Published by Gar-V
Thursday, September 4th, 2008
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I was online looking at some stuff about the South Pole for my class on the South Pole, and Wikipedia had a space reserved on that site to broadcast their descriptions of applicable search terms. It was already the top ranking result for every google search I have ever made, but now they have injected their knowledge straight into my other interweb resources. Thank you Wikipedia, I couldn't have passed high school U.S. History without you. On a sidenote did you ever resolve the issue of you-know-who being a hermaphrodite? I do not wish to mention you-know-who because if it's not true, I do not wish to propagate the rumour. Thanks again!
Yours Truly,
A Non-Offensive Pen Name
Published by Bear
Sunday, June 15th, 2008
Today was a good day. This morning, around 9 o'clock, my dad and I set out for a river adventure. We had decided the night before that it might be fun to try a long ride in the kayaks (weather permitting). The forecast looked good so we packed lunches and set off to paddle around Grindstone island. This was to be an adventure in three legs.
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Leg 1 was fairly uneventful and fell between the hours of 9 and 10. We started off from the house and paddled straight across the channel to Picton island. Hugging the eastern shore, we made our way North and completed the first leg of our trip by stopping at Canoe Point for a banana. Hurray for potassium.
The second leg proved equally as calm as the first. We came around the North-East point of Grindstone and made our way West through crystal clear water. We'd started to develop a steady rhythm in our strokes that made miles pass without notice. We ended the second leg by beaching the kayaks at Potter's Beach to enjoy our sandwiches in the sand.
I wish I could say the the rest of the trip was just as pleasant and peaceful but I'd be lying through my teeth. After we left the beach, the wind had decided to ride in from the West. To clarify, the westernmost edge of the St. Lawrence is bordered by Lake Ontario which is very large and provides many miles of open water for wind to build up speed. We did not anticipated the difficulty of our next challenge.
The last leg was one hell of a paddle. We turned the South-West corner and met rolling white caps in the channel. Since we weren't going exactly with or against the waves, the boats kept turning off course. The two boats have a skeg and rudder but we were afraid to deploy them should the waves grab hold of either and tip us over. We put the meat to the paddle (as they say) as we navigated our way down river to Bluff island. We got to Bluff well after noon and the midday boat traffic was in full swing. Now, in addition to maneuvering the waves, we were constantly reminded of the speedboats, cruisers, and barges flying past our bows. Upon reaching Bluff, we rested for a moment, turned the corner, and started the last section home.
Minutes after 3 o'clock we reached the dock for a total time of just over 6 hours. The round-trip distance was estimated at approximately 14 miles. We cracked open a couple beers at the water and rested for a few moments before heading back up to the house. The next feat of strength (and arguably the toughest) was entertaining extended family for a father's day dinner.
Today was a good day.