Dozens of participants were left on the shoreline as Mother Nature forced organizers to scramble and make some last-minute changes to the annual Float Your Fanny Down the Ganny event in Port Hope, Ont., on Saturday.
The event usually sees hundreds of people build their own rafts and boats and attempt to float down the Ganaraska River. The 10-kilometre race commemorates a flood that damaged downtown Port Hope in 1980. The event returned in 2023 following a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However on Saturday, high, fast-flowing conditions on the river prompted significant changes to the race, notably shortening the course by moving the finish line at Corbett’s Dam, further upstream from the usual Optimist Park finish area.
“Because of the river, if you haven’t seen it, it’s raging down there,” said event co-chairperson Barry Adamson.
The river conditions also forced organizers to cancel the inflatable craft category.
“We had 40-some-odd people registered to be on floaties,” Adamson said. “They’ve all got their costumes and all that. They’re disappointed, but they’re safe.
Other factors including construction on the Sylvan Glen Bridge upstream. It’s usually the site for the launch of homemade watercraft, so the “Krazy Kraft” catergory was cancelled this year.
But despite the setbacks, many participants still say they enjoyed the adventure on the water.
Kayaker Kim Gilchrist says finishing the race had a special meaning since she lost her spouse over five months ago. She joined friends for their journey down the Ganaraska.
“He’s the one that got me into this sport,” she said. “And we have lots of good memories paddling together, but this one was always kind of our first one of the year.”
She says finishing race was an emotional relief.
“I feel like I can breathe after today, like I did it,” she said.
Decked out in an orange fox costume, Stacey Chadwick says she drove more than three hours to be part of the event.
“Had to paddle the whole time — my daughter’s fin broke off of her standup paddle board, so she had to keep going,” Chadwick said.
She says the camaraderie makes the tougher race worth it.
“Everyone helping, if anyone was stranded,” she said. “We’d come together, grab their paddles, get them back in their kayak, help get the water out of their kayak.”
— with files from Germain Ma/Global News Peterborough
Previous event coverage is below.