MAN VERSUS MARSH

I was always curious as to the origin of the side channels Rudi and I found in the Conroy Marsh on our paddling trip several weeks ago. They had at least the semblance of being man-made from our perspective on the water, as they were too uniform in width to be natural, and clearly on the aerial view courtesy Google Earth as they stand out distinctly, and no other feature similar to these three ring channels can be found in the Marsh.
I accidentally stumbled upon the answer a few days back, and as it turns out, Ducks Unlimited Canada dredged the channels back in 1982 as some purported method of aiding duck breeding in the marsh (perhaps preventing four legged predators getting at them - But how is that fair?). If you look closely at the photo I have included, the channels were dredged around existing natural hillocks, the south end of the largest being a mammoth slab of granite rising twenty feet out of the Marsh. In any event, there appeared to be some negative aspects to the program, and the dredging was discontinued, whether or not more was planned for the Marsh.

THE PERFECTIONIST STRIKES AGAIN!

Okay, I am a perfectionist - well, most of the time anyway. I won't even apologize for it, so if for some reason you were expecting one, I have to disappoint you. Here are a few shots of a boat I recently finished, showing the some of the fittings and fasteners on the gunwales. These are Alchemist Legend (Prospector) canoes, being delivered to the Paddle Shack in Gravenhurst tomorrow. So if you happen to become the proud owner of either "YFKLE 99G909" or "YFKLE 100G909" you will notice that even though a lot of work was done by hand, and lined up visually, the spacing and position of things like the bolts through the gunwales and the float tank hatches are virtually perfect. It doesn't actually take a lot of extra time to make sure a completed job makes an exceptional grade as opposed to sloppy, and I think the results are worth it! Just a good eye, and a steady hand, and you get everthing lined up nicely. Unfortunately I didn't have my Nikon Macro lens, so the photographs themselves are a bit pathetic - as I said, most of the time, anywyay!

A PADDLE TALE

On the last Friday in June, I delivered ten canoes to Frontenac Outfitters. As I had to return to Tavistock to pick up the boys, as well as a rowing shell to try out at the cottage, I didn't have any choice but to make a real early run to Kingston, drop the boats, and return to Tavistock. So at 3:30 in the morning, I hauled my butt out of bed, grabbed the cell phone and my wallet, and got in the van and headed out, trailer in tow. It was a fantastic drive, crossing Toronto in the dark before 5am, and watching the sun rise as I headed east on the 401. I arrived just before 8am at Frontenac Outfitters, and within a half hour all ten boats were unloaded. I had a brief chat with Larry, and just as I was about to leave he told me to hang on a bit, and opened the door to his shop. Inside, he looked at his rack of paddles, selected one, and handed it to me. "Here, this is for you, it will fit you well" He said. I was really a bit surprised, so I replied "So officially, you have to tell me how much I owe you for this." To which Larry laughed a bit, and replied "Absolutely nothing Dave, enjoy!" I know a gruelling 10 hour drive leaving hours before dawn is tough, but Jeff pays me fairly well for doing them, and we are talking about probably a $50 paddle here. Wow! It certainly is nice to know something you do is really appreciated.

H2O COMPOSITES PROSPECTOR 16

I recently picked up my other new boat, an H20 Composites Prospector 16 from Frontenac Outfitters. It had been previously lent to them to fill out their rental fleet, and as I had just dropped off four brand new canoes, and we were now within a half dozen boats of filling our 2009 order, Matt had no issue with letting me take it away. This is a fibreglass boat, very light for a glass canoe at 58 lbs, and like the Canadian, is fitted out as a rental, with a standard ash Teal yoke, webbed ash seats, and aluminum handles and thwart. I like the Frontenac Outfitters logo, and will probably leave that on. It handles quite differently than the Canadian, and I was surprised I could actually tell the difference, but it was significant. The Prospector loved to turn, and I guess about a half dozen paddle strokes could turn it in a circle, wheras it would take at least twice as many to turn the Canadian. It also wanted to move off course, yet was easier to return to course with a J-stoke of minimal effort. Probably great for slow little meandering rivers, and lakes where you want to explore the shoreline, rather than open lakes like Carson. I think it will be the Canoe of choice for our August paddle down York River into Conroy Marsh!

