Mid-American Canoe Race draws veterans, novices
23.02.98
With water rushing against their paddles and songbirds in the canopy of trees in Mount St. Mary’s Park, hundreds of canoeists cast off for a voyage along the Fox River.
“This is our inaugural adventure, said Mike Roggeman of North Aurora
On Sunday, the Fox Valley Park District hosted its 50th annual Mid-American Canoe and Kayak Race with starts in St. Charles and Batavia for 10- and 6-mile trips down the prettiest stretches of the river, ending at McCullough Park in Aurora.
The race featured some 700 racers — avid, novice and newcomers —with as many different reasons for participating in the race as there are makes and colors of boats. The cloud cover kept temperatures in the 70s, until the sun peeked through two hours into the race. Participants noted the river levels had subsided since last week’s heavy rains, but they were high enough to keep boats from scraping the bottom.
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Paddlers raise $40Gs for inner-city kids 0
05.06.11
Volunteers braved the waves and the rain Saturday to raise $40,000 to send about 140 inner-city kids to camp this summer.
Eight teams of eight paddlers raised $5,000 in sponsorships to compete in a gruelling 40-km canoe paddle and portage along the shores of Lake Ontario.
Organizers had tents set up near the Humber Bay pedestrian bridge so the volunteers could have lunch and dry out during the rainy trek.
“All the money we raise goes to pay for high-risk families to attend camps,” said Jennifer Wilson, of Amici Camping Charity that sends underprivileged kids to camp.
“These kids would never have a chance to experience that lifestyle.”
Source: Toronto Sun
Canoe brigade paddling into Montana to commemorate explorer David Thompson
04.06.11
It's a well-kept secret for such an ambitious adventure, but the
David Thompson Columbia Brigade is coming to northwestern Montana
next week.
Big water - more than 1,000 miles of it - looms ahead.
The 10-canoe brigade set out Friday from Invermere, British
Columbia, for Astoria, Ore.
They're commemorating the bicentennial of the British explorer,
fur trader and mapmaker whose work helped open the world's eyes to
the Canadian West and the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
It's an especially big deal in Canada, where earlier brigades were
held in 2007 and 2008.
This is the most ambitious. Among other things, the voyagers and
their 25-foot canoes will portage around 16 dams on their way from
Thompson's west-slope base at Invermere, on the headwaters of the
Columbia, to Astoria at the river's mouth.
Source: The Missoulian
Larry: Stand up paddling is very much like C1, which is what we call a single sprint canoe. The only difference, other than in one you are standing and one kneeling on one knee, is that in sprint canoe we only paddle on one side.
