A Paddle in the Park Kayaking

On August 20, A Paddle hosted 13 Rancourt family members from the United States on a half day tour. Jack and Mary (Brewster, Cape Cod, Massachusetts) were on holidays–with their whole family–4 adult children, plus spouses and grandchildren. This adventurous family of 14 had taken a cruise together to Alaska to commemorate Jack and Mary’s 40th wedding anniversary. The Rancourts did not lack for a sense of adventure and getting out to have fun and try new things together. Any hey, well, if you are going to get everybody on the biggest boat afloat, why not get them in…

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7 PM Friday, Aug 14, Matt calls APITPK from his Victoria hotel and is pleasantly surprised: a real live human answers the phone! Melissa books his full day gulf islands exploration tour with Marsha for the next day, Saturday. Matt is even more surprised that the tour would go ahead, even with just one person, him. Surprise turns to amazement when he is told he will be picked up from his hotel at 8:45 AM. Matt had arrived in Canada just a few hours before from Australia. He was on “surprise” trip with a friend, who didn’t tell him…

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A Paddle is very excited to add this great new 2 hour tour!  We decided to name it ”Inner Beauty” because, well, as the name says, it is beautiful and we just paddle around the inside of Tsehum Harbour.  Tsehum Harbour is where our dock is located in Sidney (at Van Isle Marina).  The harbour is even more sheltered than the cluster of islands we paddle on our longer tours.  The new tour is shorter and cheaper: 2 hours, $60.  This is the ideal tour for those who want an introduction to kayaking and/or for parents who want to take their young (ages 6-10) children in a double for a ”sea-some-things” tour.  Tsehum Harbour has a…

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The winners of A Paddle’s sunset tour give-away, Jennifer Werk and Rob Stevens, came out for their prize sunset paddle on Sunday, July 26th.  The lovely young couple picked a perfect night to experience A Paddle in the Park Kayaking’s sunset tour.  Jennifer and Rob went out in a tandem kayak, and it was good they did because Jennifer had her hands free to take pictures.  We watched the calm waters turn from gold to purple as we paddled around the outside of Coal Island with views of the volcano, Mt. Baker.   Besides seeing several eagles close along the bluffs of Coal Island, we had the extra bonus of seeing some…

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The Sidney Market booth was a lot of fun and a great success as we made our faces and our “wee” business known to the residents and visitors at Sidney’s Thursday market. The market is set up on Beacon Avenue from 5-9 PM in the summer downtown Sidney.  Marsha and Melissa met a lot of great folks and “yaked” about “kayaks”!   A lot of interest was expressed in our A Paddle in the Park Kayaking Club.   We hope to build our kayaking club membership and get people out paddling to the incredible group of islands we frequent near Sidney.   We drew a prize winner for the “Sunset…

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Melissa and Marsha will be setting up a booth for A Paddle in the Park Kayaking at the Sidney Summer Market this Thursday, July 16, 2009.  The Sidney street market is loads of fun and runs all summer from June 4th to August 27, 2009, 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM every Thursday evening.  Part of Beacon Road in downtown Sidney is closed off and only foot-passengers are allowed!  See our Contact Us page for directions to Sidney.

A Paddle will be holding a prize draw at our booth!  First prize (to be drawn August 20th) is a stunning photograph…

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We’ve been watching a lovely pair of mute swans as tended their nest this spring (made of rocks!) for the past 5 weeks. Marsha has been keen to show paddlers where they live and many great photos were taken.  The pair nested on an wee islet in Page Passage. Talk about privacy and a view!  The female was always on the nest and the male hovered nearby either in the water or up on land beside her.  He would often pull his “decoy” manoeuvres with us, i.e., the “Hey guys, over here–I’m going to swim this way so you…

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We’ll be launching our Kayak Club on July 16th as well!  As a member of the A Paddle in the Park Kayaking Club, you can a kayak at any time, just give us a call to reserve it.  We’ll be gathering annual memberships at our booth in street market in Sidney, B.C., on July 16th. Please come down and say hello to us!  Or come check us and our equipment out at our dock (please give us call first and we’ll meet you there).  See our Kayak Club page for more info!

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Marsha and Melissa invite you to come join the fun with them on Canada Day!  Lots is happening in the Town of Sidney Canada Day weekend …

To help celebrate our nation’s birthday, we are offering a 25% discount on our tours and rentals!  Why not check out some of the less frequented, natural places on one of our guided tours?  Maybe you would like to end the day on our leisurely, romantic 2.5 hour sunset paddle.

We launch right from our kayak dock at Van Isle Marina so there’s no carrying boats around! Just come down and in…

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