Safety Warning - Transporting Canoes with Foam Blocks
Changing automobile technology means that we have to be careful when running over straps inside the body of the car while putting canoes on cars with foam blocks
Some newer cars are coming with safety devices called curtain or canopy airbags. These are air bags that are installed over the doors in cars or in the side pillars of cars. These air bags protect passengers in the event of a side collision.
If a person passes over straps or rope through a car with curtain or canopy air bags, the straps or ropes will interfere with the deployment of the air bags and may cause injuries if there is an accident. Blocking or restraining an airbag during deployment could cause fire or explosion resulting in serious injury or worse.
Fortunately, it is easy to identify cars with curtain or canopy airbags. If you are not sure if your car has this type of air bag, check your owner’s manual. In many cases the airbags in cars is have labels like the ones on the steering wheels. If you are not sure if your car has this type of airbag – do not pass straps or ropes through the car.
Before passing over straps or ropes through a car, check to see if it has curtain or canopy air bags.
If a car has curtain or canopy airbags – do not pass straps or ropes through it.
At this point I do not know of an alternative way of attaching over straps on cars without racks.
Note: The warning doesn’t apply to cars with racks since the over straps or ropes are tied to the racks.
Mark Scott
Upcoming Events
Please note the following events:
1) CAMPING SEMINAR 1: Meals, Cooking, Fires, Stoves, Water Treatment and Waste Management - April 25 7:00PM
Menu and meal planning and preparation options; cooking gear, making and cooking on fires,
selection of and use of stoves; water treatment, waste management and personal hygiene.
Date/Time: Thursday, 25 Apr, 7 PM SHARP to 9 PM,
Location: RA Centre, 2451 Riverside Dr. Rm: Courtside A
Registration: No pre-registration. Register at the door, cash only (please bring exact change)
$5 members, $10 non-members (per seminar)
Free to youth under 18 yrs (youth groups supervising adult is free when with multiple youth)
Click here for a full list of the camping seminars.
2) Club and Boathouse Orientation - 07:00pm - 09:00pm - Friday April 26 (members only) or Friday May 10 (members or non-members plus additional information on Sea Kayaking program)
Recommended for all new club members to help get off to a great start and become familiar with how your club operates. Please register by e-mail to the contact below to attend either the April 26 or May 10 session. The sessions will start on time at 7 p.m. in the Courtside B Room in the east wing of the RA Centre, 2451 Riverside Drive, Ottawa with presentations on the club and canoe tripping. Then there will be practical demonstrations at the RACCC Boathouse beside Bronson Avenue, west parking lot of the RA Centre. The whole orientation takes close to 2 hours. Afterwards, people are welcome to stay overtime to ask any additional questions and/or retire to the RA Fieldhouse (Pub) for some social time. If a member, click here for contact information to register. If a non-member, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to register.
What will be covered and what you will learn:
- Introduction to the Club
- What equipment you will need
- What is available from the Club
- Transportation
- Canoe and kayak rentals
- How to get information about the Club
- How trips are organized, how to get on trips
- Types of trips
- Safety rules
- Cost sharing protocols
- Private tripping
- Getting started - what basic things do you need to bring on a one-day canoe trip
- What is needed to safely attach a canoe to a car
- Care of canoes and demo on how to safely attach a canoe to a car
- How Club canoe camping trip planning is undertaken
- Signing out Club equipment (logs, reservations and club expense forms and deposits)
3) RACCC Pub Night - April 26 8:30pm
In conjunction with the scheduled Boathouse and Club Orientation, the Club invites you to join us for a get together with RACCC members. Meet in the Fieldhouse for beer (or whatever) and appetizers in a reserved seating area for the group.
All members - new and returning - are invited to come out, to welcome new members and to reconnect with friends. It will be a chance to learn more about the Club and to get to know its members.
Boathouse and Club orientation sessions will end around 8:30 and attendees and trainers are invited to join us then. Other members are welcome to come out earlier and get things going.
4) CAMPING SEMINAR 2: Essential Navigation with Map and Compass - May 2 7:00PM
Essential navigation, topographic maps and using a compass to follow a bearing. Never get lost again!
Bring an orienteering compass if you have one. Some compasses will be available.
NOTE: this seminar is a prerequisite for the Advanced Navigation training.
Date/Time: Thursday, 02 May, 1900 SHARP to 2100,
Location: RA Centre, 2451 Riverside Dr. Rm: Courtside A
Registration: No pre-registration. Register at the door, cash only (please bring exact change)
$5 members, $10 non-members (per seminar)
Free to youth under 18 yrs (youth groups supervising adult is free when with multiple youth)
Click here for a full list of the camping seminars.
2019 RACCC Training Program
for skills, fun, safety and friends to paddle with!
The RACCC has an amazing training program planned for 2019 for beginners to accomplished paddlers and camper - trippers. Whether you have little or a lot of experience, there are affordable courses to help you learn new skills or refine and update existing skills. Water safety and canoe/kayak rescues are included in the training.
It is also a great way to meet other RACCC members and to find paddling buddies.
Our Instructors are nationally certified through Paddle Canada. They are friendly, knowledgeable, experienced and love teaching so much that they volunteer their time for the benefit of their course participants. They are often assisted by RACCC members with extensive experience and expertise as paddlers or trippers, providing a great instructor to participant ratio.
