The New Canoe

     Three days ago my wife and I carried our three week old child to several outdoor stores intent on purchasing a canoe. For many months I browsed countless websites and craigslist constantly searching for the perfect boat. Would I get a jon boat, a row boat, or perhaps even a slick bass boat? I pined over many set ups and thought constantly of being on the water fishing for the record setting bass.  I wanted a vessel  that I could enjoy both with my family and by myself. I needed to get on many different types of water. The boat must be able to handle flat and moving water. It should be able to get me across big water and into tiny pockets at the end of narrow canals.
    
     Then I thought to days not too long ago. For several summers I led a wilderness tripping program in Maine and white water canoe trips were a large component of my program. I remembered gliding effortlessly between the rips hearing nothing but the water lapping against the side of the green canoe. I recalled prying with all of my might, back paddling, and j-stroking to get the perfect line entering a class III rapid. A smile crept upon my face as I thought of passing by a grazing moose, floating under a circling eagle, and beaching on a remote bank to eat wild strawberries amongst a wilderness undisturbed by my presence.

     The canoe was my choice. An elegant craft used by many generations and cultures before me, the canoe is a boat that appeals to me. In its purest form it is minimalist perfection. I could take on any water in a canoe. I could find the deepest pockets amongst the thickest lillies holding the largest bass. I could find adventure amongst the ripples and current of a mighty river. I could glide across the water in perfect quiet and solitude. More importantly, I could teach my daughter.

     Not too long from now she will be grown and my time with her limited. The canoe offers an intimate experience, not just with nature but also between the paddlers. She will be my audience and I hers in a little bit of heaven measuring just over fourteen feet.

     I have many plans for my little boat. It will be taken from its minimalist form, butchered and accessorized to meet my needs as an angler. It will no doubt have an electric motor. It will have lights, gadgets, stabilizers, and more. These modifications will not be permanent as I would prefer to strip it down from time to time. There will be few things more precious in my life than time with family in our little canoe. I long for the days when our only distraction is the natural world around us.

     My first time out in the canoe I caught several fish of good eating and legal keeping size. I thought the better of keeping them. Instead, I threw them back in hopes of one day helping my daughter catch them again.