ADVICE WELCOME

As some of my readers will soon come to understand, I am by no means an experienced canoeist yet! So if you happen upon this blog, and wish to provide useful advice, I would love to hear it! Feel free to leave comments by clicking below the relevant post. I am especially interested in hearing from people who might advise me how not to kill myself in case I sound like I am about to embark on something dangerous! Maybe like running class 3 rapids in a canoe with a seven year old bowman?

RESEARCH, AND THE DRIVE HOME

I left the cottage today for home, driving a route I had never taken before. Down the 517 out of Combermere, then South at the end headed for Boulter. About two kilometres south of the intersection, the road passed through a little hamlet, and crossed a bridge over the York River. Here I slowed down, and checked the river... Deep, slow, and wide, absolutely perfect!

So that is the second part of the research done for our next big adventure, which will be to put in the York off the Boulter road bridge, paddle the York down about 3 kilometres into the Conroy Marsh, and then the 8 kilometer length of the Marsh. I had earlier called a gentleman in the area who gave me a good idea what to expect on the York River between the put-in and the Marsh, being two sets of small rapids, and how best to negotiate them. Stay tuned for an even bigger adventure with my favorite bowman Rudi sometime in August!

PADDLING THE CONROY MARSH

I got away with my little bowman Rudi on a big canoe adventure today, a three hour trip across Negeek Lake and into the Conroy Marsh and back. We drove down the Palmer Rapids Road South of Combermere (Highway 515), and found a cottage access road north of Jewelville that ended near the Southern end of Negeek Lake (Negeek is tha large body of water on the Google Earth map, top left), with a little track maintained by the MNR that led further to a grassy turnaround, and an old boat launch with a short log crib pier (Top photo). Ten minutes later the canoe was in the water and we were paddling across the shallow lake. I had to overcome my ridiculous fear of shallow water - for some reason I get really nervous about what is coming up underneath the boat, and I get the willies when I can see the bottom vegetation and muck. I think it has to do with the fact I would probably freak out if the boat got upset, and I had to swim in all that crap, so I reassured myself that there was no way in hell the Canadian was going to tip over on flat water on a warm, calm summer day!

It was fairly easy to find the entrance to the York River across the lake, up which the Conroy Marsh wandered, and we paddled through the wide river mouth, with a line of steep hills to our right, and most of the marsh and further hills off to the left. By this time I'd overcome my fear of the shallows, and was paddling close to reeds and lilies, not worried about the murky bottom (Middle photo). For about half an hour we paddled Southwest, mostly along the main channel, and then exploring some side channels on the South side of the main.

The side channels were of a consistant width, about thirty feet or so, and were divided by hillocks of probably spongy waterlogged ground, supporting in some cases small stands of trees (Bottom photo). In other areas, some mammoth rock outcroppings rose above the surface, around which these channels formed. Paddling quietly down one, we surprised a Buck, who looked up, decided we were a bit of trouble, and bounced away to the South. Rudi was very excited, as we had just rounded a corner, and the Deer was less than 80 feet away. We also saw a number of geese, a variety of ducks, and a pair of Great Blue Heron. After spending another half hour or so checking out various little channels, we found the main course again, and headed back down river to Negeek Lake, then across and back to the put-in. The canoe handled nicely, stable and predictable, and was quite easy to paddle, even for a relative novice like me. Rudi does have a bit of improving to do, as more often than not his paddle is in the boat, not the water!

CANADIAN 16-6 ON THE WATER

H2O Composites Canadian 16-6, being put through her paces by Peter and John on the choppy waters of Carson Lake. The boat is a Kevlar standard, fitted out as a rental.

CANADIAN 16-6 ARRIVING AT SHORE

H2O Composites Canadian 16-6, paddled by Peter and John, arriving at shore after a half hour run on Carson Lake. She certainly is beautiful (and they aren't that bad looking either!)

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

I recently dropped off one of my new canoes at the Cottage, and took the old one away for repairs. The new canoe is an H20 Composites Canadian 16-6 Kevlar 'rental' (Notice the Aluminum thwart and carry handles) This was a 'factory defect' as it has a fairly large cosmetic defect, a slight rectangular crease so to speak, where the materials did not press properly into the mold, and left a 'relief imprint'. Otherwise a beautiful boat, and light at 44.5 lbs. I think it looks magnificent compared to the old Coleman beside her in the picture. The old canoe weighed in at about 75 lbs, and needs thwarts replaced, the float tanks fixed, and some fiberglass repairs here and there, which I will do in late July or early August, then return to the cottage as the complementary boat for our renters. I am already planning a couple of trips for Rudi and me in the new canoe, now that we have something we can actually carry. I am looking forward to a trip on the York River into the Conroy Marsh, and possibly a paddle up or down the Madawaska from lake Negeek.

