Weekly Practice Schedule
All practices begin at the Philadelphia Marine Police/Temple Boathouse Dock, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, PA.
Practice is held two nights per week and Sunday evening.
Monday and Thursday nights from 6:00pm till 7:30pm. The boat leaves the dock at 6:00pm, returning for a late comer pick-up at 6:30pm. Plan to arrive for warm-up at 5:30pm.
Sunday from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. Be at the dock no later than 5:45pm. On Regatta weekends, practice will be re-arranged as needed and posted.
Members are required to sign up for practice before 9:00pm on Friday evenings for each week's practice attendance. Practice sign up is thru the Members Calendar which is located on the password protected Members tab. Member sign up enables our coach to organize the practice, seat the team, and reserves your seat in the boat for that week?s practice.
Members may practice as frequently or infrequently as they wish. There are no practice attendance requirements to maintain membership in Hope Afloat. Some members never miss a practice, while others practice once or twice a month. For races, Coach may call mandatory practices twice a week in order to ready the team for race day.
Directions to Practice
Temple Boathouse Dock / Philadelphia Marine Police Dock
Also referred to as East Park Boat House
Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
Hope Afloat’s dragon boat launches from the East Park Canoe Club dock (aka Temple Boathouse) on Kelly Drive. This is the boathouse approximately ¾ mile west of the Grandstands and immediately west of St. Joe’s Boathouse. There is lots of free parking! Make sure to park in the large lot between St. Joe’s and East Park boat houses. We meet at the equipment storage shack.
From Upper Darby/Springfield area:
This route is the most straightforward, but also has the most traffic. Once you get familiar, there are shorter routes.
Take City Line Avenue North (towards Philadelphia).
Follow signs to get on Kelly Drive East.
On Kelly Drive, traveling east, there are several traffic lights at:
Falls Bridge
Midvale Ave
N. Ferry Ave
Hunting Park Ave (cemetery on left)
After Hunting Park Avenue, pass under the Strawberry Mansion Bridge. Approximately 2/10 mile after the bridge, turn right into the East Park Canoe Club parking lot.
From Elkins Park:
Take Old York Rd to Broad St to Schuylkill Expressway. Get off at Ridge Ave. Go to East River Dr and take a left. Go under the Strawberry Mansion Bridge and take a right into the parking lot.
From Center City:
Coming up Kelly Drive, away from the city, you will pass the row of boathouses on the left, then a long stretch of river with no buildings on it. At a bend in the road, you will see the grandstands along the river, then after another mile or so you will see St Joe's brick boathouse on the left. On weekends, you can take a left into the large parking lot between St Joe's boathouse and the Temple boathouse (aka East Park Canoe House). During weekdays, you will not be able to make a left hand turn into the parking lot. Instead, continue to Hunting Park Avenue and turn right. Follow to the next lift, and turn around heading back to Hunting Park Avenue to Kelly Drive. Turn left at the light onto Kelly Drive and then right into the boathouse parking lot.
From Main Line:
City Line Ave, cross the bridge over the river and follow signs for Ridge Ave, east. Go around the bend and get over into the middle lane to go straight onto Kelly Drive. You will go through a few lights. After light at Hunting Park Ave, you will see a large building on the river. That is Temple boathouse. There is a small driveway to enter the parking lot before the boathouse, but it is easy to miss. If you do miss it, continue to the next entrance, which will take you into the large lot between Temple and St Joe's boathouses.
From New Jersey -- Ben Franklin Bridge:
Stay in the left lanes over the BFB and follow traffic for Vine Street Expressway. Follow Vine Street to the Museum exit. Follow traffic right off the ramp and then turn left onto the Ben Franklin Parkway. Follow traffic onto Kelly Drive. Follow Kelly Drive past all of the boathouses and down to Hunting Park Avenue. (You are actually passing our boathouse, but can't turn left there.) Turn right onto Hunting Park Avenue and follow it up to the next light. Turn around there and go back down Hunting Park Avenue to Kelly Drive. Turn left at the light onto Kelly Drive and then turn right into the boathouse parking lot.
From Oreland:
Take Lincoln Drive to Kelly Drive. 0.4 mile past light at Hunting Park Avenue, take Right turn into parking lot of the boathouse.