2006 04 newsletter

1

Volume 30 Issue 2

FROME CANOE CLUB

April 2006

FROME CANOE CLUB

Rich swims on the River Frome! Is this an April Fool? Go to page 13

to read all about it.

Easter Egg Hunt - Langham Farm

Yousah on the Etive Neil on the Etive

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This Months Contents

Front Page Easter Eggs + Scotland

Page 2 Committee Details / Contents

Page 3 Calendar Dates & Events

Page 4 to 10 Calendar in detail

Page 11 River Exe Report

Page 12 Erme, what was that then?

Page 13 Rich Swims + New Members

Page 14 Paddler Development

Page 15 Frome Treasure Hunt

Page 16 Youth + Cartoon

Page 17 Access Sport + Asst Editor

Page 18 Bits & Pieces

Page 19 Copper Nose Clip Points +

Extra Page 1 Scotland at Easter

Extra Page 2 Viking Slalom Poster

Extra Page 3 Langham Farm Slalom Poster

Extra Page 4 Introduction to Open Canoeing

Back Page Scotland continued

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President

Graham Warnecke

Vice Presidents

Richard & Jane Arney

Jim & Catharine Croft

Chairman

Arthur Belbin 01225 766276

ViceChairman

Kris Buxton-Dean 07889 732594

Secretary

Pam Dixon 01373 473836

Treasurer

John Kent 01225 765168

Head Coach

Richard Carter 01373 864623

Members

Jackie Powell 01225 867178

Steve Ellis 01985 214473

Pip Hallett 07740 183287

Helen Samuel 07817 018493

Stephen Ellis 01985 214473

Club Secretary

Pam Dixon

16 Blagdon Walk

Frome

BA11 2YH

01373 473836

E-mail [email protected]

Throwline Editor

Pip Hallett

‘Lyndhurst’ 1 Spencers Orchard

Bradford On Avon

Wiltshire BA15 1TJ

01225 864509

E-mail [email protected]

FCC ‘THROWLINE ’ CLUB MAGAZINE

Next Newsletter

Published

**June**

All articles etc must

reach the editor by

If you have a paddling article, news or

gossip that you would like printed, then

please send to the Editor before the 6th

June (just after the clubs slalom).

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Calendar Dates & Events

DATE EVENT STD REQ CONTACT

April

19th Wednesday Sessions Start All Pam Dixon

21st Friday Langham Sessions Start 1 Star Pip Hallett

22/23rd Tryweryn 3 Star Kris B-Dean

May

6/7th 1 Star Kayak Course All Pam Dixon

7th Surfing day out 1 Star Kris B-Dean

20/21st Open Canoe Course All Pam Dixon

21st Open canoe trip + Others ‘Wye’ 1 Star Pam Dixon

Sat 27th Langham Farm Slalom Preparation All Pip Hallett

28th Loddon Slalom Event All John kent

June

3/4th Langham Farm Slalom Event All Rich Carter

17/18th Canoe Safety Training Course All

17/18th 2 Star weekend course 1 Star

July

1/2nd Biblins Weekend 1 Star Pam Dixon



23rd River Avon Trip 1 Star TBD

30th River Wye Trip (2* qualifier) 1 Star TBD

August

6th BBQ & Try a boat paddle All Pam Dixon

NOTE:

1 Star +, means you must have Moving Water experience (phone organiser if in doubt)

2 Star +, means you must have White Water experience (please phone organiser)

3 Star, means you must phone organiser (lots of White Water experience required)

New River Trip Prices Local trips cost £3 Exe cost £10 All other trips cost £13


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Calendar in Detail Surfing Day Out - Kris Buxton-Dean Date: 7th May

Cost: £13

Meet: Market Yard 8am.

The summer is nearly here, so the rivers are closing, but

the beach is now calling, can you hear it? I can. The surf can

be large at this time of year and the sea is still cold, but

given a day of lovely sunshine and there is nothing better.

We'll be going to North Devon, probably Saunton or Croyde, but the exact beach we end

up on will be dependant upon the surf.

You will need to have you 1 star to paddle on this trip. (If the surf is large we will have to

raise the standard required).

Plenty of food and drink is essential, along with some warm clothes as the wind along the

beach can be a bit strong at times.

River Wye Trip - Pam Dixon Date: 21st May

Cost: £13

Meet: Market Yard 8am.

Return: about 6pm

This trip is from Lybrook to Symonds Yat a distance of about 6 miles on

the River Wye which runs through the most beautiful Forest of Dean.

