Sat, May 17 2014 - Learn to Canoe Levels 1-2 (View Original Event Details)
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Despite cloudy skies and a forecast high of 11 C, we had a great turn-out – only one person out of 22 didn’t show up at the crack of dawn for our drive to Pinehurst Conservation Area, about 130 km west of Toronto near Woodstock. The folks from Dragonfly Paddling were waiting for us at the beach when we arrived and we spent the first hour or so learning about the gear involved – the mandatory gear required by Transport Canada, PFDs, paddles and the parts of canoes.
- Then we spent the rest of the day learning the skills of Ontario
Recreational Canoeing and Kayaking Association (ORCKA) levels 1
& 2 including:
- How to put the canoe in the water and remove it (without scraping it along the ground or dock!).
- How to get in and out of a canoe without falling in the lake.
- Paddling positions and trimming.
- Changing positions.
- How to paddle in a straight line forward and backward (forward stroke, back stroke, j-stroke).
- How to turn, move sideways, move in a circle and stop (pry, draw, sweep, j-stroke, brake).
- Inside and outside landings.
- Retrieving a swamped canoe.
- Canoe over canoe rescue.
It was cool most of the day but bug-free, which was great. At the end of the day, the sun came out just in time for our rescue section.
Those are facts. But what made the day so fun were the people, so a big thanks to all for turning out. So many hilarious moments: the instructor (Big) Greg and I tipping while supposedly demonstrating how to do an inside landing at a dock, Marius keeping his hair perfectly dry when he and Doris were the first to tip deliberately, UJ and Sam tipping while en route to rescue Aisling and Keren, Rahul and Suneil tipping while getting in the canoe at the dock en route to being rescued….
OK, clearly I just found the faces of people as they tipped and thrashed about in the water very funny!
Can’t wait to see Michele’s videos from his Go Pro camera!
Anyway, thanks, everyone. And to many happy paddles ahead!
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.