportedly with a locked gate across it and decide that:-

..you’d all taken enough chances for the day and drive the 40-odd Km back via the usual road. Goto section 18

..we’d give it a go, we were all in a big bad 4WD that wanted to give that ‘boom gated track’ a red hot go. Rigel grinned mischievously at the possibility of reversing an untold number of potentially hazardous narrow overgrown kilometres along the 4WD track. So we collectively spat in the general direction of the sign encouraging us not to bother trying and forged onwards into the unknown, loving the spirit of adventure that had hitched a ride with us. Goto section 17.


What are you doing reading this? This is not an option in any of the scenarios.


Not far wrong but why not go boating? After all, there is some water in the river.


That’d be stupid.


3km later we left the track and wander northwards through open snake infested bush we:- ..leave Ian to die of heat exhaustion because he didn’t take off any of his thermals. Call his wife on

the way home and inform her of his misfortune. Goto part 18. ..with no map we become hopeless disorientated, fail to notice an old 4WD track heading back to

the ‘cruiser and soon it is dark. Luckily we were prepared and in true Calvin and Hobbes style remembered to bring a torch so that we could read the comics we thoughtfully carried with us. Goto part 19.

..wandered northwards navigating by the sun and headed towards an old 4WD track that in some places is quite obvious but over-grown in others. Goto part 1.

Teva Cataract Extreme Race – Powered by Hydro Tasmania

January 2005 The weekend was a success, a good time was had by all and rumour has it that it will be held again in January 2006 the weekend before the Australian Wildwater Championships, yay! The water level was good, surprising those like myself who had never paddled The Gorge at such a low level. Lots of folk on the river, probably about 40 competitors plus the “Sports Race” paddlers – this was the race for the rescue personnel – won by David Borojevic. The Saturday Teams race was won by Booger and Dan Hall, with lots of swims in the nasty hole at the bottom of the Mix Master rapid. Ian Smith was a the media star with a huge and very attractive photo in the Examiner. The Saturday night party was huge with Jimmy the Cat Paterson and his dancing girls playing their Carnal Workout CD live.

Dancing Dan took of his top and made the girls go wild. The Basin is a fantastic party venue. The night was topped off by the mass streak and skinny dip with the obligatory hiding of clothes by those who didn’t streak. The Sunday head to head was a great spectator event with around 4000 people lining the banks of the slalom rapid. Close races saw up to 4 paddlers racing head to head, bumping and pushing each other into holes rocks, and out of eddies. This elimination race was ultimately fought out between Dan and Booger with Dan winning. Controversy surrounded 3rd place with it finally awarded to Ben Maynard after a protest, count back and appeals from the crowd. Well done to Pete Rand and Panea Pty Ltd for putting this together, and thanks to all the DCC members who competed and acted as rescue over the weekend. Eds.

One Summers Day We Chose An Apsley Adventure


You Rock’on-up to Smithy’s abode to find that Rigel is the only other person to drag his bod’ from his bed. Maybe they got their fix on the NWB. Ian, Rigel and yourself pick up the telephone and start hassling folks to come to the Apsley. More people are needed the car shuffle for the Apsley is horrendous so:-

..you go home and reminisce about how simple life was when it was entertaining to spend the day making ‘mud-cakes’ in the cubby-house and playing with Tonka trucks. Goto part 10

.. you prank call the people who have ‘better things to do’. Goto part 4

..together we all decided it was possible to do it another way, we only need one car why not go. Brmmmm vrrrommm went Rigels’ Cruiser. The journey had begun. Goto part 14


You arrive at the river and curse “the Aplsey sucks. It’s either too high or too low and always too bloody far to go before you know” but get on the river anyhow, afterall there is some water:-

..so you choose to paddle the river with a generally negative attitude and conclude at the end, that it was shit after all and that you should have gone home earlier. Goto part 4

..well heck, it turned out to be pretty good anyhow. A bit bony but a fun bounce none the less. Some sweet rapids and no carnage despite Rigel doing a few crazy ‘he’s doing a back deck roll there..?’® moments on a seriously shallow rocky creek. Goto part 9


Fairies danced around us and fed us grapes whilst we lay in the sun.