All the Open Boaters from the course on the Saturday will be on this trip and we are hoping

that many kayakers will join us as well. It’s an easy paddle on a wide and gentle river and

ends with a play on the rapids at Symonds Yat (if we have time).

If you’re an open boater on the One or Two star course, you will need to bring a generous

bribe in the form of a hamper of food for the tester who is always exceptionally hungry and

thirsty, and don’t forget your hat. Open boaters always seem to wear a floppy hats! In fact

shall we have a hat competition?

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Calendar in Detail Come and have FUN - Your Help Is Really Needed

On Saturday 27th May we need as many members of the club, parents and children to

assist us down at our Langham Farm site (near Rode) to put together the Slalom site for the

Slalom weekend 4 & 5th June (one week later).

What do you need to do….just turn up, help put together the refreshment tent, the slalom

gates and make the site ready etc. This is not complicated, as several of the expe-

rienced slalom crew will be there to guide and

help you and of course we will have our ’Head

Coach’ Rich to oversee everything. We are on site as from 9.30am on the Saturday

morning, and we are able to keep you going

with a constant supply of freshly brewed tea

and soft drinks. We should finish around lunchtime. A last thought to leave you with, is that without your much needed help the Slalom will not

go as smoothly as it should do…..come along it is really a fun day out in the fresh air in one

of the most lovely local places by the river.

Hopefully see you on Saturday 27th May, see you then, cheers, Pip. (01225-864509)

Slalom Practice Evening

Meet: Langham Farm

Time: 6.30pm till 9pm

Cost: £2 On Tuesday 31st May we are proposing to meet at Langham Farm

to let you practice around the slalom poles that were set up the

previous week. Hopefully we will have an experienced slalom paddler to provide

guidance and help at running a typical course.

A selection of Slalom boats will be available on site, also spare kit (cag/helmet/buoyancy /

spraydeck/paddles etc). Any questions phone John Kent (01225 765168)

Hope to see you down on site for some practice runs, cheers John.

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Calendar in Detail Langham Farm Slalom Sat & Sun 3rd/4th June This is a National competition which we run every year. Competitors come from all over the

country to participate in this event. It is part of the BCU Calendar of slalom events which is

in place every year and we are extremely lucky to have the BCU Slalom Organiser, Jim Croft

and the Treasurer, his wife Catharine, to come and spend the weekend with us helping us

with the computer side of things and the other 999 things that we ask him to do! Langham Farm slalom is strategically very important. It is the only event in the South West

and it is expressly for beginners. Not only do we feel that we are able to make a contribu-

tion to the National calendar of events, we are pleased that it is on our doorstep, making it

so very easy to participate in. Beginners start in Division 4 and can progress to Div 3 in our

event if they do well. Taking it further, they go on up to Div 2, Div 1 and then Premiere.

Danyel, Shane and John Kent are all Div 2 paddlers. (We are extremely lucky that Shane has

offered to help us with the training sessions on Wednesday Club sessions – we shall all bene-

fit from an expert’s advice.) The slalom we run in June is a double event – that is you can enter on either of the two days

or on both. We are hoping that we will get a strong FCC team together to compete. Last

year we had 18 club members entering which is the biggest we have achieved lately. In addition to the competitors, we need lots of members to run the event. We need volun-

teers to help set up the course in advance, put the site in order, set up road signs etc. We

will do that on the Saturday 27th May. On the actual days of the competition we need volunteers to man the car park, man the

food tent, man the results – the list goes on. We need

plenty of help and we will ask nearer the time for peo-

ple to choose what they would like to do. If you are interested in finding out more about slalom

competitions please ask John who comes to every club

session. Also think about training with us on Wednes-

day Club Sessions when they start in April.

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Calendar in Detail Friday Evening Canoe & Kayaking Sessions

Where: Meet at Langham Farm, Rode.

When: Friday evenings 7 till 9pm—Starting 21st April

Last meeting 1st September

Cost: £2 per evening (payable on site)

We will be meeting at Langham Farm on all Friday evenings during the summer. All 1 star paddlers and above are welcome to come along. It’s a chance for you to prac-

tise many of those skills recently gained in the training sessions or just to have fun paddling.

If you do not have your own kayak or gear, we do have very limited stocks at Langham for

you to use, only a couple of general kayaks are kept on site (please phone me well in ad-

vance to arrange loan of any kit). Please note most paddlers bring their own boats and gear.

