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youthjournalism.org
YJI reporters Caroline Nelissen, of the Netherlands, and Mugdha Gurram of the United States, try to get their paddle boat out beyond the dock at Toronto’s Harbourfront.
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By Caroline
Nelissen, Mehran Shamit,
Nelissen, Mehran Shamit,
Yelena
Samofalova and Mugdha Gurram
Samofalova and Mugdha Gurram
Reporters
TORONTO,
Canada – Paddle-boating is harder than it looks, especially for a bunch of
first-timers.
Canada – Paddle-boating is harder than it looks, especially for a bunch of
first-timers.
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| Toronto Tour 2014 logo by Mary Majerus-Collins |
In our defense, we came up with a list explaining why:
1. The steering is counter intuitive.
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youthjournalism.org
YJI reporters Caroline Nelissen and Mugdha Gurram are starting to get the knack of paddle boating.
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2. The little kids, who were much better at steering than we were, kept attacking us.
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youthjournalism.org
YJI reporters Lubaba Samin of Toronto and Mary Majerus-Collins of Connecticut in the background. In the foreground is one of the little kids who paddled circles around the young journalists.
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3. We kept going around in circles.
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4. The boats were meant for children much smaller than us.
5. Our feet kept sliding off the pedals, and on top of that, it was physically hard to pedal.
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youthjournalism.org
YJI reporters Mehran Shamit of Toronto and Yelena Samofalova of Connecticut had a lot of trouble getting their paddle boat to go the way they wanted it to, but they had no trouble enjoying the ride.
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6. There were a lot of people in the area, which was pretty small to begin with, so there wasn’t much room for us to steer.
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youthjournalism.org
Even if paddle boating was tricky, the Toronto Harbourfront offers a nice setting to learn.
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7. It was really hot.
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youthjournalism.org
YJI paddle boaters, from left, Lubaba Samin of Toronto, Mary Majerus-Collins of Connecticut, Mehran Shamit of Toronto and Yelena Samofalova of Connecticut.
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8. There was a duck in the paddling area, which was thankfully better at steering than us.
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youthjournalism.org
It took some cooperation, but the YJI paddle boating reporters did manage to line up their crafts for a group picture. From left, Mehran Shamit, Yelena Samofalova, Lubaba Samin, Mary Majerus-Collins, Caroline Nelissen and Mugdha Gurram.
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9. No one explained how to work the boat before we got on, even our resident expert-boat-paddler.
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youthjournalism.org
Paddle boaters got a helpful shove away from the dock, but no great advice on how to work the boat.
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But once we got the hang of it, it was a lot of fun.
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youthjournalism.org
YJI reporters Caroline Nelissen of the Netherlands and Mugdha Gurram of the United States met each other a few minutes before navigating the Toronto Harbourfront in a paddle boat – a first for both of them. They didn’t win any boating awards but did win a new friend while on the water.
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