Canoeing, 'Ace Canada', Ontario, Jul 2010, ID 926

Pate's Grammar School CCF

Outline:

This Expedition was put together as part of the Cadet 150 celebrations. The aim of the Expedition was to complete an arduous and adventurous canoe journey circumnavigating Algonquin Provincial Park, delivering JSAT and BCU qualifications as part of the journey and to give adult instructors the experience they need to progress with their instructor training.

Nine cadets and nine adults from the ACF and CCF (army) took part in an exciting wilderness canoeing experience in Ontario, Canada. Within the group of CFAVs we had two level 3 canoe coaches and we were joined by a level 3 coach from the Army Physical Training Corps.

The Expedition:

Following two weekends of build up training, the group finally arrived in Canada full of enthusiasm to get out canoeing. The first couple of days spent at Indian Lines Camp Ground was in preparation for the planned ten day Algonquin trip – purchasing and packing food and equipment.

Journey times within Canada appear to be long, not due to the distances to be travelled but more so due to the speed limits.

The initial start to the Algonquin phase was met with inclement weather, ie thunderstorms, resulting in the two groups being challenged with their cooking on open fires and sourcing dry tinder and suitable fuel. The initial plan was to spend ten days circumnavigating the southern area of the Park: however at the end of the first days portage it was decided by the group that the route needed to be altered while remaining challenging. The group exited the Park a day ahead of schedule because of the altered route and strong winds.

The next canoeing phase was the Madawaska River from Palmer’s Rapid to Griffiths over three days. Unlike previous years the river level was quite low, exposing areas of the river which were normally under water but now fully exposed. This made sections of the river playful.

During the expedition cultural visits were made to Kingston, Peterborough (National Canoe Museum), Niagara and Toronto.

Summary and Conclusions:

Having run a similar expedition in 2007 & 2009 this one was even more successful. The young people were a pleasure to work with and all our stresses were small and short lived. The instructional team worked well and the arrangements were nearly ideal and require only a small tweak for future expeditions. The experiences gained by all the adults will assist them with progressing though the adventure training system and for working with young people in the future. Many of the cadets are still within the units and they will carry the benefits of their involvement into the future.

The confidence, team work and spirit that developed throughout our time in Canada is even more apparent now. Nine of the young people (cadets and CFAVs) completed the British Canoe Union 3 Star award as part of the expedition. All of the participants exceeded the requirements for the JSAT OFC and OCP.

Lt. Col. N J Woodall, PGSCCF

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