[Paddlewise] Who we are: I can procrastinate!

I'm 43, feel like 83 and lurk.  I used to be a contractor but now I'm Mr.
Mom.  My computer has been down for over a month and is now working only
part time which is more than I do, 14min 53sec per session to be exact, so I
apologise for being the last to respond.

I was first introduced to canoes about 40 years ago when my father took as
his holiday a two-week staff position at a boys camp in Ontario.  (I have
been hooked on self/wind propelled vehicles ever since.)  I spent the better
part of the next dozen summers attempting to avoid the required canoeing
lessons as they necessitated kneeling on the ribs of cedar strip canoes
(OUCH.)   I always sit on canoe seats now.  However, I couldn't get enough
of the canoe tripping experience that was offered through the camp, they had
their own proprietary fiberglass canoes so kneeling when required was not a
problem.  The younger campers did canoe trips in the local Haliburton area
and as the campers got older the trips went farther afield.  I was lucky
enough to get to go on the full range of trips including a memorable trip on
the Spanish and Mississagi River sheds on the North Shore of Lake Huron.
Through bad timing I missed a 35 day trip down the Albany. I was also lucky
enough to help work on the original building and canoes for the Kanawa Canoe
Museum while it was housed at the camp.

I did very little paddling during the next ten years or so.  I began
paddling again when I moved to Toronto from Ottawa and came across the
chance to buy a very used " river touring kayak," now deceased.   Since then
a home built  C1 (now sold) and an undivided half of a  kevlar Chestnut
Prospector canoe have been the main paddling vehicles for me.  My wife and I
spent many weekends on short canoe trips in the middle areas of Ontario and
a bit of Quebec.  Nine years ago we had our first child and the canoe trips
stopped.  Paddling fixes for me came after work on the local rivers and open
sewers of Toronto. (No I have never run into John Winters and his
subterranean sewer paddling friends.)   Rather than give up all activity I
began cycling for fitness.  (I even got some of my cycling buddies to begin
paddling.)  All of my paddling stopped abruptly in May of 1993 when a car
ran a stop sign and T-boned me while I was on my bike. It didn’t help that I
was doing 80 klicks at the time.  Since then I have spent the greater part
of my time as Mr. Mom and in rehab.  I have managed to get out in the canoe
a couple of time since and have had some minor success in a fixed seat row
boat.  Plans for a kayak from CLC sit in the workshop and with luck
construction will begin sometime in the next 12 months.  The boat building
must wait until the renovations to our house are complete.  I am slowly
doing the finish carpentry.  The house is not that big but I can only manage
a Max of 1.5 hr. of work per day.  My wife seems to be under the misguided
impression that window casings and painted rooms are more important than
having another boat.  I also get interrupted every so often to have more
surgery which has been needed because of the accident.  This spring I hope
to be allowed to lift the canoe and am looking forward to some easy floats
on the Humber River.  Is there any one in Toronto who is interested in some
mid week daytime paddling in the city?

Thanks to Jackie for the time and effort she has put into getting the list
up and running and for its continued existence.  The discussions have been a
great source of enlightenment,entertainment and encouragement.

Cheers

Robert


 p.s. My paddling equipment list consists of  a spare paddle (not needed
yet) and a life jacket worn only in rough weather or white water.  I
wear/wore a Farmer John  wetsuit in the early spring on moving water Class
2+.  Sometimes I will use a map and compass if I am in a new area.



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