Jeff - Day 2

After restless night with the racoons making noise, slept in until about 9, lazy vacation days are brilliant. Got up and did our typical morning routine, I make breakfast, julie packs up camp, I so get the good end of this deal, although eggs, bacon and homefries aren't a bad way to start the day either. On the water by 10:30, plan is to spend the night in washago at the couchiching lock.

Such a gorgeous day to be on the water, the area between big chute and swift rapids is one of the nicest on the trent, not filled with mansions, quaint beautiful cottages and just nice to slowly paddle by. Power boats are still an issue and have no concept of slowing down regardless of how close you are to them, you get used to it after 4 years but still a pain in the ass.

Stopped at severn falls for lunch and drinks and just relaxed on the patio for an hour or two, forecast was calling for thunderstorms so we decided to call swift rapids home for the night, a lazy 13km day.

Swift rapids is one of my favorite places to camp, secluded and private, had a nice spot on the point overlooking the lake, spent afternoon swimming and drinking, me a little more than julie, the drinking that is. Was an early night. Was also our 2nd anniversary, can't think of any better way to spend it. Xoxoxo.

Then... We started talking about couchiching/simcoe and how they were necessary evils to get to fenlon falls, bobcageon and buckhorn, talked about maybe getting a ride around, hmmm let's go back to ports severn, put yaks on truck, goto buckhorn and continue from there. Plan is hatched.

We may also most likely switch to boat for second week and go the other way to cambelford, I have an urge for chocolate.

Julie day-2

Jeff slept in as he was awake all night anticipating a bear attack. Poor guy didnt sleep a wink!
Eggs and bacon and homefries were on the menu...we eat pretty good for 2 people in kayaks. A couple walked by and mentioned..."Wow that looks good, all we had is cereal". Keep on walking by big shot boaters cause you aint getting any! Remember that next time you swamp us!

So hot today we had to get wet before we started. On the water by 1030am.
These first few days are my favorite part of the Trent. The lakes are beautiful...clean water and gorgeous cottages. I would love to buy a place here....one day maybe...hmmmm?

Had lunch @ Severn Bridge. Here we re-stocked our alcohol and stretched our legs. We are both struggling with getting comfortable.
Original plan was to make it to Washago today but heck....we have coolers and rye on ice so we decided to call Swift Rapids home for the night. 2pm done paddling! Plus, calling for thunderstorms so better to be safe right?!

Perfect camp site...on our own private point on edge of water. Only 2 other boats here. One is an old couple from Florida who are doing the loop. Been out since Apr 21...what a life!

Jeff made me a romantic 2nd year Anniversary dinner. Canned mushrooms and a tin of salad with some baby carrots. While we were on the water today i asked where my gift was (kidding of course)...he said he had in his bag and i would get when we stopped for night. Well, dont i feel bad cause i was kidding. "Thats ok" he says "being with you is all i need". Barf..."Not me i want. Present"! Hehehehe
Well, when i called him out on it he kept up the act and went searching for gift....turns out nothing. Sigh:(

Night was amazing...aside from deer flies, no animals to contend with...no generators kept us up...just the 2 of us on our own little private point....couldnt think of a better way to celebrate our annivrsary!

Julie Day-1

Hard to believe its been a year since our last trip...even harder to believe im doing this for a 3rd year in a row! And, i bought my own kayak! Who would have thought?!

We put our boats in the water @ friends of Jeff's family in Port Severn and started our adventure @ 1230pm. What a hot day...less then an hour into our paddle we found a dock and went for a swim. Some of us kept our clothes on others did not ;)

This year we have decided to enjoy and relax on our trip. No pressure on getting to the end of the Trent as we have already done it. More time will be spent relaxing and just spending time together. Thats what its all about after all.

So, after 3 hours paddling we called it a day @ Big Chute. Set up camp, had some drinks and swim and watched the Chinese people catch sunfish...ewww!

Some guy walks by and says "you guys are brave camping here with all the bears around". Really buddy?! Did ya have to say that? So, at 330am when we heard animals rummaging through the garbage which we cleverly set up beside, we were a little nervous to say the least! Turns out they were raccoons. But still...made for a very unsettling night!

First few days are always the hardest with getting comfortable in the seat. Note to self.....the day before you leave on kayak trip, dont do 400m walking lunges at Crossfit! I can hardly get out of my boat!