Unfortunately this year we cannot guarantee that a qualified instructor will always be in

attendance on site. Therefore if an instructor is not in attendance at a session, then the

club event will be cancelled for that night, and paddlers informed on site. This could result

in youngsters under 18 years of age, not being allowed to paddle. We are currently trying to arrange one night per month when a coach will be in attendance

to supervise our youth membership. (these dates to be published soon)

Please remember the ‘Country Code’ when going onto the farm, as the farmer Richard

Arney is very kind in letting us use the site.

For any other details or queries please contact Pip on 01225 864509

There may be a couple of dates that the site will not be available for use by us and

on these occasions, please look for cancellation notice at top Farm gate (by the cat-

tle grid) in event of not being able to use the site at short notice. (other users pre-

book the site for camping etc. so please do not interfere with their use of the site)

PLEASE NOTE: There will be no Friday Langham session on Friday 28th April

due to a coaches meeting being held on that Friday evening.

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Calendar in Detail

Biblins - A weekend of paddling fun

When: 1st/2nd July

Cost: £27

Meet: Market Yard - 8am Saturday

Return: Back at Market Yard about 6 pm on Sunday Biblins is the name of a campsite we stay in when we spend two glorious days in the Forest

of Dean and paddle the River Wye on both Saturday and Sunday. We have christened the

trip by this name because . . . well we just do! This trip is ideal for beginners and old hands alike. And it’s perfect for our youth members

who want to leave Mums and Dads at home. Although we are equally happy to have parents

with us whether they paddle or just come along for the scenery! It’s a rather lazy weekend: we chat, paddle, eat; chat, paddle, eat. And of course the campfire

on Saturday evening is a ‘Pip’s speciality’. It’s worth going on the trip for this alone! All the food is provided for the weekend. But bring things like a tent and sleeping bag and washing

gear. As with other trips you can borrow all the kit you need for paddling. We sort that out

when we meet on Saturday morning. The river trip on Saturday is usually from Lydbrook to the campsite and on Sunday we play

on the Yat rapids which are close to the campsite. This trip is ideal for open boats. We have

6 of these so if you want to practise your open boating skills – book a canoe with Pam and

we’ll get it there for you! A WEEKEND NOT TO BE MISSED: cost includes all the food you can eat, an overnight stay in the

beautiful Forest of Dean (camping), the most wonderful company and two paddles on the river Wye.

YOUTH MEMBERS: an ideal trip for you – ask mums and dads if you can go.

Every year its just gets better, sun, fun and paddling. (Ed)

News Snippet - Money, money and more money!

A huge well done, must go to Pam for all her hard work in securing a des-

perately needed £30K towards the total amount to allow us to build the

new clubhouse. Construction is now expected to start at the end of May.

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Calendar in Detail


Wednesday Club Sessions: Time to get training! Start - already running

7pm – 9pm

Market Yard, Frome

Cost £2 As from the middle of April, we no longer meet at the pool, but change the venue to the

River Frome in the Market Yard in Frome. Yes! It is time to get back on the real water. Stop

going round and round in circles in the pool and remember what it is like to paddle in a

straight line; feeling fresh air on your face and fresh water on your skin.

Last year was so successful we are going to repeat the format with only a few modifications:

Timings

Polo Training - Hard and fast – a game of polo. In two teams aiming to score as many

goals as possible. Slalom Training – learn the skills and techniques required to complete a slalom race: how

to get through the gates as fast as possible without touching them! PaddlePower – for 8-11 year olds, an introduction to the sport. Basic strokes are covered

with lots of games.

Choices! There are choices to be made!

You can choose:

To train for the first hour and then get off. Or Train for the first hour and then wind down with some recreational paddling in the sec-

ond hour

Or omit the training and just get on for the second hour. You can alternate with the Polo and Slalom each week. But last year people tended to settle

into a routine and stay with one group. This way, paddler-skills were developed and people

progressed significantly in their chosen discipline.

7 - 8pm 8 – 9pm 7.30 – 8.30pm

Slalom training Recreational paddling New paddlers -introduction

Polo training - -

PaddlePower - -

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What our club is doing by way of other Slalom

Events This is advance notice of slalom activities. Below is a list of early season

events that the club is intending to dip into. Training starts at Market

Yard after Easter so you will have plenty of opportunity to practice be-

forehand.

River Loddon, Reading May 28/29. Coaching, Practice and

Teams on Sunday. Divisions 3 and 4 Individual Monday. The Team event involves teams

of 3 racing together. Langham Farm June 3/4. Divisions 3 and 4. This is a Double event where there are

separate races Saturday and Sunday.

North Walls, Winchester June 10/11. Division 4 Double event.

Cardington, Bedford June 24/25. Divisions 2, 3 and 4 Double event.

