Executive Meeting Minutes April 13th 2021
Log in to see minutes from the virtual meeting of the executive on April 13th, 2021.
Canoe Club Open House
Wednesday April 21, 2021 7:00pm
This is the club's annual Open House. It is open to members and non-members alike.
Please mark your calendar for Wednesday, April 21, 2021 and plan on joining us between 7:00 PM and 8:35 PM via a Zoom Meeting. The Open House is the best time to plan your paddling season. Check out the Flatwater, Whitewater and Family programs plus the extensive lineup of Training courses scheduled for the upcoming season. Unlike past in-person annual Open Houses, this year's virtual version will not offer the opportunity for chats with other Club members.
For people who are not members of the RA, the RA membership fee will be waived if you join between April 21-28. This means that only the Canoe Club Membership fee of $55.37 including tax needs to be paid by new members.
To register with the RA and the Canoe Club, please call (613) 736-6205 between the following hours:
Wednesday April 21 9:30 am-4:00 pm, 5:30-9:00 pm
Thursday April 22 8:30 am-3:30 pm
Friday April 23 8:30 am-3:30 pm
or email Jill Laidlaw at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Looking forward to seeing you there, and bring your friends!
Time to Renew your Canoe Club Membership!
If you have not already renewed your canoe club membership for 2021, it will be especially easy to do so this year. There is no longer a requirement to fill out a canoe club registration form if a previous year's one is already on file with the RA. Also, the RA is waiving until May 31 the RA fee for former canoe club members. A renewal membership in the canoe club costs $55.37 including tax.
Avoid the rush later in the season and rejoin today! The club plans to have a busy paddling season for 2021 just like they did for 2020.
There is also a Covid waiver that must be completed online at www.racentre.com/raccc-waiver-adult (adults) or www.racentre.com/raccc-waiver-minor (under 18). If you filled out the waiver in 2020, you do not need to fill it out again for 2021.
For new members, please click here for more information on joining the club.
Please click here for information on RA Centre closure for the month of April because of the Province of Ontario "emergency brake" shutdown.
During the RA Centre closure, RA Member Services Staff are available by telephone to answer your enquiries and to take your registration or renewal. (No in-person service available at this time). Please call (613) 736-6205 between the following hours:
Wednesday April 21 9:30 am-4:00 pm, 5:30-9:00 pm
Thursday April 22 8:30 am-3:30 pm
Friday April 23 8:30 am-3:30 pm
or email Jill Laidlaw at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
2020 Canoe Club Trip Reports
A description of how club trips were run in a safe manner during the pandemic is given below followed by links to the trip reports.
If you would like more details about these trips, click here.
We all know 2020 did not go according to plan. Usual plans were all on hold. When some Ontario Provincial Parks opened June 1st we were eager to leave our homes where we had “isolated” for months. Day trips seemed like the safest way to begin. Initially we used the terms “Together Apart” trips. They matched the public health messaging of the time. Due to the pandemic, we would not share vehicles or food. We would not touch the belongings of others and would stay 2 metres apart at all times. Everyone arrived self-contained – they had their own gear. We all carried hand-sanitizer. No club equipment was used because the club was still closed. Participant numbers on each trip were kept small. Anyone with any Covid-19 symptoms or exposures was not to come.
For our first trip on June 1st even the Algonquin Provincial Park staff had no idea how to work during the pandemic, so we self-registered, as if they weren’t present. As time passed park and lock officials figured out how to work during the pandemic. The RACCC officially opened in late June and we could post official club trips again. Instead of doing just one trip to get us outside, we went between one and three times each week! Our blank calendars allowed us to choose the days with good weather.
In addition to these trips, the club ran over 30 whitewater day trips last year on rivers where bicycle shuttles were possible. This included the Lower Madawaska, the Middle Madawaska (near MKC), the Petite Nation, and the Ottawa. Unfortunately, none of us posted trip reports, but if you are interested you can learn about these trips and our 2021 plans at the RACCC Zoom Whitewater Trip seminar on March 31st 7 pm. Details are on the homepage or in the calendar or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Club on Hold Until May 20
The Ontario government has announced a stay at home order (https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/61192/ontario-strengthens-enforcement-of-stay-at-home-order).
Group club activities will be put on hold in the spirit of the stay at home order. The stay at home order will be in effect until end of day on Wednesday May 20th. The rules for the renting club equipment are still in force. That is to say, only members who have contributed significantly to the club will be allowed to rent club equipment.
The club's virtual seminar series and virtual open house are not affected by this decision.
The RA Centre and the club executive will actively monitor this situation. Any further updates will be communicated via the club’s web page, Facebook site and Canoebytes.
RA Centre Closure for Month of April
Please click here for information on RA Centre closure for the month of April because of the Province of Ontario "emergency brake" shutdown.
