Gung Haggis dragon boat team practices race turns in bay beside David Lam Park.


Here's a picture of Gung Haggis dragon boat team racing in the Rec C medal Final at the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival in June. - photo Ray Shum

It sure is nice not to have the water coliform bacteria warning for the East Basin of False Creek.  We can take so much for granted in our beautiful city, that unfortunately occasionally lets raw sewage empty into False Creek.  It's a wonder that False Creek has been the model for new city development in Dubai.

But paddling out by David Lam Park on Sunday was really beautiful.  There were people walking on the sea walk.  And when are dragon boats arrived, we provided a spectator sport for them, as we practiced some race starts, then created a mini-Guts & Glory "twice around an oval" race, as we started from one end of the bay to the other.

We had taken out two Gemini boats on Sunday, roughly Vernon roster vs non-Vernon roster with 12 paddlers in each boat.  We paddled straight to Cambie Street Bridge where we traded one paddler to even out the boats, then paddled a mini race along the North Shoreline of False Creek to David Lam Park.  It was good to see the competitiveness come out between the two boats as they paddled side by side.

Highlight of the practice was doing a mini-Guts & Glory Race. probably about 700 to 800m total, at the David Lam Park Bay....  in anticipation of the 1000m mini G&G in Vernon.
We started beside the sculpture, then raced towards the orange marker for the first turn, back around the sculpture, and a final turn at the orange marker, then back to the sculpture to complete the race.

First boat time 5:04 
second boat time 5:19
LOTS of FUN!!!!

PRACTICE TONIGHT!!!

6pm practice tonight...
It's going to be another beautiful sunny evening...

Expect another straight-ahead paddle out to David Lam Park where we will do some technique work.

It's also Stuart Mackinnon's birthday eve...
So Stuart's choice for Gung Haggis foodie club after practice.

Gung Haggis dragon boat team braved the high coliform count in False Creek East Basin and paddled anyways.

Today's dragon boat practice was different.  There was an nervous tension about paddling on the water this weekend.

The beaches are closed when the coliform bacteria count is 200 per 100mls of water.  The coliform bacteria count for False Creek East basin hit 2900 for 100 mls of water.  This is insanely high.  According to the June 30th report, the count for Sunset Beach was 118, Kitsilano Beach 59 and Locarno was 25. 2900 is extreme!  Apparently, the central and western basins of False Creek hit coliform counts of 500 and 300 respectively. 

Last Wednesday evening, we saw people swimming in the water off the houseboats at Granville Island.  Personally, I wouldn't swim in False Creek.  The water is pretty stagnant especially in the East Basin.

The Vancouver Coastal Heath Authority posted a warning:



The Vancouver Sun and other media have been posting stories about the high coliform bacteria count in the East Basin of False Creek.

False Creek coliform count soars

5 Jul 2008 ... The online source for Vancouver news, business, sports, entertainment, classified ads, horoscopes, weather, local news and more. www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=a82d460d-ec35-4f95-b49f-6c3c6d3ae968 - 71k -

False Creek sewage leak may take several days to clear up

6 Jul 2008 ... Municipal engineers have found the source of contamination that has spiked coliformFalse Creek, but it may be several  www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/07/06/bc-false-creek-sewer-blocked.html -

There was a Water Safety notice posted on the Clubhouse + the dock entrance. 
The warning was for recreational activity in the EAST BASIN - East of Cambie Bridge.  West and Central Basin were fine.

Dragon Zone sent out a warning to dragon boat members that "if you do still choose to practice please exercise caution. Avoid splashing. Wear sunglasses or other protective eyewear to avoid water coming in contact with your eyes. Wash all exposed skin immediately after paddling."

Some people didn't want to do go out on the water... But we all discussed the coliform issue.

We had an ex-Van City engineering dept guy who didn't paddle... but a recently retired GVRD Annacis Island Sewage Plant Manager and a son of retired chief medical officer who did.  We expected these veteran paddlers to know what the numbers really meant. 

We discussed the water situation for 10 minutes.  We recognized that the water situation has had coliform count warnings in past years, and that this was different because it appeared that 3 sewage pipes were involved.  But we figured that as long as the water stayed out of the boat, out of our eyes and mouths... and we stayed out of the water - we would be fine.

The water did seem cleaner and clearer than when red tide was active, but this is NOT an indicator of coliform account. 

We did a 45 minute session on mental training (eg. imagery, cue words, positive thinking, mental preparation, team cohesion).

We then went for a 70 minute session of paddling to Burrard Bridge and back.

6 paddlers chose not to paddle.
12 paddlers chose to paddle - including 2 first timers, 1 second timer,  1 6th timer.
other paddlers chose to take the Sunday off...

We minimized splashing in the East Basin, and focused on long slow distance paddling.  Coliform count is expected to diminish early next week.

We all went for gelato after practice at Mario's Gelato.  I brought out my Wet Wipes from my car, and passed them around for everybody.

Cheers, Todd