Summer is fast approaching and the 麻豆社国产Paddling Club (SPC) is encouraging locals to hit the water.
The SPC kicked off its social paddles on Tuesday, May 19, and will offer one a month for the rest of the summer.
The club鈥檚 Ian Lowe said the social paddles are a great way to explore Squamish.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to get everyone out on the water,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey start off small and graduate to somewhat longer paddles. People should be comfortable in their boats by themselves, but we are always travelling in a group so if someone falls in there鈥檚 help. We鈥檝e chosen times of these paddles for the calmest hours.鈥�
The Pancake Paddle occurs on June 7 and participants start at Nexen Beach for a 5.6-km paddle to the west side of Howe Sound and back, starting at 8 a.m. Pancakes will be served when paddlers return.
The Full Moon Paddle occurs on July 3 and will see participants explore the 麻豆社国产Estuary starting at 8:30 p.m. and get a view of the full moon over Shannon Falls. Next up is the Easy Downwinder starting at 10 a.m. on Aug. 15, which follows a route starting at Porteau Cove and finishing up at Nexen Beach. Last is the Paddle for Coffee on Sept. 12 at 7:30 a.m. Paddlers start at Nexen Beach and travel all the way to Britannia Beach and have a coffee at Galileo Coffee Company.
Participants must have a membership in the SPC and also bring Coast Guard required gear, a head lamp or deck light and warm clothes.聽
Any sort of boat is allowed and Lowe said he鈥檇 like to extend the invitation to the stand-up paddling community.
鈥淕enerally the boat types hang out together but we鈥檙e trying to encourage the SUP crowd to come out with us,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e been underrepresented a but in the past but we now have two SUPers on our board.鈥�
The other big event this summer for the club is the Canadian Surfski Championships on July 18. Last year鈥檚 debut event saw hundreds take on the race, and Lowe said the buzz is building for 2015.
鈥淲e want to build on the success of last year and we received very good feedback from racers,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e moved the date up a month this year and we should get a lot of elite paddlers here for the race.鈥�
For more information on the SPC, visit www.squamishpaddlingclub.com.聽
