Art Kleiner, owner of Art’s Nautical Wood Works in Florence, has agreed to present a program on Building a Woodstrip Canoe. If there are particular aspects of this subject you would like to see discussed, e-mail your suggestion to canoe@efn.org.

Besides building woodstrip canoes, Art supplies materials and kits for their construction. He also has a line of handcrafted nautical items. Check out his website at www.artcanoes.com.
 
 

Program For March

The March meeting will be devoted to trip planning.

We need input from everyone on trip suggestions, favorite club trips of the past, the trips of your dreams and some the places you personally like to paddle. If you think you won’t be at the meeting, e-mail your suggestions, etc. to canoe@efn.org

How about the John Day, the Hanford Reach, the Missouri Breaks for starters?

Lana Lindstrom, our new president-elect, has been on a two month walkabout (paddleabout?) in New Zealand.

Before leaving, she promised to present a slide show from the trip. It should be great, as New Zealand is an interesting place. There are many more sheep there than people, which is why the have ozone hole problems (sheep farts, you know). They call themselves Kiwis - either after the fruit or the weird bird, don’t know which - and are more British than the Brits. They vacation during our summer on lovely South Pacific islands where they drink like fish, eat nothing but beef and won’t go near the local seafood or the native dishes. They also very nearly severed diplomatic relations with Australia because they felt the Australians had cheated in a cricket match.
It seems in New Zealand that is a serious no-no.

Despite the wooly people, the scenery in much of the country is spectacular. Plenty of water, lots of green and many places to paddle. The program should be both entertaining and informative.
 
 

Many thanks to Jack Cobb and his son for their fascinating presentation at the December meeting.

The first part of the program was an illustrated talk of the 600 mile marathon race he and his son did a couple of years ago. They had to hike up the Chilkoot Pass (with packs) and then paddle down the Yukon. They finished 13th in a field of 55, which included some world class canoe marathoners. The only other paddler from Eugene finished last, a week behind the winners. That pair did it my way, though, stopping at every native village for coffee, rest and conversation.

The second part of the program was a video tape of a paddle down the Cree River in northern Saskatchewan.

It was not a professional travelog type tape, and that is what made it so refreshing. Just a bunch of guys doing what a bunch of guys do when they are off by themselves for a week or so. And the fishing — lots of Northern Pike as large as Muskys. Come to think of it, they should sell the tape to the Province as it would make great advertising material.
 
 

Trip Reports

Eel Lake

The intrepid group of paddlers cruises out of the frosty willamette valley, over the hill and into the slightly foggy but much warmer Elk Creek/ Umpqua Ruver drainage. We rejoice in the warmer temperature when we unload our boats at the Eel Lake boat ramp.

We are greeted by the whine of radio controlled float planes and boats. Not the pristine quiet we expected but as soon as we round the bend into the east arm the sound goes away and we are left with the peace we had hoped for.

The air is still leaving the water surface to reflect all the glory of the remaining fall colors balanced with the brilliant greens of the evergreen trees and ferns.

About halfway up the arm we spot movement in the water. River otters moving across an inlet. We follow them from a distance and watch as they swim with the grace known only to water dwellers. After 10 or 15 minutes we continue on up the arm enjoying the pleasant weather, smooth paddling, and lovely scenery. At the head of the arm we spend some time wondering what happened to the leaves of the water lilies. They looked sort of chewed off but then we realized that the leaves were on the bottom and probably just rotted off as a part of the plant cycle.

We round the bend back to the boat ramp in time to see and hear the last run of the last radio controlled boat. I can relate to the pleasure of building and playing with such craft since I built and flew model airplanes myself.
It's interesting to note them as a slight irritant now with my different priorities.

After lunch at the picnic area near the boat ramp the rest of the gang decided that they had had enough and headed back to Eugene leaving Horst and myself to explore a little of the west arm before leaving.
In an inlet a little way up we saw more otters. We drifted and quietly sculled closer and closer observing them resting and preening each other and occasionally nipping at each other for some unknown slight. They knew we were there but didn't seem to mind our presence as we drifted to within 15 feet of three of them resting on a grass covered stump. They are such beautiful creatures.

Horst and i then finished our circumnavigation enjoying the wonderful scenery and even more wonderful reflections on the quiet waters of this delightful lake.

Omar

(Note: a report of the trip to Loon Lake will appear in the February newsletter.)