Scout's first time in a canoe getting ready for a trip down the Allegheny River, PA in April 2010.
Yesterday, I took my big red two-person canoe out on the water for the first time this year. It felt so good to glide onto the lazy river and gently paddle upstream with my dog, Scout, in the bow. Within minutes on the river, we saw a muskrat and a blue heron. Surrounded by trees, water, and wildlife, I felt a sense of peace wash over me. I wondered what took me so long to get this feeling when it had been so accessible.
I live a quarter mile from a boat launch to the Nashua River--that’s a five minute walk that doubles into a 10 minute walk when towing a canoe. I had brought my canoe up from my mom’s house in Harrisburg just over a month ago. All June it was bothering me that I hadn’t taken it out on the water. What good is it to tout our proximity to the Nashua River if we aren’t paddling it? Just throw the canoe on top of the car, drive it one minute down the road, and go for a paddle. It sounds so simple. My 16-foot, 73-pound Mad River Canoe is a beast of a boat. Hoisting it atop my car, strapping it down, driving it one minute down the road, lowering it from my car, and finally setting it in the water seemed like way too much effort for something so close. There had to be a better way.
I remembered a woman I knew in Pittsburgh that lives on the North Shore and kayaks every day of the year on the Allegheny River so long as the water level isn’t too high. She’s in her early 70s and tows her kayak in a two wheel cart along the sidewalk and bike path from her home to the local boat launch three-quarters of a mile away. THREE-quarters of a mile away. I could certainly tow my canoe one-quarter mile. Feeling a solution arise, I ordered a $30 canoe/kayak cart off the internet. It arrived a few days later, and then sat in its box in the entryway for a week until yesterday when I decided I had enough.
Out of the box, assembly was quick. I played with the placement of the cart for best leverage and adjusted the straps to find the most secure fitting. I grabbed the life jackets (one for me, one for Scout), a paddle, a leash, and off we went. Within a half hour of making the decision to go canoeing, Scout and I were parading down the town streets to the launch. A couple of guys at a picnic table shouted, “That’s how you do it!”
We paddled for an hour--just enough time to shed the day’s stress and feel like we had a little adventure. Towing the kayak back from the launch, a man shouted, “I’ve never seen that before. That’s a first.” I thought to joke, It might be a last. Instead I smiled and waved. I felt happy to have made this first of many firsts.