Executive Meeting Minutes 2019-10-03
The minutes from the executive meeting of 2019-10-03 are attached. Login to see the attachment.
Ted Blake Award Nominations 2019
Your club executive is looking for nominations for the Ted Blake award which is a beautiful paddle inscribed with the names of the winners. This annual award is given to club members who have made outstanding contributions to the club, usually over the course of several years.
Do you know someone who has made a really big difference to the club? If so, please submit your nomination to any member of the club executive. Nominees should be current members of the club and cannot have won the award in the past.
Nominations can be submitted to any member of the club executive not later than Wednesday Oct 16, 2019.
History of the award
The award was created 2003 in recognition of the long and dedicated service given to the club by Ted Blake. He joined the club (then the Y Canoe Club) in 1978 – before the club even had a boathouse. It was he who negotiated a deal with the YM/YWCA to get the club’s first boathouse and to organize club members to build it. He remained active with the club until his death in 2011. Click here for more information about him.
Club member Dot B created the beautiful award paddle.
Click on "Read more" to see a list of previous winners.
RACCC 2019 AGM Wednesday Oct 23 7pm
RACCC will hold its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday October 23, 7-9 pm in the Courtside A Room of the RA (East Wing). All club members are encouraged to attend.
Memebers are invited to meet in the Clubhouse at 5:30 for supper before the meeting.
Agenda for RACCC 2019 AGM
1) Call to order
2) Review and approval of agenda
3) Financial Statement for 2019 and Draft 2020 Budget
4) Report from the RA
5) Executive reports
· Chairperson
· Assets Coordinator
· Membership Coordinator
· Training Coordinator
· Treasurer
· Whitewater Coordinator
· Family Coordinator
· Flatwater Coordinator
. Social Coordinator
.Outreach Coordinator
6) Executive elections
As with every year, we encourage all positions on the Executive to be up for competition. But this year, many Executive members will not be seeking re-election (having put in many years on the executive). So please consider putting your name forward. Contact Mark S. if you are interested.
Reports by the executive members will be added to this article as they become available. Please login to your account to see them.
PLEASE IGNORE ATTACHMENTS FROM 2011 IN CANOEBYTES ARTICLE - CAUSED BY BUG IN SOFTWARE
Does your mood improve when you are surrounded by trees, water or wide open sky?
Is Algonquin or Gatineau Park or La Vérendrye your second home? Do you camp, canoe, kayak, hike, snowshoe, cross-country ski or otherwise spend time outdoors? Would you be willing to help a student’s research by talking about your relationship with the natural environment?
Read more: Seeking your input into university student research about the natural landscape
FW Introduction Solo Canoe Certification Weekend- Aug 23-25 2019
A report by Nathalie M
During this weekend course, participants of all ages and backgrounds from aspiring summer camp counsellors to RACCC instructors-in-training gathered at Gracefield Camp in Quebec to obtain ORCKA or Paddle Canada flatwater intro solo canoe certifications. Seventeen participants, instructors and assistants were divided into three groups with excellent instructor to student ratios. The camping weekend allowed us to paddle in calmer waters each morning and evening. In between paddling sessions, we learned course theory and joined in extracurricular activities like archery, napping in hammocks, hiking, kayaking, swimming, stargazing and singing by the campfire. Everyone participated in a synchronized solo canoe dance and some even discovered how to roll swamped canoes in the warm, shallow waters of Lac Castor.
Thank you to the ever flexible and resourceful instructors Karen H., Jennifer H., Mark S., Suze C. and Dot B. who volunteer their time and go above and beyond to ensure all participants are well fed, sheltered and have the resources and support required to get the most out of every course.
Click on Read more for a 2nd report on the weekend plus some photos and a video.
Algonquin NW Tim and Nipissing Rivers Loop Trip Report 2019
Main Objectives: Trout fishing, experience Algonquin, and travel a new route. SEE ATTACHMENT.
 Trip report | [Trip report] | 3145 kB |
Chiniguchi 2019
The Chiniguchi route is on crown land northeast of Sudbury. Going after the middle of August allowed us to avoid the kids' camps that use this route earlier in the summer. The weather was remarkably good with just a bit of rain and not too much wind while paddling. On the way out, we had multiple passes overhead by an Ontario Government aircraft which seemed to be practicing water bomber manouvers.
Click Read More to see photos of the trip.
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 (Lynn) 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.