Chair's Cockpit

By Hugh Hilliard

Writing this as the number of hours of darkness begins to exceed the daylight hours, and as the peak paddling season for many starts to wind down, I'm looking back on my adventures on the water this summer and already beginning to think about next year. I'm also contemplating how we all connect with other paddlers and how CCA can contribute to making those connections.

My paddling season this year included many trips on the Potomac (Little Falls, Mather Gorge, the Needles, and elsewhere), at least a couple of Shenandoah Staircase trips, a first-time participating in the Stonycreek festival, two runs on the Lower Yough, flatwater paddling on the Potomac and on a couple of the Great Lakes, and downriver races on the Red Moshannon, the Lehigh, Seneca Breaks, and of course the Potomac Downriver Race. And many of my paddling buddies traveled further afield, including trips on the Green River and the Salmon, as well as the Cheat, Gauley, and other West Virginia rivers. I hope all of you were able to enjoy time in your boats with friends.

While solitary paddling has its advantages, especially when we are pressed for time, there is much to be gained from paddling with others (beyond just running shuttle and enhancing our safety): deepening our connections with old friends and making new ones, swapping stories about prior adventures and cooking up plans for new ones, sharing rides for long trips, working together to enhance our skills, and encouraging each other to try out new lines through familiar rapids, surf new waves, and try challenging ferries and attainment moves. As just one example of the advantages I reaped from paddling with friends this year, several of my fellow padders helped me to diagnose and resolve some problems I was having with my roll, which has improved my confidence on the river.

There are many ways we can connect with others for paddling, such as emails, texts, and various other messaging apps (including group chats), and even phone calls. And there are many great local instructors and organizations that offer trips and training for paddlers at all levels. And CCA—as it has existed and adapted over 70 years—continues to play an important role in our local paddling community. 

Perhaps most importantly, CCA-coordinated trips are something we can count on to occur on a regularly scheduled basis on Sundays, Wednesday evenings, and Thursdays, and they offer opportunities for us to experience rivers that we wouldn't otherwise visit and to meet new folks to paddle with. We also offer less regular Saturday and Pickup trips, instructional sessions, and pool rolling.

CCA also fills certain roles that aren't easily met by less formal modes of connecting with other paddlers. These include advocacy on conservation and river access issues (such as representing paddlers' interests in the aftermath of the Potomac Interceptor sewage spill, implementing improvements to the path between the Potomac and the C&O Canal near Blockhouse Point, and a few years ago advocating to maintain paddling access to the George Washington Canal. CCA has maintained a 71-year tradition of the Potomac Downriver Race, and it offers various educational and social events, such as our annual meeting in December, Spring and Fall picnics, and frequent online programs on topics of interest to paddlers. And we have been making efforts to introduce paddling to folks who haven't previously had the opportunity to try it.

This is your club, so I encourage all members to reach out to the officers and committee chairs with suggestions on how CCA can best serve you and the rest of the paddling community. One important gateway is through our website, and we are actively working on enhancing it. If you haven't done so already, please consider completing our survey on this topic. And let us know what changes you would like to see to our trip offerings and our paddling and safety instructional program. What else should we be doing? If you aren't already involved, consider stepping up and volunteering to work on one of our committees or as an officer—that's probably the best way to contribute to a more effective club, and it can be rewarding. And encourage your friends to join CCA and participate in its activities. We have a flyer about the club that you can share. You might want to print a few to have in your car so that you can distribute them to folks you meet on the river.

I wish everyone a wonderful autumn and continued paddling as long as conditions suit you. And I hope to see many of you on the river, at our Fall Picnic Oct. 4, and our December annual meeting and holiday party Dec. 4.