Shepperton, Middlesex July 1/2. Divisions 3 and 4 Double event. This event looks

like it will clash with the Biblins Weekend.

Ironbridge, Shropshire July 8/9. Divisions 2 and 3 Double event.

Slalom is intended to test river-running skills in a safe and friendly environment. The object is

to negotiate a series of gates on moving water. The winner of the event is the one who has

negotiated the course in the fastest time, with the fewest penalties. There are penalties for

hitting and missing gates.

Entry level to slalom is Division 4 and these slaloms are generally held on calm water and the

courses will be simple. In all but the top division any boat may be used. You don't need a

slalom boat to take part in slalom, but the club has a small number if you wish to try one.

For further details on the training sessions, entry to the events, or just slalom in general,

contact John Kent on 01225 765168 or e-mail him at [email protected]. There is

also a website you can look at which will tell you more about slalom www.canoeslalom.co.uk.

Calendar in Detail

PA Urgently Needed

No not a personal assistant, but a 25/30 Watt amplifier suitable for use at this June’s Slalom.

Mains operated with two external horn speakers would be best. If you have or know where

we can obtain/borrow one, then please phone Pip (01225 864509) as soon as possible.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.canoeslalom.co.uk

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Scotland - 2006 by Neil Dixon

After many dry trips to the West Highlands of Scotland, the rain did come for us this year.

Sheets and sheets of it. Whole days of it. And nights. We also had snow, wind and sun. But

best of all we had rivers in spate! We did the usual rivers – Spean, Roy, Arkaig, and Etive and

were we added the Gloy, Loy and Pattack to the list – these last ones needed to be in spate

to run them. And for a few there was the rock slide the Allt a Chaoruinn.

High spots – Emma jumping out of her boat before a rapid on the Spean and then deciding to walk

out which meant a very high climb for her with James helping her to carry her boat up

the steep sided valley to get to the road. Rich, at the Roy Gorge, holding paddles up high only to have them wrenched from his

grip by the narrow rock walls. There followed a most exquisite demonstration of hand

paddling down a Grade 5 drop, narrowly missing a nasty undercut rock. The river Pattack. Only four paddlers on this one, Neil, Yousaf, Stu and Danny. The

hardest part started with a long rapid in the lead up to the final falls, which involved

some down time in a big hole by Stu and Yousaf and the inevitable rolls. The team col-

lected itself above the falls in an eddy and rehearsed the route over the falls, repeatedly

reciting after Neil, ‘Ferryglide to river left, stay on the left with the rock on your right,

then move to the middle to miss the boils and the large swirling undercut on the right,

and plop over the falls.’ Easy! Stu didn’t make the first ferryglide and took a more inter-

esting route. He survived.

Low spots – Stu having to revise for his looming exams. Poor Stu. It put him out of action for several

evenings but he did miss the washing up this way! A long, long look at the Nevis, a river which can only be run in spate. When we got out

of the cars to look at the Poldubh Falls, we were stunned and silenced by the fury of the

water not to mention the noise. Neil and Danny worked out the best line, but Rich

wouldn’t let them paddle it.

Awards presented: Tree Hugger - to Rich who had a nasty meeting with a tree on the Gloy after a large hole

had munched him. Rolls to Perfection – to Stu who showed off whenever he could, including one very enter-

taining roll at the top of Big Man’s Falls on the Etive. He didn’t mean to roll here but having

messed up on Right Angle Falls just a few moments previous, he had to roll in preference to

dropping the 7m drop upside down.

Continued on Back Page.

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It’s a great weekend of canoeing and not one to be

missed! Come and paddle or just watch others paddling

around the course.

Frome Canoe Club

Canoe Slalom Division 3/4 Double For more information phone John Kent 01225 765168

or Pam the Club Secretary 01373 473836

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Open Canoeing

An introduction to Open Canoeing - by Helen Samuels

Its not all silly hats and flat water!

I am of course talking about open canoeing. This year I aim help to raise

the profile of open boating in the club. So have you ever thought of pad-

dling an open canoe with a friend. With two of you in the boat its easy to

manoeuvre and paddle along. Yes you can paddle it by yourself if you

wish, but two in the boat on longer trips just makes for more fun and an

easier paddle. (just watch those kayakers trying to keep up).

Last year Stuart Haywood, one of our members, competed both in the

Exe descent and the Liffey descent in an open canoe and had a really

great time with lots of exciting tales to talk about afterwards.

