A good friend & social distanced in solo canoes yesterday down near Jackson Michigan. Plan A had been to be spending a week exploring the Greenbriar in West Virginia but, as we know, things changed. There is a county park on the lake with excellent water access & parking so we started there. At the north end of the lake we found the outlet drain but that wasn’t navigable. Walked the embankment the keeps the lake a lake & not a marsh and found the lift over to a pond that is a part of the river (really a creek & turned into a drain downstream). We paddled up the to Portage lake road bridge & found that we did well not to try launching there. Guardrails tight to the bridge & No Boat Launching sighs. I guess that the upper lakes like Little Portage Lake with no public access want to keep out the yahoos.
On the paddle back down the lake I found that I had forgotten how much “fun” it is in the Rendezvous with quartering winds & seas from the stern. Nothing really along to throw into the stern & pulling the pin on the sliding seat to go back farther is not something I’ll try out in the lake. I’m glad that it was only about a mile and a half.
Now let me get this straight: Paddled…Then portaged from one water body (named after portaging) to yet another water body(also named after portaging) but then was uh, ahem–“thwarted.” Then returned on something of a nice tailwind…Or something like that.
Good thing you didn’t come across any “Canoe Cart Lake” or “Canoe Cart River” or things might really get confusing as a bad yolk.
I don’t know but there two on the southern route across Michigan. One is just off of the Huron river on the east side and the one I paddled center state on the Grand River drainage. These days you go through Hell on your way up the eastern Portage River. Back in Hugh Heward’s day you had to find your way through a large marsh to get into the Portage River heading west.
I probably paddle the 'vous the most partly because it sleeps outside on the top rack rather than inside the garage like the Indy. Both cars have to move out to get the Indy down & it’s a bit of an effort to get it back up. Also, Tuff Weave is pretty stiff & indestructible. Friday reminded of why Buckley from Mountainside Canoes (Mt. Pleasant - Chippewa River) had a rudder on his for when he would be paddling Superior after coming off of the North Shore rivers like the Pukasaw.
I think the Rendezvous is cool because it has a strong and unique personality and also has impressive flat water cruising for a boat with so much river capability. I like the size and (comforting) depth too.
But I don’t think it’s the best dog boat for folks like me that put the dog in front.
I had a Royalex Rendezvous and I replaced the seat with a kneeling thwart so I could mount it at the rear of the seat hangers and move the seating position about 4 inches rearward. I also replaced the rear thwart with a kneeling thwart and paddled from that position when I took the dog. The handling of my buddy’s composite Rendezvous wasn’t quite as naughty but it was similar.
I remember reading that the Royalex Rendezvous had an issue with the stock seat placement. Mine is a rescued Tuff-weave hull and has the Wenonah aluminum tube frame sliding pedestal. I’m maybe 60 - 40 kneeling which works better than some might think with that set up. You (or at least I) do need to make the rear stop for the seat adjustments from out of the boat.
Rescued from a friends yard growing things. He had found it in a yard sale & thought he would set it up for white water.Unfortunately, he had and has health issues so the boat sat. I had one patch to make and glassed the seat frame back in. It’s an outstanding solo river tripping canoe.
