Canoes
When we lived in New Hampshire I was perusing the local bookstore one day when
I had found an interesting book on boat building. The book came complete
with blueprints. I wanted to build myself a sailboat but decided I should
start with a canoe instead. I had my canoe ready for its maiden voyage
the following summer.
The canoe I built wasn't a fancy canoe. Its hull was flat bottomed, made
out of 1/4" plywood with fiberglass reinforcement. The shallow draft
combined with the kayak paddle I used for propulsion allowed me to get into
all sorts of cool swampy areas. Perfect for New Hampshire.
We lived on Wash Pond Road. The little creek in our front yard flowed
down to the lake. I loved that lake. In the winter it froze over
with a couple feet of ice, thick enough to drive a truck on and an excellent
snowmobile race track. In the summer the girls would happily spend all
day swimming in the lake with their friend Allie.
After getting my canoe built I'd drag it down to the lake whenever I had the
chance. When the jet skis weren't out and the wind was calm the water
became crystal clear and very peaceful. The lake had several sheltered
coves filled with water lilies, turtles, ducks, muskrats and even the
occasional otter.
Once, while quietly exploring one of the shallow swampy areas, I watched a
heron catch a turtle. There's no way that turtle would ever fit down
the heron's throat. After several tries, the heron finally gave up
and dropped the turtle but not until after trying to fly away with it.
A smaller turtle might have become dinner but this one seemed to survive
the encounter just fine.
Unfortunately we had to move away later that summer, all the way across the
country to a new job in California. We miss that lake. We miss
our friends too. Hopefully some day we'll be able to go back for a visit.
The canoe followed us to California. I had the chance to take it down
the Kern River once. I also took it to San Diego a couple times.
Paddling around San Diego Bay was great fun. My father took this picture
of me reclining in the canoe while having the girls pull it ashore.
The canoe didn't make it to Hawaii. My Uncle Les inherited it.
He lives near a little pond that will be perfect for that canoe.
Here in Hawaii, outrigger canoes are popular. I've been out
paddling with the local canoe club a few times. Sometimes
dolphins will swim right next to the canoe. In the winter, whale
encounters are possible. I've seen dolphins but no whales yet.
The canoe club has several large 6-seat and even a 12-seat canoe.
They aren't as fast as some of the sleek one or two person canoes but
they're much easier to paddle. The race canoes are amazingly fast
but they're also amazingly tippy. The first time I went out in
one of the sleek little canoes we had just left the protection of the
bay when I asked my paddling partner is she had ever hulied (flipped)
the canoe. She said "No, I really try not to because I'm not the
strongest swimmer." Seconds after she said that a wave caught us
wrong and over we went. It was a calm day so we managed to right
the canoe and climb right back on without much difficulty, no rescues
necessary.
My mother is a strong paddler. She wins lots of races. Click on
the picture below to watch some of the paddlers go by in one of the races.
Unfortunately the movie stops just as my mother's canoe starts to come into
view. My stupid camera was being difficult that day.
Click on the picture for a short movie. (3.44 MB)
Maybe some day when I get the time I'll join the local outrigger canoe
club. In the mean time I'll watch the races from shore. I'd love
to have my own outrigger canoe but the high-tech fiberglass construction is
way beyond my meager building abilities. I guess I'll have to save
my pennies.
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