Enjoy Paddling - Canoe or Kayak

with the Halton Outdoor Club

We have a ton of fun on the water in this club. As you can see from the photograph above, one of the well-accepted summer activities of the Halton Outdoor Club is Paddling - both Kayaking and canoeing. There is nothing more invigorating that skimming along just above the surface of the water on a hot day. Every outing has a volunteer leader and the list of events shows the phone numbers and/or the email addresses of the leaders available for information on their event. You do not need to have your own boat and safety gear - many of our trips have rentals available right on site or brought to the site for you. This makes it especially easy to get started in this rapidly growing sport. All paddlers are of course expected to wear a PFD (personal flotation device) and to be capable of swimming at least 50 meters with a PFD.

Halton Outdoor welcomes beginners and we welcome those who for what ever reason, cannot own a boat. (i.e. apartment dwellers).

The level of endurance or pace for the groups is divided up as either "Not Strenuous" with daily paddling typically 3 hours, with distances of 5 kilometers or less. "Moderately Strenuous" paddlers go for between 3 to 5 hours and the distances can fall between 5 and 20 kilometers. Finally, the "Strenuous" adventurers go out for more than 5 hours and the distance traveled can be over 20 kilometers.

The canoe skill level found can vary from beginners who are able to at least enter and exit a canoe safely to experienced types who have the ability to handle rough windy conditions and make difficult portages and landings.

The kayak skill level found can vary from novice who have the basic paddling skills, have practiced wet exits and can expect on their trips, protected waters, easy landings and shelter for resting now and then.

Intermediate kayak skill level still requires basic skill paddling, including the ability to brace, self rescue, and participate in assisted rescue. They go on mostly protected waters with some difficult landings and some sheltered spots for landings.

Experienced kayak skill level requires all the above mentioned plus seamanship and rescue skills and the ability to handle waves greater than one meter. They can expect to handle exposed waters, open crossings, moderate to strong windsurf, fog and potentially difficult landings. Sheltered resting and landing spots can be few.