Baltimore’s Inner Harbor regularly sees hundreds of people on a June Saturday morning, but they’re not usually floating in the Harbor itself.
The 2019 Baltimore Floatilla brought 250 paddlers to the Inner Harbor this weekend, rallying for clean water in the Baltimore watershed, the Patapsco, and the Bay at large.
Kayaks, standup paddleboards, canoes, and even a couple of dragon boats formed a giant raft-up around a bold-lettered floating sign reading: “HARBOR LIFE!”
Waterfront Partnership’s Healthy Harbor Initiative organized the Floatilla, which took participants on a five-mile paddle course, beginning and ending at the Canton waterfront on the city’s southeast side, and stopping at the center of the Inner Harbor for a rally at the halfway point.
Paddlers turned out with signs, costumes, and kayaks decorated with crabs and, flamingos. In addition to attracting a lot of attention, the Floatilla raised money for students’ environmental field trips, trash cleanups in Baltimore alleys, and Baltimore’s “Mr. Trash Wheel” and “Prof. Trash Wheel,” which keep hundreds of tons of trash out of the water.
Prof. Trash Wheel even made the trip to the Inner Harbor from Canton on the southeast side.
Click through the slideshow below to see the colorful crowd of paddlecraft and the Floatilla’s message:
