I suppose I could have paddled today. In the rain and fog. Nah.

Taking OOSOBO out on the reservoir one last time before I must fetch it home for the winter I was please to see it was still there. I was less than pleased to see that it had been turned upright on the 4x4 bunks.

Dag fug? OOSBO weight 88 pounds. T’weren’t no wind that flipper her over. I don’t mind the curious Lookee Lou aspect, I’m proud of the outfitting on that once derelict canoe.

https://myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=49121

But at least turn it back over the way you found it.

End of December. Whadda ya expect in the mid-Atlantic region. Ice Ice Baby

PC290013 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

And bergy bits along the shoreline.

PC300016 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Less than a week ago it was 7F when I went out in the morning, and the surrounding days were not much warmer. December 30th was considerably less brutal.

PC290014 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

High of 61F. Not a cloud in the sky, and almost no wind.

PC300015 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

I hugged the shoreline, not for safety but for scenery and birdlife. Up a long once paddled cove, Frog Hollow, part way up the longest arm of Prettyboy and around a small island, hugging the shoreline back to the launch. Unbeknownst to me replicating my younger son’s route from earlier this year, a stillwaters seven miles, although I’m claiming a bit more for embracing the shoreline the entire way.

I even “fished”. Having bought a Senior Consolidated Fishing license ($5.00) last year and never wet a line, and renewed it this year, and never wet a line, I figured it was time. I made a total of five casts, each time think “Meh, I’d rather be paddling” I have now spent $2 per cast. What the heck, I’ll buy one for 2023.

On a warm, sunny, holiday season, and the last next to last legal day on the reservoir, there were quite a few fisherfolk out in flat bottom boats with electric motors, mine was the only paddlecraft.

Apparently there are now some beastly electric motors available. As I was launching a man and his young sons were testing out a permitted boat for sale with the owner shouting out instructions from ashore. A 17 or 18 foot flat bottomed johnboat with a beast of an electric motor, a Torqueedo

https://www.torqeedo.com/us/en-us/produ ... 43-20.html


They had it up on a plane, with wake washing the shoreline. Out of curiosity I checked the reservoir regulations. Electric motors only, but no horsepower limit. Luckily most reservoir fishermen aren’t (yet) willing to spend 10K on an electric outboard.

I did see one canoe leaving the launch as I returned. Under electric motor power. Gol dangit, a little electric motor sounds better every day. Or not, it was lovely getting into a touring cadence, even paddling bass-awkwards in a slow poke Explorer.

OOSOBO has become lonely chained up at the reservoir edge.

PC300018 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

I’ll fetch OOSOBO from the reservoir today. She needs a couple outfitting tweaks to get ready for next year.

With the current monsoon season hitting southern Ontario I'm debating whether or not(weather or not?) to get the canoe into the channel at Pinery in the next few days. A bit of camping, bring the bicycles, sounds peachy. Just need to sweet talk my wife. Some downhill skiing this morning in fog and pouring rain can't last so I need to change priorities.