dlothrop

Just got back from Saguenay. We were there for a week & kayak camped down the Fjord. The guide we used was from Azumit Aventure. They don't speak much english and deal only with canadian money, no credit cards. For $600 canadian we had a guide and food for 5 days for 2 people. After the trip we stayed at ESSIPIT. Katrina remnets caused problems there with road washouts - 138 was closed for several days. All the other boaters got out of the Fjord, but we paddled on. Trees were blown down at our campsite and we had an interesting meal with 5 people and a 2 burner stove in a 2 man tent eating cheese fondue while the storm raged outside. Beluga whales traveled with us for 2 days, my wife was singing the Baby Beluga song for hours on end. Also saw a Blue Whale and 2 Fin whales. The whale numbers are way dowm this year. The camp sites in the Fjord have 6 platforms with an outhouse, so they are pretty civilized. The Fjord is hard on glass boats, not may places to take out - even for a break. We were in boats for 3-4 hours at a time. My boat (P & H Quest, not the Orion - that never gets holes) had 2 holes from the previous week downeast paddling in the rocks off Halifax Island. But the packing tape patches held the entire trip. Booking sites in the Fjord, you tell them where you will put in and how long you will be there and they assign the sites. They've had problems with over optimistic kayakers, not making their destinations so the sites get jammed with too many people. The platorms are big enough that 2 tents could share in a pinch. We had no such problems. Average paddle was 10 miles a day, with 2 shorts days of 6 miles. The drive is long and with gas prices they way they are it cost over $100 US on the way back and took about 9 hours driving time. Next Big Trip: Bay of Fundy next August.... David & Jeanne Lothrop

Hi Liz, We've camped there many times. Remote sites R9 and R5 are the best on Big Island. I like the north part of the lake. Best site is Black Island R30, whole Island and a good setup, but it is very remote. Sites R28 and R29 in the north are great, but a mile or 2 in form the Errol Put in. For non-campers - Several options in Errol and along Macgolloway (Good B&B there with log cabins, but long paddle to lake and back). For camping & non camping south part of lake is best. North part is best for viewing, but a 12 mile round trip. It will be very cold, be prepared for near freezing temps at night. Lake can be like glass or really choppy in any wind. South part is best in wind since it's deeper and more Islands to hide behind. A must see is Matallik Island. It's private, but if owner is not there you can land. It has foundation of a grand old lodge and boat slip built into the island. Dan & Linda have been there more than I, I'm sure they will chime in as well. have fun, David Lothrop

It's a very sad thing. I have kids about their age, and cannot image loosing one to something like this. Legistation cannot protect people from themselves. Warning labels don't help anyone. They just protect against law suits. Part of the price of freedom is to do stupid things, and going out in the fog in an area you don't know. One can only hope what happened to these unfortunate girls will keep someone else from doing a similar thing. We can only continue to do what we are doing, educate people so there won't be legislation to regulate what we can do an when we can do it. It's not the people we can reach that are in danger, it's those we don't reach. There are thosands of recreational kayaks out there who will never take a lesson who are at risk because they don't know what we know. How do we get our information to them? I pray for the parents and hope will find the strength to go on through this. David Lothrop

Morrisey Blvd was totally iced in from UMass to the channel under the bridge out to Thompson Island. Only the river section was open. The ice as not very thick last weekend. The boat crashed through when I ran up on it, buthere was no place to put the paddle. I'm sure there is more now. We'll try again some time in Febuary with Spectacle as an alternative destination.

Time was running out for the Jnuary paddle and I had to work on MLK day. So my wife and I headed out for Boston Harbor. The object was to circumnavigate Thompson Island. We had scoped out the harbor the on Saturday walking the dog along the beach. No ice on the harbor and the put in on Morrissey Boulevard was clear. Not! The only ice free put it was South Boston on Sunday. We were quite the curios sight to the joggers and walkers while loading our gear into our boats. More than one person asked where we were going and why. We headed around the north side of the Island out of the wind and cruised the back side of the island. Coming round the southern tip, there was a flat sea ice. The tide was going out, so we ferried down the sand bar over to the ice free channel. There was no way through the ice, so we re-traced our steps back to the put in. There was no one in the harbor except for the ferries and a single tugboat. Back at the beach the ice covered boats were reloaded on the car after some hot drinks. It was a good day on the water. I'm aready looking forward to the Febuary paddle.