What a difference a few months makes.
Our first river run was a near disaster. Too long. Too hot. Too buggy. Too little fun.
We made our second run today, October 12. Temperature of about 75 F. Almost no bugs. Kubota had his friend Will. They both agreed to wear hats.
From behind the Quality Dairy in Eaton Rapids to Bunker Road boat launch. That is about 2.5 miles by surface road.
We enjoyed tail winds and strong current the entire way. It took us about 100 minutes.
Nobody crapped out in the Petrieville rapids.
Fall color was good for the river.
Bonfires
Kubota and two of his buddies are going to their first coed bonfire. The house is pungent with the odors of Polo (tangerine) and Axe (middle school locker room). Mrs ERJ will find and shake hands with the parents before she drives off. She will pick them up about 90 minutes after it gets dark. That is long enough.
Diversions like kayaking tend to improve in the telling. Kubota may end up liking this experience after he has a little time to reflect....and brag.
You call 'em kayaks, we call 'em pirogues (Pee-row), a style of boat used to get into small waters. Generally man-portable a good pirogue is an advantage in getting into those small, shallow waters where the ducks like to hide. The old cajuns built them from cypress planks, long renowned for their flotation and rot-resistance. Nowadays, they're built from fiberglass and are almost entirely hunting/fishing boats.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bayourapidesfiberglass.com/
I will be in the market for another, larger kayak/pirogues. Kubota has the 10 foot kayak squatted right down. He is about 10 pounds over the rated max. He also has some shoulders on him, so it is a high center of gravity. It is one thing to be 10 pounds over due to a dutch oven stashed on the bottom of the boat at the center-line. It is quite another when it is due to a person who twitches, slaps flies, etc.
ReplyDeleteI kept a close eye on him as he went through the Petrieville Rapids. The rapids are a small dam that was dynamited some years ago. Kubota's bow and stern dipped beneath the water but he stayed upright.
I love kayak paddles. They work great for canoes as well. It pays to get longer shafts, especially for the canoes. I think regular canoe paddles are obsolete.