It was a purrrfect summers day. Sunny and warm, not too hot. Plus there was enough water in the Apsley River for a wholesome feed of creek boating in a crew of only myself plus two; yep, the paddle was cool but there was more to come. For there were three boaters and ‘yaks at the Apsley water hole and one Landcruiser 7km upstream. Together with the rest of the group you decide to:-

..wait to meet some helpful folks at the water hole and bribe them to take Rige back to the top whilst Ian and I laze about in the sun, swim and admire the setting. Goto part 12

..jog back to the ‘cruiser via the gated 4wd track that finished near the water hole. Goto part 15

..ditch the boats in the woods. We made a group decision that the map was of no use without a compass and left it with the boats in a cavalier, ambivalent ‘choose ya own advencha®’ style. Except for Ian, ripped off our cumbersome and excessively hot thermals, grabbed some water and start walking up the river via the Apsley Gorge Circuit track. Goto part 5

Teva Lea Extreme Race – Powered by the Rain and Sun Gods October 2004.

Dan swam again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was the second time this race has been held and each time the weather and water has been fantastic. About 20 teams of two, including star international paddlers and a big interstate contingent, converged on the Lea River near Cradle Mountain. Another 20 or so paddlers acted as safety along the course. The classic teams race was won in fine style by Dan and Booger again – setting them up for a big fall this year – they are the team that everyone is gunning for. Dave “Gibber” Marshall started well by swimming at First Drop, and Ian Smith rolled seven times, and Mark “Blakey” Blake said “I had a great run”, meaning “I only swam 4 times”. The party was held at Gowrie Park at Weindorfers. Charlotte and family looked after us

with copious amounts of food and alcohol, and the party continued until after 2.00am. The best surprise was the free breakfast baskets down in the back-packers. Thanks Charlotte. Sunday had the mystery event – the Ball race. This variation on the classic Brady’s ball race was that the small balls grew to be huge Fit-Balls. A mass start above First Drop made this a highly entertaining, but ridiculously hazardous event, requiring skill, determination, team work, and fair amount of luck to get down without being maimed by other paddlers. Dan wasn’t lucky enough. Dan swam at first drop. Rolling tutors required – applications to the Commodore. The race is on again this year, 8th and 9th October.

The End. Eds.



Good point but you didn’t know of the joy of kayaking back then.


After getting up late you mull over how to spend the day but become hopelessly morose and decide that the day is lost because it would’ve been great to go ‘creeking.’


Not likely, however a few years ago I hitched-hiked and then jogged back to the car at the top end of the park after walking the North-South Douglas-Apsley track. It was a stinking hot day and I felt like I was about to collapse from heat exhaustion, meanwhile the other guys were lazing about in the sun, swimming and admiring the, mostly, bikini

clad backpackers; grrrrr.


The car scrabbles to a halt before the boom gate. You all decide to:- ..check out the river level first. You walk to the causeway and curse violently, drop to the ground and

start hitting and kicking the ground while screaming “It’s not fair that’s a crap water level. Why does this always happen to me. I wanna go home. NOW! The Apsley sucks, it’s either too high or too low and always too bloody far to go!”. Goto part 3

..get kitted up and ready for action. After coming so far there not paddling the Apsley River wsn’t really an option. Goto part 7

Some words from Cam about his Tibet trip Excess baggage nerves High altitude hangovers

Gorkha Circles, a place to go Big wide rivers

Small (but big) boats Tricky 1st descents, gasps of thin air

Grade 4 portages, not such small boats Big water, Bigger water & even bigger than bigger big water. Big waves on big rivers. Great company and rollicking good times.

Where’s Timmy gone? (or how we paddled the Upper Perth River) By Daniel Harris AKA Harry

