Paddle-bliss!

I have the boat... FINALLY! What a day it was yesterday!

It started early! Before even heading up to pick up the boat, I picked up a coworker and gave him a ride to the heart of Downtown Toronto so that he could drive one of our trucks back for service. If you are going downtown in the morning and want to beat traffic, you have to start early. So i picked him up at 5:45am. (And to make it worse, the Starbucks we stopped at wasn't open!!!! ARG!)

After a quick trip downtown, I started heading north... still early in the morning, to beat the traffic.

I had to pick up the rack pieces I was buying used from a guy at the north end of the city at about 8am. That went quickly and smoothly... I gave him his money, he gave me the towers and the crossbars - half the needed rack pieces.

From there, it's a smooth sail up HWY 400, past Barrie, up towards Georgian Bay. I think almost every time I drive up north of Barrie that there are few better simple joys than being in "near North Ontario". It's a gorgeous drive... especially on a sunny warm summertime morning... and ESPECIALLY when you are going to pick up a new boat!!!

Ironically, I arrived at Swift Canoe and Kayak right at 9am. The first order of business was to see the boat. Since I bought this one sight-unseen over the phone last year, I was anxious to see the colour of it. It's a very nice orange with hints of yellow. Every plastic boat is unique in it's colouring. It was also important to paddle it before paying my money. I had paddled the 14 ft. version, but this was the 15 ft. Swift is right on the bay, so it's a 50 foot walk to the water. Man - 9:30am on Georgian Bay - how awesome is that?!?!?! The water was glass, it was warming up nicely, the geese were out... but no loons. :(

Within a few moments, I knew I had made the right choice in buying this boat.

I didn't stay out long... I was anxious to get the rack on the car, and I knew that would take some time.

It occured to me as I was driving up after picking up the used rack pieces... the used pieces are a couple years old... and they have to fit together with brand new pieces... WHAT IF THEY CHANGED THE DESIGN AND THEY AREN'T COMPATIBLE!!!!

So myself and the guys working at Swift starting taking the old pieces apart to reconfigure them to fit the Honda. A few minutes into it... the first snag.... the allen wrench included in the new parts is a different size from what the old parts needed. They didn't have any others.

Luckily, they said there was a hardware store about 10 minutes drive away (luckily - because we are out in the sticks!).

So I nervously drive to the hardware store, concerned that we will run into other incompatibilities and I will have wasted my money buying older used rack pieces (at a considerable savings over buying all new pieces!).

So I found the right size allen wrench, and drove back to Swift. We proceeded to put the pieces together and fit them on the Honda... and thankfully - they all fit together!!!! WHEW!

I then had to pick out a spray skirt and a few other accessories. Luckily, I already have accumulated much of the required gear over the years - paddle, PFD, gloves, shoes, etc. That stuff gets so expensive. But I did still had to buy a throw line, pump, and skirt.

Man - I dropped some serious coin yesterday. But it was so worth it.

I loaded the boat on the car and was back on my way home by 12:30! I was anxious to get THROUGH Toronto before rush hour hit.

I drove straight to Hamilton and got there by about 3pm. Knowing that Arja and the girls were away for the afternoon, I headed straight for the bay and the Grindstone Creek.... and there I was... back in bliss! The Grindstone is a great little paddle. I was able to paddle upstream for about 30 minutes. I could've gone further, but there were alot of downed trees that I would've had to portage around, and I didn't have bug spray. As soon as I slowed down and got out of the boat, I would've been massacred by bugs. So I decided to paddle back downstream and go out into the bay for awhile. It's a pretty protected area right there, so the water was smooth. As I started to get near the breakwater, I could see and feel it getting rougher. I'm not "afraid" of rougher water, but I don't really want to do it alone just yet.

Eventually, I loaded up the boat and headed home after about 1.5 hours of playing. It was time to show the girls the new toy! They were thrilled and couldn't wait to get their turn to go with me in it. I had to remind them that they won't fit it in with me, but that I'll rent a tandem this summer and take them both out with me.

I spent some time cleaning the boat, as it was still full of junk from sitting outside at Swift all the time.

Moving onto today... it was another early morning... as I woke, got dressed in paddling clothes, loaded the boat, and headed into Oakville. I found a good access point in the 16 Mile Creek at the harbour where all the luxury yachts moor. There I was... me in my little plastic kayak, paddling past millions of dollars of yachts in the most affluent community in Canada!

The 16 Mile Creek is an interesting place. It's a small, shallow creek in most spots... but at the mouth, where it empties into Lake Ontario, it's big, flat, and deep. So I paddled down towards the lake, again until I could feel the water getting bigger, and then I headed upstream for about an 30 minutes. It was incredibly gorgeous. Calm, quiet, reeds and trees on all sides, blue heron, ducks and geese. For the sake of my dad and brother, it reminded me of sections of the PM River. Ironically, so did the Grindstone Creek the day before... but in a very different way:

- The Grindstone goes through a lush marsh with reeds on either side... the water is shallow, and beyond the marshes are hills with deciduous forest... it felt very much like the section between Walhalla and Indian Bridge that had us so worried the first time!

- The 16 Mile Creek was wider, much more docile, and reminded me of the calmer, yet deep, sections of the PM River. Small sections of sandbars with reeds and grass, homes with steps going down the embankment with little docks and canoes lined up, etc.

After a little more than an hour on the water, I pulled out and loaded the boat, and headed on to work.

The stark contrast hit me within 5 minutes. I had just been on a quiet, calm creek by myself, in the middle of the city. And then I was back on an extremely busy highway filled with commuters, music playing, smog in my sight, cruising at 120km/h!

It suddenly made me appreciate the time on the water even more!

So I don't know when I'll get out next. I will have to be careful not to go out too often and make a kayak-widow of Arja! But I plan to get out at least twice a week!

Getting hooked on kayaking was one of the great decisions of my adult lifetime! I find it incredibly peaceful and relaxing, and it provides me with a great workout when I want it to!

I'm in bliss! The only thing I long for is a paddling companion. I can't wait to get out together with Arja!!!