New Kayak
By now many of you will have noticed that the club has a new sea kayak. This is thanks to club member Margaret M. who kindly donated hers to the club. We are all very grateful to her for her generosity.
Mark Scott
Chairperson
French River 2019 Trip Report
Our 10 day trip started on Sat Jul 27 and we returned Mon Aug 5. It included Henry N (trip leader), Mike B, Xuan Q and Cory D. This was my (Cory) first time on the French River, with the other three having been to the area many times.
We had an amazing trip, with great weather and calm waters. Each day included some easy paddling, swimming, lots of relaxing and nightly campfires. I also enjoyed some fishing, photography, listening to podcasts, reading Dune by Frank Herbert, and watching the show Zone Blanche/Black Spot which I had downloaded from Netflix to my phone. I might not have had a toilet, running water or electricity, but there was no shortage of things to do!
For a funny story, read about the "barrel challenge" on day 9, which was a great way to end the trip.
La Verendrye Circuit 34 July 25-28 2019
Sonia, Maria, Catherine and I drove to LeDomaine after work on Thursday July 25, bought our $16.75 pp/night (!) permits for canoe-camping access plus mandatory rescue insurance, and tented overnight on the lawn in front of the office. Next morning we drove the 41 km north to the SEPAQ campsite called Portage, unloaded, and shuttled one car to the SEPAQ campsite called Grand Barrage. We also looked at the sideroad leading down to the east end of Lac au Barrage and confirmed it was too rutted for our cars. Finally we put-in and started paddling east across Lac du Portage.
Circuit #34 is squarish in shape, a 44 km 3-day loop, with about 1250 m total portages. It is roughly 1/3 large lake, 1/3 smaller lakes and 1/3 channels and meandering creeks with beaver dams. We stayed on a lovely, blueberry-covered island campsite 34-23 the first night. Too early for blueberries though. The second day included 3 stretches of shallow meandering creeks through beaver dammed marshes … delightful, with dragonflies, jewelwings, swamp roses, some white-winged crossbills, lots of work. The first creek out of Lac Moran is very shallow. We sloshed and lined the boats through the twisting channel. We carried some of the gear over the portage but almost regretted it at the end when we had to carry packs through quaking muck to the canoes at the creek’s outlet to Lac Quenelle. In mid-afternoon, we emerged from the marshy creeks into a stiff breeze on Lac Duman and stopped to rest at campsite 34-43. It was early but grey clouds were building, the heat was oppressive, we were tired and the campsite was pretty good except for mediocre swimming. We stayed for the night.
That left us with 17 km to paddle on our third day, including 4 km down the length of Lac Nizard. Fortunately, Sunday was fresh and sunny with a light breeze. The Ruisseau between Lac Duman and La Nizard was bigger and much easier than the previous creeks. We lunched at a lovely site 34-51, watched a bald eagle, and stopped for our final swim on the rocks at the east end of Grand Lake. We pulled into the Grand Barrage campsite shortly after 3pm and returned to Ottawa about 9pm.
We enjoyed Circuit #34 very much. The creeks are interesting but challenging at low water levels. The solitude feels remarkable. We saw only 4 people fishing in small boats on Lac Nizard and Lac Duman, and one other paddler, otherwise no one for three days. Only 2 squirrels.
With thanks to Catherine for photos. Click Read More to see the photos.
Algonquin - June 29 to July 4, 2019
I wanted to explore western Algonquin Park, and introduce Kylah, Dylan and Riley to more serious portaging. I had hoped this would also be an opportunity for experienced families or with older kids, but it turned out to just be our family. This was definitely one of our most difficult and ambitious trips. I’m very proud of how well the boys did on the portages, and kept good spirits through some of the worst bugs I’ve seen!
Saturday after picking up a second canoe we were on the road by 8:45am. We picked up lunch in Mattawa, then stopped at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park for a picnic on Moore Lake. We stopped at the visitors centre on our way out, and the boys had fun guessing which fir belongs to which animals with one of the park staff.
We got on the water around 2:45pm, with some whitecaps on Kioshkokwi (Kiosk) Lake, but with the wind to our back it made for an easier paddle. We headed under the old train bridge, hoping to find a site on the island at the north end near the portage to Lauder Lake. After checking out sites we ended up taking the second site past the train bridge. The bugs were very bad and a storm was coming in, so we quickly setup shelters. As we were reheating a pre-made chili a strong storm came in with heavy rain, lightning and thunder.
Sunday breakfast was yummy pre-made breakfast burritos. We relaxed, read books, the boys played lots of cribbage (crib) and we played a good game of Uno. For dinner we made a dutch oven lasagna, which turned out great as my first time using a dutch oven. We enjoyed what would turn out to be our only campfire of the week, with s’mores for dessert.
Read more: Algonquin Provincial Park - June 29 to July 4, 2019
Frontenac Provincial Park - June 22 to 23, 2019
Several families that planned to join us weren’t able to make it, so it was just our family for the weekend. Although it is fun to have others join us, it was a really nice family weekend trip.
On Saturday We had a nice picnic lunch at the park office, and a short hike along the Arab Lake Gorge Trail. With beautiful weather we launched onto Buck Lake and paddled 45 minutes to site 1. After setting up the site we relaxed, enjoyed a nice dinner and campfire with s’mores. Due to a miscommunication the boys didn’t bring anything to entertain themselves like books or games. At the campfire, the boys thanked me for teaching them how to be bored, and they were serious!
Sunday after breakfast we set out for a 9km hike on the Small Slide Lake Loop, which features some of the most rugged hiking in Frontenac. Just past the halfway point, we stopped at a nice spot on Slide Lake, where Cory, Riley and dog Dakota enjoyed some swimming. After 4.5 hours of tough hiking on a hot day, we were all happy to back for some lunch.
We packed up, paddled back with a short stop for some more swimming on Buck Lake.
Forest Fire Risk 2019
2018 was a bad year for forest fires in Ontario. So far, except in western Ontario, things don't look as bad for 2019. Below are three links you might want to look at before your next camping trip.
Fire Danger Map
Active Fire Map Ontario
Active Fire Map Quebec
Posting a Trip to the Club Calendar
The club encourages trip leaders to post all club trips on the calendar. Using the calendar is easy (see attachment). This makes them readily available to all members and gets them included in the weekly Canoebytes.
A handy feature of the calendar is that you can use it to have people register for the trip.
Please Fill Out the Club Volunteer Form
The club is run exclusively by volunteers. No club activities would occur without the help of volunteers. Please click "Read More" to access a link and take a couple of minutes to indicate how you would like to volunteer:
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
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 Club Orientation Session Presentation
See attachment from the 2019 Club Orientation Session. It gives a useful overview on how the club operates.
 RACCC_Orientation_2019.pdf | [ ] | 1049 kB |
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