Dragon Boat West

Hello all,

Congratulations to everyone on a great 2006 season!!!

For those of you who are going through paddling withdrawal, here's your chance to join us for the Dragonboating trip of a lifetime!!

We are well on the way to putting a team (or possibly two) to compete in the Australian National Dragon Dragonboat festival to be held in Sydney over the Easter weekend, April 6th-9th, 2007.

We still need a few more paddlers....

• Get a jump start on 2007: practices start right after New Year's...
• We will be billeted by a host team from Sydney, so hotel costs will be low...only $2050 CAD including transportation and accomodation;

• Only take 6 days of your precious holidays: Departure Saturday, March 31st, from Seattle, return Tuesday, April 10th;

• There will be 200m & 500m races and, maybe even 1000m races, all on the same weekend!

• Dryland practices start in late October: return to your "home" team fit and well prepared for the 2007 season!

• Paddlers of all abilities are welcome: this trip is not to be confused with the World Championships to be held in Sydney in September '07.

For more details, contact Paul Boileau before October 13th, 2006 at my email: [email protected], or by phone: (604) 340-3553 [/list][/list][/list][/list][/list]

A little update on the Australia trip:

Thanks to all who have written and called in the past 2 weeks. The response to date has been phenomenal, with over 35 people expressing interest in this excellent adventure so far. Responses have come from all over the Lower Mainland!

* There is still plenty of room on the team: we may consider sending a 2nd squad if interest warrants. This would also allow us to enter a more competitive team and a more social one.

* There will be an information and Q&A session at our 1st team meeting, in less than 2 weeks. For those who confirm their participation on the team (with a deposit), we will be creating committees and planning a training & practice program.

* Please act quickly to contact me if you wish to attend this first team meeting by either sending me an email at: [email protected] or by calling me at (604) 340-3553.

To all those who are coming: we look forward to meeting you and getting started on our dragonboat trip of a lifetime!

Hello & Happy Thanksgiving to all!
 
As promised, the information session is upon us for the team that will be going to Sydney, Australia next spring to participate in the Australian National Championships.
 
Over the course of the past 3 weeks, I have received more than 45 inquiries related to the trip. Now is the time to gather everyone so I can present my ideas and take your questions, and get started with our voyage Down Under! To all Managers and Captains on Dragonboatwest.net, please feel free to pass along this information to paddlers on your team. I expect all paddlers to be back to their home team as of April 11th, in plenty of time for Alcan.

Everyone is welcome at Sunday's session. It is not too late to jump on board!

The meeting will be comprised of 3 parts, as follows:
 
Part 1. 6:00 p.m. to 6:30: Trip presentation. This will cover the general plan for the trip. There will be an outline of the team's approach, goals, organization, expectations, and next steps.
 
Part 2. 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Q&A Session. There's no guarantee to have all the answers, since some of them will only come from us as a team after we get started, but I promise to do my best!!
 
Part 3. The first team meeting will follow the Q&A session and a 15-minute break. This meeting will be limited to those who have put down their deposit to join the team (more on this later on). Each team member will each be asked to participate in at least one committee and get started on our training plans, financial organization, etc.
 
Here is some general information you may wish to consider prior to the meeting:
 
* there will be a dryland training program starting shortly after you join the team. All paddlers will be expected to follow a fitness and a dietary program (created by your fellow teammates) up to and including the regatta.
 
* we will start on-water practices immediately following the New Year. There will be 2-3 practices per week and several paddling clinics. We want our paddlers, (of all ages) to be in the best paddling condition and ability of their lives by the time we hit Sydney! Your 2007 paddling season is guaranteed to start off strong!
 
* team members will be expected to play an active role in the preparation and organization of the trip. This is not a project for people who want to sit back and let others do the ground work. Each and every member will be expected to play a working role. Besides, we're pretty sure you'll get more out of your experience that way!!
 
* The financial risk and burden of this kind of group venture is not without its hazards. As such, if you wish to reserve your spot on the team, please come prepared to make a $300.00 deposit at the end of the information session. The first 25 people who make their deposits will be guaranteed a spot on the team. I will spend considerable time at the information session explaining the budgeting and financial aspects of the trip. But please remember, if there are 25 people who beat you to the bar, you risk crying in your Fosters!
 
