Echuca Moama Canoe Club meets every Wednesday evening during daylight savings at Moama Beach. Photos: Supplied.
Echuca-Moama is a thriving community that is only growing. One of the many reasons people love the region is the multitude of groups they can be a part of. To help you find the right group, check out our ‘Why not join...’ series each week, where we focus on a community group. In today’s edition, Emily Donohoe speaks to Echuca Moama Canoe Club.
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Ken McMillan first saw canoeing on the Murray as a teacher on school camp from Gippsland, inspiring a move to Echuca-Moama and a lifelong passion for the sport.
Serving in a range of committee roles since joining in 1979, just two years after its creation in 1977, he is still heavily involved in the club.
“I drove a few kids up and watched them paddle down the Murray,” he said.
“All the kids got out thinking how good it was, and I thought, ‘there must be something in this business’, so I took up doing a bit of paddling myself.
“It was time for a change... I moved up here to join up with the canoe club, and I’ve been here ever since.
“I’ve been president, secretary, treasurer. I did a bit of work as part of the Victorian Canoe Association and in the Australian Canoe Federation I was part of the marathon committee.”
Ash Bell is the current president, and has been on the water in one way or another for the majority of his life, beginning as a kayaker at St Joe’s.
He has raced around the region and beyond, including overnight races and the Murray Marathon, through his participation in Echuca Moama Canoe Club.
The club meets each Wednesday evening at Moama Beach for a night time trial, also participating in a range of races around the region, along with camps and workshops.
All equipment and guidance is provided, with their collection of boats only growing with time.
The group participates in time trials at their Wednesday evening meetings.
They welcome a range of experience levels and abilities, from complete newbies to championship winners and canoeing globe-trotters.
Mr McMillan is the latter, travelling to marathon championships and Carrick-on-Shannon in Ireland for canoeing events.
“It’s opened up a whole world to me,” he said.
“I’m still paddling, still enjoying it, still racing and still falling in.”
Mr Bell is forging a similar path, having already visited the Hawkesbury River and is planning a canoeing adventure from Wilsons Promontory to Tasmania next year.
He has also brought his family into the sport and even taken over River Country Adventours to showcase the natural environment of the region to tourists and locals.
“My grandfather was my land crew for the Murray Marathon, decided he wanted to start paddling and is now the president of the Shepparton Canoe Club,” Mr Bell said.
“My mum also got into it after my grandfather because I needed someone else to do my land crew.
“Mum came and said, ‘I want to have a go’, so we did a race together, and she went, ‘oh I love this’.”
The Echuca Moama Canoe Club community is very strong, and has connections with clubs around the region, coming together for camps and competitions.
The club supplies all boats, paddles, equipment and supplies to its members.
The group is hosting a free community paddle at Moama Beach, with the support of River Country Adventours, on Saturday, December 7.
Mr Bell believes the event is a great opportunity for those unfamiliar with the sport to give it a try in a supportive environment.
The group meets each Wednesday during daylight savings at Moama Beach at 6pm. Newbies can reach out through ash@adventours.com.au or come along and introduce themselves to the crew.
