Monday, July 1, 2013

Test Drive

Once upon a time in an office far, far away, before we all got tired and disgusted and people started desperately wanting to be elsewhere, we used to do a lot of camping, biking, and canoeing together.  One favorite trip involved putting a flotilla of canoes on the Potomac at Paw Paw Saturday morning, camping at Green Ridge State Forest overnight, then finishing the trip at Little Orleans on Sunday.  A good time would be had by all, despite occasional mishaps.  Like the time one of the guys lost his car keys in the river. 


That was years ago, and I don't think I've been in a canoe since, even though I've lived near both the Shenandoah and the Potomac rivers since 2004. 

Thought it was about time I considered changing that, so yesterday was a test drive of a neighbor's kayak.


Yeaaaahhhhh...I'm in love.  8 ft, 35 lbs.  No, it's not for rapids, and there's no storage compartment - I need a dry bag and any major trips would have to involve car shuttles for gear.  But if I had more arm strength and less sense I'd still be paddling west on the Potomac.



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6 comments:

  1. Rev. PaulJuly 1, 2013 at 9:01 AM

    Sounds like fun to me.

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    1. ProudHillbillyJuly 2, 2013 at 4:19 AM

      It was indeed. Need to borrow a longer one to see how it tracks in comparison and if I can get a bigger one on and off my suv by myself.

      Delete
  2. RabidAlienJuly 1, 2013 at 12:29 PM

    Back in the day, I was an instructor for the Canoeing Merit Badge at Boy Scout summer camp. Taught that for two summers, and loved it. Got to experience a friend's kayak a few years later, on a flooded river...SO much easier to handle than a large, aluminum canoe with a keel, especially when paddling solo. I'd LOVE to make a kayak one day, there's quite a few sets of instructions up at instructables.com

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    Replies
    1. ProudHillbillyJuly 2, 2013 at 4:21 AM

      Oh, yeah - forget canoes now that I've tried a kayak. For one thing, I'm short, and a canoe required me to lean out to paddle, no matter where I was in it. A kayak is much more comfortable.

      Delete
  3. Old NFOJuly 3, 2013 at 10:15 AM

    And it's peace and quiet... Other than Deliverance playing in the background... :-D

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