GLSKA - Trip Reports

GLSKA TRIP REPORTS - 2007

A selection of GLSKA Trip Reports from the 2007 paddling season

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GLSKA NEWCOMERS’ TRIP 2007
MASSASAUGA PROVINCIAL PARK

Lynda Harries

It was with a bit of trepidation that my husband, David, and I approached Pete’s Place for the Newcomers’ Trip on Friday, June 8. Other than one guided trip with five other people, we have paddled and camped entirely on our own the past four summers. So, thinking of being with 18 other people was a little disconcerting.

Those feelings dissolved immediately as everyone was unpacking cars and packing kayaks. There were collegial offers to help roll boats off of roofs, sharing of sunscreen, and some gear envy as we watched how and what people were stowing into their hatches. Within an hour, we were on the water.

There was a colourful array of kayaks, and though Harvey and I may have been competing for the brightest with his peacock blue and my lime green, I crowned myself the winner (it may have had something to do with my matching shirt, hatband, water bottle and, yes, earrings!). There were also four beautiful, paddler-made, wooden kayaks.

By the time we landed for a lunch break in Captain Allan Strait, the range of our paddling abilities and styles all seemed to blend as we travelled in three comfortable "packs" with our three wonderful "organizers," Johanna, Keith and Jim. It was here that we began to covet Debbie and Glenn’s amazing snacks and duct taping skills on a missing hatch cover.

This is a beautiful park that David and I have never visited before; we’re more used to the Bay farther north. Being out on a Friday in early June offered us a nice, powerboat free paddle. It didn’t take us long to complete the 9-kilometre journey to our three campsites on Sharpe Island. (For the future, David has found a great unofficial web-site with descriptions of most of the campsites in Massassauga Park: www.angelfire.com/blues2/bcaron/campsite.html.)

Once we had landed, everyone scattered, picked their best spots and set up their tents. Glad we did that first; it poured for about 15 minutes just as we had set up our tarp. When the rain stopped, we naturally fell into two "kitchen" groups, completed setting up, and our first evening was underway.

You can sure tell a lot about people by what they bring to eat and drink on an outback camping trip. There were some ice-cold beverages, tetra packs of Merlot, and our recycled water bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon. Then there was the fabulous variety of dinner specialties from smoked fish and potatoes, to steak, to venison meatballs, to prosciutto, to MREs. After much conversation and sharing of food, Karla led our communal dishwashing brigade. We assume the other "kitchen" was having as good a time (and Scott’s distinctive laugh suggested they all were!).

It was a cold night, and we all awoke after different sleeping experiences. But again, it was the array of breakfast foods that was very entertaining. Some were experimenting with new coffee-making ideas: our instant, Keith’s precarious one-cup filter, Niki’s unusual stocking-like contraption, and Kate’s good old percolator.

Since a Massassauga Rattler had been spotted last year, someone went looking after breakfast, and there was, indeed, a sighting. Everyone got great photos. There was a bear sighting as well, but it turned out to be a different "bare" (enough said, right Scott and Keith?).

On to our day-trip to Wreck Island. We were all on the water by 10:00 and set out. We eyed boats and equipment a little more closely (and we had to wrench David’s paddle out of Steve’s hands!) as we followed Eugene who knew exactly where the wreck was supposed to be. "Mary Poppins/Tiger Woods" Jim did NOT dive as expected, and people floated around looking into the water with great determination. Even though Johanna, whom we’ve learned to trust having read all of her great trip reports on the web, said she saw the wreck, I’m not sure anyone really saw anything. Johanna claimed kayakers never lie!

Next stop was the Wreck Island Interpretive Centre for lunch on the rocks. Almost everyone went on the 1.5-kilometre hike. No snake sightings there, though Dennis did have the pleasure of seeing one slither over his stern hatch just as he was launching! By the way, we commend Dennis and Carol not only for their matching boats but also for their ability to keep beer fairly cold until day two!

We followed our next intrepid navigator, Dave "Chocolate Chip II," back to the campsites and ended the beautiful day and our 14.7-kilometre (yes we had a GPS as did a few others) paddle. Ellen was the first in the water for a swim. The weather was amazing.

It was another lovely evening with yummy food and drink and sharing of best things to bring and leave behind on trips. I must admit that Niki and Lyn had the best food. These tips and tricks became the theme of all of the rest of our conversations, and I think John appreciated the perspective as this was his first camping trip in his wooden kayak.

The night was warmer and a bit noisier. I heard my very first whip-poor-will, confirmed by Eugene, who also had heard a barred owl (hope I got that right). We had breakfast and then began re-packing the boats (and wondering why things never seem to fit back in). We were on the water by 11:00.

We followed Dave and Jim back then split into two groups after lunch as half returned to Pete’s Place and half to Wood’s Bay Marina and their cars. This 10-kilometre paddle back on another sunny day was the perfect ending to a great trip. Once more, everyone helped each other get boats onto roof racks and gear stuffed into cars.

Having started the trip with uncertainty, we ended it with great feelings for the people, the organizers, for the Newcomers’ Trip and for GLSKA for offering this opportunity. We’re sad we can’t make Rendezvous this year though a few of the group are going. Maybe next year.

RENDEZVOUS 2007
CONFESSIONS OF A PADDLER’S WIFE

Dawn Lawrence

I have a confession to make. I am not an avid paddler. I don’t come from a family of avid paddlers. In fact, when I was growing up, our family never went camping. Experiencing "the great outdoors" wasn’t something my parents thought was important to pass on to us as children. It’s not that we didn’t appreciate the beauty of nature; rather we experienced it differently. My mother enjoyed gardening and she passed that on to me. The place that I am most content to spend my time these days is puttering in the garden or pouring over gardening books and magazines.

