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Local club hosting free canoeing lessons

$20 membership required to join class

Are you looking for a fun way to exercise and get closer to nature?

The Burnaby-based Beaver Canoe Club is hosting a three-part beginners' course on canoeing this spring.

"(The) canoe is historically the boat that helped Europeans and native people travel the waters of Canada's rivers," said club member David Middleton. "Today, it's a way to get out and appreciate the outdoors and get some exercise instead of sitting behind a computer as some kids do."

Canoeing also allows people get close to nature without being intrusive, Middleton explained.

"You drift along, and you can see the beavers swimming across at 7 o-clock with a clump of grass, taking dinner back to their family. Things like that, if you don't canoe you can't see," Middleton said.

The canoeing course is free, but participants must join the club first, and membership is $20 per year. The preliminary indoor class is on theory and safety on April 22, from 7:15 to 9:30 p.m. close to Burnaby Lake. The following two classes take place on Deer Lake, on Saturday, April 25, and Saturday May 2, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Bring a lunch and an extra change of clothes. (Falling in the water is entirely possible, according to Middleton.)

Participants should bring a boat and paddles. There will also be seven two-seater rental boats available for $30 per day, which includes life jackets, paddles and essential safety gear.

The Beaver Canoe Club is a non-profit society started by a group of wilderness lovers in 1976 at the Burnaby Lake Nature House. Members are from all over the Lower Mainland. To register for the canoeing course, call Carey Robson at 604-437-1140. For more information on the club, go to www.beavercanoeclub.org.