The club also has a few open coaches to help you get to grips with this

fun type of paddling. Watch out for a special open course being run at

Langham Farm on the 20th-21st May with a trip down the Wye on the

Sunday. Neil is a great coach and a real expert in his open canoe to

demonstrate the different techniques and strokes involved.

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River Exe - Sunday 19th March Siberian winds bringing freezing cold weather, the odd flurry of snowflakes and gloomy grey

skies were enough to put all except the most hardened paddler off. The turn out at on Sun-

day morning was as expected, given the weather, but we did have a small group of young

paddlers from Downside School which was great. And so to the meet at Bolham. Yes! There

was water. A quick turnabout and we were off, after reminding ourselves that the last time

we were here, we arrived with one boat short. To the weir. The stopper looked small and playable but Rich tried it and said ‘That is a bit

sticky: be careful.’ Whereupon only Chris and James had a go but not for long. The rapid

below nearly caught Ben as he slipped unknowingly into it – backwards. He managed to turn

round a feat that experienced paddlers find hard, and came to no harm in the end. The bridge with the wave under was a great playing place. Surfing galore. Everyone tried it.

In fact it was a positive battle field with paddlers jousting for position. Salmon Steps were

easy today but the hole got Pam as she listened to advice from Rich and took a wrong line.

Easy rapids and bouncy water led us to Town Bridge with its two stepped weir. No prob-

lems here. By now the boys from Downside were beginning to get the hang of this surfing

business and they didn’t hang about. Straight into Walronds like seasoned paddlers, vying for

the best wave they could find. The long paddle towards Bickleigh had Chris asking the inevitable ‘Are we nearly there yet?’

We were all getting tired when Broken Weir came into view but we knew we must be get-

ting close now. Ben Leigh took his second swim here, catching his boat on a rock which just

got in the way. The trees caught him below the weir and after the unavoidable wrestle with

the branches, he was back in his boat but cold. Bickleigh was brilliant. Everyone surfed and some played in the stopper. We couldn’t stop

Ben, Robbie and Fred who excelled with new found surfing skills. Even pushing Mark and

Rich out. Impressive. And after all that anxiety about the weather, do you know it was positively balmy. The sun

shone. We glimpsed soft green bubs just beginning to show on trees, bright yellow celan-

dines, their petals burst open in the sun, a couple of kingfishers playing in front of us and

there was no cold wind. What a day to paddle the Exe.

Paddlers and points: Ben Reid (3), Ben Leigh(6), Alex Galvin, Robbie Campbell (2 for the

rolling he did. He said he was playing!) Fred Mahon. Emma, James, Chris Paton, Mark, John,

Pam (1), Pip and Rich.

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Erme, what was that then? – by Kris B-Dean

It’s 6:45 on a Sunday morning and snowing, not a promising sign, and it got worse. When I

checked the rainfall for Dartmoor over night, it had barely rained. Having met Arthur soon

after 7, and picked up Mark a little while later we are heading towards Devon with the snow

getting worse. Whilst waiting for Danny, Johnny and Stuart (a good half hour late) we had

hatched a paddling plan. Oh how plans can change! When Danny etc. turned up, they con-

vinced us that the Erme would be on. We would go to Oakhampton, if the river there was-

n’t on, then we would head down to look at the Tavy, and if that wasn’t on we would con-

tinue to Ivybridge to check out the Erme.

We arrived at Oakhampton, there was some water, but was it enough? A stroll down to the

river, nope we would leave this river for another day (yes we will go back to it, lots of po-

tential was noted). We decided there was not enough water for the Tavy, so straight on to

the Erme. Top tip for anyone following Johnny, use of indicators is akin to that of a van driv-

er, respect of signs (no entry ones) is limited.

After listening to Danny who warned about the first drop, Mark and I went to look at it,

what we saw was nothing to be worried about. We got on and soon reached the first drop,

but it was not the one that Mark and I looked at, whoops we’d walked too far (very rare for

me to do that!). It was a rather interesting grade 4 drop, definitely not the grade 2/3 one I

was expecting. The river loses height rather quickly at this point with lots of small drops

until we got to a rather nasty little slot, that all apart from Stuart walked around. Bigger

drops were appearing now with ever greater frequency.

