Whew, it's been a while! This spring has been pretty crazy, but as summer rolls in we're getting a lot closer to being ready to go. As such, we went and picked up our boats a few days ago with Ron at Unadilla Boatworks in Dexter! They're beautiful watercraft, and yesterday Jay and I took them out on Winans lake on a blustery day. The lake was pretty choppy, with whitecaps and strong winds, but the boats tracked beautifully in the waves. Even without the rudder down, they were easy to steer and quick to respond. Did I mention that they're extremely light and very fast? For me, who has only paddled with heavy plastic clunkers out on the west coast, it was a treat to paddle something that is light enough for me to carry on my own.
At 15', the boats are somewhat small, which means that we're going to have to pack light, but that's all the better for us so that we don't have to lug a bunch of gear through the portages on the Huron River. Though, that does mean that we'll have to have several drop points to send our food along the way.
Speaking of gear and food, we're definitely keeping REI in business! We bought a lot of our gear on the day that we picked up the boats. While we were in the store, pushing our cart piled high with such essentials as PFDs, sleeping bags, paddles, paddling gloves, a water filter, etc etc, employees were continually asking us if we were members of REI. Of course we are! That yearly dividend certainly came in handy for our purchase.
The only thing left to do for the boats is to attach the mast for the sail, and then they'll be ready to go! We do have pictures, and I'll get those up as soon as I figure out the picture slideshow function on the blog. Thanks for reading!
-Shannon
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