Tuesday, Dec. 5

For some of us, a long paddle is maybe eight miles - ten on a good day. For Jack Cobb, that wouldn’t even merit a note in his daybook. He likes to take at least one long paddle a year, but he defines "long" to mean a 600 mile marathon race or a couple of weeks in the wilds of Northern Canada.

The first part of the program will be on the race. It was the 600 mile 1998 Dyea to Dawson race, which was held on the centennial of the Klondike gold rush. It covered the exact route of the gold rush, and consisted of 35 miles over the Chilkoot Pass, then 565 miles down the Yukon River system. The field was limited to 55 teams, and attracted some of the best marathon paddlers in the world. His paddling partner was his 18 year old son.

The second part of the program will be a showing of Joe Emashowski's video of a year 2000 summer trip down the Cree River. The Cree is a remote, seldom paddled river in northern Saskatchewan that flows from Cree Lake to Wapata Lake, thence to Lake Athabaska.
 
 

The date and content of the January meeting will be discussed at the December meeting. (The first Tuesday is Jan. 2nd — New Years Eve and football may decimate our ranks.)
 

I'm updating the club's first aid kit and will be buying bandages, dressings, and individual packets of various drugs- aspirin, ibuprofin, antacid etc.

If anyone needs to update their own first aid kits this would be a good time to get a bunch of these things at once so we can get a good price.

Give me a call to let me know what you need and I'll order it from a wholesaler.

Omar 345-5115

Here’s your chance to enter politics without a recount. We need volunteers for President and Vice-President.

Re: Club Revitilization

As a "Jonny-come-lately" member of only a couple of years, I hesitate to suggest changes in club procedures and services. But, ( so much for hesitation ) it seems to me that there should be a special meeting of interested members to discuss perceived shortcomings in and suggest changes or solutions to the current procedures.

This meeting could be a no-host breakfast or dinner at a restaurant or pizza place. This would assure parking space and avoid a standing-room-only situation in someone’s home. Breakfast meetings on work workdays have the advantage of a job-imposed ending time and most folks are less tired, although it does eliminate pizza for most of us.

The collected wisdom of the group could then be arranged in a "rate this idea from 0-5 format" and become part of a newsletter. Maybe it could be a special edition newsletter with a further suggestions form to be mailed or e-mailed in by members with ideas who are reluctant to join the original committee meeting, or are unable to attend.

We do have 40-50 members. It makes me uncomfortable to try and decide big issues when only 8-10 people show up for a regular meeting.

There! I got that off my chest for whatever it is worth.

Phil Backman

February Meeting

Art Kleiner, owner of Art’s Nautical Wood Works in Florence, has agreed to present a program on Building a Woodstrip Canoe. If there are particular aspects of this subject you would like to see discussed, e-mail your suggestion to canoe@efn.org.

Besides building woodstrip canoes, Art supplies materials and kits for their construction. He also has a line of handcrafted nautical items. Check out his website at www.artcanoes.com.

Help Wanted

The current editor of the newsletter has been on the job since the Jan., 2000 issue and will continue through the Feb., 2001 issue. After that date, someone else will have to take over the duties.

No experience necessary. A template for the newsletter is set up in Microsoft Publisher. (If your computer came with Windows 95 or 98, you should have the software.) With the template, getting the newsletter ready to print is kind of like filling in the blanks, either by typing in the appropriate places or pasting from e-mails.

The editor needs a break, and is probably going to be getting more into rowing than paddling (assuming he doesn’t staple his fingers too often trying to build a cedarstrip version of a Maine salmon wherry — a fast seaworthy boat, as shown below).
 
 

Unless otherwise noted, all trips leave from Alton Baker Park at 8:30 A.M. PFD required. Contact trip leader for more details. If you have signed up for a trip, let trip leader know if you have to cancel out.
 

Saturday, December 9 will continue our adventures in the west. We'll head out on Hwy. 38 and stop at Loon Lake. Loon Lake was formed by a landslide blocking a steep creek and is nestled in a wooded valley.

In summer the lake is a water skier's paradise but during the rest of the year the lake is quiet with just a few people slowly trolling for fish.

We'll meet as usual at 8:30AM at Alton Baker Park.

For more information or to sign up call Omar at 345-5115.