Sitting with 20-odd other women working together as one, paddles slicing through crisp waves in the Ladysmith Harbour, the sound of a caller’s voice chartering the course for each stroke – this is no ordinary day out on the water. This is dragonboating.
“Some days you’re looking back on the town and it’s sort of hazy, foggy but lush green because it’s just rained, and it’s quite different,” says Susan Erickson, co-founder of the Ladysmith Dragonboat team. “Some days it’s absolutely beautiful out there.”
The Ladysmith Dragonboat team was started last April by Erickson and breast cancer survivor Denise Pearson.
“Ladysmith didn’t have a dragonboat team. So a couple of us thought we would see if we could start one, and we got an overwhelming response,” Erickson said. “We were looking for one team and we got three teams.”
The group decided to purchase their own boat by fundraising in the community and utilizing membership fees.
Due to dwindling membership, there are currently two team groups in operation with women ranging in age from 30s to 70s.
“We’re doing well, but we’ve got space for a few more paddlers,” Erickson said. “It’s a twice-a-week commitment that not everybody’s willing to do.”
Group One of the team meets on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, while Group Two meets Thursday and Saturday mornings, with an extra outing Monday evenings. Membership fees now pay for insurance, spare equipment and two dragonboating coaches who come in and help the team work on their paddling and steering techniques once a week.
The average dragonboat holds 22 paddlers plus a steerer and coach. There must be a minimum of 12 to 14 paddlers.
Membership is open to all women and are a great way to see the town from a different perspective.
“We go all through the Ladysmith Harbour, we go behind Wood’s Island, Dunsmuir Island, and we go into the harbour out in to the bay,” Erickson said. “We’re often followed by a local seal that we call Lucy.”
Kjerstin Battie has been on the team since it was first started and has enjoyed the friendships she has formed with other women on the team.
“I love it because of our beautiful harbour here, but I dragon boat for myself because of the exercise and it’s turned into a great social thing,” she said.
“The skills we’re learning are really unique and you can feel that your body is benefitting from it.”
At the moment, the teams are non-competitive and dragonboat for the love of the sport.
“We’re pretty much a recreational team at this point.
“In the future, there may be an offshoot of more competitiveness, but right now we’re recreational,” Erickson said.
For more information on the Ladysmith Dragonboat team, contact Susan Erickson at 250-245-0474 or Marnie Craig at 250-245-4578