All RACCC Training courses are available to RACCC Members. Some are available for non members.
Please check the individual courses for more information.
NOTE: NEW DISCOUNTS for NON Members: become an RACCC Member and sign up for training at the same time! New members will get a $25 discount on their course fee if they register for a training course costing $130 or more at the same time as joining the RA Canoe Camping Club.
RACCC offers Paddle Canada Certifications as well as skill development training (non certification) for beginner to advanced skill levels.
1. Flatwater Solo and Tandem Canoeing:
Paddle Canada Certification Courses: Introduction to Advanced
Non-certification Coaching sessions to help you learn new skills.
IF enough paddlers are interested, we will organize Paddle Canada Big Canoe (Voyageur Canoe) training!
2. Sea Kayaking:
Paddle Canada Certification Courses: Basic, Rolling and Level 1 for kayak enthusiasts.
3. Whitewater Solo and Tandem Canoeing:
Paddle Canada Introduction to Advanced certification courses (weekends at Palmers Rapids)
NEW! Intro to Whitewater in-town training option!
Skill training (non-certification) e.g. River Reading, Using the Power of the River ... etc
Successful candidates can earn Paddle Canada White Water Certifications and a place on the RACCC Whitewater List so they can join in club whitewater outings.
4. Camping-Tripping Training:
Evening Seminars include topics such as trip planning, menu and meal preparation, equipment, map and compass basics, risk management etc
Other camping-tripping training includes: Advanced Navigation
NEW Paddle Canada Camping Certifications: Basic, Wilderness, Leadership
Click here: For more information about RACCC Training Programs!
2019 Open House
This year's open house was a big success. We had over 70 new club members and 28 people sign up for training courses.
Welcome to all of our new members and thank you to everyone who made the night go so well.
Mark - RACCC Chairperson
RACCC Executive Meeting Minutes - 22 March 2019
Logon to read the minutes of the executive meeting dated March 22,2019. Note that a bug in the website software causes two additional attachments to be associated with this article when it appears in CanoeBytes.
Trip and Training Reports 2018
Click on links to read reports on club activities.
Family Trip to Fitzroy Provincial Park
FW Instructors Inspired by Becky
Point Grondine Exploratory Trip
2019 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. Click "Read more" to see the list of discounts.
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.
Accepting Canoe Club Memberships for 2019
Memberships are being accepted for 2019. Click here for more information.
Some modifications to the Canoe Club membership procedures for 2019 are listed below.
1) Members only have to pay the membership to join the RA once unless they let it lapse in which case they have to pay it again. Members however will be given a three month grace period during which the RA membership fee will be waved.
2) Canoe Club annual memberships now run for 12 months from the date that a member joined. The RA will send a reminder email to a member one month before their Canoe Club membership expires.
3) If a Canoe Club membership is not renewed by the expiry date, there will be no grace period. The member will be removed from the Canoe Club membership list and their access to the Canoe Club website will be blocked. If they renew after the expiry date, their access to the website will be promptly restored.
4) New members will get a $25 discount on their course fee if they register for a training course costing $130 or more at the same time as joining the Canoe Club.
Red Cross Standard First Aid & CPR C
Date: Saturday, May 18th and Monday, May 20th (May long weekend)
Time: 9 am - 5 pm
Location: 10 Chesterton Drive near Merivale & Meadowlands (Parkwood Church basement)
Cost: $110 including tax. Free parking.
Minimum age: 12 years (teen friendly)
Instructor: Paula Whaley of National Capital FIrst Aid
Contact: Karen Hurd phone (613) 823-8601. Four spots left.
100% attendance, skills demonstration and 75% on a written exam required for certification.
Certification is good for 3 years.
Information on Canoe Club - 2019
Got questions on how the club operates? Check out the following sources of information.
2019 Discounts for RACCC Members
Club Handbook - Access Members Only
Rates for Car Pooling - Access Members Only
How Not To Get Email From The RACCC Website
How to Open/Close New First Aid Kits
Club Guidelines - Access Members Only
Club Bylaws - Access Members Only
Lyme Disease 2018 Update
Click here for the most current information as of 2018.
Click here for an article published in 2016 on this topic.
Click here for the 2018 map showing risk areas for Lyme Disease in Ontario.
Click here and here (scroll to map at bottom) for some information on the prevalence of the disease in Quebec and the rest of Canada.
Click here for a presentation on Lyme Disease from CHEO in July 2018.
Adventure Smart:10 Essential Survival Items
According to Adventure Smart (more info here) - here are the 10 basic survival items to have with you in any outdoors situation, whether you're out for a few hours or few days. (Check out sample kit below)
(These are not the specialized/essential pieces of equipment that you would bring for a camping trip e.g. tent, sleeping bag, etc.)
1. Flashlight, spare batteries (and bulb)
2. Fire making kit: waterproof matches/lighter, fire starter/candle
3. Signaling device: whistle or mirror
4. Extra food and water
5. Extra clothing (rain, wind, water protection, toque
6. Navigation aids (map/compass)
7. First Aid Kit (know how to use it)
8. Emergency Shelter (orange??) :-)
9. Pocket knife
10. Sun protection (glasses, sunscreen, hat)
Baby It's Cold Outside
Here is an interesting website about dealing with cold that is funded by the government of Canada. Gerry G stars in the lost skiers episode.