April 13, 2024
36 members along with 2 doggies, paddled Graves Landing to Fish Creek. We had treats, lots of laughs, and social time. It was warm, sunny and no wind. Water level was a bit low, good flow, lots of other users such as fishing boats. We had one swim fairly early on (bow caught an eddy of a novice tandem canoe team). Great lunch picnic. One water bottle found and will be returned to owner. Ron P lost his socks at the take-out.
Lessons learned, good reminders:
- Always book nice weather and lots of people will show up!
- Access points / boat launch etiquette always applies: make room for other users, be efficient and help each other in and out of access points
- Label your gear - "finder's keepers"!
- Split up novice tandems and have them paddle with experienced paddlers and their learning curve will improve greatly!
- Make sure to water-proof and tie stuff down even when it's a novice trip.
- It was good to have a couple of bathroom stops, with real bathrooms, along the way.
- It was smart to split into two groups, a faster one and a slower one. However, this meant there was no large group photo opportunity other than at the beginning.
Thanks to John G. for the shuttle organizing, thanks to Tom and Rick for the section/safety talk. Thanks to Jack and Jim for the extra flexibility and taking the novice paddlers. Thanks to Jude for the extra vehicle to achieve the shuttle! It truly takes a village to pull off this massive day to kick off the season, and it was fabulous!
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