Friday, 7 January, 2022.
As we older members know too well, “…you only learn by experience but the problem is to survive the experience….”!
Well, tonight, I set out at about 5.00 PM, for a 45 minute paddle upstream to that footbridge 250m past the end of Zollie’s straight. I arrived home at about 8.00 PM.
I am pleased to attach the current edition of Platypus News & Views (no. 86, November 2021).
In this edition you can read about:
FCC and the paddling community are devastated to have lost one of our greats - a coach, a volunteer, a board member and a friend. Joe Alia passed away late on 21 July after a brief illness. Just five weeks ago he was leading and completing the works on our new "tinnie" launch ramp and the stairs down to our dock.
Three intrepid FCC paddlers (Tony Payne, Michael Loftus-Hills & Mick Kane) recently reported on their paddling exploits on a wind and rain-swept Lake Pedder.
Southwest Tasmania receives more than 2 metres of rain per year.
What did you get up to over the Summer holiday period? I recently stayed near the upper reaches of the Goulburn River at Thornton.
A graduate of the Trinity College paddling program with FCC, Alex Boyd's coaching skills developed during a gap year paddling in the UK. This year Alex was nominated for the 2019 Paddle Australia Coach of the Year award; and was named the 2020 Paddle Victoria Club Coach of the Year at the PV AGM in Nov 2020.
Alex Boyd talks to us below about how he first got involved in paddling and what he think the future entails.
What area of canoeing are you most involved in, can you describe what that involved ?
Saturday 30th saw me carefully approach the clubhouse, armed with my sanitising spray. Once the coast was clear, I made a dash for the side gate and duly accessed the boat storage to retrieve the beloved “Top Gun” racing TK1, plus my paddle, plus my personal PFD. Why you ask? Because tomorrow would see me competing for FCC in the Nagambie Singles.
