For months now (maybe even a year) – I have been contemplating a project. For many, this project may not seem like much, but for a fella like me (livin’ a life of “chaos in paradise”), this has been quite the undertaking.
It all started when the END OF ONE ERA ushered in the BEGNING OF A NEW ERA. Then, a vehicle upgrade (well, actually a “downgrade” in size), and an pending vacation trip made the project even more of a necessity! It all started (in earnest) in the fall of 2013.
I had been “car-topping” my canoe for transportation to and from my paddling adventures, but getting the canoe up on top of the car (or van) and back down has proven to be a little more of a hassle (and scratch/dent inducing) endeavor than I had envisioned. Then, I up(down)graded my vehicle from a 2000 Saturn SL1 to a 2005 Toyota Corolla. The vehicles are comparable in length, but the roofline is noticeably shorter, and thus, even less stable to “cartop” than the Saturn. (I suppose I could “make it work” if I had to, but between the scratch/dent issue and the shorter roofline, I elected not to risk it.)
What I did was start researching alternate methods of transporting the canoe. I started looking at trailers that would haul canoes.
There are many different options available. If money was no object, I could have had a readymade trailer delivered within a week – but, money IS an object. So, it was back to the drawing board. What became pretty apparent to me was that MANY people (particularly kayakers, but many canoers too) BUILD their OWN trailer – and in typical “Father of Five” fashion, I became ferociously obsessed with researching these trailers and the idea of building my own.
I think I identified (and visited) every website that documented the building, modifying, customizing, or rebuilding of a trailer for use as a canoe hauler.
To help me organize the ideas I stumbled upon, I turned to another online resource I had previously ignored… Pinterest. I created something called a “pin-board” to collect the ideas I liked best. (If you are interested, feel free to visit my “Canoe Trailer Pin-Board” by following the link.).
The basic design (and sort of “foundation” for my project) looked something like the photo on the right.
My “ideal” canoe trailer would have the following features…
· It would be inexpensive
· It would be small and lightweight (but long enough to haul a 17’ canoe)
· It would need to have the ability to carry gear (either in the canoe or in/on the trailer)
· It would need to have the ability to use it for other purposes (aka – “convertible”)
· It would need to be storable
· To make it storable, I needed it to (easily) break down or fold up
· To make it usable, I needed it to (easily) be set up or unfold out of storage
Immediately, the Harbor Freight trailers became the obvious solution. They have four models to choose from. A “lightweight” and a “heavy duty” in a 40x48 “stick” trailer or a 48x96 “fold up” trailer. Regardless of the deck size, I wanted to go with the heavier duty trailer. The lightweight trailers have an 8” wheel and the heavy duty trailers have a 12” wheel. The larger wheel is more suited for longer hauls.
After several months (most of the LONG Minnesota winter of 2013-2014) and several discussions with / input from my good buddy “Backside of Forty” (of which mostly centered around the 40x48 vs 48x96 debate) I found myself more often than not drifting towards the 40x48 option. Honestly, neither was the ideal solution. It ultimately came down to price, size, and convertibility.
Once I felt as if I exhausted all “research” possibilities, I took the ideas I liked best, and combined them into a “hybrid” trailer. I drew out (to scale) what I thought the trailer would look like.
As you can see, I chose the 40x48 stick trailer. I would build it with two length options – one extraordinarily long (for the canoe) and one that is much more typical.
I planned on keeping the trailer deck 40x48. This way I can…
Build rails for the small trailer.
Build a storage box to fit a 40x48 floor.
Buy and install (with the option to remove) a car top carrier.
Build an “oversized” deck (that would rest three feet out the front on the tongue, and hang over the rear of the trailer by 1 foot) giving me the equivalent of a 48x96 flatbed (and could even build rails for a 48x96 trailer too!).
This would allow me to…
Use the trailer to haul JUST the canoe, or…
Use the trailer to haul the canoe AND a storage box / cartop carrier, or…
Use the trailer to haul a storage box / cartop carrier WITHOUT the canoe, or…
Use the trailer to haul as EITHER a 40x48 or 48x96 inch flatbed WITHOUT the canoe or the storage box / cartop carrier.
I can also remove all “accessories” (tongue, storage boxes, canoe framework, and rails), and be left with a very small, short and narrow trailer that can lean up against my garage wall, and snug between the studs. The tongue(s) / rails / oversized flatbed could all be hung on the garage wall.
Yup. This plan suited my needs!! So, with all my plans in place, I began saving my “allowance”.
