CFUW-Ottawa – Dragonboat Race Preparations
My wife is a member of this year’s entry into the Ottawa Dragonboat Festival weekend events and Wednesday was their last practice day on the water at the Rideau Canoe Club. Since the weather was beautiful and it is unlikely that I will be able to get very close to the actual boats on the day of the races (June 21 -23rd, 2013), I decided to head down to the docks of the canoe club and enjoy the weather, the activity and opportunity to take some relaxed photos of the CFUW-Ottawa group at their final practice session. (Online donations form)
 
After a short discussion and review of some seating arrangements, the group headed off into the open waters of Mooney’s Bay (Location). No one got wet during this practice session but, on the day of the races, I expect that more than one of the many participating boats will run afoul of bad steering or rough waters. The weather forecast looks good for the morning races but thundershowers are forecast for later in the day so the afternoon racers might encounter some swirling winds and choppy waters. I’m sure that all of the participants hope that they stay dry!
 
 
For today’s preparations, the participants spent an hour on the water working on timing and final tweaking of technique and making sure that instructions from the bow were fully audible and understood. In the hectic moments of actual race day, with numerous commands from various boats intermingling with plenty of splashing, there is always the possibility of some misunderstandings 🙂 but on this last day of preparations for the CFUW – Ottawa team everyone arrived back at the dock in good spirits.
Parking a dragon boat can sometimes be a bit tricky, but as video clip shows, it can be done :-).
Parking a dragon boat
About the festival:
Admission for spectators is FREE to the Tim Horton’s Dragon Boat Festival – Ottawa so the beach of Mooney’s Bay is guaranteed to be well-populated with spectators over the three days of the event. For anyone, who might tire of watching the on-water racing, the organizers have plenty of on-land activities to fill in any spaces in the on-water activities.
CFUW and the race day events (FRIDAY images) (SATURDAY images)
Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival Location
Awaiting the unwary. Paddlers beware 🙂
Thank you so much for the pictures and information.
Ron
Thank you for documenting all the fun we had and the great experience of working together as such a joyful team.
Fran Harding