May 28 Meet and Greet Barbecue at Linda and Doug Watson's

 

With the weather forecast calling for rains all day, it was decided to cancel the paddle at Westwood Lake. Close to 30 PGOSA Paddlers’ members attended the Meet and Greet Barbecue which was held at Linda and Doug Watson’s backyard in Parksville. The event began with everyone introducing themselves.

 

Donna Roy then led the group in a session on Warmup Exercises for Kayakers. She referred to her handout which focusses on Yoga exercises for getting our shoulders ready for a day of paddling.

 

The group then looked at Safety Equipment for kayakers including Mandatory and Recommended Safety Gear for kayakers. Safety gear carried by our Trip Leaders and Sweeps includes a First Aid Kit, Walkie Talkies and a Marine Radio.

 

The Trip Leaders/Sweeps have a Trip Safety Manual which provides valuable information on such things as preparing to lead a trip, how to keep a group organized while on the water, communications with a whistle and/or paddle when leading a trip and wind speeds for safe trips.

 

Rhonda Johnson, one of our members and a certified Paddle Canada Instructor, spoke about the importance of knowing how to do self and assisted rescues while kayaking. She and her partner are willing to do a refresher session for our members on these two rescue techniques. Information on the session will be sent out to all members in the near future.

 

Members were reminded of the online resources found on the group’s Blog/Website – pgosapaddlers.blogspot.com. The Friends of PGOSA have a number of kayak-related local and regional merchants that offer a discount to PGOSA members who show their current membership card when making purchases.

The Blog also has a number of Kayaking Online Resources which are broken into the following categories: Marine Weather and Tides, Trip Planning, Paddling Forums and Resources, Fitness and Safety Tips and Kayaking Courses.

 

Those in attendance then enjoyed the Barbecue provided by the Paddlers’ Social Committee. The Meet and Greet event was an enjoyable way for members to find out about the many activities planned for this year and to meet their fellow paddlers.