Daily Trip Log Reports

After the storm last night, we're a little slow off the mark. Note to myself, make sure from now on that tents are in a more sheltered location and pegged down as though a storm is coming, regardless of what the weather looks like. We'd have been much better off last night if I'd have done that.

Once we start paddling, the wind picks up and for a change it's a tail wind. That helps at first, but it still builds waves that eventually begin to cause us concern. We round one of the points on Cantara Bay and pull in to wait for calmer weather.  

We often had to paddle early in the morning or late in the evening when the winds were calm. We soon discovered that we only had about an hour to make sure if the winds picked. After that, paddling would get too rough. See More Photos!

There's a number of interesting things to explore and the kids spend a lot of time batting rocks into the lake. The wind doesn't die down for quite some time, so we set up a tent quickly and get some more sleep.

As the sun nears the horizon, the wind dies down enough that we decide to head out.

It's a lot calmer when we start paddling, but half way across the bay to Turnor Point the wind and waves pick up again. Near sundown, we reach the point and are anxious to get around it, out of the waves. The point extends out into the lake quite a bit and we're not sure how far out we have to go to get past the rough stuff. We decide to cut it fairly short and risk some of the waves. Debra and Brendan go first and ride a few short waves through a gap in the sand shoal. I target a little deep channel with Kyle in the bow and it looks like my ride may go a little smoother until an unexpected wave comes up underneath us. 

Warning: If our kid's Grandma's checking the web site, she may not want to read the rest of this paragraph! 

When the wave hit us, I was paddling on a more diagonal angle than Deb. My position was absolutely perfect for surfing. Once the wave caught us, we picked up a tremendous burst of speed and had quite a wild ride for about 20 seconds. Kyle was airborne in the front of the canoe and his paddle couldn't reach the water. I was holding on to a low brace to keep the canoe from beginning to roll or bury the bow. Fortunately, I'd done some surfing in canoes before and knew what to expect.

We survived the ride with no problem and Kyle wanted to go back and do it again.

When we rounded the point, we were in much calmer water and headed for shore.

July 30

All night long, whenever I wake up, I hear the waves. This causes me concern because it will impact how far we can travel in the morning, if at all. Before dawn, Deb calls out from the other tent that she's ready to get moving. We rouse the kids and pack up quickly. We're on the water just as the sun crests the horizon. It's a beautiful morning, but the sky doesn't bode well for the rest of the day. We only get about three hours on the water when the wind picks up again and we start to get worried again. We reach our destination, Archibald Bay with no problem.

We set up tents and take a nap to make up for the short night we had. Once we rouse later in the day, we hike back into the sand dunes behind us. The Archibald River is a nice surprise. It's a very clean, small river that cascades over some nice rock shelves near the lake.

After our hike in the dunes, we walk along the shore to some rock shelves. The rocks here are sedimentary layers, obviously formed from hardened sand. The floor below the rock ledges are littered with an odd combination of rocks. There's a mixture of flat, sand coloured rocks combined with dark, rounded ones.

The kids discover some long flat rocks that remind them of their snowboards. It doesn't take them long to come up with a teeter totter arrangement to practice their skills.

General observations:
We've been on the go for more than two weeks now. We've been together constantly. In the canoes and in the tents, there's no opportunity to get a break from each other. At first there was some tension in our unit. Tasks would require nagging before they'd get done and occasionally you'd swear you could hear the sound of a tent door slam as someone would get frustrated.

Over time, we've worked out all the problems and become a great team. Both of us parents have had ample opportunity to spend quality time with our kids and we've all become much closer to each other.

I wouldn't recommend a long canoe trip as a family bonding experience for every family, but it certainly works for us.