Whilst on our epic trip to the Shakies (A KA the Land of the Long White Cloud), our crew engaged on an expedition to paddle the Upper Perth. Booga, having paddled this river some years before was very keen on the trip and how big it was (with lots of talk about a hideous cave that Trout had been sucked into). Since we were all poverty stricken uni students and the like we decided that our best option was to do a 2 day trip on the Upper Perth, staying at hut in the middle. That way we got 2 days paddling for only one heli ride. The fact that the guidebook described the section above the hut as being epic Grade 5 only seemed to spur on the boys! Bruce Dando (the local pilot) flew us in, only to reveal that he wouldn’t go above the hut due to it being a wilderness area and he’d already been busted doing it once! Therefore we dumped our gear at the hut and commenced the walk up along the river to do the upper section (only 3 km long). The track followed the river up for a couple of km before branching away, on the way it crossed 2 rivers, by means of suspension bridges, somewhat similar to those found in Tasmanian National Parks. These particular bridges however, are far higher and far longer than any I’ve seen in Tassie. The first one was particularly epic. The universal experience of all of us, seeing the person in front was; “what a wuss, that looks easy, why are they holding on like that?” The reason they were holding on like that was because the damn bridge was swaying quite a lot, was very narrow, and the sides were high enough to prevent you holding your kayak comfortably, but too low to feel like they’d be any use. All in all one of the scariest experiences of the whole trip. After about 1.5 km we lost the track, and although we continued working upstream, we’d also lost a bit of motivation. After coming to a cool boof (talked up to us by some guys who’d paddled it the day before) we decided (Booga decided!) to keep on going to the next rapid up. This proved to be a massive big staircase rapid, with all the individual drops very closely linked together, with a few small eddies scattered along the way. With my confidence down a bit I had no hesitation in saying “no thanks” and crossed over to river right to set safety. The rapid started off with a long slidey kind of ramp, with a meaty hole at the bottom. Below that there was a committing right to left move with a nasty rock that looked unavoidable (although it proved to quite alright), then around a big rock (probably undercut and down through a couple more drops. From memory the whole thing probably dropped around 20 or 30 metres.

Everyone had good lines and was waiting at the bottom, with myself on river right. Pat (Ben Patrick had walked about halfway back up the rapid, on river left, standing on a huge boulder. Timmy had been stuffing around, trying to sort all the accumulated rubbish in his boat, so took a while to start. Down the first slide he went, and out of our sight. Pat then signalled he was caught in the hole and began describing in sign language exactly what Timmy was doing (lots of flailing, bracing etc). What at first seemed funny quickly became serious as he didn’t came out. Timmy than signalled he was swimming and I started sprinting up the bank as fast as possible. This wasn’t all that fast as it involved climbing over boulders and in various sketchy ways. After about 80 m or so I was parallel with Pat, but no sign of Timmy anywhere. Pat gave me a shrug and then a questioning point to the rocks below me. I dropped down to river level and found that 2 big boulders had joined together forming a tunnel. Water was rushing out of a gap about 3 feet high and 4-5 feet wide. When I peered up the other end I saw Timmy, about 8m away, looking absolutely exhausted and without his helmet, holding onto the roof of the tunnel. I signalled he was alright and then tried to work out a way to get him out. Booga then came up and climbed on top of the boulders where he was able to talk to Timmy. After some discussion we lowered my helmet down to him, and then a rope, and he lowered himself down the rope and was pulled in. There was a reasonable current rushing through and without the rope we would have been swept into another sieve. Turns out that after failing to escape the stopper, he’d tried a “jesus” pose, but to no avail. He then popped his deck, but still didn’t come out, and so finally had to swim for it. Went over at least one serious rock before swimming over to river right and grabbing onto a rock. From there he was sucked underwater into a tunnel. The entrance was at least 2 feet underwater. Got jammed in the tunnel but managed to wiggle through, feet first. He then got helmet pinned and nearly choked. Managed to undo his helmet and emerge into the little cave. We never found the boat but think went into a similar place but a bit to the left, and got jammed underneath the boulder. There was water flowing from the bottom but it was resting on a slab and nothing was able to get through. We found half his paddle, but never found the helmet!

Luckily it was a relatively easy walkout, and then the next day another helicopter dropped off two Department of Conservation employees and he was able to grab a lift, while we paddled out, on a river somewhat like a cross between Cataract and the Broad (big and steep).

So it all turned out alright in the end, but if he hadn’t got a lift it would have been a very long walkout, even with a track to follow. The End



The drive up doesn’t exactly fill you with hope, Paradise Gorge looks positively feeble only a trickle rolling over the dam spillway. However, the sun is shining and the wind warm. Smithy talks English Premier League soccer to a fellow pommy in the Swansea café place:-

..Smithys’ had his male bonding for the week and decides not continue any further. We all eat the freshly prepared salad rolls and laugh at ourselves. How silly to think that the best thing we could do was paddle the Apsley when all around there was no water on the ground. Soon enough we are homeward bound. Goto part 16

..stash those rolls for later they’ll be better after an Apsley River mission. The Cruiser sways onwards to Christmas Hill. Soon enough rock trail Rigels mighty machine up a damp sided gravel road. Well at least it isn’t totally dry. Goto part 13


I f only we knew where that track was...


