Another Sunday With Pat

We decided to try our hand at canoeing this time...
I hadn't had my canoe on my Rav4 yet, so the first task was to get it on the roof and tied down.
My canoe is a 17 1/2 foot Wenonah Spirit II. It is made of "Tuf-Weave" (fiberglass), is dark green, and has very nice mahogany trim and woven cane seats. It is a little heavy (~70 lbs) due to the construction and the wood trim, but I really like the way it looks.

My 2001 Toyota Rav4 doesn't have a factory roof rack (I have been trying to find a salvage one) so we used the old foam block technique. It actually went on pretty well considering how short the Rav4 is and I managed to thread a tie-down strap through the front bumper. On the back we were able to use 2 straps through the tow hooks. I didn't want to use 2 in the front because I was afraid it would make it difficult to see while driving. That turned out to be a bit of a mistake.

When we decided to go for it (around 7:30 AM) there was only a slight breeze, but by the time we got going the wind was really picking up. When we got out on the dike road heading to the landing the canoe was getting blown all over and nearly slid off the roof. We had to stop several times to cinch up the straps but with only one strap in front we could not get it to sit still.

Finally made it to Verchota Landing North of the spillway on Prairie Island. This leads into a beautiful stretch of backwaters in the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Refuge. We are SO blessed to live in this area!

Got the canoe off and into the water, donned our life jackets and started paddling. As soon as we got away from the shelter of the landing area the wind immediately started pushing us around. When trying to go crosswind it was nearly impossible to keep our heading. Finally got going up river into the wind. As long as we kept the wind in our face it was not too bad but we were really working.
Paddled for about an hour up river and in spite of the wind it was very nice. Fantastic scenery and wildlife - eagles, gulls, hawks, egrets, etc. but we could never really stop long enough to fully enjoy it

Finally found a spot where we could get out of the wind so we took a short break and then headed back. With the wind behind us we got downriver in no time, but it was still tricky whenever we had to turn crosswind. Nevertheless, we stayed dry.
When we got back to the landing there were fishermen with power boats leaving because of the wind. That made us feel quite a bit better about the whole thing.

Strapped the canoe back on and after a few stops to tighten things up we made it back home safely. We vowed to do it again when it was not so breezy.
Quite an adventure!