August 16th Toronto Island Paddle

I have volunteered to lead a group of paddlers from The Halton Outdoor Club on a paddle to The Toronto Islands. We would be departing from Harborfront Canoe and Kayak Centre at 9:30 a.m. for a 4-5 hour paddle over to, and through The Toronto Islands. We would be stopping somewhere on the islands for a picnic lunch.

Let me know if you are interested, here or at alanrdrummond@hotmail.com

Alan

THE ISLANDS

I will be interested in going on this paddle.That is a 4 or 5 hour round trip right?

Re: August 16th Toronto Island Paddle

Hello Paddlers,

This paddle will put in at Harbourfront Canoe and Kayak Centre (HCKC), address and directions to follow. I would appreciate if we could all arrive between 9:00 and 9:30 for a 10:00 sharp departure. From HCKC we will paddle out to the Toronto Islands along the western end of the inner harbour. We will paddle into and through the 13 islands that make up The Toronto Islands. The Toronto Islands is one of my favourite places to paddle and being so close to home makes them that much more special. Their is a ton of wildlife we may see: great blue heron, cormorants, beavers, muskrats, bass, etc etc.

While paddling through the islands we will find a nice spot to have a picnic lunch, either by the grandstand or over towards one of the beaches. Their are facilities to eat on the island but I would suggest bringing a lunch of your own because it is not guaranteed we will stop for lunch near one of the snack bars or restaurants. Their are washroom facilities on the islands. I anticipate that we will be out between 5-6 hours

As usual on any paddle please ensure you have all necessary Canadian Coast Guard required items in your boat. As per Club guidelines, you are required to wear your PFD at all times while on the water. Non club members will be required to sign a waiver before participating in this event.

As mentioned the put in is at the:

Harbourfront Canoe and Kayak Centre
283A Queen's Quay W
Toronto, ON
M5V 1A2
Canada
(416) 203-2277
1 (800) 960-8886

Rentals are also available from HCKC. A sea kayak will rent for $50 (regularly $70)for paddlers. Please contact HCKC direct to reserve a boat. If you have any trouble reserving or with the pricing ask to speak to James K the manager or contact me if the issue persists. Identify yourself as a member of The Halton Outdoor Club and request the special pricing when reserving.

As this is a watersport please be prepared to get wet on this outing. We will go rain or shine, only lightning will keep us on shore.
Pack a change of clothes in case of accidental (or otherwise) mishap. A dry bag is best but if need be, a huge ziploc will work in a pinch. Bring a lunch, snacks and plenty of water. A hat, sunscreen, bug spray and raincoat are also good things to bring. Layered quick dry clothing works best, leave your cotton at home.

Directions & Parking

QEW/Gardiner to Spadina Ave EXIT
TURN LEFT(north) at bottom of exit
get in right lane immediately
TURN RIGHT on Bremner Boulevard
TURN RIGHT on Rees St
go straight, Rees turns into Robertson Crescent at Queens Quay
continue on Robertson Cres 100 metres. HCKC will be on your right, Metro Police Marine Unit will be immediately in front of you
Turn into the driveway at HCKC, unload your boat and gear onto the grass beside the driveway and then move your car to the parking lot across the street. Meter parking is available on Robertson Cres but is only available for 3 hours at a time.
The parking lot at the corner of Queens Quay W and Rees St is the closest above ground parking and will charge between $7 and $15 to park. I am in the process of trying to secure coupons for parking that will get us a rate of $7.00 for the day. It is a large lot but I do not know if they allow trailers, I will try to find out though.


Carpooling

We do have one paddler that is in need of a ride in from Oakville, Kerr and Speers area. She will only have her gear, no boat, to bring with her. If anyone travels past that neck of the woods and has room for one more paddler, if you could let me know and I will put you in touch with her.

I will be keeping an eye on the weather throughout the week but am hopeful that August will be a great month for weather for us.

I look forward to meeting and paddling with all of you (we should be a gaggle of 15-20 paddlers) and am really looking forward to a wonderful day. Apres-kayak cocktail hour can be discussed and decided next Sunday.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to ask or share.

See you all next week,

Alan Drummond