Yeah right, where was Ian’s near death experience in that scenario?.

Leven Canyon In early January 2004 some Victorians I knew were keen to do some paddling in Tassie after coming down to do the Franklin River. Of course, in summer there’s no water around, so when it did rain they’d already dispersed their gear in preparation for going back to Victoria. Luckily they still had their boats, but their equipment was in another car at the other end of the state! Well, the rain did come and so I set out to organize a Sunday trip on the Leven Canyon. Dan Oldfield, a Pommy who had done the Franklin with the guys from Victoria, was the only person I could find who could come paddling on that day. The other paddlers in the group were either not confident on a river of the difficulty of the Leven, or had an injury. So with Monash Uni’s trusty Prijon Rockit and some borrowed gear I’d managed to assemble, Dan followed me down the river. Dan is actually

a left handed paddler, however I couldn’t track down a left handed paddle. Instead Dan used my old paddle but flipped it over so that he used the back of the blades instead of the front! The level was .48, which is below optimal, but still excellent for the upper section, especially in the middle of summer. The Leven Canyon is visually quite spectacular, with a steep walk down to the river, followed by a 5 metre seal launch to get to the water. While we got ready, Tim Wallace, who was unable to paddle due to an injured hand, made his way down the river to get some photos. From the start the river sits in a deep narrow pool for a couple of hundred metres. It then does a 90 degree turn to the right (the Devil’s elbow) and begins to drop quickly away. I had a reasonable knowledge of the river and led the way down. After a few simple drops we hit the horseshoe drop, the first serious rapid.

Dan on The Notch.

I took a quick eddy at the top, checked it out then ran down the left, boofing right on the final drop. Dan went for the eddy on the left, didn’t take it decisively enough and fell over the drop backwards, to no ill effect!

After that we quickly got out to scout “Brace Right”, another technical rapid. I misjudged my angle and dropped through the first part of the rapid backwards, but was able to regain control before the final drop. Dan went through very cleanly. Shortly after that we came to “the Notch” the most difficult rapid on the river, with a small ledge followed up by a 5 metre drop, with the rocks on each side protruding quite aggressively. I made a perfect line and Dan quickly followed. While we had been scouting the drop Tim had been climbing the cliffs on river left and ended up some 200 metres above the river. After the Notch there is one more rapid than the real highlight of the Leven Canyon, two waterfalls, the first approximately 10m high and the second approximately 14m high. From Tim’s vantage point he was able to get a unique perspective on the drops and take some absolutely amazing photos.

Dan shooting the big waterfall The first waterfall is the lower one, but it has a very small platform to get out and look at the fall. It also has a nasty habit of pushing a paddler into the wall on the right hand side if they make a mistake on their line. We got out above the first drop to check it out than I ran it and took a photo of Dan from the bottom.

The second waterfall is much higher but has a large pool above it, making it quite simple to get out and scout. It is also much easier, since it falls into the middle of a large pool. Again I ran the drop first. I then climbed up the cliffs on the right hand side to get another photo of Dan.

After the waterfalls the river flattens out considerably, although it is still quite technical and we could boat scout most of the rapids. We continued to get out of our boats where necessary and enjoyed the scenery as we continued down. About a kilometre beyond the waterfalls the rapids ease off and the river becomes much flatter, with the occasional technical rapid to spice things up on the long paddle out. We kept a good pace up and were able to get to the takeout before the others. All in all it was an excellent trip, with a bit of quality Tassie creeking on a beautiful January day.

Harry about to take the plunge on the BIG water fall, from the top of the first fall.



