Canoe!

One month ago, I accidentally bought a canoe.  Jim and I only went to “look” at canoes and ended up leaving the store as owners of a green Nova Craft Prospector.  In the months leading up to that unplanned purchase we had been toying with our summer vacation plans, mainly looking at spending a couple of weeks in Europe.  We also went camping in April and May, and started to appreciate that the best way to see Ontario’s parks was not on foot but on water.

While not geographically blessed with oceans or mountains, Ontario has lakes.  Lots of them.  And the wilderness that inspired Tom Thompson.  On our May camping trip, I proposed spending our money on a canoe rather than flights, setting the wheels paddles in motion to join the community of boat owners.

Here are three reasons why I’m really excited about canoes:

1. History

Canoes have a distinctive place in Canadian history.  From the invention and use by aboriginals, to the early navigation of waterways by Voyageurs, to increasing recreational use in the later 1800s, to one of our most famous canoeists, Pierre Elliott Trudeau – canoes are peppered throughout Canada’s history and identity.  I’ve only recently found out about the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough Ontario and am looking forward to visiting it.  The museum is dedicated to communicating the canoe’s enduring significance to national heritage, with over 600 canoes in its collection.

2. Nature

Canoes provide a front row seat for viewing your environment.  From the Humber River that flows through west end Toronto, to quiet small lakes of Haliburon, to the busier lake Joseph in Muskoka, I’ve already had a taste of how canoes offers a great way to see and experience places.   They offer a different perspective from land, usually at a slow and relaxing pace.  It even give you the chance to get closer to wildlife, including a mama moose and her two babies.

3.  Community

Like other recreational activities, there is a community of canoeists that we’re just starting to get to know and interact with.  From the friendly acknowledgments out on isolated lakes, to tips on how beavers changed available routes on a lake, to getting to interact with the other(s) in your boat, canoeing offers a lot of opportunities for positive interactions.  And a learning experience about interaction with powerboats that I still haven’t mastered.