IMPORTANT NOTICE!
from the Committee of the NSW Sea Kayak Club

Owing to the federal and state government restrictions now in place to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, all NSW Sea Kayak Club group activities (i.e. trips, training and social gatherings) have been suspended until further notice.

Your committee is working on some off water activities during these times and they will be announced in coming weeks.

Keep safe and Stay tuned.

07 / Apr / 2020

With only nine days left before we gather in Batemans Bay for  the 2020 Rock and Roll, final preparations are being made for the event by your committee. Registrations will close on the 6th March, which will provide just enough time to assemble your registration packs, advise the caterers at the Catalina Club of our final dinner numbers and finalise our shopping lists for breakfasts and the Saturday BBQ. Remember to use the On-line shop to purchase extra raffle tickets, extra dinners for non-paddling family members and guests, and any special needs (e.g. vegetarian)  meals. Have a safe trip to Batemans Bay. If you are getting hungry on the way down, stop for a pie at the East Lynne shop, for although the building was (just) saved from the bushfires, the business was closed for 8 weeks because of fire damage and loss of power and communications with consequent loss of income. 

Neil Gow

RNR20 Co-ordinator

The Two Sisters on Wheels food van, offering traditional Lao Thai cuisine will attend RNR20 from 5 pm oh Sunday 15th March prior to the trivia quiz and the Pogies. Their website is twosistersonwheels.com.au, which shows their menu. They cannot take bookings and will also serve other holiday makers in the resort, so it will be first in, best dressed! Enjoy!

Neil Gow

RnR Coordinator

Registration is now open for Rock and Roll 2020!  Please come to demonstrate your support for the local Batemans Bay community which is starting to recover from the recent devastating bushfires.

You will need to renew your club membership before registering for Rock and Roll. Details about the event, including guest speaker Eddie Safarik, the great raffle prizes, Pogies video entries, the trivia quiz, and the Beachcomber Paddle Challenge, are all in the latest issue of Salt.

For those that require a special dinner option (vegetarian, gluten free or vegan) please read the registration instructions carefully as you will need to register without dinner and then purchase it separately from the Online Shop.  Raffle tickets can also be purchased at the Online shop if they are not part of the registration package that you want.

Remember to book your accommodation at the Big 4 Batemans Bay Beach Resort at 51 Beach Road, Batemans Bay. If you book by phone (02) 4472 4541 you can get a 10% discount.

See you at Rock and Roll!

Neil 

RnR Co-ordinator

I hope that you are enjoying the warmer weather and (slightly) warmer water temperatures to get out in your kayak.  Here is a brief update on what is happening with the club.

Call for a Facebook Moderator

At our recent Committee meeting we discussed the need to improve our Facebook presence and make it easier for members to quickly post accounts of their club activities.  We have decided to change our Facebook setup so that any member can post without the delay of waiting for moderator approval.  Having said that, we still need a moderator to respond when inappropriate postings are made – which I expect to be quite seldom.  Could this be you?  This would be a great way to start to understand the detailed workings of the club – maybe a first step for a place on the Committee down the track?  If you are interested please let me know by return email.

Come and Try Day a Success

On Sunday 3 November the club held a Come and Try Day for potential new members.  The day was a great success thanks to fantastic planning by three committee members (especially Caoimhin Ardren, and also Mark Fuller and Beth Symonds) and further support on the day by Adrian Clayton, Campbell Tiley, Rhys Ward and John Friedman.  A number of other members also loaned kayaks for use on the day.  Sixteen people attended to give kayaking a try and one of them was so impressed she joined the Club the same day! Welcome Jean Watson.  Thank you to all who contributed to make this day a success.

Don’t Forget to Renew Your Membership

Membership renewals are now open.  We have not changed membership cost since last year so for just a few dollars you can join any number of club trips and training led by our experienced leaders and instructors, receive the outstanding Salt magazine to your door three or four times a year, register for Rock’n’Roll, boring stuff like insurance……the list just goes on.  Please do this before the end of the year.  It makes it easier for the committee and clears the decks before we get into final R’n’R preparation.

Happy paddling,

Paul (President)

The Massive Murray Paddle is a five day adventure of over 400 kms which is about to start its 51^st year.  It provides an opportunity to overcome challenges, culturally connect with the land, people and river while raising funds for charities and community programs. This year one of our members Vicki McAuley and her son Finn are paddling in this event and raising funds for the Leukaemia Foundation. They will be replicating the efforts of their late husband and father Andrew who won his category 16 years ago.