All in all a great 1st day on the water with my Man!

Day 1 - Jeff

Woke up around 5:30 today, very long work week and guess I was both over tired and excited to start vacation at the same time. Instead of waking Julie up, and having to hear about it all day I decided to get a head start on packing. Truck was packed and ready to go and once Julie dropped off Jade (daughter) at work we hit the road, en route by 930am. Of course, timed it perfect to stop at MEC in Barrie on the way through, can never have enough paddle gear. Got to my mother's in victoria harbour then drove to port severn (after LCBO) to put in the kayaks, my mom was nice enough to bring my truck back to her place. We were on the water by 12:30.

Damn was it hot out, beautiful day and not complaining, just very hot, had to stop for a few swims along the way to cool off. Surprisingly, very little boat traffic and cottagers up for the weekend, gave us lots of empty docks to stop at.

Stopped at Big Chute for the nightn, very short day of paddling but this vacation has no schedule and not worried about timing, when we feel like stopping, stop.

We got camp setup in a nice spot (we thought) and time for a swim, after julie took a power nap in the hammock and I read and drank for a bit. Some idiot walked by and said "you are brave to sleep here, lots of bears". Really dude? Like we can do anything about it, why say anything.
Fast forward, 3am, sounds of animals in the garbage cans rooting for food, camping spot not so nice now, what was I thinking, julie: "what is that?" Jeff: "racoons", julie: "you sure?", jeff: "not about to go look, so yes racoons". Was an on and off again sleep but by morning everything was fine.

Note: ontario hydro has fenced off the swimming area at big chute, such a disappointment, was best area for swimming when I was growing up.

Stupid question of the day, 8pm, french couple asks if it is ok to camp at the chute, uhm no, we just set our tent up for fun and will be going back out soon, of course was nice to her, was just funny. They proceeded to serenade us with a recorder and banjo playing mary had a little lamp, seriously, can't make this crap up.

Perfect first day!

Two day Countdown....

This will be my last post before the trip,  Julie and I leave Saturday morning for two weeks in the kayaks,  our annual summer kayak trip, 4th for me, 3rd for Julie and the first time with our own Kayaks, no more rentals!

We went back and forth on where we were going to go, initially we though two weeks in Georgian Bay but with the new Kayaks I am not sure I want the maiden voyage to be among the rocks, apparently fibreglass kayaks don't like rocks much.  

We are starting in Victoria Harbor in Georgian Bay and playing the trip by ear,  will spend a week going out, then turn around and come back, some of the trip may be in Georgian Bay, some of it may be on the Trent, decisions will be made as needed and we have no plan other than 15 days together on the water.

If you have followed along in years past, welcome back, if you are new, welcome aboard, in both cases we hope you enjoy following along on our trip and we will be doing doing daily blog updates as we have in the past.

Here we go...

Paddle Project - The Finish

This is where the "wood hits the water"  play on rubber hits the road :)   Paddle shapped and ready for final finishing.

Sanding Prep:

This is pretty straight forward, sand, sand, sand, then sand sand sand, oh and then sand, sand, sand,  I start with 80 grit paper then 120, then 220, then 320 then 400 for the final finish and repeated the process a number of times. Spent a lot of time sanding, probably one of the most important parts, any blemish in the wood is going to stand out like a sore thumb so in my opinion, can't sand enough.  I did the first sand with a power sander (black and decker mouse) but from that point forward everything was sanded by hand.

Final Sanding:

I wiped down the paddle with a wet cloth,  this will cause the grain in the wood to raise up and it will feel all rough, once the paddle dried, I re-sanded with 320 and 400 grit only, then repeated the process until damping the wood didn't raise the grain any more,  for me it was 3 times.   If you skip this step then the first time the paddle hits moisture the grain is going to raise up, well worth the extra time.  

Result after the prep and final sanding,  a paddle that is silky smooth the touch and the grain is starting to show through more.   Now onto final stage, the finish.

Finish:

There are more options and opinions on what finish to use than you can shake a stick at,  spar varnish, tung oil, linseed oil (boiled and double boiled), danish oil, shellac and/or epoxy... enough to drive you insane and make you scratch your head.  Bruce Smith to the rescue.  

