2015 Ottawa Outdoor and Adventure Show

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm almost a whole year late with this post. The 2015 Outdoor Show in Ottawa took place in March. But it's February 2016 and there's no chance of launching a canoe anywhere near here for the next 4 months. So I have to talk about something canoe-worthy. I promise that the post for the show for 2016 will be done in a more timely fashion. After all, this blog wasn't in existence last March. Right? Right!

The show was held at the EY Centre near the airport. There's lots of parking at this venue and it's kind of in the middle of nowhere. But they still charge you for parking. Plus the entry fee into the show. Still it's worth it to drool over the canoes, to check out the vendors, and to watch the demos in the pool.

An exhuberant Kevin Callan

This year there was a special display for Bill Mason. His daughter, Becky, is an active participant in the show, giving lots of paddling demos in the pool. One of Bill's favourite canoes was on display. An aluminum Grumman canoe. It weighs about 85 pounds. The canoe was being auctioned off online during the spring. It was set up with a monitor showing Bill's famous movie, Waterwalker. 

As I looked at the display I had to touch his canoe. It brought back a lot of memories for me. I had a friend with one and we did some paddling together. We never did any canoe camping with it. It would have been pretty heavy to portage. I did portage it once, carrying it from the house to the river in Wakefield. Ah, but I was much, much younger then. 

This is also the same canoe that tipped me into the frigid waters in April one year. Touching it certainly gave me chills. Memories are strong.

In the back corner of the salon there were various presentations given by such luminaries as Kevin Callan. He's always entertaining to listen to. He certainly imparts the feeling that if he can do it, you can do it too, with his self-deprecating humour. There was a woman there who had done a major kayaking trip and he called her out of the audience to share some of the things she'd learned on her long journey. She was also giving a presentation later on.

Keen Footwear was one of the vendors and Kevin had a few of their keychains that he tossed into the audience before his talk. LT caught one and gave it to me!

We were still in a position of being canoe-less. I kept nudging LT to look at the canoe displays. It was obvious that he'd been doing some research before the show and he had a pretty good idea about what kind of canoe he'd eventually buy. He didn't see it happening for a couple more years though. Within another month we'd have a brand new canoe in our possession.

I checked out the Boy Scouts' display area. They carry Eureka! products, which we can't get at MEC. I had purchased my air mattress at the show the previous year and was happy with it. This year I was looking for a lightweight chair to replace my Eureka! tripod chair. It was very lightweight and took up almost no space in my backpack. But it's not very comfortable.

Much like Goldilocks, I sat in one chair after another, but did not buy anything. I would end up getting the Rockwater chair at LeBaron's later on in April.

Kevin Callan is an avid user of social media, especially Facebook. People posted some videos of him and Becky at the show on his FB page and LT and I were in the background. Yes, we're minor celebrities now. Very minor. Kevin and Becky were demonstrating how to switch places safely in a canoe. Which was all well and good if you're in a canoe without any other contents. Doing the same thing with all your gear would be a very different matter.

This year the show is being held on March 19th and 20th, 2016. Hope to see you there!

Here's a link to the site that sponsors the show:  http://www.ottawaoutdoors.ca/

Romancing the Canoe - Happy Valentine's Day!

As the lake waters are firmly frozen and the rivers that openly flow look fearfully cold, on the coldest day of the year so far, last night we were off to an event in Old Chelsea, Quebec, to listen to people talk about canoeing. Such a Canadian thing to do on a romantic holiday!

Here's a link to the event poster: Romancing the Canoe

It was organized by Becky Mason and Reid McLachlan in support of an artists' co-operative in Chelsea, La Fab. It was a sold-out event and people were gathering in the church well before we got there 45 minutes early. We got great seats, it's a small venue, so most seats were pretty good. They had some beer and wine for sale in a side room and everyone seemed to know everyone else.

Eventually it got started and after a lovely introduction by Becky, Wally Schaber spoke first. He talked about his book, The Last of the Wild Rivers, which is about the Du Moine River that runs into the Ottawa above Des Joachims. He had slides with various pictures from his book. He's been in the outdoor business for his whole life. He started Black Feather Wilderness Adventures that did excursions and canoe rentals on the river. He also founded Trailhead here in Ottawa. When he sold the business in 2012, the Du Moine portion of the business was abandoned by the new owners and the Wolf Lake Algonquin First Nations has taken it up to run as their own business now. As it should be.

The main point of his talk is that we need to ensure we keep the Du Moine River and watershed as it is now, the last wild river. By wild river he means that there are no hydro dams, no real access by extensive roadways, no development of hotels, or other attractions and that all people who come to visit the river, do so with respect and appreciation for this wilderness and the Algonquin people that have lived here for centuries. 

He talked about the history of the river as well as told some tales of current trips on the river.

Wally's book

There was a musical interlude after which door prizes were drawn (great prizes too, although I went home only with books and signatures).

