Nine Yards (26 Apr '11)

An important event on the Gauteng Canoe Union calendar, the Gauteng Surf Ski champs, is scheduled to take place on Thursday 5th May 2011. Being the inaugural event and the first of its kind, it is rumoured that Pete O’ Connor has imported wave-making equipment. So for all of you non-surfski paddlers, either get a tight splashy or buy a ski!
All the necessary permissions have been obtained to put the wave-making machine into place at the bottom of the dam. After long and hard negotiation, consent has been obtained from Parks, Environment, the ERA, the Sailors as well as the Boy Scouts to send repeated waves from the bottom of the dam to the Dam Wall. The organisers have informed me that they are looking for sponsors to fly up Brandon and Grant vd Walt, Hank McGregor and with sufficient financial support, some of the Mocke family.

Golf Day- To date we have had a mediocre response to the golf day. We are in need of your support. Another 14 to 15 four balls will make all the difference. Although we have more sponsors of holes and prizes this year compared with last year, to make the day a success we are looking for another 6 to 7 sponsors of holes at R2,200 per hole and another 6 or so donors of prizes. The day is to be held at Jackals Creek near Honeydew on Friday the 20th May 2011. Your contact is Janet Stothard on 0828779996 and This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Please remember that we are raising money to support young canoeists who will be attending World Cup events in August / September and it means a lot to them to get our support.

SA Schools Sprints- Due to all the public holidays, this letter has gone out later than I would have wanted it.  Well done to our juniors. There was a record 320 young canoeists taking part. See results from Bill van der Walt on www.dabulamanzi.co.za.

Admin- In respect of our electricity account, John Barrow informs me that we are at the last hurdle and we hope to have finalised our status soon. Thanks to John who has done this voluntarily.

Our lease remains unresolved. However, we have a task team of Jason Howell and Hulme Scholes who will be making a proposal to Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) in respect of the rental amount. This, according to the representative of the JPC, was the only outstanding issue that needed to be resolved.

In respect of the Bar, Eldon Slabbert who has stocked our bar for a number of years has offered to run the bar and we will be agreeing on a pricing formula with him to remunerate him for his services. It is nevertheless important that those of you on the bar duty list fulfil your obligations to the club in respect of doing duty.

We now have a new and sturdy club trailer, the use thereof will be managed by Bill and the driver responsible for the trailer will need to sign a document outlining what his or her responsibilities are.

I thank you.

James Crichton