Reviewing my list for things to accomplish, I came across whitewater canoeing.  So the first thing would be to acquire a whitewater canoe and off I went to purchase an ’07 Esquif Canyon….a much celebrated and sought after whitewater canoe.  Now what do I do?

“Let’s take the Canyon on a trip!”, says us, and Holy smokes, did we ever see some water..top side, bottom side, and pretty much all the edges!  Ok, so don’t shoot the messenger but first comes the intent and then follows the knowledge; or so we hope!  Two trips and five dumps definitely calls for a judges opinion and this came down to some common sense.  We needed a second opinion!

Training became the focus, not withstanding weather forecasts, and so it was booked.  A two day extravaganza on some primo whitewater in Ontario and we went over the edge on preparation.  The Canyon would get outfitted, we’d be trained, and we’d meet all kinds of whitewater aficionados, and the rain….well someone apparently forget to shut off the rain valve and….well, we got a bunch of rain.  So much rain fell that when I phoned up today, Trevor told me that they’d never seen levels like this before and that Class 11 rapids had 12′ (twelve foot) wave trains in them.  Now, I’ll admit to wanting to get some first hand experience in moving water, but moving water that is twice my height…!

Jack reassured me that at my age…(what?) that I could either stand back or jump in and get my feet wet.  FOOTNOTE: Jack, at 12′ you want to get on with the “feet wet” thing?………jump in!…..”our boats are standing by in Ottawa and Gaspe”.  All kidding aside, from Jack, through Melissa and Trevor, the folks at Paddler Co-op are top notch and do more than their share to accommodate.

Now we pack…for what?  For a trip that we have no idea what it may yield!  For paddling a canoe that we couldn’t conquer and it will become a totally different animal….overnight.  For a paddle on a river, the likes of which we’ve very likely never seen?

I’m not going to finish with a corn ball saying apart from the fact that if you want to do it….get up off of your backside and get it done!

See you on the river!

#esquifcanoes @PaddlerCoop @MythicGear @WatershedSales