Tue, Aug 18 2009 - Water - Toronto Harbourfront Kayak Paddling at Night (View Original Event Details)
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And once again we got lucky that the rain storms and lightning abated and the outfitter didn’t cancel this event!
8 TOC members met up with other paddlers at Harborfront and after signing in, gearing up our boats(with some usual Harborfront delays...oh, boats leaking, foot pedals not working), we hit the water just before sunset.
It was a fairly big group and everyone looked pretty comfortable for a night paddle. Despite being posted as a more advanced paddle, a few TOC members were somewhat new to kayaking and the extra adventure of a night paddle. They managed very well.
After heading across the channel in sunset, it got dark very quickly and we so we “light up” our kayaks with “illuminated orange cones” The paddle became one of many glowing orange cones floating along the inner channels of Centre Island in the dark. I almost forgot to mention the mosquitoes that followed us!
We were certainly treated to some spectacular views of the illuminated city skyline. A few excellent shots were taken of the kayakers and resident ducks silhouetted afront the city skyline!
Our paddle continued through the various channels, through the Royal Yacht Club, lighthouse and bird sanctuary. We stopped, chatted, reflected on the darkness of the night...and each other...! A little game of naming 10 birds that are in the area was attempted...successfully....I named half of a bird!
Our tranquility was only broken by the large, brightly lit and loud cruise boat with well wishers that passed by! Those Torontonians! After a cool “dark” stop in a scheduled inlet, we returned back out to the main harbour channel to cross back. Again, we had spectacular views of the each other in our boats and the city skyline.
By now it was very dark and I think everyone enjoyed the thrill of paddling the cool, dark starry night. Yes, we saw plenty of stars including the big dipper! Thankfully the only big “dipper” was of celestial origins and not one of us paddlers in the dark, wavy and murky waters of Lake Ontario.
We enjoyed our brisk paddle back to Harborfront with sights of neon lights, the roar of a few Porter airlines planes ahead and as we reached the harbor, the Blue Jays must have scored at the Rogers Centre.
Some care was taken to disembark and unload the boats....as some of us were a little wet and tired. All together,a fine evening of night kayaking that stirred a different sensibility of night adventure on the water.
Judy demonstrated how to bring your own kayak, load it up, enter it, paddle with all the right gear and exit in the dark the fancy way!
Thanks to Geraldine and Judy for taking pictures in the dark. Looking forward to and until next time.....
Ghanesh
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.