Hi guys,
Hope everyone is enjoying the somewhat off-season!
This is a message for paddlers in the Victoria area that may be looking for a new boat next season. Paddlers of the Fifth Moon may have a couple spots open as we're looking to really boost our roster this year to ensure that people have flexibility should non-understanding relatives plan a wedding on a festival weekend or something like that.
We're in the process of working out numbers, we don't usually have huge turnarounds each year (this upcoming year is our 9th year) which should tell you we have a pretty happy and stable crew!
We're a rec crew (we do reasonably well within the rec division) focussed on working hard in the boat but enjoying dragon boating also and are looking for fit, reliable (we practice 2X a week, attendance and commitment are important!), enthusiastic paddlers or those with no experience at all, the most important things are to be a great fit for the crew, have a great sense of humor and no attitude, and work hard in the boat. Oh, and you have to show up to the pubs after practice on Tuesdays or risk being labelled "most antisocial paddler of the month" which comes with it's own penalties!
It would be great to get a few more guys to balance the roster but it's hard to say no to keen female paddlers so we can always see if we can work things out! Experience is not necessarily required, technique can be taught, attitude can't!
We will definitely be doing the Gorge Sprints, Nanaimo, Vancouver Island (Gorge) and Victoria as a team but also the Navy Chicken Run, Richmond and Portland, either as Fifth Moon or a mixed boat.
Other activities available to the team (and anyone else interested!) are outriggering, run clinics starting up in Jan towards the TC10K and North Olympic Discovery Half marathon and various other hiking, biking etc adventures. All-around fitness and injury prevention are a focus on the team and most of us have a few cross-training activities on the go.
And we paddle both sides! No one-sided training so if you're feeling a little overdeveloped on one side, we can balance you out! I'm a firm believer in training both sides equally, less injury risk and more flexibility when it comes to seating the boat.
We start at the start of March and will practice officially until the Victoria festival in August with practices after that for Portland.
Anyway, if it sounds like something you're interested in and you'd be a good fit, shoot me an e-mail at
[email protected] and I'll keep you posted on numbers. If you'd like to meet some of the crew before then, we're out in the outriggers at the moment and the run group is still going, you're more than welcome to join us!
Katy
