ESKASONI, N.S. — The sun shone brightly on a group of four women getting a lesson in stand-up-paddle boarding during the last day of the Just Paddle It festival on Sept. 22.
As they learn how to properly hold the paddle, a couple of people in kayaks glide by them as the calm water glistened. Behind them, a group of racers from the Atlantic Division team canoe past them on one knee and in front of them a couple of paddleboard enthusiasts practiced headstand poses without falling in.
Over the three days of the festival, the first one of its kind held in Eskasoni First Nation, more than 100 people participated in exhibition races, lessons and sunset paddling.
"Turn out was better than I imagined... I'm just blown away with how great this all was," said organizer Levi Denny, watching everyone enjoy their learn-to-paddle lessons off the dock at Crane Cove.
The Eskasoni band director of sports and recreation said they wanted to host the event, done in partnership with Atlantic Division Canoe Kayak Canada, as a way to develop a canoe/kayak club in the Mi'kmaq community.
Hosting the festival not only introduced community members to stand-up paddleboarding, canoeing and kayaking, Denny said it also exposed the paddling community to what Eskasoni has to offer.
"We want to expose our community members to as many sports and activities as humanly possible," Denny said. "We are a people of the water. The more activities we can do on the water, the better."
Exhibition races included a youth division as well as two, four, six and eight-kilometer runs. Competitors were mostly members of the Atlantic Division team, including Kelly Zinck's 15-year-old son Matthew, a canoer from Dartmouth.
Kelly, who is originally from Cape Breton, said there are so many lakes around Dartmouth a large number of youth are members of canoe/kayak clubs and she praised them.
"It's so good for the kids. They're so conditioned... (It helps improve) organization, focus. In the summer, when Matthew is off school, he's not sitting around doing nothing," she said. "He's out, at the club, practicing. He's tired at night because he's been out at the club."
Along with praising the sport, Kelly also praised Eskasoni as being the "perfect" location for a canoe/kayaking event.
"The water here is straight up and down," she said. "And it's sheltered so it's not too windy (like other parts of the Bras d'Or Lakes.)"
Just Paddle It was put on with the support of Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Sports Nova Scotia and the provincial Liberal government. Denny said Eskasoni's chief and council were also behind the initiative to get a canoe/ kayak club in the Indigenous community.
Denny said he hopes Eskasoni Canoe/Kayak Club will officially open summer 2020.
