RICKA Flatwater, BVPC and Wilderness Postings

RICKA Flatwater, BVPC and Wilderness Postings
[ RICKA Flatwater, BVPC and Wilderness Postings ]

New Member Experiences

Posted by Gary P (Membership) on 3/4/2023, 10:03 am

With the new season starting up soon, there will be new members joining in for their first time. Do you remember your first paddle? Share your experiences or add helpful advice for a new member considering their first paddle.

Re: New Member Experiences

Posted by Gary P on 3/4/2023, 10:11 am, in reply to "New Member Experiences"

I remember being nervous going to my first paddle. I had some experience but didn't know what to expect from a paddle club. It was in Wickford Harbor, a paddle I had done before so I was bit more comfortable knowing the area. I got there and people were already unloading their boats. I believe it was Danny who introduced himself to me and asked if I needed help taking my kayak of my car. People were really friendly. The pace was comfortable, and I knew I worried for nothing. We lunched on Cornelius Island and there still is a photo out there somewhere of that. In the end I remember being excited about going out with the group again!

Re: New Member Experiences

Posted by Erik on 3/5/2023, 6:14 am, in reply to "Re: New Member Experiences"

My first paddle was a RICKA trip at the Slatersville Reservoir with my daughter Julie in 2004. Leaders were Barbara and Alan August. Caryl Salisbury was there and she asked me to zip and buckle my PFD, which you can tell from the picture I had on but had not secured. I never needed bo be reminded again. I have now zipped and buckled that PFD on EVERY trip for the last 19-years. Thanks Caryl for the coaching, and thanks Cheryl for the picture.

Re: New Member Experiences

Posted by Cheryl on 3/5/2023, 7:00 am, in reply to "New Member Experiences"

If you are a new member and have any questions about a flatwater trip, feel free to contact me at stonefoxfarm@juno.com. This message board is always a good place to ask questions too!

Re: New Member Experiences

Posted by Bob Reed on 3/5/2023, 8:28 am, in reply to "New Member Experiences"

Nice topic Gary...I remember my first with my 15ft Pungo kayak...led by the one and only paddle warrior Louise...never having kayaked previously showing up in Sturbridge Ma...I believe Holland dam trip...beautiful Oct day...made it the first half about 4 miles feeling proud...had lunch...on return trip noticed I was having hard time keeping up...got close to the end on open water pond...wind gusting...I was literally going backwards...a nice gent came along side me and coached me to the finish line. Twelve years ago.

Re: New Member Experiences

Posted by Earl on 3/6/2023, 10:06 am, in reply to "Re: New Member Experiences"

My first time with RICA was March 9, 1991.

I entered the White Water Championship 6 mile long race in Rhode Island on the Branch River.
A paddling friend and I entered the canoe fiberglass recreational class.
We came in 5th place out of 11 in our class. 1:14:11.
First place time was 1:02:05.
The club had a monthly news letter, that posted meetings, paddles, and events, plus it was "local". No more reading Canoe magazine and dreaming about paddling areas out west and north I would never get to.
Been a member ever since.
Thanks all
Earl and Pat MacRae

Re: New Member Experiences

Posted by Chuck Horbert on 3/6/2023, 10:00 am, in reply to "New Member Experiences"

My very first time paddling was around 1980, in a canoe with my Boy Scout troop. We paddled from the Wyoming Pond access on the Wood River upstream to Barbarville Dam and back, which was about all I could handle. It was the first of many canoe trips with that troop.

I didn't join RICA (there was no "K" in the acronym at the time) until the early 90's, and at the time I was very interested in whitewater kayaking and wanted to go with a group who knew the rivers. Dave Wilson assured me that the Knightsville Section was an appropriate "beginner" river for me, so I showed up and met him, as well as a friendly dude named Lou Whittier. Dave advised me not to follow Lou, which turned out to be solid advice. That stretch of river was well above my skill level, as it turned out, but the group got me safely down in one piece without any swims, and that started a long, rewarding whitewater experience. I've since drifted more to flatwater and multi-day trips, but every trip that I have done with both RICA and RICKA has been a comfortable and rewarding experience. I try to be as friendly and helpful to all new members I meet as older members were to me as I started out.

Re: New Member Experiences

Posted by Bill Luther on 4/2/2023, 8:35 pm, in reply to "Re: New Member Experiences"

I saw the ads in the weekend section of the Providence Journal. I decided to pick one out. We started at the Providence hurricane barrier and then went upstream under the then widest bridge/parking lot at the bottom of College Hill. We made it after avoiding spikes hanging from the ceiling. We then went up to the Olyneville sand gravel rapids where Henry kept yelling "Go Dougie, Go"". We never made it past the gravel rapids. On the way back, my father and I kept weaving back n forth, practicing our submarine avoidance drill bumping into other boats. Over we went and swam to shore. We were affectionately called Those two Yahoos from Warwick.

Re: New Member Experiences

Posted by Frank on 3/9/2023, 3:18 pm, in reply to "New Member Experiences"

I remember pulling into the parking area at the Slatersville Reservoir for the first trip with the club. I had my brand new Old Town Dirigo (which had come loose on the way there and started to fall off the car, I had to resecure it in Brigedo's parking lot). There were about a dozen people there who obviously knew what they were doing and I was a little nervous. I had paddled a couple times on summer vacations but was very much the novice. The wonderful people at Great Canadian (I really miss that place) where I had bought the boat had told me about RICKA and the BVPC as great way to find places to paddle in the area and people to paddle with. As I was unstrapping my boat someone came over to offer help, introduced themselves, and when I said this was my first paddle with the club introduced me to a few others. Everyone was welcoming and helpful.
The paddle was great, I remember being awed by the old bridge abutments early in the paddle and the twists and turns in the Branch River. Some of those people that looked like they knew what they were doing REALLY DID know what they were doing and I learned a bunch of things on my first few paddles, including stuff I still use today. 14 years later I'm still with the club and looking forward to seeing this year's schedule and what I can learn this year.

Re: New Member Experiences

Posted by Johnny Provost on 4/10/2023, 5:29 pm, in reply to "New Member Experiences"

This is all good news to me, a newbie. Thanks for posting these.

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[ RICKA Flatwater, BVPC and Wilderness Postings ]