KayakOntario

Evie was running a Level 1 course for Freedom Canoe & Kayak in Caesarea this weekend.

One of the nicest, most helpful shops out there!

Coached Pool Time is back. Thursday nights, November - April.

Keep sharp in a (very) warm pool in Hamilton. We provide all the gear: Valley kayaks, paddles and floats. Work on your roll, your braces, rescues or just come to hang out during the cold months. All levels welcome.

Early and late sessions every Thursday.

We are taking pre-orders for Valley Sea Kayaks and Rockpool Kayaks.

We will be delivering to BC in April 2027, and we can head east anytime the weather is ok after the container arrives. If you are looking to pre-order, now is the time!

Note: we have some last year's stock left if you are looking for a quicker turnaround!

Our 2027 season is ready — and we're fired up about this one.

The ORCKA Kayak Tripping (KT) program is now fully rolled out across our 2027 expeditions. KT is the navigation, expedition-planning, and wilderness-camping stream a touring and guiding award you can pursue as personal skills development or take all the way to instructor. It's unique in that we run every one of these courses on trip. And it runs alongside our coastal skills progression from Level 2 up, so you're building toward leading coastal trips, not just collecting certificates.

Here's what we're most excited about: take KT all the way to KT3 and you become an ORCKA Trip Leader a recognized credential that opens major benefits for running your own trips.

Already posted for 2027 (with more coming):

> 11 expeditions on the calendar — from BC to Nova Scotia.
> L2 Prep, new this year — a dedicated on-ramp for paddlers getting ready for Level 2.

The full schedule is live now 👇

I met Tristan Amor at a pool session. Covered in ink, not exactly the look you’d expect from a sea kayaker, which is funny to say because I only thought of that now, remembering my first impression.

He had a good session, but he’s pretty quiet, and I remember thinking he probably wouldn’t be back. Boy was I wrong.

He came back and worked as hard as anyone I’ve ever seen to build his skills. It’s been a wild ride watching him grow. The guy is a machine now, helping people roll, leading community runs and even does podcasts on mental health.

But the thing I like best about Tristan: when I hit bottom, and trust me I hit it a few years ago, he stuck around and became a friend. He is the real deal. Welcome to the group, my man.

Today we made the call to cancel our flagship Lake Superior expedition.

We don’t do this lightly. This trip is one we look forward to all season, and our guests have been training and planning for it for months.

But here’s where things stand. Environment Canada has an air quality warning in effect for the entire north shore, with explicit guidance to cancel outdoor activities. Communities across northwestern Ontario are being evacuated as fires grow. Search and rescue and emergency resources in the region need to stay focused where they belong: on people losing their homes. The last thing they need is a group of paddlers out on the big lake in reduced visibility, adding to their load if anything goes wrong.

We also won’t ask our guides to work eight-hour days breathing this air, and we won’t put guests in it either.

Every guest is being contacted directly about rebooking. Superior isn’t going anywhere, and neither are we.

To the communities of northwestern Ontario, and to the fire crews and emergency personnel working right now: we’re thinking of you.

See you next year, Pukaskwa.

We’re three-quarters of the way through our busiest Lake Superior season ever.
It started with a packed house running Level 2 and Level 3 prep in Lake Superior Provincial Park. From there we paddled Neys, Pic Island, and the Rossport Islands. Last week we caught a 10/10 weather window for an instructional tour and Kayak Tripping Level 1 course in the Lake Superior Provincial Park backcountry.
Every paddler on these trips came through our progression; by the time they launch on Superior, they’re prepared and ready. That showed on the last day of the LSPP trip, when the lake served up some lively conditions and the training was evident in every boat.
One trip left: Pukaskwa.
If you’ve been watching these trips and wondering whether you could paddle Superior, that’s exactly what the progression is for. Watch this space when 2027 dates open.

Day off, and another paddle I’d wanted to do for years: the Rossport Islands. Launched from the beach at Rossport and wove through the archipelago out to Battle Island, the southern edge of the chain. Clear water, cliffs, and the northernmost lighthouse on the Great Lakes. It looks almost exactly like a miniature Peggy’s Cove.
We decided to have lunch on the island when we saw the iconic red Muskoka chairs. We landed, and something instantly felt off. The place was abandoned. Signs said enter at your own risk, the lighthouse was posted do not enter, and most of the equipment was still in winter wraps, in July. I made a point of researching it once I was back.
Here’s the fuller story. Battle Island is within the traditional territory of Pawgwasheeng (Pays Plat First Nation), whose Chief has called it sacred land. Their community never signed the Robinson-Superior Treaty. By their oral history, their people were out hunting when it was signed in 1850, and they only learned of it in 1883 when the railway arrived. They were allotted one square mile of reserve. A land claim that includes Battle Island is in negotiation with Canada right now, and visits to the island have become a point of real friction.
So: we went, it was beautiful, and we’d have made better-informed choices about landing if we’d known before instead of after. I’m glad we found out, and I’m glad I can share the history. Pays Plat tells its own story at ppfn.ca. Well worth your time.
The lighthouse is 150 years of this island’s story. The rest is much longer.