HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1969-04-10, Page 9w
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THURSDAY, APRIL 10,1969
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SECOND SECTION
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Voyage of the Voyageurs
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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.
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Story and photos by Adrian Swanton
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