The local paddling club recently reshaped its priorities, and it seems to be picking up speed so far.
A chair for the Squamish Paddling Club, Jennifer Brown, told The Squamish Chief that this year the club is in a bit of a rebuild, with aims to reach new and interested paddlers in the community.
“We’re trying to make paddling more accessible for all ages, all abilities,” she said. “Both in terms of offering affordable paddling as well as offering gear that people can paddle with.”
Brown said the official membership for the club has ballooned to about 85 members, nearly double the membership they’ve had in recent years since COVID-19. Club membership costs $60 per year for adults and $10 per year for youth.
“We’ve been seeing a lot more people in the water, which is great,” she said.
Additionally, the shift in focus means they’ve been offering new opportunities for the community to learn basic paddling skills and get comfortable on the water. For example, the club offered a Howe Sound safety and navigation clinic on July 27 and will also offer a learn-to-paddle clinic on July 29.
And, if you’re really new and not sure what type of watercraft you like, they’re teaming up with Valhalla Pure Outfitters in mid-August to test out new crafts and have a barbecue.
On top of the new events, the club has kept the Tuesday night social paddles from previous years and included things like this year’s bingo card, on which members can tally up challenges and then enter to win prizes.
Furthermore, Brown said non-members can also attend a social paddle event for free on the first go to see if they like it before committing to the membership.
Part of the rebuild of the club is also somewhat literal, as Brown said they’ve reorganized the club storage facility to increase its capacity and added a fenced-off outdoor storage area located in Xwu’nekw Park on Loggers Lane. This was done in collaboration with the Squamish Men’s Shed.
“We recognize that in Squamish, obviously, there’s a big housing shortage,” she explained. “It's hard enough to find a room, let alone somewhere to store a kayak or a paddleboard or whatnot.”
Storage at the two facilities is an additional cost: $210 for the indoor and $130 for the outdoor per year, and both have been popular as Brown said they are slowly whittling down the waitlist.
After that, she said they’ll continue to look for more creative ways to find storage.
Ultimately, Brown emphasized they hoped to continue to build up the community of paddlers in town.
“Just trying to create more of a community for paddling that’s accessible to all,” she said.
On top of that, she said they are open to collaborations and welcome new ideas from members and non-members alike and other paddling organizations. And, Brown noted that more events and activities with the club would continue into the fall.
Check out some of the details for upcoming events and more information about the club at squamishpaddlingclub.com.
