Our Crews

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

By Jenny Yule

Abreast Deas Divas

Deas Slough. Doesn’t exactly inspire images of grandeur, does it? Despite its humble name, Deas is actually one of the most beautiful paddling locations in the lower mainland and home to the Deas Divas.

The slough is located at the south end of the George Massey Tunnel, bordered by Deas Island Regional Park to the north and the farm fields of South Delta to the South. It is home to countless ducks, geese, eagles, sandpipers, herons and the occasional seal. It is, quite simply, a natural oasis.

The Divas are a unique breed of dragon boaters. As our name suggests, you need to have a certain propensity for waving like the queen, wearing the odd tiara and shrugging off the constant barrage of paparazzi! (Okay, maybe that last part is only in our minds!) But while we play the part of the diva on land, we are all athletes on the water, taking tremendous pride from working hard as a team (and we even have some hardware to show for it)!  Our beloved coaches, Lynn and Eydie, are committed to our success, constantly updating us with new and improved training techniques.

If you’re particularly observant on a Tuesday or Thursday evenng from March to July, you just might catch a glimpse of a pink filled dragon boat streaking past under the highway bridge.

Map to Ladner Yacht Club, 5011 River Road, Delta, BC, V4K 1S7

By Christina Sestan

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 Marina Parking Lot

By Cheryl Watson

Abreast With Hope

Abreast With Hope is a unique crew within Abreast In A Boat.

The ‘Hopesters’, as we on The Hope Boat like to call ourselves, are all experienced paddlers who were trained on one of our competitive crews and now are not able to commit to a full season due to health or life circumstance. This crew was created in 2010 specifically for these paddlers.

The Hope Boat paddles at the Deas Slough in Delta every Monday at 4:00 pm for the months of April, May and June. Practices start with a vigorous warm up and end with a cool down and stretching session. The grand finish is trouping over to a local pub for a chat and snack. The paddling is mildly strenuous, although we still work hard enough to reap the benefits of exercise and especially benefit from the care and support of each other.

This is a fun, supportive and very energetic crew. Members of the Hope Boat are always willing to help out with the many initiatives of Abreast In A Boat. In 2021 the Hope crew created a book of survivorship titled “695 Years - 32 Stories”. The book contains the breast cancer journeys of the Hope crew members. The intention of the book is to give real hope and insight to others who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The name of our paddle spot sounds opposite of what it is! The Deas Slough is a beautiful calm stretch of water banked by tall trees and grasses. We are almost always watched over by eagles and often see salmon jumping. It’s hard to believe that we are enjoying this quiet natural beauty within the heart of our community.

Being able to continue paddling after leaving a competitive boat means the world to the entire crew. It is something we just never want to give up!

By Carol Short

Abreast At Rocky Point

Since 2012, the Abreast at Rocky Point crew has paddled out of the beautiful Rocky Point Park in Port Moody. Prior to this our crew paddled out of the Barnet Marine Park (1998 to 2011).

We started paddling in a 6/16 dragon boat (Doriana) and in 2018 were blessed to be gifted a brand new beautiful BUK dragon boat we named “Hope Point”. Hope Point is in the water from early March through to the fall and then stored at the Old Mill boathouse for our winter break.

We practice twice a week (Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings) from late March to the end of June or into July depending on the last Regatta of the season. For the balance of summer and until the weather changes in late fall we try to go out weekly and invite all AIAB members, new paddlers, family and friends.

We have the use of the Old Mill Boat House facility and look forward to our Saturday morning snack after practice to share stories and make plans for our racing season.

We are also very fortunate to have lots of free parking and several restaurants including the Port Moody Brewers Row close by and often go for a snack and drink after our Wednesday evening practice.

We all feel privileged to be part of Abreast In A Boat and to be able to challenge ourselves, advocate to continue the fight against breast cancer and to support women who have been diagnosed to see you can lead a healthy and strong life after a breast cancer diagnosis.

Map to Rocky Point Park, 2800 Block Murray St., Port Moody, B.C.,

By Denise Nelson / Sandy Lockwood

Abreast In The City

Yes, we are definitely “in the city”! We are located at the shores of the Olympic Village.  When we initially load ourselves into our dragon boat, we are looking directly across at Science World!  We paddle around boats in the harbour as well as a few seals that pop up to say hello and if we are really lucky, we could be fortunate enough to encounter a whale! Ok I believe that happened once and we weren’t on the water….but hey….you never know! Our location is also the venue for the world-famous Concord International Dragon Boat Festival. Yes, that is exactly where you will be paddling! 

After practice we often like to “reward” ourselves by gathering at one of the many fabulous restaurants located in the Olympic Village. You can literally get out of the boat and within 5 minutes be enjoying each other’s company with a cold beverage and wonderful food. Two of our favourites are Craft and Tap and Barrel!

The location is easy to get to via transit and there is ample parking underneath the Creekside Community Centre. If you like a short walk, you can also park for free on the south side around 5th Avenue and Ontario or Manitoba.

The venue truly could not be more spectacular and we are a fun group of women looking for camaraderie, belly laughs and strengthening ourselves mentally and physically. If that is something that you think you might be interested in, please come and join us! We would love to have you join Abreast In The City!

Directions to Olympic Village

By Lenki Borthwick