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Porter Paddlers Underway

photo by Laura Cameron

Wednesday December 31, 1969

By Mike Cameron

   On Sunday May 24th Neil Gruber and Mike Cameron began their lake-long trek rom Whitehall New York to the Canadian border by kayak. The pair will paddleto raise money for a planned outing on Lake Champlain for residents of Porter Health and Rehabilitation Center in Middlebury. Gruber has already paddled the lake solo for the same cause a number of years ago and with excellent success.

   This year Cameron was invited to join him and a new fund raiser was on. The first leg of their journey was accomplished when they pulled their boatsashore in Benson after a four and a half hour tour from South Bay northward. Aside from a few rain squalls the weather and wave conditions were calm duringthe first leg of their trip. High points included a close encounter with a BaldEagle, the sighting of many rolling fish and Cameron forgetting to close the reliefzipper on his dry suit when he arrived in Benson to wade ashore with his kayak.“The water is still pretty cold. It was a chilling reminder not to repeat the same mistake twice,” Cameron said.

   Next up…Benson to Larrabee’s Point and a lakelevel look at Historic Fort Ti along the way. The Porter Paddle is an official Vermont Quadracentinnial Event as we all remember the accomplishments ofSamuel de Champlain and his influence on Vermont’s original residents who also enjoyed what British kayak explorer Derrick Hutchinson called “the magic of the paddle.”

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