Images by Greg Ramsey

      The Saturday trip to Lakeview Marsh was leisurely and delightful. Eleven paddlers arrived for an afternoon of sun, fun, and waves: Greg, Lynn, Bob, Dave L., Tish, Gene and Noah, Patty and Chuck, and Aneta and Robert.
      Greg was available to offer instruction, but because the water was cold, there were no volunteers to practice wet exits. However, Noah greatly benefited from Greg’s excellent lesson on how to do a proper forward stroke. Greg has a talent of explaining things thoroughly and in plain terms. When explaining the notion of a paddler’s box, he used a PVC pipe that he inserted behind Lynn’s PFD’s shoulder straps so that it stuck out on both sides parallel to her shoulders. This helped demonstrate the torso rotation necessary to maintain the paddler’s box during the stroke: the pipe should remain parallel to the paddle shaft throughout the stroke length. This visual was extremely helpful in understanding the body motion during the stroke, and Tish reported Noah made outstanding progress.

      While Greg and Lynn demonstrated the forward stroke to Noah, Patty and Chuck took off towards Lakeview Marsh, Bob went to hug the lake on his own, and Aneta, Robert, and David ventured a mile out into Lake Ontario. It was a perfect day for paddling the lake as the swells were moderate in size, pleasant, and not scary for a change. Hanging out on the beach and playing in the waves was relaxing and fun. The slow-paced get together allowed everybody to do whatever they wanted. Tish, Gene and Noah paddled the swamps and the pond watching carp mate, Lynn and Greg relaxed on the beach near Montario Point, and Aneta, Robert, Bob, and Dave paddled along the shore of Lake Ontario to join Chuck and Patty on the Lakeview Marsh beach.
      The whole area was swarming with kayaks, canoes, and motorboats. There even was a boat full of beach hungry teenagers who paddled it using… two shovels. Anything for the beach! Yeah!

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