The new canoe
I did it. Well, we did it. Chris and I bought a canoe. It was on sale at C.T. and after parting with my little horde of C.T. money, it cost me only $333.00 taxes in.
So the first trip was planned for the May long weekend, Jonny and I were going to try to make PA. I booked Friday off, so that was going to give us about 3.5 days. It should be enough. Well the week before I got sick, so we didn't leave till Sat morning and we had decided to stop at Gabriels Bridge just east of Rosthern. We were in high spirits as we loaded the canoe and shoved off. It was short lived. When we turned the corner just past the chemical plant we faced a long straight stretch about 1.5 miles long that goes past Wanuskewin, right into the teeth of what soon felt like the winds of Katrina. We had to paddle hard all the way or the wind would blow us back up river. I had pictured a nice leisurely paddle, my fishing rod propped up by some gear, a cold drink stuffed in there somewhere, chatting with my son about what we should look for in a camping site and maybe asking him to pass the sunblock. It was instead a hard paddle, not even thinking of my fishing rod, thoughts of a big mug of hot chocolate in front of a roaring fire in my head, and asking Jonathan to pass me my toque and telling him to "for goodness sake son paddle or we are going to get blown all the way back to the weir in Saskatoon and drown."
We finally camped just down river from the Clarkboro ferry around 5 pm in the shelter of some big willow bushes and it was actually pretty nice. We made camp, built a nice fire, cooked some supper and we were starting to think that it was not going to be a bad rest of the weekend. We woke up at 3 am and it was raining, I had old mans disease and had to get out of the tent for a minute. When I got back Jonathan had tried to put more air in the mattress and had mistakenly unscrewed the cap and was now sitting on the ground trying to attach the air pump. We finally got back to sleep and woke up at 6, in the rain and with the wind about twice as strong as it was the day before. Jonathan had picked this weekend to quit smoking so he was just a "tad" grumpy. We decided to make for the Hague ferry and phone for our ride. We decided to stick to the east bank of the river so we wouldn't get swamped, but this means you paddle a lot farther than if you go from point to point. After a while we didn't care anymore, even death in the cold South Saskatchewan was satisfactory to paddling any more than we had to. We made the ferry by about noon, phoned for my truck and by the time he got there the clouds were gone. We left anyway. Sunday evening was nice out and Monday was just beautiful, but I now had my wish. I was off the river with both feet firmly on the ground. Right behind my lawn mower. It was hot but I did have a cold drink. We are going to do it again, just not sure when. When we do go I am going to bring a couple of packs of smokes, just in case Jonny decides to quit. I know, I shouldn't support such an awful habit, but you haven't been alone with him at a time like this. Aww he wasn't that bad. I would go with him again in a heartbeat.
That was my long weekend. Next trip though, I think will be with my brother Peter. I met him at the Co-op the other day and we decided we should do a trip together. Looking forward to it.
So the first trip was planned for the May long weekend, Jonny and I were going to try to make PA. I booked Friday off, so that was going to give us about 3.5 days. It should be enough. Well the week before I got sick, so we didn't leave till Sat morning and we had decided to stop at Gabriels Bridge just east of Rosthern. We were in high spirits as we loaded the canoe and shoved off. It was short lived. When we turned the corner just past the chemical plant we faced a long straight stretch about 1.5 miles long that goes past Wanuskewin, right into the teeth of what soon felt like the winds of Katrina. We had to paddle hard all the way or the wind would blow us back up river. I had pictured a nice leisurely paddle, my fishing rod propped up by some gear, a cold drink stuffed in there somewhere, chatting with my son about what we should look for in a camping site and maybe asking him to pass the sunblock. It was instead a hard paddle, not even thinking of my fishing rod, thoughts of a big mug of hot chocolate in front of a roaring fire in my head, and asking Jonathan to pass me my toque and telling him to "for goodness sake son paddle or we are going to get blown all the way back to the weir in Saskatoon and drown."
We finally camped just down river from the Clarkboro ferry around 5 pm in the shelter of some big willow bushes and it was actually pretty nice. We made camp, built a nice fire, cooked some supper and we were starting to think that it was not going to be a bad rest of the weekend. We woke up at 3 am and it was raining, I had old mans disease and had to get out of the tent for a minute. When I got back Jonathan had tried to put more air in the mattress and had mistakenly unscrewed the cap and was now sitting on the ground trying to attach the air pump. We finally got back to sleep and woke up at 6, in the rain and with the wind about twice as strong as it was the day before. Jonathan had picked this weekend to quit smoking so he was just a "tad" grumpy. We decided to make for the Hague ferry and phone for our ride. We decided to stick to the east bank of the river so we wouldn't get swamped, but this means you paddle a lot farther than if you go from point to point. After a while we didn't care anymore, even death in the cold South Saskatchewan was satisfactory to paddling any more than we had to. We made the ferry by about noon, phoned for my truck and by the time he got there the clouds were gone. We left anyway. Sunday evening was nice out and Monday was just beautiful, but I now had my wish. I was off the river with both feet firmly on the ground. Right behind my lawn mower. It was hot but I did have a cold drink. We are going to do it again, just not sure when. When we do go I am going to bring a couple of packs of smokes, just in case Jonny decides to quit. I know, I shouldn't support such an awful habit, but you haven't been alone with him at a time like this. Aww he wasn't that bad. I would go with him again in a heartbeat.
That was my long weekend. Next trip though, I think will be with my brother Peter. I met him at the Co-op the other day and we decided we should do a trip together. Looking forward to it.
posted by John at 6:02 PM
5 Comments:
I can just picture you and Jonathon sitting in a tent trying to blow up and air mattress. I'm sorry for laughing at you, but one thing for sure...you will always remeber this trip just like I will always remeber my camping trip to Lower Fishing Lake. It was beautiful and sunny when we arrived. The first night there it started raining and didn't quit until after I had packed up a wet tent and gone home. Just before we got to P.A. the sun came out and the rest of you guys had a few days of beautiful camping. I didn't even think of turning around. My care was headed home and that's where we went.
For the long weekend, we decided to skip all the fun and go straight to yard work. I cut all my grass and whipper snipped my ditches. I hate that job. I love whipper snipping but not those miserable ditches. It took me all afternoon just to do in front of my house and it's only about 200 feet but it feels like about 2 miles. We didn't even go to the beach. It rained most of the time and when it didn't I did yard work. What a sucky weekend. BLAH!!!!
Glad you got to try out your canoe. Sounds like a jolly good time.:)
I've been collecting Canadian Tire money for about 6 years now. I think I have $1.95. In about 40 years I should be able to get a canoe.
Aww, that sounds awesome, rain and all. I want to go canoeing (is that how you spell that?). I am craving a camping trip like it's nobody's business. I want to sleep in a tent with Peter and wake up with him having been up for hours and making fresh coffee and bacon and eggs over the fire. I want to go hiking in the afternoon with his family, and at night, have Peter take out his guitar and sing while we drink hot chocolate. Holy crap, I need out of this apartment and into a tent.
Camping does sound good, although I am pretty sure I would not want to do it in the rain. I hope you have some wonderful times with your canoe.
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