Bruce Smith in my opinion is one of the finest paddle makers around,  I own a number of his paddles and just so happened I needed to refinish one of them after a couple of years (50 day canoe trips are hard on paddles) I emailed Bruce and he sent me detailed instructions on how to refinish his paddles, I figure if it's good enough for Bruce, it's good enough for my first paddle.   Bruce is a retired school teacher living in Elora Ontario and now makes hand carved paddles, they are amazing and highly recommend them to anyone. 

http://www.brucesmithpaddles.com/index.html

The process is quite simple but can take some time,  first need Double Boiled Linseed Oil,  I couldn't find it anywhere local so went with Single Boiled.  Boiled Linseed is basically Raw Linseed Oil with a drying agent added to speed up drying time,  Double Boiled just has more drying agent added.  Then use mineral spirits as a cutting agent, could substitute varsol or turpentine but you can get Mineral Spirits at crappy tire as well as Boiled Linseed Oil.  

Needs 12 coats of oil/spirit mixture.

Start with 50% mixture of Mineral Spirits added to the Boiled Linseed Oil, I found 50ml of linseed and 25ml of spirits was good for a couple of coatings.  Apply liberally with a brush, just smack that stuff on, after about 1-2 hours once the oil becomes tacky,  use a cloth and wipe off the excess and rub it into the wood hard.  Once it dries a bit then repeat the process and make sure you rub down with steel wool in between coats.  Cutting with Mineral Spirits makes the oil absorb into the wood more. 

After each 2 coats, add less Mineral Spirits to the mixture until the last 2 coats are using about 15% mineral spirits.  Let the paddle dry for a good 5-6 days after the final coat before putting it into the water.

NOTE: At the half way point, I also put the tip of the paddle into the mixture directly and let it soak for a good hour, basically wanted to make sure the cut tip was nice and saturated.

Finish on Cherry wood is amazing and I love the feel of oiled paddle over varnished any day, also really easy to keep it new, just rub down with more oil.   Cherry will darken with age so really excited to see my paddle after some time in the sun.    This paddle is for my 13 year old son,  although he says he will still take the Bruce Smith tripping, just wants a spare at the cottage, can't blame him.

Really wanted to put his name in the paddle or at least his initials, not sure how yet,  I know I can use a wood burning tool but my artistic ability is very lacking so don't want to mess the paddle up, will most likely practice that before trying on some crap wood.

One option which seems interesting is to use a mixture of Ammonium Chloride and water,  basically you can stencil the wood with the liquid then put the head gun to it, after about 5 minutes the chemicals react and will burn the wood just like a wood burner, will have to try that one out, if i can find Ammonium Chloride,  I have heard that a mixture of Citric Acid, flour and water will have the same effect. 

Also, don't know if I do this before or after finishing the paddle, I think before, which is too late for this paddle

Paddle Project – Take 4...

After making 3 practice paddles (1 greenland kayak , 2 canoe) from cedar found at local Home Depot,  decided I have learned enough to make a serious attempt at making a paddle for real.     A few differences this time around.

1)     Went to a local lumber mill and picked out a perfect piece of cherry wood,  1 ½” x 6 x 6,  the board is completely knot free, straight grain and a beautiful pattern.  I much prefer the cherry over the cedar and for canoe paddles will never make another from cedar again.   The wood is much richer and harder and let’s be honest, once done the grain pattern in cherry looks so amazing.

2)     Upgraded some of my tools,  I was using whatever I could find at the local hardware,  specifically a couple of Stanley planes (mini + bench plane) and a two spokeshaves (flat and round),  while they seemed to work ok (constant sharpening) on cedar,  on the cherry wood, well… once that wood gets hard it gets increasingly frustrating.   Went to Lee Valley tools and picked up some replacement high quality blades to replace the stock crap ones that came with the tool,  I also picked up a high end low profile apron plan from Veritas.  OMFG what a difference it makes in hand carving the paddles,  new blades go through wood like butter and makes everything so much easier.   Quality tools make all the different in the world.

3)     More confidence, I know what to expect now and the different stages so this was more fun and less about learning the basics,  still have a long way to go but I am impressed with what I have learned so far.

Here is my paddle completely shaped but with no finish, going to do a separate post on the finishing process.