European Road Trip with Oscar Chalupsky
Standing shivering with the temperature hovering in the high single digits and the wind chill factor dropping it to very close to freezing, I look on and wonder if Oscar’s enthusiasm for all things paddling ever wavers. The answer is clear . . . and is reflected in the bright young faces of the youngsters from Rhoose Lifesaving Club just outside Cardiff in Wales.
I have accompanied Oscar for almost a week as we have toured the UK setting up Epic Europe’s dealer network. I have learned just how OC gets so much work done . . . his HTC PDA is constantly buzzing and beeping as streams of SMS’s, e-mails and phone calls pour in. Early in the trip I decided that for my own safety I would need to learn how to use the HTC, so I could act as his secretary and safeguard my life – as otherwise he calmly replies to everyone whilst driving on highway or country lane. Pretty scary stuff until you realise that this too is one of his many competencies.
Michael Childs, owner of Childsplay Surf Gear, who supplies all things related to surf lifesaving in Porthcawl near Cardiff, had invited us down to Wales and had arranged for OC to give paddling classes to two of the local surf lifesaving clubs. We wended out way to Wales over the Bristol Channel after meeting dealers in Plymouth and Exeter. Finding our way to Porthcawl was a doddle using Oscar’s Garmin Nüvi 370 GPS . . . but Oscar has to be the only person in the world who is so competitive that he actually tries hard to humiliate his GPS by beating its prediction of his ETA.
Michael and his wife Jeanette very kindly hosted us for our first night in Wales. We did a quick drive around and saw a harbour completely empty and with all boats looking ungainly and a tad embarrassed about sitting on the mudflats.
It turns out that this area has the 2nd largest tidal difference in the world – well over 30ft during spring tides. It is this tidal difference and the shape of the Bristol Channel that causes the well known Severn Bore that happens just up the coast from here.
After dinner we headed to the Rose and Crown for a few beverages with the local crew, including some of the top Ironmen in the UK. There was much banter and Oscar again proved beyond a doubt his talents as a raconteur. If we didn’t have an early start and the fact that Michael was our lift, who knows how late the evening could have been.
Only Einstein’s Theory of Relativity could have explained how the morning could have come around so quickly, and when it did, it was cold, crisp and a bracing wind was blowing with some vengeance. We headed down to the Cardiff Bay Water Activity Centre, which was a hive of activity, with paddlers and rowers swarming all over the place.
I had conveniently “forgotten” all my paddling kit in Dubai, but even in the cold, Oscar was snug in his new gear from Peak UK. The crew of kids assembled around Oscar and he put them through their paces on a paddling erg after some theory before heading down to the River Taff for the practical, and cold, portion of the lesson. There was a mixed bag of ICF kayaks and ILS spec skis. Oscar coincidentally found himself on a “Hummel” – turns out is was an “Oscar” ski which he had designed 30 years earlier. He had at the time been sponsored by a clothing company called “Hummel” and when the ski was exported from RSA, one of his stickers was left on the side – and this is what it became known as in Britain.
The class all paddled up the Taff under Oscar’s direction to just past the Millenium stadium and back. Even with a few swims in the icy water, everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. This included Gareth Williams, a Welsh International rugby player, who accompanied the British Lions on their 1980 tour of RSA. And in yet another twist, it turns out that Oscar actually played the curtain raiser to one of Gareth’s games in Durban as a member of the Natal Schools team.
After the session, accompanied by another Gareth, we headed deeper into Wales heading for Rhoose. As to be expected from Oscar, everything he does is better than anyone else on the planet, and so he was particularly chuffed when we ended up having lunch at one of the world’s oldest pubs – the Blue Anchor Inn – established in 1380.
Gareth introduced us to Dave Cooper, the Rhoose Lifesaving Club’s Captain. Dave not only looks after the club, he also has his own construction company and just to make sure that he doesn’t get bored, he also doubles as the local undertaker.
When you have access to such a grand old establishment, you have to make the most of it, so we had dinner and a few Guinness’s with some of the established gentry of the Rhoose SLC. Oscar’s knowledge of all things water continued to amaze me as he and the gang rehashed story after story related to this event or that person. Also on hand was Owen Phillips, captain of the Cardiff Bay SLC.
Owen, together with Michael Childs, is putting on a race from Porthcawl to Barry – about 30kms – downwind with a pushing tide that should result in some very exciting racing and fast times. It is under the auspices of the GBLA and will be held on the 31st May – book this into your diaries now. I was saved by the punctuality of our taxi driver, Wendy, who came to collect us at 11pm on the dot, or else very little sleep would have been had.
We did two sessions in the morning at an old quarry that is now known as Cosmeston Lakes Country Park. At each session, we had around 25 kids, parents and “Wed”, who trains the kids in surfski paddling from Rhoose, as well as many birdwatchers who found our group far more interesting than the swans and other birds that they had come to see.
The weather was bitter and Oscar was again grateful for his Peak clothing. But the Welsh are a hardy breed and one of the kids was in a short wetsuit and barefoot – and I never heard one complaint. Virtually every person came and thanked Oscar after his 2½ hours in the water. A cracking success if I have ever seen one.
We are now headed back to London, so Oscar can fly out tomorrow to see some distributors on the continent. He then heads for Hamburg to collect some kayaks and to drive them all the way back to Stoneleigh Park, Coventry for the CanoExpo show from the 16th – 17th February. If you are in the area, pop up and have a look around – it is sure to be a Canoe fest of Epic proportions.
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