That’s right folks, there wasn’t a nasty locked Forestry Tas boom gate across that track, the gate had lost its ‘boom’ long ago and gained a pleasurable fizz. After shuffling the Cruiser under a fallen tree elevated by the efforts of Ian and myself the only gate we encounter is one that said “Please shut the gate behind you” YEAH! Soon after we were rumbling across a paddock very near to the Apsley water hole keeping an eye out for a potentially over-interested farm that was no-where to be seen. So only 9km and 15min later we arrive at the waterhole victorious. We have a refreshing swim across the water hole, retrieve the boats and make our way home via a fine meal of choice fish’n’chips at Bicheno. We all collectively gloated at how we’d unexpectedly had a great day full of discovery and a bit of harmless good’ol’fashioned adventure and chest beating “she’ll be right mate” attitude. Yep, so much came from just a bit of hope and effort. A ‘big-up’ to Ian and Rigel for having the spirit of adventure that made it a sweet day.


But I didn’t think Ian could die?


Good thing you’ve spent your youth appropriately and have learnt the wisdom of Calvin and Hobbes.


That’s a bit of a drag. You get home later and poorer than if you’d used your initiative

Wild west adventures 2005 During the 1st week of Jan 2005 a gang of 6 hastily cobbled together companions undertook to rush down the Franklin river in 4 days and be finished in time for one of them to attend Mullets wedding the day after getting home. In other words there was no margin for error, the trip would be finished by Friday and that was it. Well rain was forecast for Tuesday but surely that could only help get things moving along, or so we convinced ourselves.

The crew in question consisted of paddlers ranging from Olympic athletes to nervous up and comers, with a range in between. They were Lachie Milne of Athens, Harry of Hobart, Carl and Ian also of Hobart; Lachie’s mate James from Melbourne and Alan, a Canadian who lives in Holland.

We met up on Sunday night in my shed and packed the boats with the usual stuff needed, including our pre cooked and vacuum-sealed meals courtesy of Harry and his better half Bonny. These were a real winner; within 20 minutes of getting off the river the night’s meal was just about ready to serve.

Monday was a glorious warm sunny day, The Collingwood was at a pleasant 0.9m and after dropping 2 cars in Strahan we were on the river

about 2.30ish. Irenabys was the planned 1st camp and a fun paddle was had in perfect conditions down to it. 4 of us had a go at shooting nasty notch. Lachie went to the right, Harry tried the same but was pushed left, he was ok though. I was pushed further left, still ok though. Alan even more left and after getting a bit of a bashing against the rock wall gave us our 1st swim of the trip. Harry did the rescue while I took care of the important business, taking photos. Getting in after the Log Jam portage caused a few nervous moments, with a mini log jam having to be negotiated, but all managed to survive the ordeal

We shared the campsite with 3 other paddlers who had gone up to Frenchman’s for the day.

Next morning the 1st drops of rain were starting to fall, but it was still quite mild when we hit the river about 11am. Today we were heading for the Coruscades campsite and until right near the end it was looking to be a pretty uneventful day. At the Churn Lachie and Harry were toying with the idea of running it down the right, the rest of us headed to the hills and started the high left hand portage. After much debating they ended up following in our footsteps, it looked ok to run but a couple of doubts crept in making our line

more appealing. We re-entered the river above the last drop in the Churn known as the Corkscrew. It looked quite chunky with a decent stopper near the bottom and the whole thing dropping a good 2-3 meters. Lachie, Harry and Carl cruised through, James and me took a roll at the end Alan tipped over near the top and whilst upside down smashed his head against something causing a 15 stitch gash above his left eye. Only we were in the middle of whoop whoop, and no stitching facilities were at hand. As it was only a 10 min or so flat-water paddle down to our campsite we kept going and left the patch up for later. By now the rain was starting to really set in, adding to the drama.

Tent flies were erected and while Harry got the meal going surgeon to be Lachie got to work on Alan’s eye. Lots of butterfly stitches and a sealed dressing made things look better, but Alan’s head still hurt. To make matters worse Doctor Lachie banned Alan from alcohol as it would impede the healing process, so no port for Alan but more for us, cheers Alan! A stick was placed in the river to gauge the rise of the river overnight.

Fortunately Alan felt better in the morning so the EPIRB was re holstered and we could continue. Overnight the river didn’t rise but

by the time we had finished brekkie it had risen 100mm. It was time to get out of the Great Ravine. Lachie ran the top Corruscades rapid then we all ran the rest except for a couple that Carl, Alan and James didn’t like the look of, then it was of down to Thunderush.

