GLSKA TRIP REPORTS - 2006
A selection of GLSKA Trip Reports from the 2006 paddling season
[Past Trip Reports from the Archives] [Current Trip Reports]
GLSKA NEW MEMBERS TRIP
MASSASAUGA PROVINCIAL PARK
Leanne Hanna
My first experience with kayak tripping began after picking up my rental kayak and driving out to Pete’s Place in Massasauga Provincial Park. I’d been introduced to kayaking a year before at an introductory course in the pool at McMaster University. I’d enjoyed it, but had been unable to go on more than a few guided day-trips since then due to a lack of time and experienced paddling partners.
At the landing, I met the trip leaders, Keith Rodgers and Jim Mark, as well as some of the other participants, all of whom helped me pack and launch my boat. I was grateful for the help, particularly with launching because I’d never done it by myself before and didn’t want to start my first trip upside down and underwater.
We set off in the early afternoon with the wind behind us. I progressed quite slowly at first, and in a rather zigzag pattern, as I learned to manoeuvre the rudder of my boat. I wondered why everyone else seemed to be effortlessly moving so much faster than I was. However, back on the water after a quick lunch stop, I began to feel more comfortable: twisting my torso with each stroke seemed to increase my speed. In some of the more open sections of water we encountered some small waves and I was surprised at how stable I felt in the kayak.
After a few minor detours, or exploring as we preferred to call it, we arrived at our campsites on Sharp Island. Camp was set up quickly and I spent a little time reading before dinner. It was interesting to see the wide variety of meals prepared: the food ranged from simple fare like my own pasta and chickpeas, to more gourmet meals, and even a chocolate cake! In the evening, constant winds kept the biting insects away, but also made things rather chilly, so we all gathered around a campfire; I didn’t mind – I prefer cold weather to swarms of mosquitoes any day.
The next morning, we were on the water by 10 a.m., paddling against some fairly strong winds to Wreck Island, where we had lunch and went for a walk. We were lucky to have an expert in forest ecology among us: Terry Carleton could identify seemingly any tree, plant or moss. From him, we learned a lot of interesting ecological facts relating to the native species, such as the symbiotic relationship between conifers and certain types of fungi, and I was reminded of my love of biology. We ended our excursion with an exploration of the unusual rock formations along the shore of the island.
When we returned to the campsites, Johanna Wandel, with the second half the new trippers group – those who began their trip on Saturday – had arrived and were setting up camp. The three sites we had booked were large and had no difficulty accommodating the 18 of us. The night that followed was filled with still more conversation, a warm fire, hot drinks, and another tasty chocolate cake.
Just before leaving on Sunday morning, Harold Stahl spotted a Massasauga rattler not far from our campsite and called everyone over to have a look. The snake was timid and rattled defensively as we approached. I was glad for the opportunity to see one of these rare snakes for the first time.
The paddle back to the marina was pleasant and sunny. With a little help, I reattached the kayak back onto the roof of my car and headed home, looking forward to more kayaking trips in the future.
RENDEZVOUS 2006
TWO STORIES ABOUT THE WEEKEND
SO MANY THINGS TO DO
Tom Newton
The GLSKA Spring Rendezvous is a great time for getting together with old paddling friends and making new ones. This year, with the venue being Cape Croker, was no exception.
The drive up to the Bruce Peninsula on the Friday took place in perfect weather conditions, which continued to bless us for the whole weekend. On arrival at the Park, the staff was friendly and helpful with the initial registration, before directing us into the allocated area set aside for the GLSKA gathering. At the entrance to the designated location, we were greeted by Rob Muylwyk and friends. Standing by a trestle table, they gave us a wealth of detailed information covering the weekend’s activities before directing us to the tenting sites.
The next little while was spent trying to avoid patches of poison ivy as we set up camp and explored the general area. Looking out over Sydney Bay we had a spectacular view of the bluffs on the far side. A quick trip to the water’s edge confirmed that it was a shade less than warm, though not enough to detract us from a paddle in the bay a short while later.
Later on in the day, we took part in a most enjoyable wine and cheese party, getting to talk with a lot of friendly paddlers before heading back to our campsite for supper. Friday evening provided us with a challenging talk given by David McLaren, as he covered how the area, and First Nations People, had been affected over time, as settlers continued their aggressive expansions.
