Out here on the West Coast, on the Sunshine Coast to be more specific, there is a group of dedicated paddlers who enjoy their ocean-bound activity twelve months of the year. Only severe winds or ice in the harbour here in Gibsons will keep us off the water. We love the fresh air, the exercise, and the friendship that paddling brings to each of us. During the winter, in the interest of safety, we paddle down the shoreline from Gibsons to Soames Point and back. Our excursions are well known by the locals and they’ll come to their windows along the shoreline or out on their decks as we pass by. We are welcomed with anticipated familiar and friendly waves, morning greetings and even a bell that’s rung in our honour as we paddle by. As the holiday season approaches we return the greetings with a loud “Merry Christmas” from our little canoe on the ocean.
It was just a day or two before Christmas in December of 2012, and we had sufficient paddlers show up to allow us to take out two canoes, both OC-4’s. That means they are four-seat canoes. The weather was overcast but calm. We’d paddled our way to the protected bay at Soames Point in the flat ocean waters and then the snowstorm hit. As we headed back to Gibsons we were pulling into a full-blown little blizzard. The huge snowflakes lazily fell and dissolved into the waiting ocean as our canoe slid silently through this winter wonderland. Gibsons is one of only a few places in Canada where paddlers can be seen enjoying their sport in the dead of winter so close to Christmas. We are truly blessed by the environment we live in, the good health we have that allows us to do it, and the great friends we have to paddle with. Our Paddle Club has a saying that applies here – “If you’re lucky enough to paddle on the Sunshine Coast – you’re lucky enough!”