The usual portage down the left and the usual foreboding at the get in spot. It looks a lot worse than it actually is but with Lachie hanging on to our boats as we climbed in and launched the nerves were slightly soothed, in my case a little too slightly as I managed to end up going down the worst part of the rapid backwards, Alan managed a roll and everyone else looked smug.

At the Cauldron we were faced with a choice, a truly awful 3-4hour high level portage on the left or a very dodgy 1-hour portage on the right over the boulders. We obviously took the latter. Alan’s Dagger Animas came in handy here, as it was just long enough to make a bridge from in order to span the gap between 2 boulders needed to complete the portage. Lachie and me took our chances seal launching into a current of what felt like jet engine proportions thus missing out on using the bridge. With the bridge in position Lachie holding one end and Harry the other, Carl, Alan and James slowly made their way across 1 by 1. Harry had the dubious honour of going last and thus having no one holding on to that end, he looked nervous.

From here on, lots of big volume grade 3 stuff to old three tiers which

was big and scary looking but not too difficult. Lachie, Harry and me ran the pig trough rapid finishing with a sneak line down the right. Newlands was pretty full on, Alan and me taking a line down the left, which missed some of the biggest stuff. Carl must have enjoyed his run down cos after emptying his boat up at the campsite he went up and ran it again.

The rain by now was pouring so the overhung cliffs of the Newlands campsite and the dry shelter they offered was most welcome. We were sharing the campsite with a couple of rafting groups, one of them being led by Timmy T and Jack.

Overnight the river rose about 1-½ meters and was still coming up. The rapid now was getting on the huge side, so Lachie, Harry, Carl and me grabbed our empty boats and trotted of to the top to give it a go and provide some entertainment for the rafters. We all got down ok until Carl tipped over on the eddy line at the bottom and ended up swimming. Fortunately he and his things were gathered up quickly, not like one of the guys we had met at the Irenabys who came down a couple of hours after we had left and having taken a swim saw his boat keep going. It was recovered the next day about 10kms downstream.

The rapid just below Calder’s ferry which is usually a gentle shingle race had turned into the wave train from hell (or heaven). Then it was pretty much flat water apart from

double fall, which was another massive wave train, and big fall ditto except for the stopper on the right which Carl managed to get knocked over in whilst going through it. Another swim and with the river absolutely cranking by now getting ashore was nigh impossible, so Lachie performed an ex rescue. Pyramid Island at the junction of the Franklin and the Gordon was fully under water. The waves on the Gordon were very nice only Lachie and Harry had a serious go at them, the rest of us just wanting to get to the hut at Sir John Falls and get out of the cold and rain, By now the weather as well as being very wet was also very cold. From Newlands to Sir Johns had taken just over 4hrs, not bad for 25kms. Alan endeared himself to the other parties guide in the hut and some crazy polish bloke got the hump with us moving in, but the warm dry surrounds made it all worthwhile.

7am next morning and we were safely ensconced on the west coast yacht charters boat back to Strahan. Climbing the mast of the boat was a hoot and offered great views over the surrounding forest.

Back in Strahan, a celebratory beer in Hamers then back to sunny Hobart. Crossing the Collingwood it was at 1.9m and had been at 3.5 m the day before, I’m glad we didn’t set off a day later!

Ian S

Ian going big on Nasty Notch (Left) and Lachie taking the conservative line (Right).

DCC Quiz Night Thank you to all our kind sponsors

In April the Annual DCC Quiz Night was held at Bridie O’Reilly’s . to raise money for DCC paddlers competing internationally – Dave Gray, Carol Hurst, Katie Mollison and Dan Hall. Over 100 people participated and $1200 was raised through entry fees, raffles and the inevitable Whisky Challenge. Funds raised all went to the paddlers. But the quiz night wouldn’t have been possible without our sponsors who kindly donated prizes for the quiz and raffle.

Canoe Tasmania Development Officer Proposed Work Plan

Project

Strategies

Timing Possible source of funding

Reestablish an RTO agreement for the delivery of AC education and training packages for CT

• Liaise with Skilll Centre, Sport and Rec, AC, John, Rod and Andrew to sort out current status of existing MOU.

• Provide assistance in negotiating other MOU with a different RTO if necessary.