ALL IN A DAYS WORK

So about the job. The job is interesting, dull, fantastic, dreary, stimulating, mind-numbing, fun, boring, exciting, tough, challenging, and dreadful, all during the same day of course! There is a small crew of really good people I work with, sometimes four of us all doing different tasks, or sometimes just me and Jeff 'tag-teaming' the last few boats before delivery. There is never a shortage of work, at least in the peak season, which saw me working up to 50 hours or more some weeks, not including the occasional day to deliver a trailer of canoes. On any given day I could be cutting sheets of fibreglass or kevlar fabric, stamping out serial numbers, oiling and webbing wooden seats, pulling the 'consumables' out of a recently shot (resin infused) boat, or cutting the tops off of a number of boats that have just come out of molds. The work can be - Hell who am I trying to kid! - the work IS tough, demanding, and hard, but when I blow out the dust from inside a finished canoe, and wipe down the outside, the end result is simply phenomenal! An absolutely magnificent canoe!

DRIVING THE BIG RIG

We had been hard at work last week finishing the latest boats destined for Frontenac Outfitters, as well as prepping new moulds for another ten canoes and some rowing shells that have to be delivered before mid-June. Jeff had told me he was going to drive to Frontenac, but as I still had to get the a box spring to the cottage, I volunteered to do it, using his new GMC pickup (well new to him, it is a 2002 Z71 with 102,000 kilometres on it) and the mammoth twenty boat trailer. We got off to a good start, but it takes a long time to load and tie down 18 canoes on a big trailer. I managed to cross Toronto at about 2:30, and by 5:30 had exited at Odessa to fill up on gas. The tank took close to 80 litres to refill, kind of poor fuel economy as that had only got me 345 kilometres! After shortcutting to Sydenham, I finally rolled into Frontenac Outfitters at 6 PM.

(more to come)

THE BIG CANOE TRIP

It was last summer, and I had promised to take Rudi on a big canoe trip. Until then we had only gone out on little trips up and down the shore of the lake, and sometimes across to a point with some cottages and back around the bay. This time however, I was thinking of canoeing as far as we could go, to see if there was a way to get to Lake Kaminiskeg, about 10km away!

I knew from trip with Katherine about seven years earlier that there were several linked lakes that you could canoe, and that there possibly was a drain or additional lakes from the last of the four heading to the big lake, Kaminiskeg.

So one morning, Rudi and I set out in the canoe, and paddled away. We headed down the east side of Carson Lake, paddling slow and steady, following the old Ottawa, Arnprior, and Parry Sound Railway embankment off to our left, until it veered away from the lake. After about an hour we reached the concrete culvert under the highway, and pushed through.

On the other side the culvert opens into Trout Lake, and a sandy beach area, where we surprised a gentleman and his two kids who were bathing. Paddling away down Trout, we tried to keep out of the rising sun toward the east side of the lake, sometimes skirting within twenty feet or so of the shoreline.

(To be continued)

ON PRIZE WINNING TOMATOES AND CARBON FIBRE CANOES

So there we were at the 2008 Tavistock Fall Fair, having just found out our Roma and Yellow Cherry tomatoes had made the one-two sweep of their respective categories, giving us a whopping $2.50 payout each. And then I spotted it. It was absolutely gorgeous, with long, sleek lines, and a brilliant polished finish. On closer inspection, the top was a clearcoat over black carbon fibre cloth, with a white bottom under the waterline, and a large white sticker amidships under the 'gunnels' (no correction needed, I know it is gunwale!) reading "H2O". The interior was painted a flat green, kind of a mix of forest and olive green, which set off the wood interior beautifully. The level of fit and finish was absolutely impeccable, and I almost started to drool!

It was set on a display stand just behind and to the right of a amall table with product information about the company "H2O Composites Inc". Also on display was a single person rowing shell, with outriggers and oars, finished just as magnificently as the canoe. There was a note on the table which read "Back in 10 Minutes", a stack of business cards, and a placard to the left side of the table with a sign reading "Please Inquire About Possible Employment Opportunities". And that's part of how this little adventure began!