paddlers’ blog

Foo Maintenance Update

On Thursday April 13 and Friday the 14th some of the crew met at the Minden Curling Club to start the tasks at hand. With the dedicated help, a lot was accomplished. Last year the UV light from the sun took its toll on the starboard side of the interior vertical surface of the gunwale. Most of this has now been sanded with maybe about 15 per cent left to complete. When we had 3 or 4 sanders all running at the same time, you would think you’re right in the middle of about 50 bee hives, a lot of buzzing goin’ on.

We also made good headway on preparing the floor for re-finishing. As you may remember from last year, the paint was de-laminating and flaking off in places. Low surfaces and below the seats are the worst. With wood chisels and scrapers we’ve completed our first pass of the full interior length so we’re probably at the 85 per cent stage of being ready for paint. However we need to go over what we have completed to ensure all loose material has been removed.

On Saturday, Phil, while in Barrie, purchased varnish, thinner and paint. Talk about dedication! There is no holding us back now.

Work Plan for Next Week

We will meet at the curling club on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning for a 10 am start. The plan is to complete the sanding of the gunwale, starboard side and to complete the prep of the floor for white paint. When we’re satisfied that we’ve done our best the interior will be well vacuumed and wiped down with tack cloth. Then the paint can be applied next week. As the application of varnish is temperature sensitive, we will hold off till May when we can get some warmer weather.

It is hoped that others will volunteer some of their time. Please reply to Phil’s email, to indicate which day or days you would be willing to help out. If too many respond for a particular time the selection of volunteers will be based on sequence of first respondents. This was not an issue last week.

Haliburton Highlands Paddlers Kiwi Crew ready for World Masters Games

Our Kiwi Crew is READY!

The countdown is on, just 2 more sleeps before Haliburton Highlands Paddlers’ Kiwi Crew takes off on Tuesday April 18^th on a 3 hour flight to Houston followed by a 14.5 hour flight to Auckland, New Zealand. Chris’ partner Leonora, Linda’s husband Joe, Pamela’s husband Ted and Lillian’s husband Larry are going as supporters. Mac Ellis isn’t in the original picture but he is paddling with the ‘mixed’ crew. In New Zealand, our Crew will compete – as part of the IB Dragonboating Club team out of Lindsay made up of male and female athletes from Kawartha Lakes, Durham and Haliburton – in the World Masters Games, the largest multi-sport event in the world with 25,000 athletes competing in 28 sports across 48 venues.

The Kiwi Crew is competing in the women’s 50+ age category (we can report only that the IB group age ranges from 52 – 76 yrs, … and Mac is competing in a separate event with IB’s ‘mixed’ crew!). Make no mistake, these are very competitive and motivated athletes, as a review of their training program illustrates:

In addition to HHP practices twice per. week last summer in Head, Grass and Kashagawigamog lakes in Haliburton under the guidance of our own coaches, Scotty, Janine, Lois and Marg, most of our Kiwi group also made the trip to Lindsay twice weekly. There they practiced on the Lindsay river with IB Dragonboating, under Games coach Carol Gonder (herself a competitive swimmer and former competitor in the first World Masters Games of 1986)….. and they continued doing so up until October 15^th, a few weeks after the end of the normal Dragon Boating season. The cooler weather couldn’t curb their enthusiasm however, and off they went to “THE TANK”.

The TANK, for simulated dragon boat dryland (oh yeah?) training indoors at Trent University in Peterborough. Two Tanks side-by-side, one for right handed (Chris, Carolyn, Pamela and Mac) and one for left handed paddlers (Lillian, Lois and Linda).

They continued with hour-long training sessions in the Tank each Wednesday & Saturday throughout the Fall and Winter focusing on both fitness and technique in addition to a program of differing home exercises. Their LAST practice was Saturday April 15^th! One paddler reckons she has spent 44 hrs in the Tank and 60 hrs exercising at home! Not surprisingly, the Crew declare that they have better technique and a higher level of fitness than before, with stronger cores and well developed muscles.

Special narrow paddles with slits cut into them are used when training in the tank, in order to reduce resistance of the water. However, each paddler will be taking his or her own carbon fibre favourite paddle to NZ for the races.

And of course, some striking new gear

Jacket T-Shirt

Cap

Upon arrival in Auckland and after settling in, the Canadians will have two practices in Auckland Harbour prior to their races on April 29^th (500 metres) and 30^th (200 metres), in Lake Pupuke near Auckland. We wish them the best in their endeavours and hope they have a fantastic trip. In this electronic age, we hope to hear from them occasionally on their progress through New Zealand, via blog or FB.

We will, of course, be expecting them to do all the ‘hard paddling’ in the Suzanna Foo when they return! Right coaches?

BTW. When and where is the next World Masters Opportunity? Get ready, Haliburton Highlands Paddlers!!

Go Go …. ‘Kiwi Crew’! ….or (as heard recently), our ‘Girls with Guns’!

HHP’s Kiwi Crew goes to New Zealand!

Paddlers from left to right: Pamela Boyce, Lillian Hall, Linda Shulist, Chris Whittemore, Lois Deacon, Carolyn Ellis

Kiwifruit are a commercial crop in New Zealand so it is quite fitting that the Kiwi Crew are going to New Zealand, not to pick fruit but to compete in the New Zealand World Masters Games. Incredible!

