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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1969-04-10, Page 9w • THURSDAY, APRIL 10,1969 tid tA SECOND SECTION no • Voyage of the Voyageurs m iiiiuuwilliuiuuiuunnuuiurmn iiiiuuumuunHIMIMI WIMMnwnP E. Two men of the Ontario Voyageur Kayak Club challenged Mother Nature on the spring -swollen, ice -laden Maitland River -_ and won. '-` Saturday, April 6, Art Powell, London, and Herb May, Toronto, club president, set out on the turbulent Maitland in Kayaks and s 'successfully negotiated the nine miles from above the falls at Benmillet to _ the river . E. estuary at Goderich. "The most treacherous part of thle trip EE was over the .rapids gat, Piper's Dam,;' Mr. P May said after the Easter` cruise. Boating and swimming are .--not '=;..' recommended at any time of the year in this = part of the river. E.— It was the third year the Voyageurs have = run the Maitland. Mr. May and Mr. Powell agreed a— conditions Saturday , were the most E. challenging in their 27 collective years experience with kayaks. The air temperature was just below freezing and the water temperature considerably lower. Ice was = constantly being swept downriver into Lake 5. n. he Ontario Voyageur Kayak Club is a '-A-• group of about 200 hardy individualists, — _— both nen and women, who make a specialty of running nature's turbulent waterways in 40 pound fibreglass one-man boats. E.E. , = The Maitland run is considered by club members to be the main event of the season in Ontario, a club spokesman said after = Et deciding to make the trip from Benmillpr to = Goderich by car rather than 'kayak. "Only = the most experienced paddlers attempt it." Less experienced paddlers under ' more favourable conditions attempted the same _ -run the following day with near disastrous Ei results. One kayak dumped below the .bridge --a#;-Salt.ford,-with the; paddler'unable .to reach.I. safety .until thrown ashore ' at Ridgewood - - Park. =x Two other paddlers took an unintentional swim above the rapids at Pipers Dam and were found later walking to Goderich along E. El the share line. _ ., Pictured during the day of the voyage, _ 0. — left to right, top to , bottom; Susie Mark washes up after a hearty breakfast for the F. paddlers; the camp site at Benmiller; the = dangerous descent to the boats; centre, Art Powell submerges in a sea of icy foam -at the falls; Herb May braces coming out of the falls; attaching' the water proof canopy which, when in place, unites man and boat Et into a single unit; Herb May "cruising down the river;" Art Powell shooting the rapids at Piper's Dam; Herb and Art ashore at the __ Maitland Country Club. A, job well done. �nouininuuuiuiuMMIII unumnumumnnnuiuuuuunmiounnn 1 41 ry a Story and photos by Adrian Swanton .R fp i