It would only be a matter of time before I started!!
After a lengthy bit of trial and error, two price drops, a couple of attempted scams on Craigslist, and a “no call, no show” potential buyer – the END OF AN ERA (link to a post titled the same) has finally come to fruition.
While I am saddened to see this little bit of our family’s history go, I am happy to report that the new owners are a truly WONDERFUL family, and I have NO DOUBTS that they and their children will soon be making memories of their own with the boat!!
Good bye boat. Thanks for the memories! May your enjoy many safe and enjoyable journeys with your new owners!
It’s been twenty two years (give or take) since I last spent time in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and it has been eight years since my last camping trip (taken with Best Bud Ed) to the Voyagers National Park (adjacent to the BWCA). For many years prior to that, my annual trip to the BWCA for was the highlight of my year, and something I looked forward to on the bus ride home from the current year’s trip.
Needless to say, I was LONG overdue for a canoe trip!
Lucky for me, this year the boys’ Scout Troop decided to make a three day canoe trip along the Minnesota River! This was PERFECT in many ways. First, I have wanted to canoe the Minnesota River for a long time, and last year’s accusation has had a Minnesota River trip on the forefront of my mind. Secondly, I have not had a real “outing” with the Troop (other than summer camp) since the campout to Ft. Ridgley in 2010 (which was “cabin camping”) or the College of Wilderness Knowledge in 2008 (which was rustic tent camping). Third, I had all the days off from work!!
Unfortunately, it was also less than perfect in another way. I had some pre-existing plans for that weekend. A long time friend was getting married. Towards the tail end of the planning for the canoe trip, it became apparent that an added chaperone would be beneficial – and after speaking to the VERY UNDERSTANDING couple two days before their wedding, I was assured that they understood my desire to adjust my weekend plans and to help chaperone the canoe trip instead! Joe & Laura, you guys are the BEST! Thanks a ton!
Like I said, I was LONG overdue for this trip!
After two days of planning, preparing, and packing – #3 of 5 and I headed out to meet the rest of the Troop! Once the troop was gathered we headed out to our first destination – The Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area. There we set up camp for the night.
Once we finished setting up camp it was time to break out “Cracker Barrel” (Cracker Barrel is an after dinner snack – usually cheese, meats and crackers, but “Cracker Barrel” can mean all kinds of things). On tonight’s Cracker Barrel Menu was dutch oven Angel Food Cake with fresh strawberries!!
Well, as luck would have it, we forgot the dutch oven and instead tried to improvise (as any good Scout would do) and we tried to fry up some Angel Food patties in our mess kits. The results were mixed. There was some that got a little burned, and a few that were a little under done, but by in large – almost everyone had some amount of angel food cake that turned out great!
After “Cracker Barrel” the scouts cracked up a deck of cards and begged the Scoutmaster to play “Up and Down the River”. We played a series of 8 up and 8 down (sixteen hands). By the end of this long game our fire had gone out and it was time to hit the sack for some shuteye!
I was first up at 6:00am. I had my tent cleaned and was ready to start breakfast before the next person was up. On the menu this morning – Omelet in a bag. Only we forgot the bags, so they became “western scrambled eggs” fried up with green peppers and onions (we forgot about the mushrooms we had packed along with us).
After breakfast, motivating the scouts to get moving was a little challenging, but with the reminder that the sooner they finished cleaning the sooner we would be on the water – they eventually had everything cleaned and packed – and we headed out
Soon, we arrived at our entry point – Blakely, Minnesota. While the other leaders arranged the vehicles at our destination point, I helped the scouts get their gear down from the parking area to the river’s edge, then load up their gear in the canoes.
Once the work was done, it was time for a little R and R. Some of the boys went exploring, some of the boys hung around and visited, others found rocks and mud clumps to toss in the river.
One “boy” even found a few moments to put his feet up and really start to appreciate what was about to begin!
Before long, the other chaperones arrived and we slipped the canoes into the river and began our 19 mile journey home!
The weather forecast for the next two days – VERY hot and VERY humid.
We would have to keep a close eye on the boys and make sure they stay HYDRATED*
(* A little foreshadowing)
The Scoutmaster and I cast lines out and “troll fished” the river as we canoed. I caught NOTHING the whole weekend, but the Scoutmaster caught something that was a first for him (and the first time I saw one “in the wild”).
He had a strike on his line and as he reeled in his catch he announced he had a northern pike on the line – that was until he got it close enough to the canoe to realize that it was not a northern, it was a river Gar.
