The Moruya River dragon smiled upon us on Sunday 18 th September when Nature Coast Dragon Boat Club launched boats with fun and flair to help celebrate a novel written by paddler member Kaaren and to welcome her back in a boat after major surgery.
Nature Coast paddlers were joined by colleagues from Sussex Inlet River Dragons and Narooma Blue Water Dragons for demonstration races to showcase the sport to the non-paddlers attending. Decked out in the colours of the Riverfall and Riverplain boat teams featured in Kaaren’s story, the river echoed with the war cries of Yosh! And Yo! and much laughter and camaraderie.
The races included 200-metre races, 30 strokes then turn and race back, backwards for 5 strokes then 15 forward and a demonstration of drills such as paddle and tap. Mirroring the book, the boats were so evenly matched it was hard to say who ‘won’ overall. All paddlers received chocolate medals with images from the book cover, and stayed to enjoy morning tea and the opportunity to mingle and chat.
“The morning was simply fantastic,” said Kaaren. “I can’t thank everyone enough. The spirit of the paddlers was inspiring and I will treasure this memory.”
Several of the audience commented on how much they enjoyed watching the boats and were impressed by the fitness, coordination and strength required. We hope to sign a few of these up!
A breast cancer survivor, recently back to paddling after a recurrence involving spinal surgery, Kaaren completed the novel while recovering. Undercover Mage is book one in a fantasy with romance trilogy and features a grumpy river dragon, a spy mage on an undercover mission and a feisty heroine who is the captain of a boat team. Also a pink paddler, Kaaren is donating some of the proceeds from book sales to Dragons Abreast Australia and The McGrath Foundation.
For information about the author and the books visit: www.kaarensutcliffe.com.auwww.kaarensutcliffe.com.au
Books are also available from the Inspiring Publishing online bookshop at
https://www.inspiringbookshop.com/b/uc-mage
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