Well, Robert usually writes on this blog and he is always saying how nice it would be if others posted as well so here I am writing about this past weekend on the Ottawa river.
It was so much fun! Upon arrival on Friday evening, we were all eager to go paddling except Emily so her and I went for a walk with our friend’s dog while everyone else went paddling which was fine with me, it was late and our gear would be dry and warm the next morning!
Saturday morning, we played at McCoy’s rapids and Emily got some surf in on “mini baby face” and our beginner friend, Martin, was doing well too, a bit of swimming but he was enjoying trying to get on the wave. A few of us decided to thread the needle (Robert, Cheryl, Tilly and I). I went last, I like to watch first and work up the courage to go too. They all did very well and then it was my turn. Well, I don’t know what happened but I flipped just before Phil’s and got upside down in it and got worked pretty good, ended up swimming! I did try to hold on to my paddle while I wet exited but no success there, we found all of my stuff including some foam I had stuffed under my seat but had not glued down yet. Will do that before I go back. The swim was not too bad (I really don’t like swimming) I am working on my courage to try again next weekend!
On the Saturday afternoon, we ran the middle channel under the guidance of Tilly, she had just finished three weeks at Keeners and was a very good guide! Emily (10) ran her second river in her kayaking career and after telling me she was sooooo tired just after leaving McCoy’s, she paddled very well and enjoyed her ride down. We looked at Iron ring and Little Trickle and watched some people go through them. Robert and Cheryl got to help on a boat rescue too.
We all had a lot of fun surfing at Angel’s Kiss, had to convince Emily to get on but then, we couldn’t get her off the wave! Even got three girls surfing at the same time. Martin even got a surf in but then broke his paddle and, we of course did not have a spare, we have been talking about getting a set of hand paddles just for that purpose but keep procrastinating so, Robert and I took turns going down the rest of the river with only one blade. We were getting pretty good by the end. I have to admit that Robert ran the rapids and I did only some of the flat parts.
We looked at Garvin’s chute and a few considered running but we all walked in the end. After talking to our son Zachary who is at Keeners at this time, Robert might very well run it next weekend!
It was such a nice afternoon, there was 10 of us, our biggest group so far for our club outings.
On Saturday night, we got a visit from Zachary and Sean that are staying at Keeners and Robert, Cheryl and Daylon went for a short paddle with them. They seem to be having a lot of fun at Keeners!
Sunday, we were all a bit slower to start but had a very good time at McCoy’s and Robert, Tilly, Cheryl and Daylon went to Wai-ki-ki.
We finished packing just in time before a huge thunderstorm hit and stopped by keeners to say good bye to the boys and got drenched just getting back to the car. We laughed as Emily slipped and slid to the car and Cheryl did a nice slide too trying to recover a lost shoe although I missed it. It was an entertaining and humid drive home.
Thank you Cheryl, Tilly, Martin, Pierre, Lee, Marise, Daylon For joining Robert Emily and I this weekend, you made the weekend that much more fun!
You can look at the pictures and videos on the CReW website.
We already miss Tilly and are looking forward to her return from Norway and she hasn’t left yet.
I am looking forward to our next weekend on the Ottawa!
This week will go by so fast, we have Billy and Carly staying with us, they will be helping us with the kids at tomorrow evening’s youth program and then teaching in Valleyfield.
Well, that’s enough writing!
Talk to you later!
Sylvie
