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Marlow Canoe Club Newsletter COVER Spring 2009/01
There’s this chap in Scotland
(Douglas Wilcox) who started of in WW, maybeduring his university days, but the salt air got to him and now he is aconfirmed sea kayaker. This picture shows a Quest LV being paddled in thecrystal clear waters off LEWIS, part of the Outer Hebrides archipelago. Hisblog,
http://seakayakphoto.blogspot.com/
 is one that I find particularly
interesting and I’d recommend a read. Well written, excellent photography, a
bit of humour, notes on wildlife and history
 –
 
it’s all there. This photo taken
(with permission) from a boat test published January 2007.
 
Marlow Canoe Club Newsletter - 2 - Spring 2009/01
EDITORS PIECE
Rushed downstairs Christmas morning andeven through flu induced hazy eyes I couldsee there was NO new Rockpool orTiderace kayak (on stands) in the garden. Ithought they might be a little big for thesleigh and that SC might have sub-contracted DHL, but when nothing arrived
by my birthday it looked like I’d have to
settle for a c
opy of Gordon Brown’s (the
real Gordon Brown) book on sea kayaking.And a VHF radio course. Maybe we willsee others out in new equipment soon, thecurrent cold spell has seen of all but themost hardy!Regular readers will have noted features onAndy Co
oks’ DW adventures. A certain
lady at Banbury Canoe Club has beenpromising to write for a while and finallycompleted a piece. Julie Woods item is ourstarter for ten.Moving on,
it’s back to the briny when
Richard Williams and I were stooges for a4* sea assessment. The only downside tothis is the travelling involved, everythingelse was just great. A word or two aboutour new touring / sea kayaks retains aslightly briny flavour.Tim Twitchen has been organising some day touring trips recently and these have beenattended by a no. of members. Michael Day tells us all about one such trip along theBasingstoke Canal.
This issues’ ‘A GOOD BIT OF KIT’ item is all about flasks. If you want a good flask rather 
than a just so flask this piece might just point you in the right direction.January means AGM. Recent years have seen the attendance fall off, a trend I hope wecan reverse next year. A new award THE PETER LEE CUP requires some explanation,the SWIMMER OF THE YEAR (awarded to yours truly)
doesn’t, except to the newer members who might not appreciate it’s significance.
 
Some news about retailers (don’t forget out locals) is on page 13 followed by details of a
nice little boat for sale (one advantage of being the editor).Next is a short p
iece on this year’s DW. Andy Cook needs a back up team and volunteersare required. Click on the links to see what’s involved and see if you are able to assist.
 Finally; A few of us have got together with the idea of doing a little more sea paddling, andsome preparation towards it. Read it, and If you are interested get in touch.
CONTENTS
MORE ON ANDY COOK 34* SEA ASSESSMENT 6
NEW EASKY’S
7BASINSTOKE CANAL 8A GOOD BIT OF KIT 9AGM REPORT 10R. THAMES USER INFO 12RETAILER NEWS 13FOR SALE 13DW 2009 14SEA / TOURINGPADDLING14
WHAT’S ON, WHEN &
WHERE15COMMITTEE & USEFUL
NO’S
 16
 
Marlow Canoe Club Newsletter - 3 - Spring 2009/01
ANDY COOK AND BANBURY & DISTRICT CC2008
 –
AN EXCELLENT YEAR
Having finished the year of 2008, and reading the last issue of the Marlow CC newsletter, Ithought it rather apt to give you a round up of the year by an "outsider"!As you will have seen from the quote in the issue 122, I paddle for Banbury & DistrictCanoe Club and have done so for just over 5 years. This last year for us as a family hasbeen our best ever. My eldest, Katie, who is 19, completed the 4 day DW event at Easterwith her partner. It was at this event we met Andy Cook, as they were both raising moneyfor Myeloma UK. Myeloma UK were particularly excited to get two people raising moneyfor them at the very same event - very little is known about Myeloma and obviously everypenny that can be raised willhelp them no end.Over the year, we have becomevery good friends with Andy,emailing and meeting him atnumerous events. At Oxford, on14
th
June, Andy was somewhatshocked to find another 32paddlers joining him in division 9
 –
he said that the last time thathe had raced in a Hasler event;there would have been about 5others in this division! How thesport has progressed. Andy infact came 2
nd
in this very firstrace and instantly got promotedto division 8, much to his delight. I have been fortunate to be racing against him onseveral occasions, including the very murky start at Windsor - I followed him literally rightoff the start until about halfway, where I had the energy and determination to pass him andfinish several places ahead of him (This was even a better result as I had been up until2am that morning, helping to organise a ball in aid of Myeloma, with my friend
Hilary
, whohas not been as fortunate as Andy has.
Hilary
had her stem implants two years ago andis now not too well). The following week at Longridge however, Andy got his own back asI had a disastrous race, including nearly being taken out by a rowing boat!!! He onceagain had a consistently good race.Unfortunately, due to family commitments, Andy was unable to attend our Banbury &District Canoe Club marathon at the end of October, but wished us all good luck for theevent.I think the best race of the year must have been the Avon Descent at the beginning ofNovember, which Andy travelled up to. I have done this race several times as a K2 andam renowned for "swimming" at some point along the way! Imagine our amazement whenwe saw the height and speed of the river when we arrived at the event. I am not sure thatI would have done it if it had not been for the encouragement of fellow paddlers. My 16year old daughter was also taking part in a K2 with a friend and luckily for us all we haddone quite a bit of white water paddling, a skill that was very necessary on this particular
of 00

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