Tilling Clinic

Bob & Holly Wylie, Facilitators

Hosted by Phoenix Rising, 1:00 PM, June 27, 2010

Ergondragons Float,  Nauticals Marina (Stewart Avenue, behind Nauticals Restaurant in Nanaimo)

* One hour dockside training

* 90 to 120 minutes on-water training

Space is limited – Only 3 positions remain.

Cost: $25 per student, Payable to Phoenix Rising

If you are interested in learning to steer a dragon boat,contact me to reserve a seat (Coach@dragonboatpaddlers.net).

Paddles up!

Ken McVay

A mixed crew of paddlers from the mid-Vancouver Island area had just completed the on-water portion of a Waters Edge Stroke Improvement clinic and were about to head for home when the skipper of the chase boat inadvertantly gunned his engines.

The prop wash/wake hit the boat with a large wave,  and the boat, which was sitting calm in the water, rolled almost instantly, sending the crew of 22 into a frigid Newcastle channel. No dragon boat could have survived such a wave and remained upright; it was too big and too fast.

The stroke improvement clinic’s coach called the Coast Guard Auxillary almost instantly, and her fast action led to a rapid response and rescue. Two yachts were on hand to assist paddlers out of the water…as paddlers were transported to shore, I found myself sitting in a dinghy, soaking wet, holding on to the painter of the overturned dragon boat, drifting slowly to the nearest marina.

Champion dragon boat and crew – the boat capsized about 30 minutes after this photo was taken.

After 30 minutes or so, the chase boat returned and we towed the dragon boat to our slip and secured her, upside down, along side. After we had completed the job, the Coast Guard Auxillary’s boat arrived, and the crew volunteered to right the boat and pump it out.

…and that’s exactly what they did. Major hugs to a professional and competent CGA crew for service well above and beyond the call of duty!

I realized, during and after the event, that most of what I had been taught with respect to capsized dragon boats was nonsense at  best. My paddlers couldn’t have grasped hands across the overturned hull even if they’d wanted to – most of them ended up on the same side of the boat, and getting to the other side was a non-starter.

Those who ended up beneath the boat found it difficult to join the rest of the crew, as their PDFs resisted  letting them go down far enough to clear the gunwale. One got out by kicking paddlers who were holding the gunwale outside the boat to get their attention.

One paddler was wearing an inflatable vest which did not automatically inflate when she hit the water. Had she been hit by the boat and rendered unconscious, she would not have been able to inflate the vest, and probably would not have survived.

I would like to hear from other paddlers who have been participants in a dragon boat huli. Their views with respect to safety procedures would be helpful in formulating better and more relevant safety drills.

The Coast Guard Auxillary will host an incident de-briefing on May 12th at their Rescue Center, beginning at 6:30pm.

The video analysis portion of the clinic will be held later this month, on May 15th (between 4 and 6pm) – watch this article for the location.

]]> http://dragonboatpaddlers.net/415/major-kudus-to-the-nanaimo-coast-guard-auxillary/feed/ 0 http://dragonboatpaddlers.net/376/gorow-nanaimo-coaching-clinic-march-20-21/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gorow-nanaimo-coaching-clinic-march-20-21 http://dragonboatpaddlers.net/376/gorow-nanaimo-coaching-clinic-march-20-21/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:01:27 +0000 Coach http://dragonboatpaddlers.net/?p=376 Hi Coaches and Potential Coaches

I am e-mailing you to give you the heads up on a coaching clinic that will be held in Nanaimo by Go Row and Paddle and myself.

The date is March 20^th & 21^st with the first day classroom and day two on the water. There will be guest coaches & speakers covering all aspects of Dragon Boat coaching. The cost is $45.00 for Go Row & Paddling members and $90.00 for the general Dragon Boat community. All the information will be posted on the Nanaimo Paddling Centre website  in the next few days.

http://www.gorowandpaddle.org/centres/nanaimo.php?id=15&press=1&draw_column=3:3:2

Please pass this message on the rest of your teams and clubs

Hope to see you all there,

Holly Wylie

Nanaimo paddling Centre

Go Rowing and Paddling

holly@gorowandpaddle.org

250-616-0592

250-754-1991

Comox, BC, Canada

• International racing style dragon boat built in Germany
• 10 seats, lightweight, built for speed and glides nicely
• Includes carrying handles, drum seat, drum, steering oar
• 12.49 metres (41 feet) long, 1.16 metres (3.8 feet) wide, 250 kilograms max. (550 pounds)
• Boat is completely unadorned
• Price $12,800.00
• Trailer and delivery not included but delivery on Vancouver Island might be arranged for an additional fee
• Certified cheque, bank draft or money order

Hope Afloat Canada of Comox Valley, BC purchased the BuK new in 2007 and is in near new condition. It has been out of the water for approximately 2 years.