* The location for practices has been a keen point of interest for many of you. I have received replies from the entire Lower Mainland: from North Vancouver, to White Rock, from Chilliwack, to Richmond to Vancouver. The best location for our practices is a difficult question. We will all need to be flexible if we want it to work! We need to consider travel time, access, cost and availability. For these reasons, I have made a tentative choice to locate some on-water practices at Fort Langley. It is central to all areas of the Lower Mainland, it is free of almost all charges for mooring and storage, and besides, it's a pretty town! However, this choice is not final. We, as a team, may and will consider alternate locations if we can prove it to be workable and cost effective. We will have approximately 2.5 months to make a final decision about this question.
 
* In order to check out the practicality of this location, I have decided to hold the information session as close as possible to the Fort Langley site. As such, we will hold the information session in the basement at the Fort Langley Community Hall on Sunday, October 15th, from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. Then, the first team meeting will continue in the same Hall, from 7:45-9:00 p.m.
 
Directions:
For anyone who has ever been to Fort Langley, you will have no trouble finding it. For others, the Community Hall is a big yellow mansion, a heritage landmark building in town, built in 1931. Follow the road signs to Fort Langley. The Community Hall is located on the left (west) side of Glover Road (the main road into Fort Langley). Allow 45 minutes for the drive from downtown Vancouver. If, due to transportation reasons, you're worried about making it on Sunday, please email me before this Friday. I will be happy to put you in touch with others in your area that are coming so you can carpool together. We may also be willing to pick you up at the Skytrain station in Surrey. If you have questions about how to get there, you may email me at [email protected]. But please, if you have any questions about the trip itself, save them for Sunday, or I'll have no time to prepare my presentation! :-)
 
To judge based on the enthusiasm many of you have expressed, I am expecting close to an entire contingent to reserve their places on Sunday. So, if you are serious about coming, the time is now to make your decision. Once we have 25 deposits, you'll be put on our waiting list. If, at some later point, we collect more than 35 deposits, we may consider sending 2 teams.
 
Hope to see you Sunday!
 
Sincerely,
 
 
 
Paul Boileau.

Hi everyone,

Thanks to the 36 people who came out on Sunday night to attend the information session.

For those of you who came and stayed: you know already that WE'RE GOING TO AUSTRALIA!!!![/

That's right: 27 non-refundable dues were collected on Sunday night. We have split into 9 Committees and our exciting journey to Syndey is underway.

One never knows what to expect when organizing a trip of this magnitude, but we made it and I know we'll have fun!!

To those of you who missed the boat, we are still accepting 5 spares (priority reserved by cheque in escrow). If we collect at least 15 more cheques in the next 2 weeks, we will consider sending 2 teams.

So, before you miss your chance again, I have two things to say:
1. Don't wait anymore, get off your tush and get us your dues so you can be part of the fun.
2. Attach your tuques: Canada is soon to meet Australia in round 1.

Cheers,


Paul.

I have had 4 more sign ups as spares or for a 2nd team. We are now over 30.

We are getting dangerously close to launching a 2nd team...

Just saw this and am very interested. Please let me know what I need to do to be involved.
Sandi

Hi Sandi,

Thanks for your email. Right now we are actively building a spares list for the trip. If we get enough spares, we will go to Australia with two teams.

Please call me at (604) 340-3553 in the evening of Monday, Oct 30th and I'll be happy to provide the date, time and location of our next Team meeting (probably Nov 1st).

Cheers,


Paul.

Hello to all,

Our next Team Meeting will be held Wednesday, November 1st:

- at 7 p.m. in the Fort Langley Community Hall for Team members and
- at 8 p.m. for potential spares or for those who would like to form a 2nd team.

If you would like to attend this meeting and you are not already a Team member, please call me at (604) 340-3553 or email me at [email protected] PRIOR to attending the meeting.

Cheers and see you Wednesday!


Paul.

