The other evening, I had dinner with two guys who were into running races (marathon, adventure) and climbing mountains and in general, challenging themselves outside of a regular work day. I was impressed with their enthusiasm and I found their excitement infectious. It prompted me to start looking at the registration and guidelines for the Yukon Paddle Quest in June of 2009.
In Ottawa, I did a lot of paddling. In fact, one summer, I even built my own kayak. It took almost the entire summer to put together and finish but I finally got on the water at the end of August.
My kayak was a Roy Folland Sea Wolf touring kayak. We spent a week in Roy’s workshop putting together the kit and another month and a half finishing it in the garage.
Over the next few years, all I did–and wanted to do–was paddle in every bit of water I could find. We paddled on every lake and river and in every provincial and federal park. Up and down the Ottawa River. Algonquin. Frontenac. L’Esprit. Thousand Islands. Lake Superior. Lake Ontario. We took paddling courses. We took rolling courses. We took survival courses. We even went out to New Brunswick to take a course from Coastal Adventures. We paddled in the Bay of Fundy. We paddled in Nova Scotia. We paddled with our friends Glenn and Donna.
The best trip: The Saguenay paddling with bio luminescence and whales.
The coldest trip: One December morning. We started out from the Alymer Marina BREAKING ICE as we left.
The longest trip: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia
I sold my kayak a few years ago. Thought I would buy myself another. Lighter. Faster. Better. Not so many strings. But I haven’t got around to a new one yet. Maybe I should put it on my plan for 2009?
Interested in doing the RiverQuest in a canoe, Jen? I bought a Wenonah Jensen race-touring boat ( http://www.wenonahracing.com/ ) to run it, but never found a partner I worked well with. The goal wouldn’t be to finish up top, just to finish well. I canoed it a few years ago with my son – http://www.explorenorth.com/library/yafeatures/bl-canoe1.htm
You go Girl!! Here’s looking to 2009 and tons of kayak trips!
You should do it! I still think kayaking looks much harder than running or climbing!