After all, yesterday was only the 15th of March. A week ago, Sheridan Lake had enough ice for ice fishermen to venture out for a little spring catch. But it was 84 degrees in town yesterday, with a light wind. It was a bit cooler at the lake, but I couldn’t resist it. In the middle of the afternoon, I loaded up my new royal canoe and headed to the lake. I had purchased a new canoe over the winter - this one a specialized creek boat. It has tons of rocker and almost 15” of freeboard. I outfitted it for solo whitewater paddling and have places for air bags in bow and stern. It will be a wonderful boat for running rivers.

The problem with purchasing a boat in the winter is that you can’t check it out and even though there are a few creeks running, I needed to get in a couple of paddles on calm water to get the boat properly outfitted. Knee braces need to be glued in just the right position and once they are glued in, they can’t be moved. The same goes for toe blocks for paddling in a semi-kneeling position. There is a kneeling pedestal, glued on the center of balance, and thigh braces so you can really control the canoe when paddling. To get those knee braces and toe blocks in just the right place, however, I needed to paddle and make some turns in the boat.

I couldn’t resist yesterday.

I wasn’t the only one who headed to the lake. There were lots of people on the shore and three or four kayaks in the water.

It isn’t quite accurate to say that the ice is out of the lake. Large sheets of ice continued to float about the lake, but there was plenty of open water. Playing with the ice turned out to be a great entertainment.

But first about the canoe. This is the only new canoe that I have ever purchased. In the past, I considered canoes to be beyond my budget and have made all of the canoes I own except for one which was a repair/restoration of a canoe that was literally headed for the dump. But a really tough river canoe is beyond my ability to make. I’ve done a lot of dreaming and shopping. Whitewater canoes are made out of fiberglass, Kevlar and Royalex. I have some experience with fiberglass layup, but not enough to make an entire boat without a wooden core. I know how to shape wood. Using a foam core and vacuum bonding is beyond my manufacturing experience. Kevlar is very expensive - too expansive for mistakes and first-time builders. I will be using a layer of Kevlar and carbon fiber composite cloth on the inside of the expedition kayak I am making, but a whole boat of the material didn’t seem like an option for me. In the end I decided upon Royalex. It is tough and durable - not the lightest material, but definitely the strongest. Royalex has an outer layer of vinyl over ABS with a foam core. It has to be manufactured in a factory with specialized air bags to put even pressure on the laminations during their cure.

I’ve passed the age where I will be running Class IV an V rapids, so a little 8’ Esquif or Bell is a bit beyond my physical conditioning. I opted for a 13’ boat as a good combination. We no nah, a Minnesota manufacturer is well known for the quality of their boats and their customer satisfaction. After consulting with friends in the business, I chose a We no nah Recon. It was designed by Dana Henry, the son of the founder of Mad River Canoe. It seems to be a good compromise of stability and maneuverability. And all of that rocker means that it will be a relatively dry ride with no need for sprayskirts. I can add air bags for big water and that will be sufficient for this aging paddler.

Ah, but that extreme rocker! It paddles like nothing I’ve ever used before. Where my other canoes make gentle turns, it pivots on the center point. I can paddle it sideways in both directions. I can pull the bow or stern several feet with a single brace.

It was a perfect boat for paying with the ice yesterday despite the knee braces moving around and no toe blocks installed. I kept stopping to make pencil marks to remind myself where the various parts should be installed and to make adjustments to the thigh braces. I can see that when I get this boat outfitted it will maneuver like a whitewater kayak, simply attached to the lower half of my body. When I turn my lower torso, the boat will turn.

Obviously with ice floating on the water the water is still cold despite warm air temperatures and I wasn’t wearing a dry suit yesterday due to the hot weather and the fact that I was just tooling around the edge of the lake to get the feel of the boat and mark placement of various pads and braces. As a result I didn’t heel the boat over very much, but it has little bulges near the gunwales in the center of the boat, almost like tiny sponsons, that make the boat look like I’ll be able to lay it over all the way until water starts to run over the gunwale and right it with almost no effort.

Every boat is a relationship and it takes time for us to get to know each other. And I got a new paddle for the new boat. I’ve always paddled with wooden paddles, but decided to go for a modern carbon fiber paddle. It is extremely light and the blade seems to be really big. It is very effective, but takes a bit of effort to turn the blade in the water. I’m thinking that whitewater paddlers probably don’t do a lot of Canadian style paddling. Still, for draws or braces, the paddle turns just right to glide on recovery.

I have lots of chores that need to be done, and I have to be careful with my time management, but I’m thinking that the lake will be calling today as well.

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