WE NEED GUYS!!! That doesn't sound right. 

The Australian team male members are extending an invitation to those fellow dragon boat brothers to come out as we strive for a second mixed team with 12 or more male paddlers.  Much better.

Digger   

Hi folks,

UPDATE:
Here's some exciting news about the Team headed to the Australian National Championships at Easter 2007.

1. The organizing Committee of the Nationals has decided for the first time ever to add a third day of club racing. The race schedule will thus look like this:
Friday, April 6th, 2007: 1000m club races
Saturday, April 7th: 500m club races
Sunday, April 8th: 250m club races

Three days: three race lengths!

2. There has never been a Canadian team participate in the Australian National Dragonboat Championships before! We'll be the first ever!

3. And there's more: there is now a better chance than ever to enter not one, but two Canadian teams! Race organizers will allow us to rotate some folks between a mixed & a women's team rosters. This will allow us to go over with less than the 45 people we thought necessary to enter two full teams.

Therefore, I am happy to announce to those who still wants to join us: you will be guaranteed full Team membership (until we reach 45), provided of course the financial, practice and Committee participation requirements are still met! Voluntary on-water practices and a dryland training programme are now underway, with full on-water practices starting in December...

Contact me at the co-ordinates below if you have any questions or would like to know more.

Paddles up! :o

Sincerely,


Paul Boileau
Tel: (604) 340-3553
Email: [email protected]

The next Team meeting will be held on Thursday, November 16th at 7 p.m. at the Fort Langley Community Hall.

There is already one full team with spares, but please be invited to join us at the meeting if you want to know more about the trip: due to the number of races, you will be guaranteed to race every day!

Sincerely,


Paul Boileau (604) 340-3553

 Just wanted to say train hard & good luck people !

 You realize in order to do well you need to be pretty much as good as a team that went to the worlds this yr .The ozzie teams are very very good and no slouches . You will have to race the Sloths,Brisbane and other top ozzie teams .It will be like taking on teams like False Creek ,so don't get your hopes too high of a top 3 placement as those teams have alot of world racing and international level experience and are fast .

 If you are going just have fun and don't go with huge expectations but do it give it your best shot

 again good luck .......

agreed...  not to pour more rain on your parade, but one of my friiends in sydney, his team is racing too.  they were qualified for the CCWC in TO, but didn't go due to funding. 

for everyone going, best of luck to you!  enjoy the weather!

Hi again folks,

Welcome to new members on Team Go Australia! We picked up four more paddlers at our last meeting! Three days of paddling different lengths certainly has raised interest!

As Team members know by now, we've purchased more than half of our plane tickets already for the second leg of the trip: we'll make a pit-stop in Honolulu along the way to Sydney. A few days on the beach to reflect on the trip...

To those that couldn't attend our last meeting: it was decided to keep open Team membership to newcomers until December 31st! We have enough paddlers to field two teams, but with our current numbers, several people would paddle on the women's and the mixed team, so please feel welcome those who want to jump on board.

The next Team meeting will be held at the Fort Langley Community Hall on Wednesday, November 29th at 7 p.m. One of our Team members is from Burnaby, and says that the drive is 30 minutes from his place.

We are also holding open practices every Sunday.

Cheers,


Paul.

Hello,

To those who were interested in joining the team: please be advised that our Team meeting scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, November 29th has been POSTPONED.

It has been rescheduled to be held on Sunday, December 10th at 7 p.m. at the Fort Langley Community Hall.

Sorry for any inconvenience, sincerely,


Paul Boileau.

Hello again,

We held our fourth Team meeting yesterday: and the news keeps getting better.

We have settled on 3 practice days per week: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays starting on January 2nd. In order to accomodate Team members living all over the Lower Mainland, members will be required to attend 2/3 weekly practices.

We will hold one weekday practice at False Creek (for downtowners), one weekday practice at Cultus Lake (for the Valley folks) and a mandatory Saturday practice at Fort Langley (the compromise practice).

