Hi ,

Just had the dreaded covid test.

I thought that thing that they pushed up my nose was going to come out of my armpit.

I know why they call it Lancet. I felt like one of those knights on a horse and my opponent hit me in the snout.

Praying for a negative result so that I can do my 35th (I think) Scottburgh to Brighton with my son, who has informed me that this will be his final contribution to community service.

The second oldest surfski race in the world will be kicking off on Saturday morning at Scottburgh. Conditions look sublime, with a reasonable size swell and predictions of a following wind for most of the morning. Not early enough to prevent the frozen left eardrum from the winter offshore in the early morning though.

A record entry of over 190 paddlers, thanks to some aggressive marketing by the Humble Harker's, and a touch of superb organising by the S2B team.

Best of luck to all who have entered, especially if it is your first.

Our national surfski team that was selected to represent SA at the ICF World Championships in Lanzarote, Spain, in 9 days' time, is still sitting in Limbo. The organisers have still not managed to finalise the required documentation from their health department, and we are still waiting for a final letter. A number of the team, who are travelling on foreign passports, have elected to travel in any case. Worst case scenario is that we will have a modicum of representation to ensure that the Europeans do not dominate the podium entirely.

Very frustrating for the team members with the old green mamba passport.

On the 1st of July certain elements of the POPI act are due to become enforceable.

We have been advised that we, as a federation, need to inform our members of their rights under this act.

The act was introduced to protect the private information of  the individual.

As a federation, we need to record certain information on individuals for purposes of age groups, safety (medical aid details), next of kin (in case of an accident), contact details (race sms's), mail addresses (newsletters and notifications), etc.

This information is used strictly for administering the federation and to contact members. It is never given to a 3rd party for any other purpose.

Each individual member has the choice to amend their own information on the system at any time. You are at liberty to leave off certain information if you choose.

Note, however that information such as your age and your ID number is essential. Also, if you don't disclose a phone number you will not receive race information such as batching's and start times. A mail address is essential to be registered on the Dotcloud system.

If, however, you have had a long layoff and have been busy with a knife and fork, there is no necessity to disclose your T-shirt size (for example). You will, however end up with whatever is left when you register at a race.

The same applies to notifications such as this newsletter. At the bottom of the newsletter each week, there is an option to opt out of receiving it, or to subscribe.

You are at liberty to make a choice.

Please also notify us if you have ever received something from the federation that has not been solicited or that can be viewed as irrelevant.

We will be introducing a number of "pop ups" on the Dotcloud system which will ensure that you have granted permission for your information to be used by the federation for the purposes that it was intended.

They will also apply to instances where images of individuals may be reflected in a photo of a race, etc.

A chirpier one next week, with hopefully some good news regarding our surfski team, as well as a build up to the Berg River Marathon which is around the corner.

In the interim, stay safe, especially if you live in Gauteng where this virus is rampant at the moment.

Cheers

Your SG
Copper 1111

A preacher said, "Anyone with 'special needs' who wants to be prayed over, please come forward to the front by the altar."

With that, Julius  got in line, and when it was his turn, the Preacher asked, "Julius, what do you want me to pray about for you?"

Julius replied, "Preacher, I need you to pray for help with my hearing.

"The preacher put the index finger of his one hand into Julius's ear, placed his other hand on top of his head, and then prayed and prayed and prayed for Julius and the whole congregation joined in, with great enthusiasm”.

After a few minutes, the preacher removed his hands, stood back and asked, "Julius, how is your hearing now?"

Julius answered, "I don't know. It's not until next week."