Saturday proved to be a whirlwind of activities, as we got involved in various workshops on land and water, as well as joining in a variety of kayak trips. Supper that day was the event that is looked forward to with so much anticipation: the Potluck Supper. The tables were covered in a variety of dishes and desserts of all descriptions, which together with the wine provided a meal that could only be described as fabulous!
That evening’s musical entertainment was provided by David Archibald. We chose to enjoy his songs from a short distance away, as we sat on chairs on the beach watching the sunset, and looked in awe at the handiwork of some of the individually built wooden kayaks (or should they just be called works of art?).
Sunday came all too quickly and we joined the group on the Native Culture Hike with Lenore Keeshig-Tobias. Then it was time to start heading home, with a collection of wonderful memories. So many things to do, so little time, addresses exchanged, the promise of future paddling adventures. Altogether it was a wonderful weekend. Thank you to everyone involved for organizing it.
AMERICAN INVASION
Jennifer Pivovar
Here in western New York State, we are somewhat provincial but not totally isolated from international news and associations. Indeed, for the past couple of years, I had heard (from paddling friend and GLSKA member Frank Cabron) reports of great adventures with a group of paddlers from Ontario. With each campfire-and-beer inspired retelling, the legend of the Great Canadian Paddlers grew. Eventually I gathered that this group of adventurers is a club called GLSKA based in Ontario.
I visited the web page and thought, "Hmmm. Looks like a fun group."
Time passed and it was the middle of a wet, grey winter – early 2006. I was planning summer paddles and sent out a note to see who might want to go to Superior in June. Bugs, cold water, and fog notwithstanding, I was determined to take a solstice trip on the water. A few hardy souls (actually, the usual hardy souls including, you guessed it, Frank) agreed and signed on.
Later as that grey winter become a grey spring, Frank got the notice of the GLSKA Rendezvous and realized that the date coincided with the end of our planned Superior trip. He sent it on to me and proposed that we try to end our trip at the Rendezvous. Factoring in all the geography, schedule constraints, and individual preferences, the trip morphed to a 4-day trip on the North Channel around MacGregor Bay, Iroquois Bay and Baie Fine then a ferry ride over to the Bruce Peninsula for the 3-day Rendezvous.
So I had become a trip organizer for a totally unplanned trip ending at a club event for a club to which I did not even belong – and knew no one in (except, of course, Frank). I decided I’d best warn the good people of GLSKA – and join the club! I sent an e-mail to Rob, the Rendezvous contact, with due warning of the American Invasion. He was quite gracious in his reply to a perfect stranger’s self-invitation to his party. Actually, Rob’s help and communication was just the beginning of a great welcome.
After a wonderful paddle on the (warm) waters of the North Channel and a ferry ride to Tobermory, we made our way to Cape Croker. We were greeted heartily with "The Americans are here!" by Rob and by Sarka ("Do you know what your name means in the old country?" Hmmm. "Why yes I do – would you like one?") We made camp and rushed off to the New Member Welcome.
So began a weekend of endless new names and faces – all of them smiling. I found the GLSKA hospitality to be unending and legendary. I mean, where else could you be called for early morning boat-unloading duty, meet a bunch of new folks on the beach (in your pajamas, ungroomed), and have them express enthusiastic interest in your boat despite your Camp-Creature appearance? The weekend was full of wonderful programs and workshops, feasts and paddles.
I even had a surprise on Saturday when a scheduled instructor could not make it to his intro class and I was, uh, volunteered to substitute. Mind you, no one at that point had even seen me in a kayak – total blind faith. So I got to dunk 15 new friends into the (refreshing) bay and paddle around with the largest (and most fun) class I have ever had on the water. I hope you have all forgiven me and actually found something useful in the session.
The weekend closed with a "mellow" (will I ever learn?) paddle led by Sam, one last happy hour at the beach waiting for our group to reconvene, then our long ride home reflecting on all the unexpected ways you can have fun with your kayak. While the rest of this season was pretty well filled up for me, I look forward to more paddles and activities with GLSKA in seasons to come. I mean, I need to work on my own stories of the Great Canadian Paddlers to tell around the local campfires. This is only the first …
FRANKLIN ISLAND
AUGUST 1-3
Dorothy Van Esbroeck
The hot, humid days of summer were here and I was happy to be going out paddling. The goal of this trip was to safely further develop kayaking skills in a group setting. With all the pre-trip e-mails over, I was eager to finally be meeting the participants.