For more information, please contact:

Barb Thompson at (250) 752-0422 thompsongb@shaw.ca or Marcy Petersen at (250) 338-2112 or mpetersen@shaw.ca

Hope Afloat Canada

www.hopeafloatcanada.ca

The PADDLE PUSHERS and the ALBERNI WAVE RIDERS of PORT ALBERNI invite you to a Women’s Regatta on Beautiful Sproat Lake.

Sunday June 13, 2010

Due to restrictions, we are accepting only fifteen (15) entries with a goal to have representation from various communities around Vancouver Island.

This will be in a first come, first served basis.

Where: SPROAT LAKE PROVINCIAL PARK

Race Registrar: JOHN ROBBINS

Phone: 250-724-5303

Email: dragonboat@shaw.ca

Is it possible that some costumes, deliberately or innocently, might come across as insensitive or outright racist? If you were a person of colour, or paddled with someone of colour, how would you feel about this costume?

What do you think? I encourage you to take a second and respond to our poll, which you’ll find on the right side of your screen.

(For more context, see McLeans.ca and The Globe & Mail and, also recently, The Guardian reporting on an Australian event and the involvement of Harry Connick Jr.)

RESULTS

No, it’s offensive: 23 votes
No, it’s insensitive: 15 votes
Yes, it’s harmless: 10 votes

Then she asks – demurely, of course – if she might have “just one more pint.” Sure, she’s a little tipsy, but what self-respecting paddler could turn this cutie down?

Only too late do you come to realize that having paid for dinner and two pints of Guinness (you, being a paddler, of course do not drink), you’re stuck with every dragon boat paddler’s nightmare… an inebriated Teddy!!

Let this be a lesson to you. Just because she’s cute, cuddly and covered with fur doesn’t mean she’s cut out for life with a paddler!

(Photos courtesy Rima Szabo, Phoenix Rising Dragon Boat Team, Nanaimo, BC. God bless you, Ruth #1))

I have uploaded nearly 400 photographs from Nanaimo’s first Women’s Regatta to my SmugMug site. Click on any photo above to see the entire collection.

Kudos to the Nusa’Lon Dragons for sponsoring this event – ladies, you did an awesome job!

Huge THANK YOU to all the paddlers that commented on my photographs… that’s what makes taking them worthwhile.

I also had a lot of paddlers ask about having accounts here on dragonboatpaddlers.net… that’s an easy one – Register and post articles and updates about your teams, add commentary to race photos, whatever you wish. It’s free, it’s fun, and it’s easy.

Congratulations to TSUNAMI for taking home the gold!

Stay tuned!

Ken (Lisa’s Dad!)

Paddling at the Gorge Fest was a first for Nanaimo’s Phoenix Rising, which was configured as a Woman’s team (which borrowed heavily from other Ergondragons Boating & Fitness Club teams) for the event.

Phoenix Rising is a recreational team, but they turned in three outstanding heats. They not only broke the three-minute barrier for the first time in their 3-year history, but they also consistently reduced their initial time in heats two and three.

Hats off to a team with performed admirably against some of the toughest competition possible. In their first heat, they faced the Nusa’Lon Dragons and the Island Breaststrokers, but they weren’t the least intimidated, and gave it all they had — and then some.

Over 300 photographs from the 9th Annual Gorge Fest Dragon Boat Regatta (Victoria, B.C., August 8, 2009) have been uploaded to IslandRoamer.SmugMug.com. Paddlers may download images for personal use without charge by selecting the desired image and clicking the BUY tag, then the DOWNLOAD tab.

The results have been posted here.

I was disappointed that the paddlers forming the paddle arch following the carnation ceremony did not repeat last years’ practice of pounding their paddles on the deck. It was an awesome and tribal tribute to our ladies in pink, and I’d hoped it would be repeated.