Come and join us for ‘The Coffee Run’. NAVMAT Dragons basic training session. We will sit you next to an experienced paddler, as the best way to learn dragon boating is to watch and mimic the experienced paddlers, relax and have fun. The journey of learning to paddle lasts a lifetime.
Where: Lotus Bay Yarralumla
When: Every Saturday morning – winter included as Navmat Dragons are a tough lot!
Time: 8.45am - until approximately 10.30am
Clothes: This is a water sport- you will get wet .Comfortable sports gear and and shoes are recommended. During winter you will need warmer ,water proof gear. As you progress in the sport you will know what clothes work for you.
In summer you will need a hat and good sun protection.
Bring: A water bottle and on Saturdays you will need coffee money. You may also need a towel and a change of clothes for the trip home.
What to expect: We will kit you out with a paddle and a PFD (Personal Floatation Device).
PFDs are required at all times for new paddlers.
Then fun begins with warm up exercises, an exercise challenge if there is one occurring at the time, and then everyone helps put the dragon boat onto the water. Once on the water, the coach will start with the safety drill followed by some basic instructions and some moderate paddling. At any time you are welcome to take a break. We paddle the dragon boats to the Museum for a coffee stop for about 20 minutes.
On the paddle back to shore we may have a race or two to get your heart rate up.
Once back on the land we will pull the boat in, do some warm down exercises, yell our battle cry (see below) and let you know when the next session is to be held .
Dragon Boating ACT (DBACT) allows new paddlers three free trial paddles with Navmat (or any other club) after which paddlers need to join both DBACT and a club (hopefully you will choose Navmat) to continue dragon boat paddling.
The membership costs will be explained to you when you are ready. Don’t fear- dragon boating is a relatively cheap sport!
NAVMAT Dragons has a battle cry which we yell at the end of a session. It is: Power! Speed! Succeed! NAVMAT Dragons!!