A Paddler’s Paradise

In his epic poem, “The Song of Hiawatha,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow pays tribute to the historical prominence of canoes. In fact, archaeological discoveries have shown that people from China to the Caribbean have been using canoes and kayaks for 6,000 to 8,000 years – virtually since the dawn of civilization. At first, of course, watercraft were employed for pragmatic purposes such as transportation and trade. What archaeologists cannot tell us is precisely when humans realized that paddling is just plain fun.

Here on the Treasure Coast, we live in a paddler’s paradise. Just outside our doors we have access to countless launch locations and ideal paddling conditions, and canoes and kayaks provide the perfect vehicles for exploring the natural beauty that surrounds us without disrupting it. This is a happy set of circumstances for the Environmental Learning Center, located on Wabasso Island.

Read the entire article in the March 2011 issue