So we had a light snow/sleet storm with an east wind today--normally conditions that push late season black ducks up into a salty spot I know. So I took off for a quick mid-day solo hunt with the canoe.
It turned out to be a nice afternoon, but I barely saw any black ducks, and the ones I saw were absolutely not heading towards my spot. (They were heading for the next bay over.) I scratched out one suicidal bufflehead who piled into my black duck decoys.
I did a really dumb thing after the hunt, followed by a second really dumb thing. When I paddled back to the boat ramp, I pulled my canoe up onto the ramp and went to grab the truck. I opened the truck and went to take my waders off and put boots on. Just as I pulled off a wading boat, I looked down the ramp to see my canoe floating about 15 yards from the boat ramp. I don't know exactly what happened, but guess the ramp was steep enough that the canoe just slid back down to the water on the snow. (Maybe when the salt on the canoe melted the snow surface enough to reduce friction?)
Anyway, I remembered that the house next to the boat ramp had a canoe pulled up on the edge of the water, so I pulled my boot back on, grabbed a paddle, and put my lifejacket back on. I sprinted to where I'd seen the canoe, which fortunately wasn't locked. At this point my canoe had blown about 50 yards off the ramp. I realized that if I stopped to ask permission my canoe would be long gone, so I untied the canoe, slid it into the water, and hopped in.
About half way to my boat I realized that this canoe had been sitting there unused for a long time. It was a decent chopped fiberglass hull, but both plastic gunwales were broken, there were no thwarts, and the stern seat was gone. The bow seat was still in place, but not solid enough to sit on, even made some scary noises just from my leaning against it while kneeling. On top of that, there were clearly some holes in the fiberglass, as I was already sitting in an inch of water.
I considered turning back, but I really like the canoe I was about to lose. It's an old Mad River Explorer I got at a yard sale for about $150. I'm at least the third owner. I've had it almost 20 years now, and I'm guessing it was manufactured in the mid '70's. It's bomb-proof, camo painted, and has carried me all over Maine, New Hampshire, New Brunswick and Quebec, on everything from the Atlantic Ocean to Class 3 rapids to north woods secret trout ponds. It's probably my single favorite piece of outdoor gear.
Long story short--I caught up to my canoe, put a towline on it, and fortunately made it back to the ramp with both canoes intact, and well before I took on enough water to sink.
Hindsight being 20/20, I should have taken a little longer to inspect the borrowed canoe before I took off. If I had, I hope I'd have had the good sense to let my canoe float away--but I really love that old Mad River!
Still--crappy "stolen" canoe, ocean, winter, solo hunter, outgoing tide and offshore wind--I can certainly envision the headlines when they found my truck and body . . . .
It turned out to be a nice afternoon, but I barely saw any black ducks, and the ones I saw were absolutely not heading towards my spot. (They were heading for the next bay over.) I scratched out one suicidal bufflehead who piled into my black duck decoys.
I did a really dumb thing after the hunt, followed by a second really dumb thing. When I paddled back to the boat ramp, I pulled my canoe up onto the ramp and went to grab the truck. I opened the truck and went to take my waders off and put boots on. Just as I pulled off a wading boat, I looked down the ramp to see my canoe floating about 15 yards from the boat ramp. I don't know exactly what happened, but guess the ramp was steep enough that the canoe just slid back down to the water on the snow. (Maybe when the salt on the canoe melted the snow surface enough to reduce friction?)
Anyway, I remembered that the house next to the boat ramp had a canoe pulled up on the edge of the water, so I pulled my boot back on, grabbed a paddle, and put my lifejacket back on. I sprinted to where I'd seen the canoe, which fortunately wasn't locked. At this point my canoe had blown about 50 yards off the ramp. I realized that if I stopped to ask permission my canoe would be long gone, so I untied the canoe, slid it into the water, and hopped in.
About half way to my boat I realized that this canoe had been sitting there unused for a long time. It was a decent chopped fiberglass hull, but both plastic gunwales were broken, there were no thwarts, and the stern seat was gone. The bow seat was still in place, but not solid enough to sit on, even made some scary noises just from my leaning against it while kneeling. On top of that, there were clearly some holes in the fiberglass, as I was already sitting in an inch of water.
I considered turning back, but I really like the canoe I was about to lose. It's an old Mad River Explorer I got at a yard sale for about $150. I'm at least the third owner. I've had it almost 20 years now, and I'm guessing it was manufactured in the mid '70's. It's bomb-proof, camo painted, and has carried me all over Maine, New Hampshire, New Brunswick and Quebec, on everything from the Atlantic Ocean to Class 3 rapids to north woods secret trout ponds. It's probably my single favorite piece of outdoor gear.
Long story short--I caught up to my canoe, put a towline on it, and fortunately made it back to the ramp with both canoes intact, and well before I took on enough water to sink.
Hindsight being 20/20, I should have taken a little longer to inspect the borrowed canoe before I took off. If I had, I hope I'd have had the good sense to let my canoe float away--but I really love that old Mad River!
Still--crappy "stolen" canoe, ocean, winter, solo hunter, outgoing tide and offshore wind--I can certainly envision the headlines when they found my truck and body . . . .
First time we pulled it up but didn't tie it and the wind and waves worked it loose and it drifted away. We recovered it a few hours later down at the end of the lake. Second time it was upside down on shore and extreme winds picked it up and it went spinning through the air a hundred yards before it even hit the water. Miraculously it landed right side up and blew over to the other side of the lake where we recovered it the next day after the winds calmed down. Both times I was in a very remote area on a two week trip. Both times we had a second canoe with us to assist in recovery.