All of us thought it was a lovely river to paddle. Johnny picked up the first point of the day

with a quick roll, then he provided us with the first swim of the day, unfortunately this left

his boat pinned on a tree trunk in mid flow. Getting his boat off, involved two throwlines, a

sling, a knife, a big stick, plus all of us and a passing dog walker. After about half an hour of

quality paddling time and much effort, the boat popped off its perch. Onward we paddled

until a large drop / weir appeared, with an unclear line and the potentialy to plough straight

in to a huge rock. Who hit that rock? Well I did and nearly fell over. Johnny hit it and did fall

over, followed by Mark who hit it and fell out of his boat, for 3 points. His boat gained a

lovely big dent. A couple more drops and we had reached the gorge, feeling broken, knack-

ered or scared, Arthur, Johnny, Mark and I, got out and walked back to the car. Stuart and

Danny ran the gorge, with Stewart picking up a point after taking an iffy line The trip can been great, we ran a river most of us had not done before, we saw great scen-

ery (so if you’re ever near Ivybridge take a walk beside the river and look for yourself).

Participants - Arthur, Danny, Johnny (5), Kris (1), Mark B (3) and Stuart (1)

17


Just a reminder - Membership Charges

Youth £14

Adult £23

Family £36

Affiliated £36

The club remains committed to keeping charges as reasonable as possible and we feel that

the membership subscription represents very good value for money.

New members

Welcome to Downside School and to the students who have already paddled on the river

with us: Ben Reid, Ben Leigh, Alex Galvin, Robbie Campbell, and Fred Mahon. Miss Tarr, known to us as Emma, is responsible for introducing these boys to kayaking and

for the affiliation to our club. Also joining us have been David Weedon, Callum Aldridge and Mark Fulbrook. Mark is the

one who brings an unusual black kayak to the pool and throws it about a bit. James and Mark Hull return to us after a long gap. Both away at university, it is good to see

you again when you are back in Frome.

Who has seen Rich swimming? 2nd April and this is not a

belated April Fool! This has got to be a first! Rich swimming? Surely not I hear you ask. Well we witnessed it

on the Frome Treasure-Hunt-Trip and did he get wet or what! It was the third weir of the day. We approached in a straggle. Kris went over – perfect

line, no problem, as did Pip and they indicated to others to come too. Rich sent little Wil-

liam over and then proceeded himself. For some reason, Rich turned as he landed, got

caught in sticky stopper, leaned the wrong way and arms flailing, over he went. No sign of

support strokes and no sign of the lean downstream. He didn’t even set up for a roll. He

just bailed out quick.

We all think it was William, waiting so patiently for Rich, who sorted him out.

Ed. If it had not been for William Ellis pulling Rich free from the stopper, he might have been

there all day. Best 3 points entertainment we have enjoyed for a long time.

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PADDLER DEVELOPMENT

Are you looking to improve your paddling skills? Here are the details of the courses we are

providing:

Two Star Weekend courses

June 17th/18th

September 3rd and 10th

Two Star - Six week course, eve-

nings Tuesdays

Starts 13th June

Ends 18th July

Three Star - Six week course,

evenings Thursdays

Starts 20th April

Ends 25th May

STAR COURSES: DATES

Canoe Safety - a

weekend course

17th/18th June

Building on rescue skills

covered in the Star

Awards, this weekend

course develops a safe

and practical approach

to dealing with flat water

incidents and rescues.

Open Canoe

1 and 2 Star A weekend course

20th/21st May

Learn modern strokes

and traditional skills in

tandem open canoes.

Saturday will be based in

Frome and Sunday will

be a river trip on the

River Wye.

Aquatic First Aid

14th May

An 8 hour qualification

which covers incident man-

agement, resuscitation, hy-

pothermia and many other

aspects of first aid applicable

to canoeing. This course is needed if you

intend to pursue a coaching

qualification.

One Star Weekend courses

May 6th/7th

July 15th/16th

August 26th/27th

COSTS Cost Youth Cost Adult

One Star £21 £26

Two Star £26 £31

Three Star £26 £36

Open Canoe £16 £21

Canoe Safety £26

First Aid £16 £16

To book your place on a

course: fill up an application

form which you can get at any

club session , or phone/email

Pam and ask her to send you

one.

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Reports River Frome Treasure & Scavenger Hunt - by James & Wil-

liam On the 2nd of April we paddled the River Frome in two teams, each team had one set of

clues. On our team we had Chris, James, William, Rich and Steve. We met at Market Yard

and paddled from the Creamery at Oldford down to Langham Farm. The weather was good and the water level was quite high, with some tree branches dangling

into the water, so we had to watch that we didn't get tangled in them. There was plenty of water going over the weirs, but unfortunately, William capsized at the

bottom of one of the weirs and then Richard capsized trying to help him. They both swam!

Everyone was happy to see Rich in the water.

Our team found: 4 balls, 1 card, 3 bits of red plastic, 7 nails (Rich lost these when he swam, but William res-

cued him!), 1 How To Build A Boat, 2 bottles, 1 piece of fishing line and 1 piece of string.