The six-paddler Kiwi Crew, all members of our ‘Haliburton Highlands Paddlers’, will be joined by 22 other paddlers from IB Dragonboating in Lindsay. The other paddlers are from the City of Kawartha Lakes and the Region of Durham.

The Kiwi Crew has been travelling to Peterborough regularly since October 2016 to train with the rest of the team at Trent University’s indoor paddling tank. Most of them paddle twice a week…Wed. and Sat. as well as some Sundays for individual instruction. In addition, they also have an exercise regimen that they work on at home. They will continue paddling in the tank right up until they leave (April 18th).

Their coach, Carol Gonder, has arranged for daily practices once they arrive in Auckland….working around sightseeing tours of course! Race days are April 28 & 29. There are two crews competing in the 50+ age category. A 10 person mixed crew and 20 person female crew. Both crews will be racing in the 200 M and 500 M events.

The team has been very successful with fundraising. Their first endeavor was “Project Turkey Pie”, where the team made and sold 2700 pies. A fashion show and silent auction was held at the Armory in Lindsay before Christmas. Last month, another fashion show, on a smaller scale, was held. Approximately $19,000 has been raised. The team would like to thank all who supported them!

On top of that, they received $4000 in donations from local (Lindsay) business owners. The support from the Lindsay area has been overwhelming. The money raised will go towards registration ($400 each) and training costs for the tank rental.

Carolyn says that “Being part of this team has been an awesome experience. Wish us Luck!”

Haliburton Highlands Paddlers are very proud of the Kiwi Crew and hope to hear from them in the “Land of the Long White Cloud”, as this wonderful and exciting experience unfolds.

Good luck ladies and Paddles Up!

*With more athletes than the Olympics, the World Masters Games is the single biggest multi-sport event on earth, with 25,000 participants converging on Auckland for the event of a lifetime.

Port Perry Dragon Boat Festival

Working Together For a Healthy Community

June 17, 2017. 8 am to 6 pm at Palmer Park, Port Perry, Ontario

If you are interested in attending this festival please RSVP to the email of March 6^th 2017. Cost is $55.00

Further details about this Festival here.

Spares Policy 2017:

This season we are trying a new policy for handling ‘spares’ for our festivals (see below). We examined many options, none of which is perfect. At the end of the season we will evaluate how it has worked for us.

This year our plan is to have twenty one people register and pay their fee with two people registering who will be spares. The two spares won’t be required to pay and will only paddle if one of the 21 can’t do so. Refunds will be issued only if a paddler cancels before the team registration list is due. Anyone cancelling after that registration date is free to negotiate with one of the spares. We will review this at the end of the 2017 season.

Boat Repairs Needed

Greetings Paddlers

With the warmer weather about to arrive ( I think), we are just 2 months away from the launching of the Susanna Foo for another season of fun and paddling. Now is the time that we start getting the Foo ready. If you can remember from last year, the interior white paint on the floor was starting to flake off and de-laminate. Also the varnish on the gunwales, particularly on the sunny side at the dock received ultra violet light damage. These are the 2 major issues and there may be other minor stuff to do. The preparation work for painting and varnishing has to be carefully done and based on experience from last year, one gets tired after 1 to 2 hours so the need to have shifts of teams will allow the work to progress without too much burden on a few. You also get an opportunity to socialize as you work and get to know your fellow paddlers better.

At our Open House last February, we had a sign-up sheet for those members who were willing to assist in cleaning, sanding, painting and varnishing. Not all of you attended the Open House so this notice gives you an opportunity to sign up and help. During April and May, some of you may have travel plans and would be available on a reduced time frame. That’s fine. For those who would like to help including those who signed up in February please respond to the email in your inbox indicating your willingness to help and if you are away for part of the time, please indicate the dates.

Next week Scotty and Phil will examine the Foo to determine the magnitudes of the tasks and to see how it came through winter storage. We will also look at the list of volunteers and develop work teams. In reality only 4 or so can work at one time.

I envision that we will have no exact work schedules as essentially we will have to take advantage of good weather when we get it. We don’t have any exact procedures at this time. We may have teams come sequentially or maybe 2 teams at a time. With the latter, one can use a power sander for 10 minutes or so and then pass it on to someone else for a similar shift. The gunwales are relatively easy but the floor will be awkward. We will find out the best procedure when we start.

Paddles up!

3rd Annual Open House

Fish Hatchery
66712 Gelert Rd. Haliburton
February 5, 2017 1:30 pm

1:30 Refreshments and social time. (15-20 minutes)

Welcome – Elli
- introduction of management committee and coaches for 2017
- summary of our 2016 season
- format for 2017 – Elli
Membership report/treasurer’s report – Jane B.
Greetings from Haliburton County Community Co-Operative – Carolynn
Equipment report – Phil
Festival participation 2017 – Elli
Recruiting additional help – Elli
Launching our website – guest
Goals for 2017 and beyond – festivals, social events, courses and qualifications etc.
Thank you to all who have helped to make this happen.
Raffle – win a free membership or one of 10 single day guest passes
Membership registration, shirt/paddle orders, festival sign-ups, work crew sign-ups

We wish to thank Patient News and RPM for their continued support.

Haliburton Highlands Paddlers is a part of the Haliburton County Community Cooperative

Please forward this information to any interested persons. We encourage you to bring a friend.

« Previous Page