If you would like to make a donation in support please do so directly via the following link:

https://give.everydayhero.com/au/mcauley-s-massive-murray-paddle

Good luck Vicki and Finn from all of us

Rock and Roll 13-16 March 2020 Batemans Bay

The Club will return to beautiful Batemans Bay in March 2020 to

hold its premier 3-day annual event. Our base will again be the

Batemans Bay Beach Resort adjacent to Corrigans Beach. The

resort offers a broad range of accommodation options – from self-

contained villas to unpowered tent sites. This location provides an

easy launching to a wide variety of paddling destinations including

the iconic Tollgate Islands, the natural coastline of Murramarang

National Park and the Clyde River and its wide, protected estuary.

The program will follow the usual structure with a welcome event

on the Friday evening, hosted by the team from Expedition Kayaks.

Trips will be offered on Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings,

commencing after the usual muster at the marquee. Participation in

the training activities on offer will be based on registration through

the Club website prior to the event.

There will be some off-water training activities and novelty events

offered on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

The traditional R’nR dinner on Saturday night will be held at the

Catalina Club, an easy stroll from our accommodation. Apart from

enjoying good company and a decent feed, we will be entertained by

an eminent guest speaker.

A BBQ will be run at Saturday lunchtime and a food van will be

on site for Sunday evening before the screening of entries for the

Pogies award (please start thinking about your entry now).

An innovation for R’nR 2020 will be a New Members’ and R’nR

First Timers’ breakfast on the Saturday morning, hosted by our Vice

President, Mark Fuller. This will help guide these folk through the

various R’nR activities, and introduce them to some of other members

of the Club’s leadership group.

So, put the dates of 13-16 March 2020 in your diary now, and book

your accommodation early. The resort is offering a 10% discount

to Club members, but to achieve this bookings must be done by

phone, not on the Internet. Our HQ marquee and exhibition area

will be in front of Cabin 5. Check the resort’s website https://beachresort.

com.au for its site plan and then call 1800 217 533 to make

a booking for your chosen option.

Our website will announce further details regarding R’nR2020 as

they come to hand, including when registration for the event is

open.

Neil Gow     

R’nR2020 Co-ordinator

Come and Try Kayaking Day

Sunday November 3 - Clontarf - Registration essential

2 hr sessions at 8:30am, 11am, 2pm

If you are a member of our Club we need your help to tell others about our upcoming Come-and-Try Kayaking Day.  Perhaps you are also a member of another club.  If appropriate feel free to distribute this information to those members also.

This event is open for registration for any adult (18 or older) with reasonable mobility and able to swim.  Kayaks and necessary equipment will be provided.  Participants should be prepared to get wet and bring a change of clothes.

Registration is essential and can be completed as a guest of the Club through this website on the Current Events Page (under Events in the menu at the top of this page).  We will need participant contact details to organise the session.  Applicants will be contacted with further information in the week prior to the event date. 

Contact Caoimhin, the training coordinator for further information.  Please register early for planning purposes.

Perhaps not major news, but evidence of your Committee working for you! I have just posted a current version of the SOPs incorporating a number of minor changes. The edits clarify the use of guest and temporary members as well as co-conducted paddles.

Potentially of more interest is our initiation of a project to reformat this document to improve its readability.

Adrian has leapt at the challenge of getting his first Salt out as editor and the bumper issue should be in the mail next week.  He is hoping to get four issues out over the coming year, so keep your contributions coming.

The new Club web-site is functioning well.  I hope that by now you have logged in using the link that was emailed and set a password.  You also need to check the information in your profile and correct any errors or let us know if there are details that you cannot edit.  Please add the year that you joined the Club.  If you have a more precise date, let me know and I can update that record.

The phone apps are a really convenient way to interact with the site and are the fastest way to check the trips calendar or to register for a trip.  The admin app also allows leaders to confirm which paddlers have turned up on the beach for a trip.  This record can replace the paper waiver, paddlers having already acknowledged the generic risk warning during trip registration.

Rock n Roll 2019 is on track courtesy of Simon’s fantastic planning.  The venue and dates are listed on the website.  Registration should open early in the New Year so please register early and remember to book your campsite or cabin.

Membership subscriptions are due at the end of December.  You will get a reminder in the second week of December with a link that should allow you to renew directly from that email.  Although there is a brief grace period, you will need to renew to register for trips or for RnR.  The cost of a standard membership remains unchanged.  The Committee has made minor adjustments to the costs of the longstanding discounted memberships.  If you have any issues with the renewal process, please contact either the internet coordinator (internet[at]nswseakayaker.asn.au), me or the vice president (vicepres[at]nswseakayaker.asn.au) for some help. 

Thanks, as always, to the leaders listing and running trips and training for the Club and especially to Rob, Sharon and Owen for their weekly offerings on the calendar.