Hi! I'm Grace Evans and this is Dry Spell, my weekly letter of off-season reflections on canoeing.
Other than picking up the canoe at the old canoe store, my longest car ride with my new-old canoe last summer was a trip to Point Pelee National Park, the southernmost point of mainland Canada.
We planned to paddle around the wetland and do some casual birdwatching as Pelee is a migration hot spot. At 289 km from my house it’s a long drive for a day trip. But during a pandemic, during a summer when I was laid off and as a teacher my partner was also home all day, six hours in a car was an appealing way just to see some different stuff than the stuff at my house.
For zipping to the local marsh I just use two ratchet straps to hold the canoe to the roof of my hatchback. But for our highway drive to Point Pelee we also tied the canoe down to the hood and back of the car. I was a little nervous about it falling off during highway speeds but my partner was more nervous:
Scott: Did the canoe move?
Me: Sorry I wasn’t watching the canoe
Scott: You should be watching it
Me: But this is a 3 hour car ride... You want me to watch the canoe for 3 whole hours? And never look away?
Scott: Yes.
We made it there with the canoe safely in place… even if I did look away once or twice.
Thanks for reading Dry Spell. I’d love to know what you think; please feel free to reply to this email!
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