At Snug Harbour, I met Harold with his kayak packed. What could be more impressive than someone who arrives earlier than I do? He was followed by Paul and then Mike, a welcome addition to the group, being a guest from an Ottawa kayaking club. We were ready to leave at noon; however we stayed put and ate our lunch first.
After finding a small sandy beach on the eastern side of Franklin, we camped close by and then returned to the sandy beach area to practice some skills. Our skills may have improved, but more importantly we had fun splashing and laughing. Imagine the fun of standing in the water and holding another person’s boat or their life jacket, putting their boat on edge and them having to high or low brace to right it again. Later some of us half filled our cockpits with water and tried the same skills. It was a great activity to get used to how unstable a kayak is with water in the cockpit.
Before long, it was time to paddle back to Snug to meet Anne, who we had agreed to meet at 6:30 p.m. I was not wearing a watch so I relied on my GPS, the digital cameras present or Harold to know the time. It was a late supper and then back to our tents. Not having brought in my GPS, I don’t know when it started raining. The two nights of this trip were so warm I didn’t even need a sleeping bag, but at least it would be useful if I needed to soak up any water that might come in the tent.
The next day was overcast when we headed out for a paddle around Franklin. Then the rain came and went and came and went, but no thunder or lightning. Mike, a whitewater kayaker turned sea kayaker, enjoyed the waves when he could, like on some of western side of Franklin when we weren’t in some of the sheltered passages I chose for us to explore. The wind died right down leaving us with just good swells around the southwestern tip of the island. We didn’t see many boaters or kayakers out and about.
Back at our campsite, there was more swimming since it was already a few hours since our lunch swim. Mike and I managed to finish supper before it started to rain; Harold finished his under the tarp. When the thunder and lightning started, we left the tarp and headed for our tents. This was around 6:30. I did have my marine radio with me in the tent. Often I only listen when the reports come at 3:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., but there are updates more often with severe weather. I heard an 8 o’clock warning of a very severe line of thunderstorms from Goderich to southern Georgian Bay moving east with 50-knot winds. I felt reassured that we would probably miss the worst of the storm since we were farther north. This was the night of a very damaging storm with tornadoes farther south and east. When the storm ended around 9:30, Paul started cooking, while Anne decided not to bother with cooking that night.
The next morning, Anne was up well before sunrise with her tripod taking pictures every 7 minutes for a photography course assignment on light. We spent another hour or two doing drills as on the first day, as well as rescues and standing up in our boats (while they were braced). By then my tent (and sleeping bag) was dry and ready to be packed up. Most of us had our IKEA bags for use on shore, but I wish I had taken just one picture of the person with the blue IKEA bag strapped on the back of his/her yellow kayak when we left to paddle back to Snug.
I really enjoyed having a group size of 5 for this trip. Thanks to everyone, especially those who were on their first GLSKA trip, for a great time made even more memorable by the exciting weather.
MINK AND McCOY ISLANDS
AUGUST 3-7
Dorothy Van Esbroeck
Photos by: Terry Carleton
After enjoying a few ice-cream treats, duly noted by the participants, this trip began to take shape. My boat was already loaded – all I had to do was repack my food bags from food in my car and then I added some fleece thinking that the warm weather might end. There were 7 of us all ready for the 3 o’clock departure. Only one problem: 3 participants hadn’t shown up yet. Two arrived at 3 o’clock and one shortly after having been already with his boat packed at Dillon and of course wondering why we were all so late. I guess we could have headed out but that didn’t feel quite right – so we waited.
We made our way out to find a sheltered spot on the southwest of Franklin. I checked to see if my whistle was working which also kept the group together. This was important to me as I had e-mailed everyone that we would paddle the speed of the slowest paddler. We opted for a sandy beach to land at and then set up camp and started cooking as well as getting to know our new paddling companions.
The winds were strong the next day, so we spent the morning practising rescues as not everyone had done a self-rescue before. I had someone listen to the marine report for me. They reported, "One and a half to two knot winds." Could it really be that light, or was it a problem with the radio lingo? Did it say one-five to two-zero knot wind? It became kind of a joke.
