Hoosier Canoe & Kayak Club

Greetings from a fellow paddler. I hope you are out paddling your local stream or a distant paddling trip to your favorite paddling spot. I have been out paddling and of course helping new paddlers get started in the pool and I can honestly say; I’m so happy to be paddling. We all are truly doing something that makes the soul happy! Something I love seeing is my fellow paddler gets excited about something they have been training hard for and succeed in that task. Examples I see are new paddlers get comfortable being underwater and able to do a controlled wet exit out of a boat. Another is running a rapid and not just surviving it but be able to control their speed and able to hit an eddy that seems impossible just a few minutes before. What inspires you? 

Skippers Note The other day I was driving down to Cincinnati for the Annual Cincy Paddle Swap, and asked my Mom to ride along with me. As I was driving I said to her, “How many times over the years have we driven down I-74 to go paddle somewhere?” She responded with a laugh and said to me “Too many times to count!” I just smiled and the memories of those trips started flooding in like when the Ocoee Dam opened. The memories I have of paddling in different places with my mom are ones I cherish. My point in telling you this is that paddling is a lifelong experience that you and your loved ones can share all your life. I was blessed to have parents that got me involved when I was 7 years old and I plan on paddling until I can no longer do it. The HCKC was formed by a few families that wanted to get out and paddle as a group. Over the years our club has expanded from that and continues to grow, spanning several disciplines and several different places. We continue the tradition of creating memories of paddling adventures. I hope you have and continue to create memories of your own and I hope they include paddling! I would confidently say that my adventures paddling are some of my most cherished ones - Are they for you? See you on the water John Gates

Paddling Season is here and I can’t wait to get back out on the water.  I hope everyone is ready for the season to start like I am but have you checked out your boat (S) and gear?  I was thinking the other day when I was rolling my Antix and how loose in the hips I was and I need to put a couple of paddes in there to make it so I “wear” my boat.  I also have on my list of gear checks is my camping gear to make sure my stove for example is working and I’m not eating cold chow after a day of paddling.

Something I hope everyone thinks about is brushing up on their skills by taking one of the many classes we offer in the club.  If you have a certain skill that you would love to learn or brush up on ask the Safety and Training Committee to look into it and see if we can put it on the schedule.  When I was going through my Kayak Instructor Course, my Instructor Trainer kept telling my class that the first stroke you learn is the forward stroke but it is the last one you master!  I hope everyone has a great month and I also hope to see everyone on the water. 

Your Skipper, John Gates

Skippers Note As we finish up the Trips’ Planning Meeting and start our 2022 season with training, I sit and wonder what type of year we will have. Will it be dry or wet? Will we have enough training events or trips to keep our membership interested? As I think about all those things, it all boils down to involved membership. If you as a member of this club do not get involved we can’t sustain what we have built over the last 50 years. I encourage you to lead a trip or volunteer at one of the many events the club sponsors. I promise you this, the time you spend being involved in the club; the enjoyment you will reap! Looking out to the future, Linda Decker has once again organized a Wilderness First Aid Class. The last time this was offered it was an outstanding event and I look forward to attending it the first weekend of February. Thank you Linda for organizing this event. Another coming event I’m currently helping organize is one of our biggest outreach programs of the year and that is the Ford 67th Annual Indianapolis Boat, Sport & Travel Show February 18th – 27th, 2022. This one program showcases the whole club so please be sure to stop by and say, “Hi!” to our volunteers who will be working the booth. I leave this as my final thought for this month…. I would like to send out a huge “Thank You” to the 2022 HCKC Board Members! I’m so happy and excited to be a part of this board and look forward to the amazing things we as a group can execute! As always, if you have concerns or comments about the club, please call or email me and I would love to hear what you have to say, John.

Please see the current newsletter for December 2021 for important information on club elections, the candidate slate for board and officers, a by laws revision, wilderness first aid training, the annual trips planning meeting and watch for emails concerning an annual meeting and the Boat, Sport, and Travel show volunteer schedule.  And join in the fun for the New Years Day paddle!!!   Merry Christmas to all!  

SEASON’s GREETINGS!! 

Annual Meeting 

We had a zoom meeting attended by approximately 25 people on December 9, 2020. Elections were held. I am told the vote was unanimous. See a list of the newly elected Officers and Board in this newsletter. Congratulations to all.

Upcoming events: January 1 New Years Day Paddle and a Trips Planning Meeting. You should have received an email from your group leader asking for ideas and volunteers to lead trips for the whitewater, sea kayak and flatwater groups. If not, look on the facebook page. Or send your trip idea and date to your group leader.

If you wish to sponsor a trip but do not feel comfortable doing so, contact an experienced trip leader and ask for help. It is not difficult.

