A Few More Photos

Below are a few more shots from our last trip. These were taken after we left the little protected cove and went out into the river.

Not exactly raging seas, but in a little boat it makes for an interesting ride at times.

There were quite a few sail boats out, and I wish we had taken more photos of them too. Also looked like someone was putting a beautiful little cabin cruiser in the water, possibly for the first time. They floated her free from her trailer then over to the dock where they took photos and looked like they were doing a lot of inspecting, then as we were leaving later they had her back on her trailer.

Maybe I’ll see her again in the spring and if I do we will get some photos if the owner doesn’t mind.

Even though we were out for a little over four hours or so, it seemed like just a few minutes.

Looking forward to exploring whats around that point which is just out of this shot behind me.

Carougie made it back home safe and sound and was given a nice bath from stem to stern and inside out. She is resting comfortably on our back porch out of the elements until next spring.

Next time we go we will have another boat, Pirougie, which will be just a little smaller than Carougie, and a lot lighter. I figure for what we paid to rent that kayak for four hours we could have completely paid for all the wood I need to build Pirougie! But since I didn’t have the time, it was still well worth it. It was also nice to see how a plastic production boat did in comparison to Carougie, and Carougie did very well as far as I am concerned.

If you were in a side by side full out race, all things being equal, the kayak would probably have a little bit of a speed advantage. But if just leisurely paddling along they seemed to be a close match, and considering Carougie is relatively heavy and has two rather large storage compartments, that’s pretty good.

I had a sweater and some other clothing in the front locker, which was still completely dry when I took it out. In the back locker I had some food and drinks and a hat, which also was perfectly dry too.

On the deck in front of my feet I did get a little water from the paddle, but the frame under my seat did double duty and kept all the water forward of it leaving the deck area aft of the frame to the base of the locker completely dry, which was nice since that’s where I put the camera. The kayak didn’t do so well on keeping things dry, everything in it was soaked.

I designed the boat with this area with the intention of it being able to hold a rather large tent and some other gear. I think it will work better than hoped. Carougie was designed not for speed, but for exploring around at a leisurely pace with the ability to easily carry a lot of stuff along for the trip, and I think she will work great for that. Camping, fishing, taking photos and anything else remotely similar and she will be quite at home. I think she will do particularly well fishing, and I am looking forward to testing that out next spring too.