During the RA Centre closure, RA Member Services Staff are available by telephone to answer your enquiries and to take your registration or renewal. (No in-person service available at this time).
Monday to Friday
9:30am – 4:30pm
613-733-5100 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Click here for more information on provincial regulations during the shutdown including a limit of 5 people for outdoor activities.
2021 Discounts for RACCC Members
A benefit of being a member of the RACCC is that some retailers and course providers give discounts to club members.
Also, the RA has a number of community partners that represent a wide range of sectors offering benefits to RA members. Click here for more information.
Free canoeing books and maps
We received a collection of canoeing related books, booklets and maps from a member of the community. These items were already offered to the Canadian Canoe Museum, and we are now ready to offer them to RACCC club members.
Irish Creek Trip
On Tuesday, April 6, 2021, three club members set out in ideal conditions to explore Irish Creek; the air temperature was a pleasant 15 degrees, ice gone, water deep enough to paddle the marsh area and a generally undemanding current. Keeping in mind the cold water, we all wore a combination of wet and dry suits in case of inadvertent immersion.
From the put in at Roses Bridge Boat Launch situated between Kilmarnock and Merrickville, we meandered through shallow, open water marsh festooned with masses of waterlily rhizomes. We continued about 4 km south to the town of Jasper where the creek narrows, and we ducked under two road bridges and a train bridge. In the creek, water flowed over several submerged beaver dams, only one of which required getting out of our canoes for a lift over. We stopped for lunch just short of Wolford Chapel (10.5 km from put in) and then headed back down stream.
Pakenham to Blakeney Rapids Trip Report - March 23 2021
Let the paddling begin!
On Tuesday, March 23rd four of us met at Pakenham Beach to initiate the RACCC 2021 flatwater paddling season. It was a gorgeous, sunny day with a high of 20°C in the air. Given that there was still ice floating in the river, I'll assume the water temperature was still close to 0°C; however, since we were all dressed to keep safe in frigid water (two of us wore drysuits, the other two wore wetsuits), we had nothing to fear from the river. Starting at Pakenham Beach, we paddled a little over 8 km upstream to Blakeney Rapids, passing through a riparian zone just starting to green up, and seeing loads of ducks and geese back for the summer. We stopped at Blakeney Rapids to eat lunch and work on our sunburns, while Mark filled a garbage bag with litter to take away. The paddle back to town took only half the time, with the current helping us along.
As I write, we're back to seasonal chilly temperatures and Vancouver-style rain, which makes us all the more grateful for that short gift of warm sun. Thanks Karen for organizing a fun trip.
Submitted by Maria L.
RACCC Training 2021 Update
Hi Everyone,
Normally around this time of year you would be hearing about all the exciting training and trips
we are preparing for the upcoming season BUT as we all know COVID-19 has placed much of
what we love doing on hold, on pause, or undecided. We did, however, want to reach out to all
of you to provide a snapshot of this past summer’s training program, while also providing an
early heads-up of possible options we are considering for the coming 2021 open water season.
Training during summer 2020 was understandably limited with only two whitewater courses and
one sea kayaking course taking place. In addition, some individual coaching was offered by
select experienced members and instructors.
Looking forward to the 2021 open water season, the club is in the initial stages of planning a
training program, but, similar to last year, the scope and timing of that program will be
dependent on local and provincial public health advisories, as well the club’s COVID-19
protocols, which will be updated during March and April.
It is the club’s hope that a 2021 training program will be possible and, as such, reflecting on last
year’s experience, we are considering the following possible options (Note: more details will be
available before the ‘on-line open house’ that is tentatively scheduled for late April):
WILDERNESS CANOEING
by Louis P. Bonnenfant
ASSOCIATION FORUM of the A.O.S. November- December 1952
This article was written by Dot Bonnenfant's father. He founded the Canoe Club in 1952.
This is a magazine prepared by a committee of the Canadian Chapter of the Association of Secretaries
Mr Louis P. Bonnenfant is Physical Director of the Y.M.C.A. at Ottawa, Ontario and a graduate of George
Williams College, Chicago.
It is still not long since much of the travel through Canada was done on foot, on horseback, in horsedrawn vehicles, or by boat.The coming of the railroad, the automobile, and the aeroplane has almost eliminated these means of travel and much of the adventure and pioneering spirit that went with them.
Now it is simple to board a plane in Montreal in the morning and to eat supper in Vancouver that day, or
to get into a car and travel 200 to 500 miles in one day. It is all so easy, but not nearly so challenging nor
so rewarding as the 20 to 30 miles that a canoeist travels in a day through wilderness lakes and rivers,
where self-reliance is needed to reach the journey's end.
Executive Meeting Minutes March 25th 2021
Log in to see minutes from the virtual executive meeting on March 25th, 2021.