C&K mag #30 sp - Canoe & Kayak

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KAYAK SPORTS North Shore Canoe Polo 2005 by Rob Howarth Canoe (or kayak) Polo is a great game, which follows the same sort of rules as water polo except you are chasing the ball around in a kayak! It’s fun and it’s a great way to improve your paddling skills. Canoe & Kayak North Shore are currently running two leagues at Northcote College Swimming Pool and we need more members! Social League Thursday evenings 7.30pm. This league is designed to be fun and friendly and we want inexperienced players. The rules are watered down to make things easy and we have members aged between 13 and 60+! So, come on down and have a look one night. We’d love to have you onboard. B Grade League Wednesday evenings 7.00pm. If you already know the rules and want a serious game then the B grade league is for you! Interested in playing in either league? Contact Rob Howarth at Canoe & Kayak North Shore 09 479 1002 or rob@canoeandkayak.co.nz or for other areas contact your nearest Canoe & Kayak shop. 8 ISSUE THIRTY • 2005
WHITE WATER KAYAKING Waterfall Crawl, Park and Pray by Louis Tapper “At the time of action, second-guessing yourself is inappropriate. You’ve prepared your body and mind in rehearsal, you’ll know what to do at the instant where a decision is demanded- trust yourself to make the right one and commit yourself to doing it. Your job is to be here now, focus on it.” ‘The Fear Book’, by Cheri Huber The idea was simple. We would run nothing but waterfalls, safely, for the three days of Labour weekend. We wanted to discover ‘park and pray’ waterfall spots around the North Island and try the new Bliss-Stick MAC1 and Huka boats in some challenging water. The trip achieved these goals but turned into a crawl in more ways than one for Shane, Quinny, reluctant late starter Paul and myself. The build-up had all the hallmarks of a classic trip. It did not disappoint. Ideas from kayakers all around the country were posted on the Wellington Kayak message board to supplement ours. During a recent trip to Norway I was frequently regaled with stories of people injuring backs and ankles on waterfall runs that had gone wrong, so the emphasis was always on safety. Louis and Shane Also fresh in our minds was the Palmerston kayaker who broke his back landing backwards off a 24 m waterfall. We spent the night at River Valley and rose early to pick up creek boats from the Bliss-Stick factory. Richard kindly lent us two MAC1s and a Huka to try out for the weekend. The outfitting of the kayaks was perfect, straight off the shelf, so Shane and I quickly felt confident and at home in both boats. Shepherd’s Falls was first on the list. At first glance it looked tricky to run. A large log, which lay above the sweet part of the lip had to be avoided on the way down. Everyone successfully negotiated the drop and went on to run a small weir in Taihape. Unfortunately because the land owner would not let us cross her land we did not get to run the Hautapu drop. She made it clear in no uncertain terms that she was unwilling to accept liability and a possible OSH prosecution for any injuries received while we were on her property. The alternative of walking down the railway line would take longer than we had counted on. We moved to the Raukawa Falls where we paddled the top drop. It had a clean take off and a pillow for a landing and was the ideal water we were looking for. In my research I had not found anyone who had run the bottom falls and it was obvious why. A quick peek over the lip of the bottom drop revealed a significant drop with a potentially sketchy shallow hard landing. Maybe this can be run during high flows when the pool at the bottom is deeper. From the take out we scrambled up a bush covered steep bank and the crawl part of the weekend started in earnest. Tawhai falls is a classic 10 m drop near the Chateau. We ran it a couple of times after making individual decisions about how it should be done. There ISSUE THIRTY • 2005 9
Page 1 and 2: $5.95 NZ NZ Kayak Magazine Buyers G
Page 3 and 4: ISSUE THIRTY • 2005 3
Page 5 and 6: OTHER WORLD HAWKE’S BAY 15 Niven
Page 7: EDITOR: Peter Townend Ph: [09] 473
Page 11 and 12: Louis take off, Tawhai Falls Louis
Page 13 and 14: Henry - Shepard Falls Shane - Taiha
Page 15 and 16: Trans Tasman Rivalry set for 2006 T
Page 17 and 18: Getting into Multisport Kayaking? A
Page 19 and 20: Swell is difficult to forecast and
Page 21 and 22: Nothing gets the heart pounding mor
Page 25 and 26: Perfect place for a filter coffee a
Page 27 and 28: The new owners of Auckland Canoe &
Page 29 and 30: Quail Island Kayak in Channel ISSUE
Page 31 and 32: Hamilton - It’s on the map by Rut
Page 33 and 34: Andrew Mount and his father Maurice
Page 35 and 36: Ferry choc-a-block with kayaks Phew
Page 37 and 38: PFD (PERSONAL FLOATATION DEVICE) Da
Page 39 and 40: Setting out Tent city ISSUE THIRTY
Page 41 and 42: Moody river Kids plus kayaks equals
Page 43 and 44: Tri/Sea Win Win For more informatio
Page 45 and 46: We have many more kayaks available
Page 47 and 48: We have many more kayaks available
Page 49 and 50: Accommodation available to Yakity-Y

C&K mag #30 sp - Canoe & Kayak

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