Our year-end camp this year was Paddle Swift, held June 8th to 10th at Camp Orenda, near London. We had 5 1st and 2nd year Guides earn their Boat Safety and Canoe Safety Badges, 1 3rd year Guide complete ORCKA 1 and 1 Ranger complete ORCKA 3. Way to go girls!!
When we arrived on Friday, we got our tents set up and then went to learn some of the theory for the Guides Badges and ORCKA programs. The 1st and 2nd Year Guides learned:- Names for the different parts of a paddle and a canoe
- The difference between a life jacket and a PFD and how to take care of them
- What supplies need to be carried onboard a canoe
- About float plans and how to check the weather
- Rescue breathing and an introduction to CPR
On Saturday morning we had breakfast and then boarded the buses for Lake Whittaker Conservation Area. We has asked the girls to pack all of their supplies for Saturday separately from the rest of their gear so that nothing would be forgotten. The first thing we had to do was to help carry the canoes down to the lake before starting our program for the day. Everyone then had to find a properly fitting PFD or life jacket and a canoe paddle. We then split up into groups depending on what program each person was working on.
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The girls learned and practiced different canoe strokes, found out how to properly get in and out of a canoe, how to launch a canoe, changing places, steering and paddling. There was a break for lunch, followed by more canoeing! The Guides practiced swamping a canoe, while the ORCKA participants performed canoe-over-canoe rescues. Wet people were sent to change and the rain started in earnest as we began taking the canoes and equipment back up to the trailers and waited to board the buses.
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