Along the trip our team won the following items: 1 pack of strawberry pencils , 1 pack of fruit pastels, 6 Mars bars, 8 Cream Eggs and , 3 Flake

bars. When we solved the last clue we all rushed out to the toilets only to find that Pip had set a

trick for us, but we didn’t mind because we had enough chocolate already!

At the end of the trip not very many people were cold.

All in all it was great! Thanks Pip and Kris for organising a great day!

By James and William Ellis Paddlers and points: Rich (3), Chris P, Megan, Alun, Pam, Arthur, Steve, James E, William E

(3) , Jackie, Pip and Kris.

20


Youth + Cartoon

Weddings Everywhere

Calling all youngsters - Jackie A special hello to all our clubs youngsters. My name is Jackie and I am part of

the organising committee.

So why am I calling all youngsters? It is because I will be taking a special inter-

est and trying to help all our youth members to gain more enjoyment from

their paddling. I can help guide you to develop your paddling skills, by introducing you to the

most suitable training courses and other events.

So if any of you would like to make some suggestions, or has any good ideas about what

they think we could be doing to improve things for our younger members, please come and

find me on club nights.

I am a good listener and look forward to either chatting to you or if you prefer send me

your emails at: [email protected]. (sensible comments only please!)

Between us we will be able to make your paddling with the club more fun and much more

rewarding. Looking forward to hearing from you, Jackie.

‘My Love’ how about if I dash off soon after the

reception, then I might just catch the last run

down the Dart, before it gets to dark.

or

I just couldn’t believe your mum, when she said

that I should be careful tonight not to damage

my back again, like I did in Scotland canoeing

last year.

or

Now that it’s legal, some of the clubs senior

members might stop giving us those disapprov-

ing looks as we retire to our tent at Biblins.

21


Access Sport + New Assistant Editor

Helen steps forward

We are please to welcome Helen Samuels who has offered to help out

as assistant editor. She will help to bring something new to the bi-

monthly news, gossip and reports. Please let Helen know of any items, especially club gossip that you

would like to be included in the newsletter.

Access Sport We, that is Frome Canoe Club, has been proposed by the BCU

to receive help from an organisation called Access Sport. This is a national charity whose object is to promote sporting

activities to young people. The benefits are huge. We will get a

grant of £3000 to buy equipment or training opportunities for

members. We will get professional advice and guidance espe-

cially with regard to promoting our activities and fundraising.

They help us to launch a Festival Day with a Sporting Ambassa-

dor eg James Cracknell, to promote fun and fitness. The commitment by us is that we will

monitor the youth participation and of course promote it. But we do this really well al-

ready and we hope that the successes we achieved last year will continue. In Year 2 of our

association with Access Sport we can receive a further £1000 if we obtain matched fund-

ing. Incidentally, the BCU was asked to propose just ONE club for this association with Access

Sport and we, FCC, was the one they proposed. Out of the whole country – this is amaz-

ing and we can only draw one conclusion from this: The BCU thinks we are a good club.

Not bad is it?

Congratulations - Yes another wedding com-

ing soon. The clubs best wishes go to Emma Tarr and James Spurling who an-

nounced recently that they are to marry this coming December. Many

best wishes to you both.

Ed. Just shows our dating service does really work.

22


Bits & Pieces A Comfortable Chair and Good Lunch - by Jackie Being a layabout at the time, I was asked to go to this forum for the voluntary sector on

behalf of the club. Could this be my punishment for not getting wet this winter? Anyway,

the promise of a free lunch seemed a good enough reason to go. What could have been a very 'dry' day turned out to be very informative and interesting

(honest). The presentations were very professional, concise and relevant to the many differ-

ent organisations that were present. The subjects included managing and marketing charities and voluntary organisations, including the use of resources. Howev-

er, the emphasis was clearly on giving information and advice on the permanent problem of

fundraising in the voluntary sector. The Mendip Community Support organisation appeared to be very willing and able to help

groups within the community. (I am willing to sell the information on fundraising at a reason-

able price, but to our main fundraiser Pam, its free). The forum brought together people from a wide range of organisations and charities within

Mendip, consequently there was loads of networking and exchanges of ideas. It was interest-

ing to get an idea of how FCC is viewed as a positive part of the local community from a

non-paddling perspective.

More importantly, the lunch was really good and the chairs VERY comfortable.