He pulled his canoe to shore and as I approached (camera in hand) the gar gave a big shake, unhooked himself, and splashed right back into the water. Apparently he was a little camera shy and did not want to make his debut here on the The Life of a Father of Five!
Before we knew it we had traveled roughly four miles and the boys were beginning to “share” the fact that they were hungry again. Lunch time had arrived. We watched for a good sand bar to pull off onto then started lunch.
Hot dogs, chili (chili dogs if you so desired), baked beans and potato chips. I took this opportunity to show off my super special “Spiral Cut Hot Dog” technique
Once lunch was complete, and clean up was finished it was time to let the boys blow off some steam. A quick dip in the shallows of the sand bar proved to be just the prescription.
It was time to head back on to the water. As we traveled the next eleven miles, we came upon several strange, but oddly beautiful (in their own way) sites.
Just some of the things we came across was a battered and smashed pontoon boat, an old bridge abutment, and a colony of swallow nests.
Time for another water break. By this time many of the boys water containers were empty and needing to be refilled from our potable water supply. This was a heavy five gallon container and to do so while in a canoe on the river would not have been safe. We pulled over and refilled everyone’s containers.
At mile 15 we floated up upon the perfect camping site. It was a GIANT sand bar created by the convergence of a small creek and the Minnesota River. The sand was clean, soft, and sturdy enough for camping on, and the creek proved to be a great place for the boys to play!
After setting up camp, and while the boys were cooling off by playing in the creek, the two Scoutmasters and myself prepared the special culinary surprise that the scoutmaster wanted to try.
Rouladen (link) - Rouladen is bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in thinly sliced beef (or a variant is onions, pickles, and mustard wrapped in thinly sliced beef which is then wrapped in bacon (as seen below)).
With no picnic table, seating or benches to work with, we improvised and created a camp kitchen out of our food bin, cooler, and an old tire that one of the scouts found on the sand bar.
The rouladen was very tasty, but unfortunately by the time I finished one of my two rouladen rolls the Scoutmaster (and several of the scouts) noticed that I was starting to look ill. In all honesty I was feeling horrible. I was beginning to succumb to the effects of some self inflected (yet accidental) dehydration. I was trying to conserve the potable water we brought with us and so throughout the day I had gone a little too sparingly with the water.
By dinnertime I was really starting to feel ill, and I knew what the problem was. I refilled my water bottle, took it and my bedroll into a shady area. There I began to slowly rehydrate myself and then laid down. A little over an hour (one quart of water and a short nap) later I was starting to feel a little better. At least well enough to get up and join the rest of the troop again.
Some were swimming, some were playing in the sand, and others were building a fire.
#3 of 5 floating down the creek on his back.
Another scout (face shrouded) was buried up to his neck in a hole that another scout dug after finding an old tire buried in the sand.
The tire was an Atlas Plycron Cushionaire tubeless Large White Wall Tire 7.10x15 – it looked pretty old and after checking on-line it appears that was a common tire in the 1940’s. I wonder how long it had been buried in this sandbar?
Despite my nap, once 9pm rolled by, the day had gotten the best of me. I said my goodnights and headed off to my tent where I fell asleep to the sounds of another rip-roaring game of “up and down the river”.
I awoke the next morning at 5:45 am. I quickly broke my tent, packed my gear, and packed my canoe while the rest of the troop still slept.
There, I noticed a little something that got forgotten that night. Cleaning up the camp kitchen! Nope, not this time! These boys needed to see this / and learn from this. I left this mess for them to clean up.
The boys (and the adults) were hot, tired, exhausted (and even one still feeling the effects of dehydration) so motivating them to clean up their tents, the camp kitchen mess from the night before, and breaking camp was not an easy thing to do.
Eventually, it was breakfast (which consisted of donuts and cantaloupe) that did the trick.
Once camp was broken breakfast was eaten and cleaned up – it was time to slip the canoes back into the river and finish the remainder of the journey.
Almost before we knew it, we came upon the landmark that signified the end of our canoe trip. We canoed up to, then under the Scott County Highway 9 / Carver County Highway 11 river bridge where, just on the other side, the boat landing was located.
I had a GREAT time (despite my bout with dehydration).
It was great to get back into a canoe and head out camping again! I remembered a number lessons I learned from my youth, and learned a few new lessons. I feel I will be better prepared for the next canoe / camping trip!
