Briefing letter:  November 1999

A New Phase

With just 9 months to go before the expedition sets off for Canada, the meeting held on 18 October at Chalfont Squadron for team members and parents has taken the project into a new phase. The meeting confirmed the schedule and itinerary for the expedition, and discussed the staging of payments and the purchase of personal equipment

This letter follows up that meeting, and is accompanied by a kit list, updated to provide extra information requested by team members and parents. A copy of the reconnaissance report that Allen Cox wrote after his and John Smith’s recent visit to Canada is also attached for the benefit of those who were not able to attend the Chalfont meeting

It is intended to issue further newsletters at 1-2 monthly intervals to keep all team members informed.

Finance

The budget for the expedition has been calculated at £1,100 per head. The single biggest major cost is the air-fare, for which we will need to pay a deposit before the end of the year. Most of the rest is for the outfitting costs in Canada, and some of this will need to be transferred to Canada before the expedition to allow provisions to be purchased before our arrival. Any surplus will be divided equally between expedition members once the actual cost is known

It was suggested that payments be staged between now and the end of May 2000 with a break over the Christmas period. The following schedule is proposed:

• £200 by the end of November 1999

• £200 by the end of February 2000

• £200 by the end of March 2000

• £200 by the end of April 2000

• £300 by the end of May 2000

Payments will be paid into the adventure training group’s account, under the control of Mr Angus Davidson, the group treasurer.  Cheques should be made payable to “Herts & Bucks Wing Adventure Training Group” and sent to Flt Lt Geoff Bowles. The attached payment record form is intended to simplify the recording of payments as they are made for each team member.

Training

So far, training has focused mainly on canoeing, and every team member is now reasonably competent at paddling an open canoe. Canoeing skills will continue to improve during the remaining training sessions, but the scope of training will be widened to include other expedition skills such as camp-craft, first aid and food preparation and hygiene. An important theme of training will be preparing people to live together under expedition conditions, and early decisions will need to be made about pairing team members for tents and boats

An important point that was not discussed at the meeting is fitness, and it is essential that all team members take personal responsibility for preparing themselves for the physical demands of the expedition. Team members’ progress will be monitored during the training sessions and appropriate advice given

Canada 2000 training sessions will be incorporated into next year’s schedule of Wing adventure training courses. The adventure training group is scheduled to meet early in December to draw up this schedule, and details will be passed on to team members as soon as this has been done 

Geoff Bowles

Allen Cox

John Smith