P.O. Box 52055 V&A Waterfront 8002 Cape Town wcdba@dragonboat.org.za

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PADDLES UP The WCDBA Newsletter

February 2006 WELCOME TO THE THANK YOU EDITION. BEFORE YOU FORGET: SUMMER LEAGUE RACE ON SATURDAY 11th FEB AT 14h00 What a week… First we all had a good laugh at the scribe of this newsletter, as her fear of heights was once again pushed to the limits. When the new boats were on their mooring we all breathed a sigh of relief.. Then came all the hard work of negotiations, planning and more planning (and a whole lot of translation). The final result was a day of eye-catching costumes spectacular ceremonies and some positive news for the sport. So this very short edition is dedicated to all the WCBDA paddlers who made an event like this possible. VINCENT LIN: the man behind the incredible generosity of the Taiwanese community. Thank you to Vincent, Henry and the local community that made this incredible day happen. PAM NEWBY: our intrepid chairperson who after a long day of speeches, helming and stowing of all the equipment still made sure that the photo's were on the website for all of you to see. GREG PEARCE: Our treasurer, who negotiated on our behalf for these boats, organized the transport and logistics for the boats. We are incredibly grateful for all the hard work you have done and still to come. FOUCHE CONRADIE: without whom the boats would still be sitting at a temple in Tableveiw. Thank you for your time, skills and making the cranes at I & J available to us. We are sorry you missed Sunday but the WCDBA thanks you. Western Cape Paddlers: To all of those who helped bring boats around from I & J, helped clean the boats and assisted with the moving of the boats on the day. Thank you for your support and for remembering that this is all done for you. And finally, to all the clubs who were there on the day, helping before / after and looking good in club colors. PADDLESNAPPERS DO IT AGAIN…. Congratulations Shane ... ! All paddlers who attended would have seen the news crew. We received 60 seconds on all three SABC channels. (English, Afrikaans and Xhosa News). The Cape Argus of Monday 6th February has a picture on page three of the two teams racing. We hope that we will be able to see ourselves in the community newspapers this week as well. Please send me any GOOD photographs of Sunday, as we will be submitting our choice of visuals. Credit will given to the photographer. MONEY The membership fees have remained the same with the clubs paying R200 per annum and R20 per senior per year. Juniors are also unchanged at R10 per year. Please remember that these must be paid. Our treasurer will be sending out more details but please be prepared.

Paddlers in - politics out Our goal is to grow the sport - with a minimum of politics. We aim to encourage co-operation between all people interested in the sport of Dragon Boat Racing.