There was even talk of a future Isle Royale Hiking / Backpacking trip!! That would be a first for me (hiking/backpacking camping trip), and something I’d be really interested in!!
The time came for us to break out the canoe, and take it out on its maiden (well, maiden to us) voyage.
I had planned to take it out the day before, but due to some forgotten events in the schedule (forgotten due to my excitement to get the canoe out on the water), the maiden voyage had to wait until Sunday.
After mass on Sunday The Mother of Five started prompting us to get out on the canoe. I was feeling badly because I would have liked to have had her there with us, but unfortunately she had to work. I would have also liked to have had the boys with us, but they were away, working at Scout Camp.
With the #2 and #3 of 5 working at Scout Camp, The Mother of Five at work, it left #4 and #5 of 5 (the girls) and myself to take the canoe out on its maiden voyage. The canoe will only hold three or four of us at a time. With a family of seven, not everyone’s going to make it anyway.
I packed a “go bag” – consisting of a first aid kit, the canoe registration, my GPS, and a camera. We also packed a cooler of bottled water, cut watermelon (thanks Mother of Five!), and some granola bars.
With the help of the Mother of Five (before she left for work) she and I strapped the canoe “cartop”, we loaded up the paddles, lifejackets, seat cushions, cooler and go-bag, and headed out!
My initial worry (being among the “tall and fat” members of society) was that with me in the “stern” of the boat, the “bow” would be lifted way up and out of the water.
My solution was to put both the girls as far up front as possible, and then (since she was going to have to sit on the floor of the canoe, and it would add extra “ballast” – I was going to bring #5 of 5’s folding pink Disney Princess chair along for her to sit in. The size and height was PERFECT match for the canoe!
The canoe traveled perfectly. We had no problems “cartopping” it.
We unloaded the car, loaded up the canoe, and headed out for the great open water!
It was the first time (well, actually third. Best Bud Ed has taken me out on his canoe twice) that I have been in a canoe since 1989. Even after 12 years, it immediately came rushing back to me, and it felt GREAT! I suppose it’s like what they say about riding a bicycle. Once you learn, you never forget!
We made our way around the perimeter of the lake. About half way around we found a quiet little shaded area with a sandy bottom that we were able to wedge the canoe into while we ate our snacks.
After our snacks we headed back to open water and continued our journey around the lake.
Once we made it back to the public access, there was a long line of cars (boats) waiting to get into the lake and a line of boats waiting to get off the lake.
We used that time to play around a little bit. We canoed in circles for a while. I traded off spots with #4 of 5 (who was in the front of the canoe earlier) – giving her a chance at steering the canoe. (She’s gonna need a little more practice (i.e. – an excuse to get back out more often!)) Not bad for her first time out!
Then, I took #5 of 5 off her pretty pink princess chair (which fit perfectly in the canoe) and got her a paddlin’. She too will need a little more practice (i.e. – an excuse to get back out even MORE often!) but also did well for her age and for being her first time in a canoe!
The time came that it was finally our turn to use the public access. We pulled up the canoe – hopped out on the dock and (unlike all the other big motor boats), I was able to grab the canoe, and drag it off to the side of the landing so the next guy could load or unload. I had the canoe out of the water and out of the way in (literally) moments!
#4 and 5 of 5 sat in the canoe while I ran and grabbed the car from the parking lot. We made quick work of unloading the canoe, and loading up the car. We were back on the road and headed for home.
I could not have been happier with the performance of the canoe. It glided through the water like silk, and handled like a charm! It has been all I wanted (and more). I have identified a couple of potential “needs” to accessories the canoe with – namely a couple of portaging pads for moving the canoe around, and a better “cartopping” system than what the previous owners used. Ironicly, the portaging pads will interfere with the “cartopping”, so I will need a removable yoke for those portaging pads (when the time comes).
Maybe some sort of fishing pole holder, and some kneepads for kneeling – but they are not “necessities” at this time
Also, having the GPS with us while we are out makes for seeing how far we paddled, how fast we paddled, and how long we were padding very easy! I upload the data to the EveryTrail website and plot it all out with charts and graphs! I’m looking forward to using EveryTrail to keep track of my paddling exploits! Be sure to click through and see a live demo of The Canoe’s Maiden Voyage!
If you have read down to here and are interested in reading more, be sure to click here, click on the "Older Posts" link to your right, or use the "Archive" tool on the right sidebar. Thanks for visiting!
It all started (in earnest) in the fall of 2013. 
