GA Canoe - Kayak Paddlers

GA Canoe - Kayak Paddlers
A website for paddlers maintained by the Georgia Canoeing Association

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I have discovered a large number of people in GA that want a "calm" paddle and opened an invite to meet me at various GA State Park lakes. The response was amazing....

I am a married, 59 yr old paddler. I would like to find someone to help me plan and co-organize "free" paddles for families and individuals that want an easy paddle. I want to focus on the state parks, as I think they need our help and attendance, but on open to all arendas.

If you are interested in leading calm paddles please email me @ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Upcoming Trips, Classes & Club Events

Date	Canoeing / Kayaking Trips	Difficulty / Class	Coordinator
2/13	Fundraiser- Wounded Warrior Project - Ocala FL	Smooth	Jamie Higgins
2/15	Town Creek, Alabama	Intermediate 3	Dane White
2/27	Toccoa River, TVCampground to below Party Rock	Trained Beginner	Gina Johnson
2/27	Etowah River, Below Allatoona	Beginner	Vincent Payne
March
3/13	South Chickamauga Creek Flat water with Tennessee Valley Canoe Club. TVCC is working with others to establish a canoe trail	Beginner	Lamar Phillips
3/13	Chattooga Section 3	Intermediate 3	Mark Holmberg
3/20	Ocoee Season Open	Advanced 3-4
3/27	Toccoa-TVCampground to below Party Rock	Trained Beginner	Gina Johnson
3/27	Flint River - Sprewell Bluff to PoBiddy (Includes Yellow Jacket)	Intermediate	Vincent Payne
3/28	Spring Membership Meeting & Metro Hooch paddle	Beginner	Lisa Haskell
April
4/10	Lower Toccoa	Beginner	Jack Taylor
4/17	Nantahala	Intermediate	Mark Holmberg
4/18	Indian Springs Lake	Beginner	Marie Short
4/18	Nantahala - Ferebee to Falls	Intermediate	Mark Holmberg
4/24	Lower Toccoa	Beginner	Jack Taylor
4/25	High Falls State Park Lake	Beginner	Marie Short
May
5/9	Lake- Sweetwater Creek State Park Lake	Beginner	Marie Short
5/14	Spring Extravaganza - Smokey Mountain Meadows	Beginner to Adv	Several
5/21	Swift Water Rescue Class - 3 Day Class	N/A	Matthew Crawford
5/29	Hiwassee River - Memorial Day Weekend	Trained Beg. 1-2	Brannon Proctor
5/29-30	Sea Kayak Basics		Steve Cramer
5/30	Hiwassee River - Memorial Day Weekend	Trained Beg. 1-2	Jack Taylor
June
6/12	Sea Kayak Rescue Benefit Class	N/A	Steve Cramer
6/18-20	Canoe, Kayak, & Recreational Kayak Classes -3 Day Class	Various Levels	Gina Johnson
26	Duckie Day - Inflatable, Sit-on-top Class	Beginner	Gina Johnson
July
7/16-18	Canoe, Kayak & Recreational Kayak Classes - 3 Day Class	Various Levels	Gina Johnson
Aug
8/7	Sea Kayak Strokes Class		Steve Cramer
8/13-15	Canoe, Kayak, & Recreational Kayak Classes - 3 Day Class	Various Levels	Gina Johnson
Sept
9/18-19	Sea Kayak Basics Class - Charleston SC		Steve Cramer
	See "Trips" Calendar above for sign up details.
Click here for trip coordinator contact information You must register and sign in to access this list. Coordinators, feel free to update your contact information.
	All club trips are free unless clearly noted.
	Trip sign up guidelines

Ocoee Rock Slide Removal

Ocoee blasting scheduled Monday! Click to view
At the moment, there is a massive slab of rock aimed directly at the put in. On Friday, the webcam shifted downstream toward the area that had the previous slide. The Eastern side of the slide is now off camera.

President's Day Weekend-Belton Dykes Memorial River Rat Weekend

On Feb 12 -15, 2010 GCA members are organizing a fundraising trip in honor of recently deceased GCA member Belton Dykes. The proceeds will to to Team River Runner at www.teamriverrunner.org. Team River Runner is a non-profit organization that teaches wounded war vets how to paddle in the hopes it will help the heal physically, mentally and spiritually.

The weekend will kick off on Friday, February 12, 2010 with paddles on either a short paddle on Alexander Springs river or a longer paddle on Juniper Springs. Paddlers arriving later in the day can launch from Camp Kiwanis onto Mills Lake Dam for a leisurely paddle or participate in a basic paddling workshop.

The rest of the weekend (Saturday, Sunday and Monday), there will be several rivers to paddle (Juniper, Alexander, Ocklawaha and Silver). A hearty, catered breakfast will be served each morning on which we paddle, and on Saturday and Sunday we will be treated to a filling and deliciously catered dinner.

