About us
The Over 45 Social Canoe Club had its first meeting on 6 June 1996 and the club was incorporated on 15 April 1997.
The aim of the club is to provide a social canoeing opportunity for adults over 45 and promote a safe and educational canoeing program for members.
The key element of the club is the Friday morning paddle. This typically involves a paddle for about an hour away from the starting point followed by a break, often with access to a coffee shop, and then a return to the starting point where a picnic lunch is enjoyed by the group.
There is no competitive element to the paddles; the emphasis is on enjoyable, social paddling while remaining safe in sometimes challenging conditions. The club does not offer formal training but practices safety and rescue techniques.
On each Friday the paddlers form into two or three groups, based on ability. The fastest group would normally paddle between 12 and 15 kilometres in total. The second group would paddle between 7 and 12 kilometres. The third group would paddle a shorter distance. Each week the club gathers at a different starting point, alternating with north or south of the river starts.
In addition to the Friday morning paddles the club enjoys longer outings. There are annual camps of a week at Rottnest in autumn and near Albany, Walpole or Augusta by rotation, in spring.
There are also annual weekend camps at Moore River and Mandurah. Interstate trips to Whitsunday Islands, Sydney and Barrington Tops National Park and Hinchinbrook Island.
On a number of occasions the club agenda has included overseas trips. These have included New Zealand, Europe, Fiji, Vietnam, Dordogne River and Midi Canal in France, Venice, Rwanda and Thailand.
Examples of the craft club members use.