June 2005

Reestablish delivery of AC education packages for CT

• Consult with CT Canoe Education Committee to produce calendar of education events • Consult clubs about training needs • Provide sport specific advice to RTO • Oversee RTO work, particularly with regard to promotion of events and administration • Establish and maintain communication between AC, CT and RTO

October 2005 Self-generated funds

Maintain database of Tasmanian AC qualified paddlers

• Prior to each training event, check current status of paddler qualifications • Monitor completion of training commenced

Commence July 2005, ongoing

Promote new AC Award Scheme • Personally approach paddlers with lapsed registration and provide information about the new award scheme

• Assist RTO with marketing strategies

Commence June 2005, ongoing

CT

Link sea kayakers and other non-club paddlers to clubs and AC

• Identify opportunities for clubs to provide activities for other types of craft • Meet with key sea kayak interest groups to discuss what AC and clubs may be able to

offer

July 2005

Coordinate, produce and promote a statewide calendar of events for all clubs, disciplines and CT events

• Liaise with CT board, all clubs, AC, multisport and other event organisers to produce calendar

• Place calendar on websites (CT, AC, clubs, multisport) • Produce hard copy for handout at events. • Promote calendar in other states, overseas and in magazines. • Promote events within Tas in “What’s On” style calendars in newspapers,

magazines and other publications.

Commence June 2005, ongoing

CT

Up-date website for CT • Maintain current news and calendar on the website June, 2005 Assist clubs to enhance the quality of membership services

• Liaise with clubs to identify current strategic plan for membership services • Assist clubs to develop and promote member ship services

Commence June, 2005

Club funds, Sport and Rec grants, sponsorships

Coordinate state junior development program

• Provide administrative support for current coaches • Coordinate work and payment of coaches • Coordinate TIS talent search program for wildwater • Explore possibilities of expanding the TIS talent search pogram to flatwater and

slalom • Oversee overall program of activities for junior paddlers

October, 2005 CT, self generated finds, clubs, Sport and Rec grants, sponsorship

Coordinate paddling development for senior paddlers

• Coordinate an Upper Mersey Weekend for statewide paddling development • Organise River Rescue Course • Identify coaching needs for multisport paddlers • Identify coaching needs for non-elite senior paddlers • Coordinate delivery of coaching according to needs identified • Encourage cross-participation of paddlers in wildwater, flatwater and multisport events

February , 2006

Self-generated funds, CT, clubs

Promote Tasmania as an international and national competition and training venue

• Produce a prospectus for international teams for Jan 2006 events • Identify and develop concepts for events that will attract paddlers to Tas

August, 2005 CT

Increase media coverage of CT events

• Develop media plan for relevant CT events ongoing

Oversee volunteer management • Provide training opportunities for volunteers • Provide rewards and recognition for volunteers

Commence August, 2005, ongoing

Ensure CT is represented to key stakeholders and government agencies

• Liaise with Hydro, Forestry Tas, Sport and Rec, TIS and other key stakeholders on behalf of CT

ongoing

Obtain funding for projects • Liaise with Sport and Recreation • Liaise with AC • Seek other sources of funding

ongoing

Other projects that arise •

Brown’s Rivulet Races 200 4/5– Results Best Performance by each Paddler

Wavehoppers 1st Oliver Lovell 10.08.40 2nd Doug Hagger 10.38.73 3rd Garry Bannister 10/41.79 4th Alistair Stanny 10.57.91 5th Michael Smith 11.24.09 6th Alex Lewis 2.46.51 7th Tim Heap 13.37.04 Junior DRR 1st Alistair Stanny 9.25.86 2nd Andrew Koolhof 10.13.96 3rd Alex Lewis 10.07.93 4th Doug Hagger 10.31.69 Junior Multisport 1st Oliver Lovell 9.33.18 2nd Michael Smith 9.41.90 3rd Alistair Stanny 9.47.46 4th Andrew Koolhof 10.17.50 Short Plastic 1st Krystina

Wnekowski 12.30.33

2nd Michael Brennan 12.54.34 3rd Clive 13.33.68 Sea Kayak 1st Bruce Terry 10.01.58 2nd Rick 10.04.10 3rd Philip Watkins 10.39.35