The flights are coming in much lower than we anticipated: around $1375 CAD return, all taxes included!! That's right, that includes a stopover in Honolulu! 8))

We are still accepting new members (until December 31st) to join either the women's or mixed teams. There will be two paddling clinics for all Team members over the holidays, so HURRY!!

Merry Christmas everyone,


Paul.

Hi folks,

Tickets for almost the entire team have now been purchased for the 2nd leg of our trip. One full team, spares and our coach are on their way!

Flexible departure dates opened up a window to lower travel costs below $1200 CAD return from Vancouver to Sydney!!! That's right, including taxes.

We have received a number of expressions of interest in the past few days. Please contact me in the next 2 weeks if you are seriously interested in learning more. I will hold one more information session before the New Year.

Sincerely,


Paul.

Hello Fellow Dragon Boaters,

    Talking with Paul, I know we both want to put a competitive Dragon Boat Team on the water in Sidney.  We are in need of a few more guys (and girls) for this to happen.  It should be a lot of fun so if your interested I encourage you to come out and join. 

DiggerPig.

The next paddling clinic will be held on Thursday, December 28th from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Walnut Grove Community Centre at 8889 Walnut Grove Drive in Langley (close to the 200th Exit off Highway #1).

After the clinic, I will be holding a short information session for those interested in joining the Team. There will also be information regarding a special course for newcomers to the sport.

Call me if you have any questions at (604) 340-3553.

Happy New Year,


Paul.

OK competitive Dragon Boaters (aren't we all competitive?)

The Fraser Valley Dragon Boat Club team going to Australia hits the water this week - Jan 2, 2007 is the first practice - burr!  :pray:

We now have 7 guys confirmed for the mixed competitive with two more guys indicating their interest.  With the cost of the trip only $1200 CAD we are really pushing for more of our fellow male (especially) and female paddlers to come out and take advantage of this trip.  Anyone can paddle in the great events put on throughout BC and Northern USA - but a trip to Australia (at this cost) may only come around every 3-5 years.  I know the club national teams are going later in the year but for us rec competitive (A or B divisions) paddlers this gives us the opprotunity that is not available to paddler that do not paddle on a teams like FCRCC or Gorging or Roli , etc ...

I know money can be a huge factor but with the cost of $1200 to get there, the price of hotel in Honolulu 2 days, and food it's do-able.  The good thing is once we get to Australia we're being billeted by fellow paddlers for our stay there.

There is my sales pitch.  Thanks for your time

Digger Pig 
 

Hello

Are you still looking for Paddlers?

Sway

January 2nd, 2007

To Sway and other paddlers out there:

YES, we are still accepting new paddlers, especially guys. Practices are starting this week and IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO JOIN US. We are fielding a mixed team and a women's team, but we need more guys! To coaches and managers on dboatwest: you will have a fully fit paddler in plenty of time for the regular season. The team will disband after Sydney (as of April 8th), and we'll all go back to our home teams.

Please, if you're sitting on the fence, don't wait any longer: call Paul at (604) 340-3553 and we'll get you going asap.

Happy New Year.

Hi folks,

Thanks for all your calls about joining Team Australia.

Practice starts tomorrow at 10 a.m., followed by a Team Meeting at 12:30 p.m.

If any more newcomers wish to attend, please call Paul at (604) 340-3553.

Cheers!

Someone PM me the other day and in the message asked me why go with only 7 guys confirmed ... ?

My answer - we hope to get the other 5 (or more) paddlers within the next few weeks.  Again $1200 there and back is nothing.  If a major sponsor comes aboard (currently in talks) who knows?

 but real answer to this question ...

Going on a 14 day trip that will take you to Honolulu for 2-3 days and then Australia for 8-11 days would be a cool vacation! Doing it all for $1200 airfare is awesome!

BUT

Going to Honolulu for 2-3 days and doing a mid-night practice (please no sharks!),

Going to Australia and billeting/meeting people that are as passionate about dragon boating as we are (Australian Nationals),

Paddling as an invited team from Western Canada and going out to just enjoy the experience (OK I want win as much as anyone),

= PRICELESS!

Hope that answers some questions. 

