Dragon boating looking for a home in Fort St. John

Photo Courtesy of the Kitimat Dragon Boat Associat

A dragon boat paddles in MinetteBay in Kitimat. Former Kitimat resident Karla Stafford is looking to bring dragon boating to Fort St. John.

Photo Courtesy of the Kitimat Dragon Boat Associat

A dragon boat paddles in MinetteBay in Kitimat. Former Kitimat resident Karla Stafford is looking to bring dragon boating to Fort St. John.

If one woman has her way, you'll be seeing dragons on Peace Region waterways. Dragon boats, that is.

Karla Stafford is in the throes of launching the Peace Region Dragon Boat Society in Fort St. John.

Stafford recently moved to town from Kitimat where she was involved in dragon boating for six years, both competitively and recreationally.

She said dragon boating brings people together that wouldn’t normally meet otherwise.

“There’s a connection between yourself and the water and pulling the water around the boat, everyone paddling at the same time. It’s just exhilarating.”

There are 20 paddlers on a team, a drummer and a steers person and Stafford already has close to 30 locals interested.

However, they still need a boat. The dragon boat Stafford is looking at is around 40 feet long, made of fiberglass and would cost between $12,000 and $16,000.

If they get funding fairly soon, the Peace Region Dragon Boat Society could be in the water next year.

Stafford called dragon boating a true team sport.

“Everyone on the boat is important, there’s no star on the boat, everyone has a role to play.”

There are 10 benches with two paddlers to a bench, the first three benches are the stroke leads who set the pace of the boat and keep time. The drummer takes the timing off the front strokers and use a drum or their voice to project the timing.

The middle part of the boat is called the engine room, and it’s usually where the more powerful paddlers sit. The back of the boat is for finesse or finish-it-off paddlers.

“They have a very tough job because the water is moving so fast from the pull of the paddlers in front of them, they to be strong enough to find that deep water and be able to push that boat forward,” said Stafford, who usually sits in row four.

Right now Stafford is trying to find a suitable launch site for the boat, she’s looking at the Peace River and Charlie Lake.

“The tricky part is that there’s no real public dock…it’s probably going to come down to that boat’s going to have to be pulled out every time we go and put in dry storage,” she said.

“Those are some of the challenges we face, but to me they’re small potatoes, those things will sort themselves out.”

For more information, contact Stafford at 250-787-0728 or fsjdragon@gmail.com.

Comments

Be the first to comment!