October has been a busy month of participation for CCDBC members, despite the winds that sometimes wreak havoc with our planned paddling sessions.

To celebrate the Clarence River 53 Islands, we circumnavigated Dart Island at high tide, braving sand bars with some delicate ‘teacup’ paddling, facing the wind head on and enjoying the scenery and exercise. You get an exceptional view of our beautiful islands and seascapes from a dragon boat, plus the satisfaction of ‘feeling the burn’ and getting fit at the same time.

On Saturday October 19, club members donned loud shirts with fluoro pink, orange and assorted motley-coloured designs to be part of “Loud Shirt Day” raising funds for ‘Hear and Say Opening Worlds’. This initiative was developed to support young children who have a hearing disability to access timely interventions designed to help them to live life to the best possible.

We also had four of our elite athletes, Jan Booth, Cheryl Coleman, Kim Sanders and Ree Dunn, travel to Adelaide for the 17th Australian Masters games as part of the Far North Coast (FNC) dragon boat team. This team was made up of women and men from dragon boat clubs between Camden Haven and Ballina. The FNC team competed in multiple races and categories, and most importantly had a fantastic team experience. They even fitted in sampling a few of South Australia’s excellent culinary delights and wines. Jan won a gold medal as a member of a breast cancer survivors’ team from Hunter Newcastle.

Our dragon boat paddles are an excellent way to stay fit, work as a team, promote social awareness campaigns, and they provide opportunities to get an up-close view of stingrays, dolphins, sea eagles and pelicans. We paddle from the boat ramp near the fish co-op on Saturdays at 7.30 am and from the Hickey Island boat ramp Wednesday at 4.30pm. New paddlers welcome at any time. Come and give it a try. 

Chris Evans