Chesapeake Kayak Adventures

 
November 7, 2012 marked Chespeake Kayak Adventures First Anniversary on Meetup.com.  Over the course of those 12 months we've grown to over 630 members and held over 110 Meetups.  We've been featured in The Baltimore Sun, Howard Magazine and Maryland Public Television's Outdoors Maryland.  Meetup.com has rated CKA as one of the Best Outdoor Recreation Meetups" in the world.  If you're looking to get out and paddle, we are and intend to remain one of the most active paddling groups in the Baltimore/Washington area.

One of our main objectives is to make paddling with the safety and camaraderie of a group accessible to everyone, regardless of their skill level or the type of boat they paddle. Some paddles do require the proper skills and/or gear for safety’s sake but we try to offer a lot that don’t. Our Wednesday Night Paddlers are a great example of those that usually don’t.

 
We are a group of simply nice, intelligent, fantastically fun and friendly people, who have a passion for kayaking and love to share it with like minded people. If you are looking to develop that passion for yourself, most of our members are more than willing to let a little magically rub off while sharing their knowledge and experience.

 
We paddle on flat water lakes, reservoirs and very easy non-whitewater rivers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. When the weather and tides allow, we get out the Chesapeake Bay itself and its tidal tributaries. You won’t find us on serious white water rivers or even mild white capped waves in the Bay but some of our members do appreciate growing their skills in more challenging situations.

For those who don't have their own kayak we offer a limited number of rental kayaks to our members for our Wednesday Night Paddlers and weekend paddles at a member price of $25.00 and $50.00 respectively.

 
We try to push the kayaking season as far as we safely can into winter but when the air and water temperatures get too cold you’ll see us posting hikes and other outdoor activities to stay active as a group.

This is my fourth year organizing kayak trips in a venue like Meetup. If you talk to my friends, they’d tell you I’ve been doing for as long as they can remember. I’ve been paddling a kayak for about 20 years and spent the last 7 years among other things as a kayak instructor for LL Bean’s Outdoor Discovery School. Paddling brings lots of joy to my life and I love to share it with others. Some members jokingly refer to me as “Fearless Leader”, after a character from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon show some of you may be old enough to remember.

Prior to our days on Meetup, many of us paddled together as a successful Yahoo Group known as The Wednesday Night Paddler (TWNP). TWNP was formed as an opportunity for people to paddle with a group on Wednesday nights after work. It was a chance to paddle off workday stress while working on paddling skills and staying in shape but we also did a lot of socializing on the water and made great new friends. We will continue our tradition of paddling on Wednesday Nights after work during the summer months as a Meetup Group with a new name that reflects the fact that we spend a lot of time paddling on the weekend too.

We’d love to have you paddle with us.

Chuck and the CKA Leadership Team