Our practice site has moved from Ashbridges Bay to the nearby Outer Harbour just west of it (to a much bigger better practice site)! There are several key benefits of this change - all part of the club's plan to continually improve the team and paddler experience. We trained there 10 weeks in late 2021 as a test, and it worked really well with lots of positive feedback.
Some of the benefits are...
> Site dedicated to dragon boats! Big spaces on land and water for us.
> Unlimited free parking (no more stress circling for parking, save $$).
> Cleaner water and cleaner air. This was a big issue with the old site.
> TTC accessible (stop is slightly further, but 15 minute walk).
> Uncongested much larger waterway (no more short crooked runs).
> 75 Minute practices for most teams (the extra 15 minutes is huge).
Use your own maps and/or GPS to get to practice each day where possible as there is some construction in the portlands area and GPS will dynamically rpoute you around them. But generally, here are the directions to the Outer Harbour practice site...
Turn south towards the lake and follow the road to the very end, where Tommy Thompson Parks starts, as well as Unwin Ave to the right.
There is no parking right at the practice site, but you can get close and walk just a few minutes. Park where you see other cars parked. If you get to the single lane bridge (which is at our practice site) then you have gone too far and will need to turn around as there is no street parking west of the bridge (private road).
Be careful walking along the road corners as you approach the site as it is a bit of a blind corner for drivers and the road is narrow..
You can't miss us as the site is only used by dragon boaters. Check in with your team captain for attendance, and get ready for practice by getting your paddle and life jacket as quickly as possible.
See your team pages for the specific dates and times of your practices. Please ensure you arrive well in advance of the start of your practice in order to have time to park or walk the short walk to the docks. Normally, you want to be at the dock area 20 minutes before practice so you can get your life jacket and paddle, as well as get pre-practice instructions from your coach and/or team captain.
