Winter 2002 - National Rifle Association

(weekend) Aggregate with 332.38 ex 335, John finishingsecond with 331.33. Clarion Tang Choon led the hostshooters in third place with 328.31.After completion of the day’s shooting, an informalreception was hosted by the visiting team in the smallborerange. This was our first social contact with theTrinidadian shooters and there was much laughter asdarkness fell, the temperature slipped below 30 o C, andthe nocturnal jungle cacophony of crickets and frogsasserted itself.Sunday 5 MaySunday started hot and airless with high humidity afterthe rains. The team however was well prepared due tothe accidental procurement of double rations ofGatorade, a health drink designed to replace depletedbody minerals and fluid. In the cause of medical researchthe team doctor decided that Gatorade would today beserved with added salt supplement to increase itseffectiveness, an experiment that failed due to the “elixirof life” quickly being pronounced undrinkable.Meanwhile, back on the firing point, there were peopleshooting and coaching and the GB team of twelvedropped 14 against Trinidad’s 43. At 500 yards the cloudcover thickened and GB dropped a further 14 whilstTrinidad dropped 31 points. After lunch GB extendedtheir lead; taking their best eight, GB scored 1178.135against the home team’s 1151.107. Highest scorer forGB was Hugh Kilpatrick, coached by John Carmichael,with 149 (V count withheld to avoid embarrassment);the highest scoring Trinidadian was Norris Gomez with148.20. GB also won the reserves match with 571.52against 540.33.An informal prize giving followed, with gracious wordsof appreciation from Brigadier Joe Theodore, VicePresident of the Trinidad Rifle Association, Cecil Smith,Hon Vice President and Norris Gomez, Trinidad teamCaptain. Male prizewinners enjoyed the undoubtedbonus of having their prizes presented by the lovelyGomez girls and all was presided over by the TRATreasurer, Roland Ford. The GB Captain replied withthanks, distributing gifts to various team members andofficials of the host country, mercifully sparing allpresent from a repeat of the joke attempted at the Guyanaprize giving.Monday 6 May - Jamaica“The bad news is” said the Adjutant, “our flight leavesTrinidad at 0700 and we therefore have to leave the hotelat 0315, which means that we must assemble at 0245.”For readers who have yet to travel abroad with a touringteam, these are the less glamorous moments, especiallywhen faced with half a team emerging from beds aftertwo hours sleep and the other half emerging from barsafter protracted celebration.Shortly before take off a bemused early morning queuewere treated to the spectacle of David Dyson, unable tostump up the 100 Trinidad dollars to pay his departuretax, offering to sing to them to raise the cash, an offerpolitely and wisely declined. There followed a flight toKingston over the length of the Caribbean chain,including stops at Barbados and Antigua. The usual rifleunpacking/checking/packing followed and the teamvisibly aged as successive groups of passengers passedthrough the baggage hall and were absorbed back intothe outside world.Aided by Canute Coley and Dennis Lee of the JamaicaRifle Association, we eventually emerged blinking intothe Rasta hubbub that is Kingston. The bus turned outto be half the size of the conveyance anticipated, so theteam and its one ton of luggage were shoe horned into aminibus, a pickup and a military escort Land Rover,manned by three fearsome military policemen totingassault rifles. Our bus driver, Erica, then hurled the busalong the route to the HQ of the Jamaica RifleAssociation, with great skill as she followed the military,sirens wailing, through red lights, over kerbs and at timesagainst the oncoming traffic. Passing through thenotoriously dangerous Mountview district, even ourtough guy MPs eased their safety catches and pulleddown their helmets ready for battle. For the team, theirfirst impressions of Jamaica were sufficient to stimulatea round of applause on arrival.In the evening, the JRA hosted a reception at their superbfacilities, built for the 1966 Commonwealth Games, andwe were welcomed by Dr Warren Blake JRA President.Despite a power cut which lasted most of the evening, agood time was had by all. It had however been a longday, and the team was immensely relieved that on thisoccasion the Captain was not required to deliver aspeech.Tuesday 7 MayThis was a free day, and the JRA had kindly arranged atour across the island to Ocho Rios on the north coast.Leaving suburban Kingston’s landscape of rustingcorrugated iron and crumbling breeze block shacksunder the shade of the guango and palm trees, a beautifullush country of forest, hills and rivers unfolded.Jamaica’s bauxite mining and alumina smelting facilitiescould be seen en route and we were soon descendingthrough a deep wooded gorge to our destination.Highlight attraction was the Dunns River Falls, agorgeous series of waterfalls where visitors areencouraged to climb from a perfect beach up a series ofsteps in the river, becoming very wet in the process.Lunch followed at a new beachside restaurant, followedby swimming and volleyball, the latter activity resultingin a number of abrasions for the doctor to patch up.Wednesday 8 MayWe had another early start to get the rifles assembledfor a morning’s practice at Twickenham Park Range.Unusually for a range, Twickenham Park has aneighbouring squatter settlement where people havebuilt huts without official permission. As we arrived,laundry operations were in full swing at the water tapsaround the range and we were told that it is not unusualfor people with water cans to fill up at the 500 yardspoint, even when shooting is in progress at 1000 yards.This distraction, along with herds of cattle and goats27