Editor's note: The Gibsons Paddle Club (GPC) celebrates its 10th anniversary on Aug. 23 with a celebration from 10 a.m. to noon at Porpoise Bay. For the next three weeks Coast Reporter presents a history of the club and what's in store for the coming years. To learn more about the club, see www.gibsonspaddleclub.ca.
After completing the VisionQuest journey in 1997, retired RCMP officer Ed Hill returned to the Sunshine Coast with an interest in bringing canoeing to the community. When he contacted Western Canoe and Kayaking in the spring of 1998 they told him they were looking for a location for outrigger racing.
The community stepped up to organize that first race and included the community races, to give Sunshine Coast residents an opportunity to participate.
The first Howe Sound Outrigger Race and Corporate Challenge Race took place in July of 1999.
Along with that first race began the Paddle Club's tradition with the devil's club necklace.
On the VisionQuest journey, a First Nations' spiritual woman/elder presented each paddler with a necklace made from the wood of the devil's club plant. The elder gave the paddlers specific instructions that the necklaces were to be worn when paddlers are involved in any functions pertaining to ventures on the water. Along the journey the paddlers would meet someone they connected with and in the spirit of giving they would pass on the protection of the devil's club, telling the story of the necklace. The necklaces that are given away have found their way to all corners of the paddling community.
After that first Corporate Challenge race, community members decided they wanted to keep paddling and form a paddle club on the Sunshine Coast with outrigger canoes. They gathered interested parties, formed an interim executive and elected Lorne Lewis as the interim president. With true dedication, they began negotiating for a canoe, set up financing, arranged insurance and wrote the first club policies. On Aug. 26, 1999, the GPC was formally incorporated as a non-profit society.
With the support of the Sunshine Coast Credit Union (SCCU) and the community, club members were able to purchase their first canoe (Sound Traveller) in February 2000 and their second canoe, Ch'atiyay (the Squamish Nation word for devil's club) later that year. With the acquisition of the second canoe, members could now race against each other, and membership grew.
With the support of SCCU, Community Futures, Rotary Clubs and Target Marine, the Paddle Club was able to purchase four Malia outrigger canoes in 2002. Outrigger canoeing expanded, with one Malia going to Powell River and a second Malia going to Sechelt, providing the opportunity for more people to paddle. The club also added one (OC1) and two (OC2) man outriggers.
The GPC has grown from 77 members in 1999 to 207 members in 2004, ranging in age from 15 to 75. That year the club added two six-man outrigger canoes and a four-man outrigger canoe. MacKenzie's Marina in Sechelt provided the space for the canoes in Sechelt while Gibsons Marina provided the space in Gibsons. The Ritz Motel supported the club by keeping the VHF radios charged and taking care of the canoe sign out book and keys.
- Submitted
