Well, I am still among the living, although the final outcome of my health challenge still hangs in the balance. Right now, the vision in my right eye is blurry (among other problems), although I can’t imagine that stopping me from going on my adventure if I am otherwise recovered.
Enough of that topic and on to a fun glimpse into the long-awaited arrival of my new canoe Saturday a week ago. Above are Jordan and Ed bringing her out at Maine Sport Outfitters in Rockland. It was love at first sight and I could easily carry her out to the car. We talked yokes and portaging and paddles and other fun details. Skip Ciccarelli had talked about the importance of a foot brace, so I was glad to see that my canoe did indeed arrive with one.
For those of you just tuning in, my boat is a 13-foot Wenonah Fusion Kevlar canoe, with skid plates on both ends (adding about 3 or 4 pounds). One thing I haven’t done is to take an actual weight, which I will do. The green removable seat that you see in the photo above came with the boat. So far, I have paddled her 3 times, with her fastest average moving time of 3.3 mph on a roundtrip lake paddle with light winds, about 0.8 mph faster than I would have gone in my kayak!
Laurie Apgar Chandler 