£60 for the club Imagine my surprise when Chris Harvey walked through my front door (I had opened it

first!) and handed me a fat cheque. After he had picked me up from the floor and sat me

down on a chair, he explained that he, Linz and Tom had acted as rescue boats for the Raft

Race on the moat in Wells last summer and by way of thanks had received from the Lions

Club of Wells, a cheque for £60. Thank you Chris, Linz and Tom.

Jim Croft - a special ‘get well’ mention All of Frome Canoe Club wishes you well when you go into hospital

during May to have the pacemaker battery replaced. Jim, we all hope

that everything goes according to plan and that you are well enough

to spend a few days with us over the weekend of 3rd/4th June! ‘sorry we can’t fit a new battery because we now use kinetics, so you will

just have to take up paddling to recharge that pacemaker!

23


‘Copper Nose Clip Points’

If you know different….or have been left off the

above points list then let the Editor know imme-

diately, as we wouldn’t want you to miss out!

Stuart Haywood 15 pts

Richard Carter 14 pts

Ben Leigh 6 pts

William Passfield 5 pts

Neil Dixon 4 pts

James Ellis 3 pts

William Ellis 3 pts

Jon Bevan 3 pts

Megan Jones 3 pts

Sam Penny 3 pts

Mark Baines 3 pts

Ben Reid 3 pts

Jack Smiles 3 pts

Danny O’Gorman 3 pts

Emma Tarr 3 pts

George Paxton 2 pts

Robbie Campbell 2 pts

Jackie Powell 2 pts

Nick Kent 2 pts

James Spurling 2 pts

Kris B– Dean 1 pt

Pam Dixon 1 pt

Remember POINTS awarded:

1 pt for a ROLL.

2 pts for a TECHNICAL SWIM

3 pts for a SWIM

Points up to Monday 17th April

For new members going on a trip:

Remember if you want to go on a paddling trip and want to know more, all you have

to do is phone up the organiser and ask. He or she will be happy to tell you the skills/

standard required and all arrangements for the trip. Remember that you can borrow any

club kit that you need, including a wetsuit if you're lucky: we do have a few which have been

donated to the club and which may just fit you!

When out paddling, remember: Thermal Vest/tee shirt! 100% Polyester thermals keep

you warm. WET Suit! Many layers of thinner Polyester are better than one thick one. Ca-

noeing CAGS (Cagoule) to keep the wind and water off, and luckily the club has just bought

some new good quality semi-dry ones.

What else? Packed lunch (high energy food) and a hot drink. A warm dry change of

clothes for afterwards. Anything else? Well we always meet at the clubhouse before we

leave, and that is the time to sort out what you need in the way of club kit, pack it into the

cars along with your own kit, and then off to paddle.

24

Page 28 Page 24


Scotland 2006 continued

Canoeing and kayaking are "Assumed risk" - "Water contact sports" that may carry risks. Participants

should be aware of and accept these risks, and be responsible for their own action and involvement.

Mid Air Manoeuvres – to Neil, who also messed up at Right Angle Falls on the Etive and

started the subsequent big drop sideways. Some aerial antics sorted him out and he did man-

age to straighten out. Longest Distance Travelled Under Water – to Yousaf at Ski Jump on the Etive. It must

have been a full 10 metres and had us all with hearts in mouth waiting for him to emerge.

Paddlers and points: Stuart 12, Rich 11, Neil 4, Danny 3, Emma 3, Nick 2, James 2, Pam 0.

The Allt a Chaoruinn.

This is an amazing river – or rock slide. It is described as a step creek, falling 80m in 1km.

The first drop is a 6m slide called ‘Speed’, a deep gutter which you shoot down. This is fol-

lowed by ‘Ecstasy’, the longest rapid of the run with several drops, slides and sticky holes

some of which Stuart and Neil found. ‘Pinball’ comes next. This is a 2 metre drop onto a steep rock slide with a rock in the middle, diverting all the water to the right but paddlers

need to go to the left. An enormous effort to get the must-make line saw Neil and Danny

bounce safely if not gracefully down the wet rocks on the left, avoiding the dangerous under-

cut cliff on the right. Stu opted for the equally steep and bouncy seal-launch approach. The

last section is the ‘Chasm’ but we renamed it the ‘Toilet Flush’ because it was just a massive

rush of water in a steep narrow slide, only as wide as a boat, forcing paddlers to use a stern

rudder grip for fear of trapping paddles in the high sided walls. Neil, Stu and Danny did this run and the rest provided bank support: camera crew and safety

cover.

We reconnoitred the Moy, the Nevis and the Kiachnish, but events conspired against us and

so they have gone on the to-do list for next year.

Documents

2006 04 newsletter