I was redoing a couple of canoes for sale last week, the Chestnut Chum stripper being one. So I needed to get another solo. I pulled my old cedar strip Raven out of my son’s garage and had a look. It was still heavy, and banged up pretty bad, but doable. The Raven is a very seaworthy canoe, and has many hard tripping miles on it. Here’s a pic what it looked like ten years ago, with only a rustoleum interior.
And here it is now, in all it’s glorious rust free red. No more worrying about UV rays, and the red canoe goes faster too.
So I went down to launch it on its inaugural voyage, and look who I ran into - a bunch of Outers! They had already been out for a night. I had been planning to meet them well down the lake, but they were traveling fast.
I took off ahead of them and did some sightseeing.
When we got to the port, the Raven proved it still had it, as I decided to run the rapids. It really is a good all round canoe for the type of tripping I do - heavy loads, rapids, flats…..just a dog to carry.
I camped well away from the kids, as this is the first year I could do so. It was heavenly to have my own spot, free from worry and responsibility.
I dropped a line and was instantly rewarded with a six pound walleye. It was a surprised as I was, and I gently put him back. I cast out again and caught his three pound brother, and instantly ate him.
I could have pulled fish out of the water all night, but elected to wait till the next morning to take a limit back with me for my mother in law.
I visited the kids for a bit then retreated back to my tent to watch some Nature TV.
It proved to be a very cold night, I should have brought my Fatboy 300 winter bag. I finally caved in at 5:00 AM and went out and made a fire and started the coffee.
After a while, I caught my limit, said goodbye to the Outers and paddled and ported back to the truck. In the end, no heart attack, only stiff muscles that reminded me of a great first post-cardiac trip, lol.
And here it is now, in all it’s glorious rust free red. No more worrying about UV rays, and the red canoe goes faster too.
So I went down to launch it on its inaugural voyage, and look who I ran into - a bunch of Outers! They had already been out for a night. I had been planning to meet them well down the lake, but they were traveling fast.
I took off ahead of them and did some sightseeing.
When we got to the port, the Raven proved it still had it, as I decided to run the rapids. It really is a good all round canoe for the type of tripping I do - heavy loads, rapids, flats…..just a dog to carry.
I camped well away from the kids, as this is the first year I could do so. It was heavenly to have my own spot, free from worry and responsibility.
I dropped a line and was instantly rewarded with a six pound walleye. It was a surprised as I was, and I gently put him back. I cast out again and caught his three pound brother, and instantly ate him.
I could have pulled fish out of the water all night, but elected to wait till the next morning to take a limit back with me for my mother in law.
I visited the kids for a bit then retreated back to my tent to watch some Nature TV.
It proved to be a very cold night, I should have brought my Fatboy 300 winter bag. I finally caved in at 5:00 AM and went out and made a fire and started the coffee.
After a while, I caught my limit, said goodbye to the Outers and paddled and ported back to the truck. In the end, no heart attack, only stiff muscles that reminded me of a great first post-cardiac trip, lol.
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