Canoe Believe It???

It was a beautiful Saturday morning when Steph and I set out for our first canoe trip with the Mad River Adventure 16. When we got to the Wyalusing boat launch the water was calm but very high still from the flooding. We put in and the first thing we noticed is how terribly tippy it was. We spent the first half hour trying to not move a muscle because it would have swamped on us. Initial stability was crazy but we are used to that...final stability was scary since each time it tipped my butt would slide towards the water. It was all I could do to stay upright. We tried to love this boat but there was no way we could put Zach in the middle without capsizing. 

We loaded up and headed all the way back to Madison to return it.  We went to Gander Mountain and found an Old Town Guide 147.  The reviews on this all say the same thing...stable, stable, stable!  This canoe looked better, felt better and was $50 cheaper!  We also got a $100 gift card free with the purchase.  The register jockey ran it up wrong the first time and voided the first transaction...when he ran it again I had hit my daily limit and it declined the card!  How frustrating!  Mom saved the day and used her card so we didn't drive 2 hours for nothing.

Driving home was a total nightmare.  The wind gusts were crazy.  The foam car top kit i bought only had one strap for the middle and that isn't enough.  3 times the wind slammed the canoe and rolled the foam blocks out from under the boat.  The canoe scratched the hell out of my roof and every time it happened we had to stop on the interstate and go find the blocks then re-top the boat.  It was horrible!  We finally pulled in to Dodgeville and I went into China-Mart to get another strap...which of course was too short.  :(  I ended up tying 2 of them together and had Steph inside the car holding the strap tight so the damn boat would stay on.  

Sunday afternoon when we picked up Zach we continued on to Governor Dodge State Park and paddled the new Old Town.  It was awesome!  Very stable and comfortable.  I forgot that I left my phone in my pocket so I did get a few pics even though they are camera phone pics.  Here is a link to the pics I took.

Happy Trails!