I made it

[Aloha]

Glad it all worked out and you made it safely. 

[jzmtl]

 I passed through Montreal around lunch time yesterday and I thought about sending you a message to see if you wanted to get lunch,  but I was so close to getting where I was going that I juts couldn't being myself to stop!  Besides, I may be doing a lot of jobs at the port in Montreal, so I imagine you'll be seeing a lot of me.  You are always welcome at my place whenever you venture out this way!

Ha, I can imagine, after such a long trip I'd want to just get it over with. Ottawa is just day trip anyway, heck a lot closer than Halifax. I'm leaving town in a few days though and won't be back till end of July.

I'm pretty annoyed about it, but there is a kayak rental place not far from here and my father has extra boats I can use when I visit him, so all is not lost.  A round trip to go get them is going to run around $700, and I really don't have space to keep them here anyway.

Heck for that much you might as well buy new ones, I think, my experience with kayak is limited to seeing the display at Costco.

[Grant Lamontagne]

 I passed through Montreal around lunch time yesterday and I thought about sending you a message to see if you wanted to get lunch,  but I was so close to getting where I was going that I juts couldn't being myself to stop!  Besides, I may be doing a lot of jobs at the port in Montreal, so I imagine you'll be seeing a lot of me.  You are always welcome at my place whenever you venture out this way!

Ha, I can imagine, after such a long trip I'd want to just get it over with. Ottawa is just day trip anyway, heck a lot closer than Halifax. I'm leaving town in a few days though and won't be back till end of July.

I'm pretty annoyed about it, but there is a kayak rental place not far from here and my father has extra boats I can use when I visit him, so all is not lost.  A round trip to go get them is going to run around $700, and I really don't have space to keep them here anyway.

Heck for that much you might as well buy new ones, I think, my experience with kayak is limited to seeing the display at Costco.

I'd be hard pressed to find one decent boat for $700, let alone two.  And paddles.  And life jackets.  And j racks to carry them!

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

Woohoo! Glad you made Def!

Welcome to the neighborhood.

Thanks!  We are in West Centertown (I think?) and pretty close to everything except parking....

Def

[derekmac]

Woohoo! Glad you made Def!

Welcome to the neighborhood.

Thanks!  We are in West Centertown (I think?) and pretty close to everything except parking....

Def

You own two Jeeps (or one Jeep?), you can park where ever you want.

[jzmtl]

I'd be hard pressed to find one decent boat for $700, let alone two.  And paddles.  And life jackets.  And j racks to carry them!

Def

They are that expensive eh? And I thought about buying the $350 one from Costco.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Like anything else, you can get the cheap ones and they are probably good enough, at least short term.  If all you want to do is putter around at the cottage then the cheap Pelicans are good enough.  If you want to actually go somewhere then they are not a good idea.

Def

[jzmtl]

What's the difference between cheap and expensive ones, thickness of plastic, maneuverability, comfort?

[Grant Lamontagne]

Oh boy, good question!

The cheap boats are short and fat, with giant cockpit openings.  This means that they are super stable and easy to get and out.

Better boats are longer and slimmer, making them less stable but a lot more efficient in travel.  The short, fat boats rotate to the left when you paddle on the right, and rotate right when you paddle on the left, which means that a lot of energy is wasted on rotation, and less available for propulsion.  Better boats will rotate less so that more of your energy goes into moving the boat forward.

The cheap ones usually are made with thinner/cheaper plastics, and have moulded plastic seats, while better boats will be better plastic (or fiberglass, kevlar, carbon fiber etc) and padded seats. 

Better boats also have features likenrudders, skegs, cargo holds, day hatches, hard and soft deck lines and so on, many of which are either missing or substandard on the cheap boats.

There's a lot more than that, but those are the main points.

Def

[jzmtl]

Thanks, that makes sense, the one in Costco is pretty stubby and probably less like to flip for a newbie. I may end up with a canoe anyway, since it's not limited to one person.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I've been looking at canoes too.  Like the kayaks thoigh, I really don't have room to store it here.

Def

[dks]

This must take up most of your free space

[ducttapetech]

LOL!

That's us mobile

[Grant Lamontagne]

That boat costs more than my building!

Hell, the fuel alone probably comes close...... 

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

Here are a few more awful photos I've snapped of the area.  One is a pic of the Ottawa River taken over the side of the bridge to Quebec that I accidentally took yesterday.  Another is a different spot of the Ottawa River taken once I was back in Ontario and headed to the grocery store.

One shows a legitimate protest, although against what I'm not certain.

And the last one is the ancient oven we have in our townhouse.

Hardly inspiring photos, but hey, Wikipedia and the Ottawa website are full of those, and I thought you'd all rather share my experiences here!

Def

[zoidberg]

That river looks pretty gnarly.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yes, unfortunately it is illegal to paddle at these spots.

Def

[yud]

Given the Ottawa river trading your sea kayak for a crossover might be a good move.  Although that canal might be a good place to stretch a sea kayak's legs.

At any rate of the big cities I have been in Ottawa seems like the nicest.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I've been planning to get a smaller boat for a couple of years now.  In fact, longer than that, and I did buy a smaller boat, but then a certain young lady decided to lay claim to it! 

Def

[dks]

You need to watch the archieluxury YouTube channel, to learn about women, marriage..  Funny