Valerie G. Barnes Connell Jordan
Northern Advocate
The Pimiskatan – La Ronge Canoe Club hosted it’s 31st Eagle Point Challenge Canoe Race Aug. 23 with “great weather,” according to Club President Warren Kelly.
Kelly said the participation locally was good, but there wasn’t as many paddlers from down south as usual.
“They had a big one at Cumberland House,” he said, in an interview with the Northern Advocate.
”It was a good race. We had nine canoes for the 7-km race and four canoes in the long race.”
The short race involved paddling out of Mcgibbon Bay, about halfway, and then back.
While the longer race involved paddling out of Mcgibbon Bay and portaging partly across Dowton Lake, across Dowton Lake and into the Campbell Channel and up to the Nut Portage Crossing and then back on Mcgibbon Bay.
“The big thing we worry about is not so much rain,” Kelly said. “We are worried about wind, because especially in the long race, some of those area can be very rough, but we luckily there wasn’t much wind on that day, so everything worked well.
“We always have safety boats, both of the short race and especially for the long race,” he added.
“Sometimes the canoes turn over. It’s so rough and they have to shore and dump the water out and continue on. Usually on the short race no one overturns a canoe.”
A highlight for this years’ short race – two fathers had three small children in their canoe came second.
Dan Irvine and Matt Mazurik, accompanied by three of their children, came in second in the 7-km race.
Kelly and Hilary Johnstone came in first in the short race.
The long race was a “contest between two young fellows and then two women. They were neck and neck up to Nut Point, the two young fellows got ahead. That was the main competition in the long race,” Kelly said.
The race was followed by an awards presentation and a barbeque, which also marks the end of the Club’s canoeing season.
However, there’s still another month of canoeing, Kelly said, adding that he’s been out a “number of times already,” since the race.
“I like to get out especially to take fall photographs from the canoe,” Kelly said.
The Club doesn’t officially plan anything after the race, but people come out to paddle on their regular race night, Wednesdays, after the season ends.
The two winners of the long race participated in a white-water clinic over the Labour Day weekend.
“That would be a good experience for them,” Kelly said.
The Club has three marathon canoes and is attempting to find ways to use them more often, Kelly said.
“For a while we weren’t using them that much, but especially with young people, they really like to use the Marathon canoes.”
The Marathon canoes are a particular class of canoe, Kelly said, adding they are much lighter and narrower and around 28 lbs.
Marathon canoes are faster and expensive, “about $78,000.”
The Club is looking to purchase a solo one but is having challenges finding one … “they’re hard to get,” he said.
Club members hope Edith McHattie will come to back to offer the experience planned for earlier this summer. The plan was interrupted by the wildfires across northern Saskatchewan.
“She’s one of the top North American paddlers. She goes in all the big races in the United States and Canada and usually finishes first,” Kelly said.
“She’s a great skier too. She quite often comes up for the Saskaloppet,” Kelly said.
