Thu, Aug 4 2011 - SUNRISE PADDLE - Harbourfront (View Original Event Details)
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Sunrise paddle at in Toronto Harbour
Early one Thursday morning four enthusiastic TOCers ventured down to Harbourfront and out on to the water. Paddling across Toronto harbour in a kayak is a pretty cool experience. Even at 6 am it's still a hub of activity on the water and in the air - after all, we live in the fourth-largest city in North America. You can hear traffic along the Gardiner and Lakeshore and there's a lineup of customers waiting for the Queen’s Quay Starbucks to open at 6am. On the water, large white buoys clearly demark a 'no paddle' safety zone alongside the runways for Toronto City Airport. Jet planes fly low overhead, taking off frequently.
And yet, after a 15 minute paddle we escape the commotion into the stillness of Toronto Islands. An early morning mist rises off the water, cormorants and hawks fly overhead and we weave our way along a narrow canal, navigating gently past submerged logs and overhanging tree branches.
After a brief stop we begin our paddle back across the water towards the Toronto high-rises, all gleaming in the early morning sunshine. The wind from the east has picked up slightly and there’s a lot more traffic in the harbour. A private ferry honks as we paddle under the flight path of a Porter aircraft that’s taking off over the water. We pull our boats up onto the concrete docks, returning skirts and PFDs to the Harbourfront Kayak staff and head our separate ways. It’s going to be an amazing day.
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.