Paddlers taking part in the Canadian Voyageur Brigade Society’s Canada 150 canoe journey arrived in Sechelt June 14.
Russ Greaves of the Gibsons Paddle Club said the weather cooperated and the group was able to time the tide perfectly for going through the Skookumchuck, although RCM SAR was on hand to escort the canoes and assist if needed.
Ironically, the only boat that needed assistance was a motorboat carrying a Coast TV crew, which had engine trouble.
The 90 paddlers making up the nine crews come from the Sunshine Coast, the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Okanagan, Alberta and Yukon. For some of them the journey is their first experience with ocean canoeing.
The paddlers were scheduled to portage through Sechelt from Porpoise Bay to Trail Bay at 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning, and head out for a tour around the Trail Islands, before returning to the shíshálh Nation beachfront on Trail Bay. Anyone with a non-motorized craft is welcome to join in.
They’ll also be taking part in A Night at the Longhouse, a feast and cultural event organized by Aboriginal Ecotours.
On Friday the paddlers head to Gibsons, stopping in Roberts Creek for lunch and finishing up at the Gibsons Public Market for dinner.
The canoe brigade will take to the water at Gibsons around 9 a.m. Saturday and then paddle around Keats and the Pasley Islands, stopping for lunch at Plumper Cove. The public is also invited to join this leg of the trip.
After the day trip around Keats and Pasley, the Sunshine Coast portion journey finishes Sunday with a paddle across Howe Sound to Bowen Island and on to Ambleside in West Vancouver for the closing ceremony.
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