On Fri, award winning, paddling author Doug Alderson (www.dougalderson.net) will give a presentation on his adventures. On Sat and Sun, the New Radio Ramblers, a band that performs a mix of americana, jazz and blues, will perform.

You have the choice of tent camping or bunking in one of the heated and/or air conditioned dorms. Although these dorms are rustic, they are clean and comfortable. Heated bathrooms and hot showers are also available. Each evening, the River Rat Crew will build a campfire, and if the weather turns nasty, then we’ll just hang around the fireplace in the covered, screened pavilion.

The River Rat Rendezvous is limited to the first 125 paddlers and a registration fee of $150 covers the entire weekend. Daily registration ($75) will be offered after Jan 15. To register, go to www.riverratweekend.org or contact Jamie Higgins at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 678-595-6154.

To sign up!

To find out more about the weekend go to our You Tube video

Spring Membership Meeting - 2010 (Updated)

Our Spring membership meeting is going to be in Atlanta on Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 1:00pm. We will meet at the pavilion at the Power's Island Parking area (the usual put for the Metro Hooch). We will have a members meeting and a covered dish meal after which we will run the mighty Hooch.

Which section of the Hooch will depend on participant skill levels and water levels. We can either put in at Johnson's Ferry and paddle to Power's Island and take out, or we can put in at Power's Island and paddle down to Paces Mill which is the usual Metro Hooch section. We can even split into two groups to allow people to paddle their preferred section. Just remember, at recent water levels the Hooch will be running MUCH faster than many of us are accustomed to. This means that anyone who ends up in the water could be in for a long swim so be sure to DRESS FOR THE WATER!

Please be sure to bring whatever you would like to drink and a dish to share as well as your boating gear. We will need main dishes, side dishes and desserts!

If you have any questions you may contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mulberry Fork Canoe & Kayak Race

The Mulberry Fork Canoe & Kayak Race will be held March 6th & 7th, 2010. This festival will be located near Garden City, Alabama, located river right of the Mulberry River. This festival is hosted by the area canoe clubs. There will be two days of racing with a silent auction, Awards Dinner, music and raffle on Saturday night.

The race is a Junior Olympics qualifier this year. For more information see http://mulberryraces.com/

Winter Roll Practice

Indoor pool roll sessions are Mondays from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on January 4, 11 and 25; February 1, 8 and 22 and March 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 at the Warren/Holyfield Boys' and Girls' Club at Berne and Marion Streets near Grant Park.

Directions: Exit I-20 at the Boulevand/Grant Park/ Cyclorama exit. Go south about 1/2 mile to the light at Berne Street and turn left. Go another 1/2 mile and you'll see the facility, a large brick building on the left. Turn left on Marion Street. The pool entrance is in the back — enter via the gate at the far end of the building to unload boats. Boats must be cleaned before entering the pool.

This is your opportunity to learn to roll, practice your roll to stay sharp, teach a fellow paddler to roll or work on other techniques such as wet exits, hand rolls, deep water reentries, etc. The indoor heated pool is a great place to hone these skills during the cold winter months.

Fees: $7.00 per session to cover heated pool rental.

GCA Membership is appreciated.

ACA membership is required for insurance.
Current ACA members, be sure to bring your ID number.

GCA members can join ACA for $30 Individual or $45 Family

Non-GCA members can join ACA for $40 Individual or $60 Family

There is a one time introductory ACA membership, six months for $10 available to people who have not taken advantage of this before.

And there is the option to pay $5.00 for an “ACA event membership” for each session.

We need eleven people at each event for GCA to break even.

Spring Extravaganza - 2010 (Updated)

Our Spring Extravaganza is planned for the weekend of May 14-16, 2010. The paddling portion of this event will take place on various rivers in the area, the camping portion of this event will be at Smokey Mountain Meadows Campground.

The campground officially opens on May 1, 2010 and the phone number after that time will be 1 (828) 488-3672. If you would like to contact the campground earlier than May 1st to make your reservation please call 1 (864) 420-8077 and speak with Elaine. They offer tent sites with no water or electricity, sites with water and electric only, and full hook up RV sites. Be sure to specify that you are with the GCA when you make your reservation.

We have reserved the pavilion for use on Saturday night so that we can have a group dinner. The pavilion has a roof and picnic tables so that we can gather and eat even if it happens to rain on us. This campground has very nice bath houses for those of you who are interested in such things!

We hope to be able to offer trips on the Tuckaseegee and the Nanty and possibly other rivers as well depending on water levels. I need volunteers to lead the aforementioned Tuck/Nanty trips so if you would be willing to lead a trip on one of these rivers either Saturday or Sunday, please contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and let me know. Hope to see you that weekend! Keep watching the Eddy Line and the website for more details!