De Pan

I set out from the downriver side of the ferry terminal, wading out into the low tide shallows far enough to clear the rocks that are mixed in with the silt bottom.  It is a calm morning and I cross the river into the early sun, a haze in the air that might have been fog if the weather had more oomph to it.

I was tempted to paddle the main channel down past the island since it is far too early for motor driven people, but the early morning marsh, the promise of seeing some critter active and feeding, and the stillness of the day drew me into the smaller side channel.

Entering the channel, I push a swan, which is possible because nesting season is over.  Now, they just want to keep their distance.  It flies off straight away and I am sorry that I did not have my camera ready.

As I said, it is calm.  It is a Rorschach blot day... with perfect reflections of that above the water on the water.  I try to paddle softly, try not to put any more strength into the eddies that spin off of the paddle than is necessary.  It is rare to have a day when the paddle is the maker of the loudest noise.  I stop every so often to listen for the unseen.


Near the bottom of the island, where the osprey nest, I slip back into the long dead end channel where I know there is at least one beaver lodge.  The channel has narrowed, swamp grasses coming up in the shallows.  I pass a fresh beaver scent mound, not seeing it but smelling its heavy musk aroma.  At this time of year in Union Bay (Seattle), the beaver have changed to a food type that turns their scent rather rank.  I know too much...

The wind comes up as I return, the water ripples and loses the mirror, the silence departs even if it is only the wind blowing across the ears.  But the wind takes some of the steam out of the day as well.

Click on any picture to enlarge it. Blog starts with the September 23rd post.


Filled with anticipation, my son Andrew and I carried the boat to the shore just before sunset on a beautiful sunny day. The long weeks of work are about to pay off.

I had left one of the leeboard mounts at home so only the right hand one was in place. Should be good enough for a test run.


The sail rig is simple but still allows lots of opportunity for tuning. I'm learning as I go along.


Time to get the boat wet. We donned our PFD's and put it in the water.

As a precaution, I lashed the rudder mount in place so that it wouldn't pop out of the mounting eyes. I also added a restraining line to the tiller extension so that it wouldn't get out of reach if I let go of it.

Off we go. The canoe is very light and easy to handle.

Winds were light and steady out of the west as we set sail.

The first sail ended early with a broken leeboard mount, but it left us looking forward to another sail the following day.

I drove home to pick up the missing leeboard mount, then reinforced both mounts with screws to back up the glue joints.

The next day, we were down at the beach bright and early, eager to start out.

The sails have a few wrinkles in them but they should work just fine.


Returning from the first run, we pronounced the venture a success.

I later improved the set of the sails by tightening the luff (front edge) to eliminate the twist in the upper spar. I also moved the leeboard bracket back so that the passenger could sit in front of it and use it as a backrest.

Back at the dock, daughter Jane climbed aboard.

The canoe heels a little when the wind hits the sails, then it stiffens up. The stability is impressive. I later stood up in the cockpit and it didn't feel tipsy under foot at all.

The canoe was an eye-catcher in the harbor, garnering many thumbs up and favorable comments.

I set a goal of completing the boat in three months, and I made it, just barely. Remaining items to complete are; install the access hatches in the bulkheads, and replace the pine masts and spars with lighter weight Sitka spruce.

Yesterday was National Canoe Day, an event run by the Canadian Canoe Museum to celebrate our national icon. Events were held all over the country. In a bid to escape the G8/G20 Chaos in Huntsville and Toronto, the family decided to head over to the event in Peterborough.

Unfortunately, heavy rain, slow traffic and a wailing child made the 1.5 hour drive seem like an endless oceanic flight. The Mrs. also seemed to have lost our camera when we visited the Toronto Zoo with our little man the day before...so no pics. Thankfully, Andre Cloutier and Alex Guthro posted some photos of the event on this thread on the WCHA forums.

When we finally arrived, the event was nearly ending but I got to catch up again with a few local members of the WCHA including Mike Ornsby who runs Reflections On The Outdoors Naturally blog. Got to see his new cedar canvas canoe built by Bruce Smith, a gorgeous solo boat with cherry gunwales and some walnut trim.

Also on hand were some vintage boats including a recently acquired 1919 Rice Lake Canoe with its quirky Aluminum Deck Plates. There's a thread about it on the WCHA forums here. Pulled a shot from the thread below:


1919 Rice Lake Canoe with Aluminum Decks
I was quickly introduced to Dick Persson of Headerwater Canoe fame who was caning some seats. Got to meet finally meet Terry McCaul, a volunteer with the CCM who was doing some paddle carving. Terry's paddles are also functional works of art, complete with gorgeous spined blades, cord whipped shafts, and laser engraved artwork. A shame that our lost camera was not on hand to take pics.

After returning back to the city, ended up reading that the wives of some G20 delegates were also introduced to some canoe culture as part of their Canadian experience. From this article in The Toronto Star:

"Eight of the first ladies spent the morning tucked away in a small, sparsely decorated hotel boardroom where they dined on chocolate canoe paddles and learned how to make nonedible canoe seats from a master craftsman."

(From L to R) Callista Mutharika (Malawi), Svetlana Medvedeva (Russia), Ban Soon-taek (UN), Laureen Harper (Canada), Nabuko Kan (Japan), Geertrui Van Rompuy (European Council) and Patience Goodluck Jonathan (Nigeria) sign on a canoe in Toronto on June 25, 2010.


Chocolate Paddle and pastry "canoe" served to the G8 wives.