Three friends founded the Windsor-Essex County Canoe Club in 1979 and it was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1981. Most of WECCC members in the early days were marathon canoe racers. They traveled about the province in the summer participating in a series of races for the provincial championships. In the winter many of them were involved in ice canoe racing, which takes place mostly in Quebec, and practiced on the Detroit River when they had ice!
The Windsor club hosted a marathon race for many years. It was held on River Canard and drew racers from across southwestern Ontario. By the mid-eighties more canoe-trippers were joining the club and as the racers got older and less involved the club's emphasis shifted to canoe camping and tripping. Many club members used the local waterways for afternoon outings but in the summer most members traveled to northern waterways and lakes to paddle.
About this time sea kayaking was becoming popular and these ocean-going boats provided paddlers with a watercraft that could handle the Great Lakes. The unofficial centre of this activity was Peach Island/Peche Isle Park, a grassy area behind the old Edgewater Inn (which is now Lilly Kazzilly's).
The WECCC now has about 80 members, including many Americans and life members. None of the original racers are active and the River Canard race has not been held for several years. The sea-kayaking crowd consists of another 60-some people, many of whom are also WECCC members. The club today is a loose-knit organization of people who share an enthusiasm for paddling and the out-of-doors. The club is involved in a number of community activities, such as dry-paddling the Montreal Canoe in local parades and sponsoring an annual clean up of Peche Isle, and supports environmentally-friendly initiatives such as that which will designate the Detroit River as a Heritage River. An annual trip-planning meeting allows members to share information and ideas for trips throughout Canada and the United States and weekly paddles are also organized for rivers and creeks in Essex County.
Guest speakers are invited to the club's annual meeting to share their stories about paddling and traveling. The Muddy Waters, WECCC's quarterly newsletter since 1979, publishes members' news, views and insights about canoeing and kayaking, and also provides a membership list to help those looking for paddling partners, or, in the off-season, other cross-country skiing enthusiasts.
For local paddling there are a number of options depending on your paddling style and skill. Although very scenic, the Detroit River, in terms of safety and facilities, is not a great area for today's recreational paddling. From Peach Island to the Ambassador Bridge the current is fast, the steel breakwalls prevent exit from the water if you get into difficulty, and the water is often choppy and crowded with power boats and "personal water craft" (jet skis). For canoeists, Lake St. Clair is nice in good weather and calm water, as is the lower part of the river and Lake Erie.
Sea kayakers make more use of the river, frequently visiting the U.S. side and cruising about the many islands. Because of the strong current they usually only travel downstream and arrange for a trailer pick-up at the end of the trip. The sea kayakers paddle regularly three times a week in the lower Lake St. Clair area. The areas around Leamington and Point Pelee are also becoming very popular with both local paddlers and many Americans.
Canoeists still make extensive use of the rivers and creeks that run into the Detroit River, such as River Canard, Turkey Creek, Cedar Creek, Big Creek and the Belle, Puce and Thames Rivers. As well, the Huron River in Ann Arbor is popular with canoeists and kayakers alike as a good place to first experience moving water and some easy rapids.