Masters DRR 1st Dave Gray 7.23.50 2nd Craig Chivers 8.01.01 3rd John Borojevic 8.42.21 4th Andrew Mollison 9.38.01 5th Ian Smith 9.57.39 6th Daryl Smith 10.46.19 Women’s Multisport 1st Imogen Pearce 8.21.00 2nd Hanny Alston 9.12.31 3rd Jen Brown 9.16.40 4th Vivian Prince 9.16.40 5th Kate Mollison 9.55.07 6th Rosie Mollison 9.55.61 Men’s Multisport 1st Adam Potito 7.05.98 2nd Kris Clausen 7.15.71 3rd Phil Murell 8.02.75 4th Chris Blackaby 8.04.13 5th Stuart McFadzean 8.14.97 6th Bernard Walker 8.27.05 7th Dave Ross 8.41.65 8th Brett Stewart 9.02.16 9th John Dalco 9.46.04 10th Sean Mennitz 10.30.73 11th Ian Henderson 10.59.38

Open DRR 1st Dan Hall 6.50.79 2nd Damon Bonney 7.11.32 3rd Andrew Maynard 7.29.79 4th Justin Boocock 8.34.68 5th Sean Clausen 8.53.56 6th Warren Lee 8.58.25 7th Tim Watson 9.03.91 8th Warwick Bonney 9.27.70 9th Leigh Wighton 9.38.11 Sprint kayak 1st Matt Dalziel 6.41.15 2nd Peter Genders 6.56.94 3rd Chris Blackaby 7.37.25 4th Stuart McFadzean 7.49.25 5th Josh Tomlin 11.32.75 Women’s DRR 1st Carol Hurst 8.21.79 2nd Kate Mollison 9.17.87 3rd Judy Clarke 9.18.75 4th Rosie Mollison 9.34.92 5th Annie Phillips 10.01.61 6th Deb Miller 10.30.21 7th Jen Ahearn 10.39.75 Most Improved 1st Krystina Wnekowski 3 mins, 2 seconds 2nd Sean Mennitz 2 Min 23 Sec 3rd Ian Henderson 2 Mins 16 Sec

Forward Calendar: Burnie Flatwater Kayaking Club: * Marshalling for all races 45 minutes prior to scheduled start time. Competitors must be current financial members of a

Canoe Club affiliated with Australian Canoeing Inc. Pre Series Race 1: Sunday 26th June 2.00pm Ulverstone Rowing Club Pre Series Race 2: Sunday 10th July 2.00pm Wynyard Yacht Club Winter Series Race 1: Sunday 24th July 1.00pm Ulverstone Rowing Club Winter Series Race 2: Sunday 7th August 10.00am Lake Barrington Winter Series Race 3: Sunday 21st August 12.00noon Mersey Rowing Club Winter Series Race 4: Sunday 4th September 11.00am WynyardYacht Club Winter Series Race 5: Sunday 18th September 11.00am Ulverstone Rowing Club Winter Series Race 6: Saturday 1st October 11.00am Lake Barrington Winter Series Presentation Dinner October 7.00pm Wellers Inn,Burnie Multi-Sport: Ben Lomond Descent 7th August – See Tamar Canoe Club Tullah Challenge 12th Nov – from www.tasmultisport.com Freycinet Challenge 5-6th Nov – from www.tasmultisport.com ] Wildwater Racing: Leven Wildwater Race 16-17th July – Tasmanian Canoe Club Forth Down River race 20th November (Carl Clayton Clasic) - Tas Canoe Club Extreme Racing: Teva Lea Extreme Race 8th – 9th October – Derwent Canoe Club DCC Club Meetings: First Thursday of every Month – Bridie O’Reilly’s Hotel. 7.30 for 8.00. General Business followed by Photos/Slides/Videos. DCC Slalom, Freestyle, Ball Race, and Rapid Sprints Championship 3-4 December – Brady’s Lake Tasmanian Slalom and Wildwater Racing Champs 10-11 December – Mersey River Whitewater Forest Reserve Australian Slalom and Wildwater and possibly Freestyle Champs 4th to 18th January 2006 – Forth, Mersey and Brady’s lake, Full details at www.tas.canoe.org.au Canoe Polo: Roster Currently Underway – Monday nights, 7.00 – 10.00 Clarence pool. Keep a look out for future rosters.

www.tasmultisport.com

www.tasmultisport.com

http://www.tas.canoe.org.au/

Documents

June 2005 - Derwent Canoe Club - Australian Canoeing