I hope you had a great summer! September is here and soon we’ll
be seeing the leaves start to show off their brilliant fall colors of red,
yellow, orange, gold. Already the days are getting shorter and next week it’ll
start getting colder.
But there is still plenty of time to head outdoors and enjoy
the weather. One of the things I love to do is to go kayaking!
When my brother and I were kids, my dad built a couple of
homemade wooden kayaks. One was a one-seater and the other was a two-seater. As
my brother and I grew into our teens, then into our twenties and thirties, those
two kayaks went everywhere with us. Sometimes we went with my dad, other times
we went with each other.
We went ghost town hunting up north (http://www.ontarioabandonedplaces.com/),
interior camping in Algonquin Park, ( http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/virtual/canoe_routes_map/index.php),
interior camping in Killarney, camping in Balsam Lake, and leisure trips to other
lakes such as the Poker Lakes (https://secure.camis.com/HHWT/PokerLakesArea),
day trips in Lake Ontario, Pigeon Lake and North Pigeon Lake, Lake Erie, Lake
Superior, Gull Lake & Gull River, Lake Scucog, a VERY short stint down the wild White Water Rapids
just outside of Minden ( http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/trails/view/minden-wild-water-trail-haliburton-highlands-trails
) and so many other places.
Sure, every once in awhile one of the kayaks would spring a
little leak (fibre glass repair kits came in handy for the big leaks) or the rough
white-capped waves would splash water inside, so we always had an extra towel
to pick up excess water.
Except, there was this one unfortunate trip that my brother
and my dad took into the Killarney interior (I opted out of this particular trip),
that they ran into BIG TROUBLE.
They had interior kayaked about one week into the Killarney
Interior when one night they awoke to a strange chewing sound. My dad suspected
it might be a chipmunk or squirrel digging around in the kayak but when they
went outside and shone the flashlight toward the kayak, they discovered a
porcupine! It was chewing on the kayak!!!
My dad panicked and he grabbed a big rock...and aimed it near
the porcupine wanting to chase it off...Unfortunately his aim was off and the
rock smashed right into the side of the kayak - big hole ensued! LOL They
realized they had forgotten the fibreglass repair kit in the car! They spent
the entire next day going from tree to tree collect sticky sap and then used
that sap to patch bark over the hole in the kayak. LOL
My dad said he was really uneasy as they travelled along the
waterways to get out as he didn’t know if the sap and bark patch job would
hold. He was surprised when it worked and they took three days to get back out
instead of the leisurely week long trek in. LOL
The moral of this story is always be prepared when you are
going out with a kayak or any kind of water transportation. Aside from a repair
kit, we always carried a lightweight tent, lifejackets, sunhats and sunscreen,
lightweight pads to sleep on, a pot and a pan, freeze dried food, MAPS, tons of
water, blankets and pillows. Plus lots more stuff. Make a list and check it off
twice.
Happy Kayaking!
P.S. My latest release is "Bared to Him", a tentacle shifter erotic romance! More details at my website http://www.janspringer.com
Enjoy!
jan
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