We went to a special event today help by the Tualatin River Keepers - a local organization that helps Portlanders explore the waterways and rivers in the area. They hosted an annual event called The Columbia Slough Regatta where anybody in the community can come out to the Columbia River Slough (swamp/wetlands) and paddle around in provided canoes. We have never been in a canoe before, so we were all really excited about this event. We registered when we arrived, and put on the T-Shirts they were handing out, which made us look like we knew what we were doing (we had no clue):
It was really crowded, so we had to wait awhile before getting our life jackets and heading down to the boats:
But before long, we were in our canoe and off on our great adventure!
After a minute or two on the water, we all started to doubt just how great of an adventure this was really going to be. Neither Matthew and I knew anything about steering a canoe, which is harder to figure out than you would think. A huge part of the problem was how unstable our canoe was! We would rock wildly at the slightest movement, which was very stressful for Matthew and I because neither of us wanted to take a swim!
Not everyone on the river was having the same troubles we were (although there were a fair amount of families that looked like they were doubting their adventure too). This lady paddled up and down the river with the best companion you could ask for during a water adventure. Looks like the dog was ready and equipped to help anybody who needed it....I tried to stay close to this canoe, just in case. ;)
Matthew and I slowly got the hang of paddling and getting our canoe to go the direction we wanted it too, but not without quite a bit of stress and annoyance. I don't think the kids had that great of a time either, since Matthew and I forced them to stay still like little statues. Especially Rowan, who wanted to lean out of the boat to touch the water or a leaf or the air - she rocked our little boat like crazy!
We probably lasted about 45 minutes (most of the time was spent trying to get back to shore!) before we docked our canoe and tumbled out onto dry land again. I can't say that this is something we will do again, although perhaps if we had a steadier vessel (on of the volunteers mentioned when we got back that ours was a "tippy" canoe) we would consider a future voyage. But for now, we are all just happy to be back on land, dry and safe, relieved that this adventure is over!
It was really crowded, so we had to wait awhile before getting our life jackets and heading down to the boats:
But before long, we were in our canoe and off on our great adventure!
After a minute or two on the water, we all started to doubt just how great of an adventure this was really going to be. Neither Matthew and I knew anything about steering a canoe, which is harder to figure out than you would think. A huge part of the problem was how unstable our canoe was! We would rock wildly at the slightest movement, which was very stressful for Matthew and I because neither of us wanted to take a swim!
Not everyone on the river was having the same troubles we were (although there were a fair amount of families that looked like they were doubting their adventure too). This lady paddled up and down the river with the best companion you could ask for during a water adventure. Looks like the dog was ready and equipped to help anybody who needed it....I tried to stay close to this canoe, just in case. ;)
Matthew and I slowly got the hang of paddling and getting our canoe to go the direction we wanted it too, but not without quite a bit of stress and annoyance. I don't think the kids had that great of a time either, since Matthew and I forced them to stay still like little statues. Especially Rowan, who wanted to lean out of the boat to touch the water or a leaf or the air - she rocked our little boat like crazy!
We probably lasted about 45 minutes (most of the time was spent trying to get back to shore!) before we docked our canoe and tumbled out onto dry land again. I can't say that this is something we will do again, although perhaps if we had a steadier vessel (on of the volunteers mentioned when we got back that ours was a "tippy" canoe) we would consider a future voyage. But for now, we are all just happy to be back on land, dry and safe, relieved that this adventure is over!