So what happened when this city gal met up with an avid paddling man? She got hooked – or perhaps more rightly said, she hooked him. It worked out that when I suggested to the paddling man that I would enjoy building a wooden kayak with him, he couldn’t say no. We’ve been together ever since. Now, each winter, when I am planning my next garden with books and magazines at hand, my paddling man has topographical maps spread over the kitchen table as he plans our next big trip.

By this point, you must be wondering what does this have to do with Rendezvous 2007. That is a good question. While attending the GLSKA AGM in 2006, volunteers were requested to help with Rendezvous. My paddling man promptly volunteered us and the next thing I knew, I had the pleasure of working with a great group of people with the purpose of putting together Rendezvous 2007. It’s been a privilege to be a part of the behind-the-scenes planning.

I would never have guessed how much work goes into organizing an event like this. I can recall our group’s disappointment when the plans to have the event at Killbear Provincial Park didn’t work out. Fortunately we pulled together and the decision to return to Cape Croker was a good choice.

More than 100 GLSKA members attended and we received a lot of positive feedback about the event. I was able to participate in some of the instructional sessions. The most memorable session for me was the presentation on Weather and Kayak Safety. The creative use of GLSKA members to represent low and high pressure weather systems still sticks in my mind. Another highlight of Rendezvous was the famous GLSKA potluck supper followed by a concert by Ian Tamblyn. There is nothing quite as pleasant as relaxing after a day of paddling, with a glass of wine, a full stomach, listening to beautiful guitar music and looking up at the night sky!

Being a part of organizing Rendezvous turned out to be a rewarding experience. I might not be an avid paddler, but I certainly enjoy spending time with paddlers, whether they are novice or expert. I find that paddlers have a love for nature that appeals to my gardening soul. I have also found that the paddlers I have met demonstrate a quiet athleticism, a desire to develop personal skills and then share that knowledge with others. I enjoy the camaraderie of commiserating with other paddlers’ wives or spending time encouraging women who are even newer to kayaking than I am. Rendezvous provides the opportunity to experience this.

So what happens next? I’ve signed on to participate in Rendezvous again and I look forward to working with the 2008 committee. I expect to have final confirmation soon from the Shawanaga First Nations for GLSKA to use Shawanaga Landing (north of Nobel) on June 6-8, 2008. So, I hope that you will mark the date in your new calendars and come ready to have a great time. And to all those paddlers’ wives out there who haven’t yet experienced Rendezvous, I hope you will come too so that we can meet and exchange stories out on the water.

JUST A MIGHT TOO CONFIDENT

David Ivens

It all started innocently enough. I could see the weather was terrible driving up to Parry Sound. I arrived at White Squall and talked with a few friends and met a member of GLSKA and everyone concurred it was a day to stay on shore and read a book. Of course sitting in Parry Sound or Killbear Park wasn’t as attractive as sitting on an island and watching the weather go by. So when Johanna got there we decided to go on to Dillon and see what was in store for us. When we got there we heard a tale on the dock that a few boats that had been out and wanted nothing to do with the bay; but with those three-story plastic enclosed towers you can understand why. We listened to the forecast, chance of thunderstorms, waterspouts and a small craft warning. A lot to worry about, lots of caution on shore, but heck, storms have gone through before. It was supposed to clear late tonight; we could go out and stick our noses in the wind check the waves and see what we wanted to do; it was early (3 p.m.) so there was lots of daylight; things might change; we could poke, rock hop, bob and weave along the shore. It was a couple of kilometres out to the bay and there’s a little island with a sandy beach before we would make the crossing to Twin Sisters, where we could camp if the winds too strong, or we didn’t like what we saw. The first part wasn’t difficult, winds were out of the north so going down the channel was fine, no lightening, a couple of places with a good cross wind but clearing maybe, still gray but windy.

So, we decided to island hop, to the Twin Sisters, on the inside, which was a mistake as we soon realized the wind was funneling down and really blowing on that side so we headed farther out on the bay. We were questioning whether we were making headway, so Johanna got out the GPS and we were making 3.5 to 4 km/h so it was an effort, but we were up for some exercise and we had taken the day off work. The wind was strong the waves were over the bows, but it was invigorating if you were into it, and there was no sign of squalls. We got to the north tip of Twin Sisters and headed for Colley, a hop in normal conditions. We were close and could see a storm front coming in. We put in an effort to get there quickly, but we were already paddling at a quickened pace to get 3.5 km/h. Shore was less than 50 metres away when the rain started and it didn’t take any time for everything else to happen too. The rain hurt. The wind picked up, it tried to rip the paddle right out of your hands and the boat off the water. The water came from everywhere, sheets of water lifted off the lake, down from the sky, and the direction changed almost 180 degrees. You couldn’t see a thing, there was so much water; I did not know where Johanna was, I had to concentrate on myself, trying to make headway and keeping the boat facing the wind, it took every ounce of strength I had to keep the boat upright and moving. I was completely out of breath. I hadn’t managed the 50 metres; I might have been farther away after it passed. No lightning. We were lucky. Johanna was not far off. We both stayed upright and kept the boats in about the same position.

I have never paddled when I could not rescue my paddling partner, it’s one of my rules. This time I got caught, too confident, too anxious, peer pressure? Anyway I don’t like breaking my own rules. But if you hadn’t been there you wouldn’t have known and if you had seen it on shore and watched it go by you might not have thought a lot of it. And, if you were out in another craft, well you probably would have been blown wherever the wind took you. But kayaks can do pretty amazing things. The adrenalin ran for hours. It was not something I would recommend and not something I want to repeat; it just wasn’t my time or Johanna’s. And now I know I have paddled when I shouldn’t have and am a little wiser for it. How many lemons did we have? More than we realized.

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