Abreast In Barnet
AIAB in the Tricities

Abreast Up The Creek
We are the False Creek crew, paddling at the site of the first Abreast In A Boat crew of 1996 and following our founder Dr. Don McKenzie’s credo of “paddle for fun; race to win”. We practice on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings from the lovely dock at Alder Bay on Granville Island using the facilities of the False Creek Racing Canoe Club. Crew members enjoy the camaraderie and buzz of the market, the creek and the boating community and can often be spotted socializing on Wednesday evenings after practice at the many attractive watering holes on Granville Island. Map to False Creek Racing Canoe Club, 1318 Cartwright St., Vancouver, BC on Granville Island

Jenny Yule

Abreast Deas Divas
We like to think that we paddle in the most beautiful setting around, but I have to admit from paddling in other venues that you would be hard pressed to find a paddling venue in the Lower Mainland that isn’t beautiful. We do paddle where the eagles soar, though, and we try like crazy to be the singing Diva’s – it just doesn’t always sound as good as we’d like! What we do have is a strong team that has the best warm-ups around, that works hard, and laughs a lot. Did I mention that we work hard? Coach Patricia concentrates on specific exercises in our warm-ups to help us learn to rotate properly and to reach ‘one more inch’ and also helps to restore us with the best stretches afterwards!

Focus is on our wonderful, excited novices and our community involvement. Whichever regattas we attend, we all look forward to spreading our message of hope to other areas. Not to mention having a really good time with our dragon boating friends! If you are ever out at the Deas Slough on a Tuesday evening or a Saturday morning, make sure that you look out for the group of women in their bright pink Abreast In A Boat shirts. Map to Captain’s Cove Marina, 6100 Ferry Road, Delta, BC

Marcia Rempel

Abreast With FORT-itude
Abreast with FORT-itude started paddling in Fort Langley in 2006. Many of the women come from the Delta, Surrey, Langley area but some come from Vancouver to join us. The beautiful Bedford Channel is a terrific setting for paddling with nature trails beside the meandering river. In spring, the river current gets stronger, and so do we! Although our two fabulous coaches make us work hard, we ALWAYS have a break for jujubes!

The practices are Wednesday evening and Saturday morning. The crew is often found in the pub after practice Wednesday evening, and the coffee shop Saturday morning. We have participated in The Langley Day Parade, had an auction to raise money for breast cancer patients and arranged a picnic where family and friends could come and paddle with us or watch from shore and walk the nature trails.

This year we are paddling with the Langley Canoe Club and have an extra bonus with access to outrigger and voyageur canoes and kayaks. We are a group of friends that are happy to be alive and on the water. Map to Fort Langley Canoe Club

Cheryl Watson

Abreast In Richmond
The Richmond venue is the John M.S. Lecky UBC Boathouse, a fully floating facility nestled along the banks of the historic Fraser River, with spectacular views of the North Shore Mountains, just minutes from the Vancouver International Airport and the heart of Richmond's Business and entertainment district.

We are fortunate to have a full service facility, which includes change rooms, showers, lounge, rowing and paddling machines, coach boats and we can make use of the programs at the Olympic Oval which is just minutes away.

We enjoy the camaraderie of other teams as well as the wildlife along the river. Map to Richmond Yacht Club, 7471 River Rd., Richmond, BC

Margaret Hobson

Abreast With Hope
Abreast With Hope is a new crew with Abreast In A Boat. We paddled for our first season in 2010 on the Deas Slough. We paddle one evening a week, Monday’s, from mid April until the end of June. Abreast With Hope came about with the suggestion that not all members of Abreast In A Boat can make the commitments required to be on a full racing crew. The members of this crew, due to time or health restrictions, can still paddle and be a part of the fun and camaraderie of the Dragon Boat Team.

The venue at Deas Slough makes for fun and relaxing paddles. We often take the time to sit and watch the Herons as they catch fish along the shore of the slough; and last year we all delighted in our weekly stop to watch the Bald Eagles nest with its 2 baby birds. It was fun each week to paddle by and slow so we could catch glimpses of the tiny heads popping up and down over the edge of the nest and the parents would caw and call to us to keep our distance; which we did in consideration for the birds. The slough is a quiet body of water about 30 minutes south of Vancouver located in Delta BC. Highway 99 runs over the middle of the slough. We share the water with kayaks, outrigger canoes, rowing skulls and the occasional motorboat. There are 2 marinas on the slough for power and sail boats each with its own PUB, this comes in handy for after practice snacks and beverages.

We start each practice with a warm-up led by one of our enthusiastic members followed by a paddle usually 60 – 90 minutes long followed by a cool down and stretching session and then we finish off by having dinner or a snack in the Pub. Last year there were 2 practices that had to be cancelled due to high winds so we all adjourned to the pub a little earlier than usual and had a very nice evening.

There are about 15 members on the crew and each week we have ‘guests’ join us from the other crews to make sure we have a full or nearly full crew. The paddling is easy and not too strenuous although we still work hard enough to reap the benefits of exercise. This is a fun and energetic crew and although we do not participate in the regular season race venues, we are all eligible to paddle in any of the summer venues. I for one fully enjoyed my first year with Abreast With Hope and I am returning in 2011 for my second season. Map to Captain’s Cove Marina, 6100 Ferry Road, Delta, BC
Debbie Giroux