Digger  :twisted:

Dunno what happened these past few days, but the call for guys has hit paydirt: 7 have called or emailed me to indicate their interest in coming out to practice either Thursday or Saturday!

We have 8 already on the mixed team, so things are looking better for the mixed team. The women's master's Team is already full.

Practices will take place tomorrow in Vancouver and Saturday in Fort Langley.

Cheers,


Paul: (604) 340-3553, or [email protected]

Calling a steersman & drummer for the Auzzie Nationals!!!

Our current steersman has had some personal issues that will prevent him coming along to Sydney for our trip. If there is anyone out there: call me asap: the first one to confirm will be welcomed on board.

We are also in need of a drummer.

We have 10 guys now, so there's still 2 spots left for that too....give a break to the women who would otherwise paddle on both teams, will you?

The Team's fundraising has bettered our expectations...

Paul (604) 340-3553

G'day folks,

Thanks to everyone for the great response to the call for steerspeople!

I have the official invitation & registration forms in front of me. We still have 2-3 spots for men and then one or two for women & senior women to fill...we're almost there!!

The next two-team practice will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. Come on out! Be part of the first Canadian teams ever to participate at the Aussie Nationals!!!

Join us for group diving courses for the reef, a midnight practice at our stopover in Honolulu, and the chance to jump on the party plane of more than 30 dragonboaters from Honolulu to Sydney!! We can tailor-make your itinerary! At a total cost of $1500 CAD return (including Coaching, regatta fees, travel), you will NEVER find better!

And if you know any drummers...."steer" them my way, will ya?

Cheers,


Paul (604) 340-3553

We're gearing up for the final sprint to Honolulu & Sydney: big thanks to everyone in the Lower Mainland dragonboat community for their encouragement, advice & assistance over the course of the past 4 months. We really appreciate the kind words!

The women's masters team is now full, with 21 paddlers!

The mixed team is still short of 2 or 3 guys and one woman under 40! Last call to voyage Down Under!

Cheers,


Paul.

Apologies to those interested in Sydney earlier in the year but who didn't come along due: cost for the trip. Now that things are finalized, we seem to have overestimated our net expenses. Here's some notes for those of you who are planning similar ventures:

The total cost was not in the $ 2050 CAD range estimated back in October, nor even the $1500 CAD quoted earlier this year. Net costs turned out to be closer to $1395 CAD p.p. including coaching, return flights to Honolulu & Sydney, sublimated team jerseys, hotels (ok, cheap ones except for 2 nights of luxury), regatta fees & party tickets and boat and equipment rental here & in Hawaii. The dragonboat communities here in the Valley, great teamwork & team spirit combined with superb Fundraising efforts were instrumental for the Team achieving such a cost-effective journey.

All costs are approximate, p.p., assuming a March 30th departure & return April 8th:
Flights averaged at just $1185 (return, all in) + coaching: $100 + jerseys: $70 + boat transportation & rental: $25 + miscellaneous: $20 + hotels: $345 = $1745

Monies raised through Fun-raising (!) & Sponsorship: $ 350 p.p.

Net cost: $ 1395 (this does not include added expenses for most of the Team who are staying longer in Sydney, hopping over to New Zealand or Fiji, diving up on the Great Barrier Reef or spending a few extra days on Waikiki).

It takes a lot of faith on behalf of the Team to wade through the doubts and worries at the start, but when you get there, it's very satisfying and reminds us of the reasons we joined this sport. Our two teams will fly to Honolulu on various days throughout the week of March 26th. Everything is in place now: hotel & plane reservations, practices, race plan and PARTIES ON THE BEACH!

Wish us luck!!! And best of luck to anyone who's been pondering that once-in-a-lifetime dragonboat trip!

Cheers,


Paul

Hey Paul & Karmen...

I wish you and the team lots of fun... and lots of luck!

It's been great chatting with you about your plan development and following your progress.  Glad that you have a few people on your team that I know... and whom I have watched develop.

Watch out for those Chinese-Scottish-Australians.  I hear they are even more crazy than the Chinese-Scottish Canadians.

Cheers, Toddish