Dwayne James, writing in lieu of Your Skipper, Toni Harris

Well we finally are starting to see our beloved club trips come back even though it seems that nationally and locally other sports and entertainment events are remaining closed.  Paddling can be naturally a ‘socially distant’ activity, but there are still things we need to consider carefully when we prepare to go out on the water:

If you’re not feeling well and are showing any signs of sickness - please don’t go….I know this seems harsh but its generally in your best interest and that of your beloved paddling friends!

Shuttles:  If you’re running a shuttle, please consider wearing masks if you’re in close proximity to one another (either inside or outside of the vehicle)

Assisting others with their boats/gear (portaging, training, adjusting etc) - requires community contact...this may be minimal but it is still an opportunity for the transmission of sickness.  Always helps to keep a small travel size container of hand sanitizer with you even in your PFD or first aid kit if you so choose.

I will let you all know although I am disappointed that the Covered Bridge Festival will not be going on this year, it creates a unique opportunity for me as trip leader for the Raccoon Creek Covered Bridge Paddle trip to adjust the weekend to where we have a better chance to paddle among the stunning fall foliage that seems to be a bit later in the year nowadays!!  I do hope you and your family can join us!

As we quickly approach the end of the year, the HCKC board has also had to make some adjustments to the Annual Meeting and will likely be doing this year’s meeting virtually - what this means is that it will be accessible to watch via Zoom online or via your cell phone or simply by calling in to a toll-free number from the comfort of your homes.  Since the pandemic started early in the year, the Board members have diligently continued to meet virtually to discuss how we can best provide support to our members.  I truly appreciate everyone’s commitment and am so pleased with what we’ve been able to do despite the challenges we’ve had in 2020.

Please keep an eye out on Facebook, in the newsletter and your emails for upcoming events planned for the end of this year including the Annual meeting and upcoming training and trip opportunities!

See you all on the water soon!!

Your Skipper, Toni Harris

Due to easing of government restrictions associated with the Coronavirus, the HCKC will resume having some paddling and training events after July 1. 

Proper social distancing as prescribed by the CDC must be observed for events going forward after July 1.   Please check individual events to see if they are go.

With the concern over COVID-19 becoming something that has likely impacted the day to day activities of all of our lives, it is not without heavy consideration that the Hoosier Canoe and Kayak Club has decided to move forward with cancelling all club supported trips and training sessions through May 31^st until otherwise noted.  I personally have been in contact with representation of all three of our fleets as well as our Safety/Education leadership and we are all of the same opinion that it is best for us to recommend that everyone continue with what is recommended by the Indiana Department of Health and the Federal Center for Disease Control (CDC) to best prevent the spread of COVID-19.

What this means is this:  We as the HCKC will be cancelling all trips planned through the end of May until otherwise noted.  This may be extended (hopefully not) and we will communicate if this plan changes in any way.

In the meantime, please follow ISDH and CDC guidelines, practice ‘social distancing’ and refrain from gathering in groups larger than 10 people for your un-official gatherings. 

If you do choose to venture out to the water, we ask you to think about the following:

If the trip requires a shuttle, consider the risk you are putting not only yourself but your shuttle partner(s).  Emergency services are on skeleton crew – if there’s a breakdown it may take much longer for assistance.

Meeting at the put-in…this puts everyone in close proximity which increases risk of transmittal

Please keep up to date for state/CDC restrictions in the area you plan to paddle

On the water – distancing will happen – but we are not always distant.  If there is an incident while on the water, or someone starts showing symptoms of COVID-19 while on the trip, everyone on the trip suddenly becomes at risk (first and foremost the trip leaders/safety boaters)

Please keep in mind, we all have loved ones that are affected by this outbreak.  Not only are our lives at stake, but those of our families – much to consider when planning a trip on the river.

With this being said, please do not take this as the club forbidding any of its membership to partake in the sport we love…just do it safely and within the National and state recommendations.  Be careful out there we want to make sure after all of this is over, we continue on stronger than ever!

Be safe and we will see you all on the other side of this challenge!

Your skipper

Toni Harris

Last night at the Hoosier Canoe and Kayak Club monthly board meeting, the board voted yes (although not unanimously) to require wearing of PFDs on HCKC trips.  

In order to further forward our culture of safe paddling we are addressing a need the club has had for some time to make sponsoring and leading of our trips more consistent across all fleets in the club.  It is our goal and hope that the trip leader training planned for this Sunday will get us closer to that goal.  We discussed and will likely stress in the training this weekend that gear requirements be explicitly referenced in the trip description and that it be communicated before embarkation of each trip.  Other important subjects related to trip planning and management will be addressed such as writing trip reports and posting of events on the calendar, but so much more will be covered as time allows.  

If you have sponsored/led,  or plan to lead a trip (or are even just wanting to know what is involved in)...you should plan to attend this meeting.

It has been stated in the past that the HCKC strives to be considered the 'Premiere Paddling Organization in Indiana'...its time we rise up to the occasion and be the example and not a follower when it comes to being safe on the water.  

Pushing forward...with one voice

Your skipper,

Toni Harris