Roy MacGregor also talks about the Du Moine River in his book. He touched upon a lot of the stuff he wrote about canoes in his book. 

Roy's book

Roy talked about how he was involved with CBC on a panel to determine what the seven wonders of Canada were a few years back. His submission was that the canoe was one of Canada's seven wonders. You can find them all over the country, there's no geographical limitation. At first the panel wasn't receptive, then it became much more so afterwards. It won a place in the top seven.

He talked about a story in Canadian history that we rarely hear about. It was an excursion organized by the British to rescue one of their own who was ruling in Kartoum. The Nile excursion entailed sending Canadian voyageurs who would paddle up the treacherous Nile to resuce this man. It was quite the story with a sad ending. He was killed several days before the excursion would have reached him and in the end all was for naught. It's a colourful story, well told.

He mentioned the friendship between Becky's father, Bill and Pierre Trudeau, also in the book. Canoeing cuts across everyone in our culture, it can be enjoyed by all. 

We enjoy our time in nature, canoeing the rivers and lakes, walking in the forests, listening to the loons and the wind through the trees. It's wonderful to add some depth to those feelings, by hearing about the past of the great spaces we enjoy today, and the people that were there before us.

This was a well organized event, heartily enjoyed by all. We all walked out eager to get back in the water again. Although sitting in our frozen cars waiting for them to warm up on such a frigid night, we knew it wouldn't be that soon.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our New Canoe

We went to Trailhead in Ottawa on April 25, 2015 because LT wanted to buy his own paddle.  How many stories start off that way, "We were only going to get X, but ended up getting X, Y, and Z!"

What a coincidence, it was their spring sale!  There were a variety of vessels outside on the ground in the parking lot.  I got there first and scoped out all the canoes on sale.  There weren't a lot of them.  It almost appears as though the store is stocking up on the newest water trend, SUP or stand up paddleboards.  The second most popular item is the kayak.  Canoes are always popular, but they do seem to be that item that you buy once, use a bit, then relegate to the cottage or the rafters of the garage or shed outside.

Two canoes were of particular interest:  a black canoe and a yellowish canoe -both made of kevlar.  LT arrived and we went into the store.  He was checking out paddles, staff were busy dealing with the influx of customers on a spring Saturday with a major sale in progress.  I dragged him into the basement to look at the canoes in stock, then I dragged him outside and showed him the 2 canoes I had spied.

While outside a staff member came up to see if we had questions.  Yes, why are these 2 canoes so cheap for kevlar canoes?  I love hearing a story and he wove a good one.  These 2 canoes were made by their supplier as a sample for them to see if they were interested in selling them.  Both canoes were branded wih "Trailhead Canoes".  But alas they had decided they were not going to carry either of these canoes.  So the samples were on sale as they did not want to have them in stock, only confusing people.  And the yellow one had a larger discount applied to it.

LT takes a while to make a decision about anything and he wasn't quite sure which paddle he wanted.  He suggested we walk over to MEC to check out their stock, so we did.  He didn't see anything there either that struck his fancy so we went for lunch.  

I spent the lunch hour pleading the case for the canoe.  It was almost half the price one would expect to pay for that kind of canoe.  It was exactly what he was looking for, a 16' Prospector.  It was 45 pounds in weight.  The canoe under discussion was the yellow one.  The black one looked cool, but would be just the opposite in the water with the sun on it.  

LT was planning to purchase a canoe eventually, but it was on the list for next year.  There were other things he needed this year (a new washer/dryer).  So we came to an agreement.  I would contribute half and we would co-own it for a bit with him eventually paying off my half and becoming the full owner. That is IF no one else had bought it while we were having lunch.

We walked back to the store and I quickly scooped up the data sheet on the still-available canoe bringing it into the store to claim the boat.  The pressure was on now for LT to pick a paddle and he did.  I was holding onto the data sheet like it was a winning lottery ticket.  A staff member working in the section helping LT pick out his paddle noticed the page in my hands.  "Oh you're buying a canoe, which one?"  I mentioned the yellow one and asked him why it was so cheap.  Another staff member piped up and gave us the best explanation so far.

The canoe we chose did not have any paint on it.  It wasn't pretty red or green or blue.  Paint, believe it not, can add 4-5 pounds to the overall weight of the canoe.  Yellow was the natural colour.  However, the clear finish allows for the view of the kevlar underneath and some of it had slight folds or wrinkles. These folds do not affect the strength of the canoe, but aesthetically can bring the price down a bit.  And I think there was a scratch.

That sounded more plausible and we ended up going out and examining the canoe much more closely this time.  We decided to buy it. The sale went through, I took out my magic plastic card, and LT had to go home while I waited behind, so that he could get his canoe straps and foam blocks, things he had bought last year to have one less thing to rent.  

The new baby going home for the first time!

  

Canoe Selfie!

It's been out on 5-6 trips now and it's got its fair share of nicks, dents and scratches.  But it's holding out great, it handles really well and we're both very happy with the purchase.

The mushroom's point of view