Participants: Don MacDonald, Pam Peters, Stéfanie Miron-Fyfe, Erica Stanley, Pat Crawford, Wendell McDowell, Don McDowell, Morgan Merritt, Andrea McVean, Kipp Lemke, Rod MacLean, Jayson MacLean, Pascal, Sandra Horne, Calvin DesRoches, Barb Ramsay-DesRoches, Todd Gaudin, Natalie, Todd MacLean, John Wade (Swade), Shirley Wright, Bryon Howard, Robin, Jacob

Experience Level: From beginner to advanced.

Weather: 20 degrees Celsius / light wind / clear & sunny!

Animals: Great blue herons, black bellied plover, greater black backed gulls, many immature gulls, other gull species (help me identify these), Great Blue Heron

Personal Thoughts / Reminders / Memories: We met in Rustico Harbour at Outside Expeditions across from the Lighthouse at the Court Brothers between 5:00pm and 6:25pm. We were a bit tardy getting out there due to the CBC camera crew. Yes, that's right, we were on T.V.!!!!

There were 24 of us in the bullpen, creating one beautiful raft! We were close to the record for the largest fleet of independent kayakers ever sighted on PEI last week, and definitely broke a world record this week (ha! ha!)

We broke up our glorious raft and scattered in the four directions. Some explored Robinson's Island, while others paddled into downtown Rustico and then around the harbour. Erica was showing off her paddling skills as she effortlessly cruised to Robinson's Island and back and then went back out for more. What a powerhouse!

At the first of the night, Wendell wowed the crowd with his "rolling" skills. He made it look sooooooooo easy, but we soon found out that it takes a wee bit of practice. Shirley was determined to brush up on her rolling skills. She was wearing a wet suit, but she looked pretty dry when she came in! J The group seemed pretty reluctant to come in for the night. Luckily Swade was busy brewing the tea for us and there was plenty of sipping and conversation back on the wharf. What an evening!

Future Plans: Next week we hope to get back out in the surf… followed by a 45 minute out and back paddle. We want to encourage people in the kayak club to be responsible paddlers. You should only be coming to the club if you are comfortable with a self-rescue. Don't know how to do a self-rescue? Take a course (from Outside Expeditions), get a friend to teach you, buy a book/video, … and practice! Remember, in the outdoors - cotton kills. A 100% polyester shirt from Froggies is much better than your cotton T-shirt. (Outside Expeditions also has a full line of quality paddling gear.)

UPCOMING CRCA FLATWATER COURSE - Sat, June 23 - or almost anytime with a minimum of four people! Learn the fundamentals to put you on the water safely. Call us or visit www.getoutside.com for details.

"The Club"

If you own your equipment - come meet other paddlers. If you don't own your own equipment - come paddle every week - very inexpensively. (We only ask that you are able to look after your own safety. A self-excluding requirement should be that you are able to demonstrate a self-rescue.) Cost is $95 for 11 sessions. (Session #1 is May 8-July 17. Session #2 is July 24-Oct 2. Deduct $3 for each session you missed - from May 8). As of June 12, the cost is $80 + taxes.