A very happy and wet Monday morning to you all. Just when you thought it was safe to go outside and boom … where is your umbrella?
The weather prediction for the weekend was looking lovely after a truly amazing day on Saturday. But then Mother Nature decided to throw us another curve and brought the rain in which appears to be here for a few days. Luckily for a lot of Huntsville folks, many had found themselves downtown enjoying a beautiful spring day. Quite a few were there to participate in 2nd Annual Paddle the Canal event hosted by DHI and sponsored by Redstone Federal Credit Union.
The two-day urban kayaking event is a mini festival for water enthusiasts held downtown on the canal between the VBC and the Embassy Suites. The event offers individuals the opportunity to maneuver kayaks or canoes over the 520-meter course that starts at Rotary Fountain Park and circles around Thrasher Fountain and back again. The day begins with the expert Elite Paddle competition that offers prizes for the timed event. Once the expert competition is completed the canal is opened up to the general public who tend to find very creative ways to showcase their talents.
For most in the General Paddle it may very well be their first time in a kayak or a canoe so attempting to avoid other paddlers and steering the vessel in a straight line can be a difficult task. It is not as easy as it looks and as the day progresses the canal ends up at times looking like a major traffic jam on I-565.
All in all it was a fabulous day in downtown and an incredible day for all those that participated. For those that stood on the sidelines they were treated to a fun filled spectacle of a colorful array of boaters on the canal. Unfortunately for the event Mother Nature intervened on Sunday raining on the parade.
