On Photos and Remembering - jtinseoul (Thu 13 Aug 2015)

Deb, Sophie and Kris - Blackwattle Bay / Sydney (Jul 2004)

jtinseoul on Photos and Remembering:

the most important photos to take are of the people around us. They, surely, will be the ones we remember.

via I used to think the best photos were those taken in a documentary style.. by jtinseoul.

And it is so true. Thanks jtinseoul for the reminder.

Joanne and Jenny - Blackwattle Bay / Glebe (Sat 30 Mar 2002)

Joanne and Jenny - Blackwattle Bay / Glebe (Sat 30 Mar 2002)
Very early days for Dragons Abreast Sydney.

Flowers on the Water - Dragons Abreast Australia - CNY 2011 (Sun 13 Feb 2011)

Flowers on the Water - Dragons Abreast Australia - CNY 2011 (Sun 13 Feb 2011)

Flowers on the Water - Dragons Abreast Australia - CNY 2011 (Sun 13 Feb 2011)
Flowers on the Water - Dragons Abreast Australia - CNY 2011 (Sun 13 Feb 2011)
Flowers on the Water - Dragons Abreast Australia - CNY 2011 (Sun 13 Feb 2011)
A really moving Ceremony with close to 264 breast cancer survivors on the water from all over Australia. Was honoured to be asked to participate as part of the Illawarra Dragons Abreast Team who I steered. Jo steered the Brisbane Team. Thank You.

Dragons Abreast Festival 2010 - Sun 31 Oct 2010

June, Joanne, Jenny and Geeff - Chinese New Year 2002 - Darling Harbour (Sun 9 Feb 2002)
Today, Jo and I participated in the 3rd Annual Dragons Abreast Festival held at Darling Harbour. Jo coached and drummed the St George Hospital Gunner's, while I steered. Jo also drummed a team of mostly deaf paddlers called Winners and Grinners. This team had a few familiar faces from our 2010 Ord Marathon Adventure, namely Louise, Lynn, Jan, Gillian and John.

Jenny had most of her treatment at St George Hospital, so it was a really special day for us to be part of the great team from St George who did so much to help Jenny over so many years, including Jenny's Oncologist, Jodie (see photo below). St George have been part of the Hospital Challenge since its inception at Chinese New Year in February 2005 (see photo below). In that time they have always participated and had a lot of fun. Today for the first time they won a race, their qualifying heat, in the 3rd fastest qualifying time of 1m 18s. This put the Gunners into the Final, racing from Lane 2, which saw them take out 3rd place in a time of 1m 16s. Congratulations to everyone at St George, we hope to be part of your team next year.

I will get round to putting some of photos up from today. In the meantime ..

The above photo is from Chinese New Year 2002 at Darling Harbour which was Jenny and Joanne's first CNY and first Regatta at Darling Harbour. They are with our Tai Chai Instructors, June and Geoff Williams, who happened to be performing Tai Chi at Darling Harbour as part of the CNY Festival.

Greg, Jenny. Joanne and Jodi (Jodi and Greg were both Jenny and their Mother's Doctors at St George) - 1st Hospital Challenge - Chinese New Year 2005 - Darling Harbour (Sun 20 Feb 2005)
Geoff, Jodi, Greg and Joanne (Jodi and Greg were both Jenny and their Mother's Doctors at St George) - 2009 DAA National Regatta - Darling Harbour (Sun 25 Oct 2009)

The Climb - Jenny's Amazing Climb

The Climb - Jenny's Amazing Climb
The Climb - Jenny Petterson (Video)

Dragons Abreast Ausrtralia Seminar
Cancer Council Queensland
Tuesday 31st August, 2010

Dragons Abreast Sydney is not only just about paddling. They also have a craft group which Jenny and Joanne attended regularly. After Jenny’s passing, the Craft Group organised a beautiful scrap book album (see picasa) with contributions from the dragon boat community which included photos and memories. We have a copy (see picasa) of it here today if you would like to look at it in more detail at the end of the session.

We have put together a small video of the pages from the scrap book album with music from an inspiring and appropriate song titled “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus (lyrics and video).

As can be seen by our annual trip to the mountains, the climb can be taken quite literally. It can also be a metaphor for other journeys through life. It could be your paddling journey, it could be your journey with an illness, it could be the journey of Dragons Abreast Australia and its members.

Anyway, this video represents Jenny’s Climb and is a tribute to Jenny, the Dragon Boating Community and in particular Dragons Abreast Australia who provided the opportunities for Jenny's AMAZING CLIMB..

Full Capacity by Drew Ginn (23 May 2007)

Full Capacity by Drew Ginn (23 May 2007)

[..] It is amazing to put everything into a single stroke.

So when I refer to full capacity I know it can relate to fatigue but on this occasion it was about maximum force.

It was as if I was producing peak force every stroke and what becomes noticeable is when I cam off the boil just slightly.

The difference between sitting on 1.34 and 1.35 is so fine and yet full capacity is in reality maybe not sustainable.

So what I was playing with was going to full capacity and then staying aware of how I was producing that force.

Relaxation and breathing were key and speed of movement was critical.

Once I started to find I began working hard it was like being presented with a choice. A fork in the road, with one option being to muscle it and try to work harder and harder or the other was to relax into it and trust that by keeping the intention of speed, relaxation and by using a strong breathing rhythm.

Well a couple of times I went down the path to option one and a few times down the path to option two. The result was clear to sustain the output and ease of drive was actually possible with the later.

So stepping up to full capacity is one element in the equation to optimal performance, the other being the ability to sustain the intensity.

It was a great little test and I will keep in mind during our preparation for the Worlds this year.

Another Favourite Blog Post from Drew Ginn.

A nice follow on from the previous post - One Stroke (29 Apr 2008) by Drew.

Dragons Abreast Sydney (DAS) - Full Capacity - CNY 2005 - Feb 2005

Dragons Abreast Sydney (DAS) - Full Capacity - Woronora Regatta - Dec 2004

2010 Ord River Marathon - The Pilgrimage

Joanne and I paddled the 2010 Ord River Marathon on Sun 13 Jun 2010. Michelle asked me to write a little story about our experience, and it was published today in the Dragons Abreast Australia July 2010 Issue of In the Loop (pdf). Here it is ..

The Pilgrimage - In the Loop - July 2010 - Page 1 (read/picasa)
The above photo of Jenny is from our May 2001 Trip down the Ord River on the "Triple J" Tour Boat.

Also, in the same issue of In the Loop, a great story from the Mackay Paddlers of their 2010 Ord River Marathon experience ..

Another Perspective - In the Loop - July 2010 - Page 2 (read/picasa)