Hello SKABC Members,
I hope you, your families and your friends are well and being cautious during these unsettling times. I must say it felt almost surreal when at once many organizations across the country made the wise decision to shift all of most of their workforce from their office locations to their homes. What is currently going on is truly unprecedented for all of us.
As many are doing their part to flatten the curve, your Exec feels that we as paddlers must also be sure that we don't contribute to the problem. Recognizing that maintaining social distancing is critical, but that people are also being encouraged to be active in the outdoors, the executive has made several decisions about upcoming events.
We have cancelled the April club meeting on April 6th and the Spring Fling on May 2nd. For those of you who were planning to attend the BC Marine Trails Spring Forum set for April 4th, please note that is also cancelled.
We all understand that the current situation is fluid and that things can change rapidly, so for the moment we will continue to accept registrations for trips and training. These events will remain on the calendar for now but will be cancelled if and when it becomes clear that they will not be able to proceed as planned. The timing of such cancellations will depend on, among other things, the amount of planning and advance notice required for a particular event and updates on the current situation.
For some of our upcoming events, it should be possible to maintain social distancing if people commit to being careful and to taking a few simple measures such as traveling in separate vehicles, keeping an appropriate distance from each other when launching and landing or during breaks, not sharing food, etc. So, if leaders and participants are willing, events such as day paddles might go ahead as scheduled even under the current restrictions. (This, of course, will change if "shelter in place" restrictions are imposed.) Other events, such as courses and multi-day trips, where social distancing will be more difficult, are much more likely to be cancelled.
Notwithstanding the club’s refund policy, full refunds will be issued to participants for cancelled training as well as to participants who choose to withdraw from training voluntarily. We have to support each other and grant each other grace as circumstances continue to unfold.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions about how certain events will be handled. You can reach out to the Trips coordinators for trips, to the Training Officer or Course Coordinators for training, or any one of us listed under “Contact” under the “About SKABC” tab.
If anyone attends paddles and/or training and is later diagnosed with the virus, we request that you reach out to your fellow participants and let them know. It’s the right thing to do.
Be well everyone!
Your SKABC Executive
