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June 27, 2007
The Trial Run
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| Years ago when "the wash out" was washed away, Scotty's
fell into disrepair and became a trailer park magnet, and I became less
concerned about tubing and more concerned about paying a mortgage, time I spent
at the Sacramento River all but ended. It's odd to live so close to a vast
natural playground and not spend much time there. A few months back I decided to un-wedge our old fiberglass canoe from between a fence and a tree in our backyard. This effort was directed at providing a day of adventure on the river for my son. It hadn't been used in nearly a decade, and had become the home for many a black-widow. One was so fat and "leggy" that I felt bad splatting her, but my location on the food chain required I do that. A few days of fiberglass repair, sanding, and paint got the canoe back in shape. Then came regular conversations on safety with my son followed by testing the canoe in our pool. That's when we found out that putting a 200 pound blogging engineer in the back of a canoe, and a 60 pound 6 year old in the front allows you to do "water wheelies". Yesterday that process culminated in our first trial run on a river inlet that heads east from Scotty's. Of course I added 100 pounds of sand ballast to the front of the canoe before launching. When we launched I realized that all of the safety talks and emergency scenarios we covered might have laid pretty heavy on the mind of a 6 year old. The wiggle and weave that the canoe went through as I settled into my seat was enough to create near panic at the front of our vessel. It was a replay of the Titanic sinking, interspersed with cries for mom. But that settled as the canoe calmed down and we started paddling like we'd practiced. We spent an hour on the river chasing ducks, watching fish jump, and seeing cranes and eagles fly by. A fisherman on shore informed us that we had just missed some beavers and otters, but we were not able to track them down. In the coming week or two we'll be taking our official trip down the river from Irvine Finch to the same inlet at Scotty's. We'll stop places to swim and explore, and have a few root beers. Heck, we might even spit and scratch ourselves like outdoorsman are supposed to. It was nice to get back out on the river. We're lucky to have one so close. |
| Note: When I was a kid my dad planned a boat trip on
the Russian River for me and my two older brothers. I got sick before the
trip and couldn't go. It was, as I remember, a crushing blow. The blow
had a more lasting impact when my brothers returned with stories of eels,
turtles, and naked "hippies" on inner-tubes with their "ninners" showing. I'm not expecting to see hippie mermaids on our upcoming trip, but I think the expedition might provide some Marshall McLuhan to the boat trip I missed (that's "closure" for those of you not married to a communications major). |
Posted by Lon at June 27, 2007 08:29 AM
Comments
I hope that trusty old boat brings you two many advertures (of the safe variety) this summer. I hope Mr. Becket will get to see some of those elusive (and I think endangered) "Stucks" along the way.
Posted by: Withanee at June 29, 2007 12:45 PM