I crawled into my tent in the afternoon to read, but really hoping to catch up on some sleep after having some sleepless nights earlier with rain and now wind. Others hiked or paddled about. We often drooled over Sean and Karen’s cooking. They gladly treated us to a chocolate cake one night.
The next morning, much to my surprise, we were on the water by 9:15. This may not seem like a big deal, but for some this packing a boat was a new thing. There had been a visitor in the morning and even though skinny, he had a choice of which food he’d eat from some accidentally left out. This made the packing up easier. The guest, a fox, was photographed, as was the Massasauga rattlesnake the day before that Doug had spotted.
We paddled straight to Red Rock and then after a bit of a photo opportunity, for some more than others, we found some spots to stretch our legs and snack. Weaving our way through some of the islands we stopped on Green Island for lunch. Last year, I had spent a day and a half here, but this time the weather was gentle and it didn’t look quite the same as when I had been hunkered down inside my tent for most of the day with some of most miserable weather I have ever had camping.
We then paddled on to Big McCoy and engaged in our most debated decision of the trip, where to camp? After some radio bantering back and forth, those rooting for the nice southern campsite, complete with euchre table, finally gave in and agreed to camp on the north end. Well, it turned out that the noisy music neighbours at the south left as soon as the last 3 paddlers, still hoping for the south campsite, paddled to the north.
The northern campsite provided shelter from the south winds the next day. It also allowed me to see some fireworks that night. I saw flashes of light on the horizon from my tent. What could it be – a flare practice? I got out of my tent to see quite amazing fireworks.
Since we were staying put here for rwo nights it was finally fancy breakfast time the next morning. Well I had my usual – some variation on scrambled eggs, just like all my other breakfasts, but I also enjoyed some of Sean and Karen’s French toast with apples. Some then went for a paddle in the late morning, while I set off to circumnavigate the island by foot with Cheryl and Dale.
It is always amazing to see what people deem essential to bring along on these trips. That afternoon we compared things like everyone’s towel sizes, which ranged from the ultra small to the luxurious bath size. The weather was sunny and warm everyday (albeit windy at times) with perfect swimming opportunities and me being not much of a swimmer, still I was happy I had packed two bathing suits.
Later that afternoon, Terry led us on a botanical hike. My favourite plant was Joe Pie weed (because of its name). I wasn’t the star pupil, an honour bestowed on Grant, the horticulturist. Later that day, I was happy to be in the company of people of who didn’t let a few mosquitoes deter them from playing euchre. The cards someone had weren’t normal so we used some pebbles to keep score.
On our first night there, the boats had been pulled up high out of the water and well secured. Not having paddled at all this day, I knew my boat was well up on shore. The wind shifted in the night to northwest as predicted and the waves were coming now up the gently sloping rocks where the boats were. Several people got up around three in the morning, when the wind seemed to be the strongest, to check on things or better secure things that might float away. (Thanks Harold and others.) In the morning, the only thing missing was a yellow foam paddle float.
In the morning the plan was to leave by 9 a.m., but with the northwest winds increasing, I ended up going around ensuring everyone was awake by 6:30 to allow for an earlier start. By 8:30 we were ready! Louise led us in some breathing, stretching and a visualization of the water as our friend to carry us back. We were lucky to have a good tailwind and Sean navigated our route back. We got out for a stretch/food/pit stop break just after Oak Island. This was followed by a lunch stop on the eastern side of Franklin with Dale still constantly searching for sandy beaches. The boats were all pulled up in the same area and we had lunch as a cohesive group. It really felt like the group had come together. After yet another swim, we managed to get back to Snug at 2 p.m. and landed right before it got busy.
The trip goals had been to safely further develop kayaking skills by learning from each other while camping and exploring by kayak and on foot Franklin, and the Mink and McCoy Islands. Mission accomplished, well almost. We had started with 10 and we were down to 8 coming in to Snug Harbour. (Ah yes, two people had opted to avoid the holiday traffic and had stayed out on Franklin for another night.)
[Past Trip Reports from the Archives] [Current Trip Reports]
Home | Membership | News | Newsletter | Trip Listings | GB Committee | Resources | Links
email: glska@canada.com