#162 - Four Years, One Canoe, One Happy Dog: The North American Odyssey of Jennifer Gosselin & Pierre Pepin

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Welcome to Paddling the Blue. With each episode, we talk with guests from the

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Great Lakes and around the globe who are doing cool things related to sea kayaking.

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I'm your host, my name is John Chase, and let's get started paddling the blue.

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Welcome to today's episode of the Paddling the Blue podcast.

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Jennifer Gosselin and Pierre Pepin found themselves dissatisfied with the daily grind.

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So they went all in, sold everything, and spent the next four years in a canoe

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paddling around North America.

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Join us as they recount their experience meeting the locals and experiencing

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the waterways on their trips.

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Before we get to today's conversation with Jennifer and Pierre,

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I haven't historically done a really good job of telling you about the programs

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that I offer. So here goes.

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I offer a wide range of programs in the Great Lakes and beyond,

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from paddling skills, instructor certifications, workshops, CPR classes,

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wilderness first aid, guided trips, and more.

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Speaking of education, James Stevenson and Simon Osborne at OnlineSeaCayaking.com

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Enjoy today's interview with Jennifer and Pierre.

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Hello, Jennifer and Pierre. Welcome to Pedaling the Blue today.

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Thank you very much. Hi, John.

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It's a pleasure being here this morning or this afternoon.

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So, well, thank you again for joining me. This is great. So we are here today

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to talk about the Noram Odyssey.

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So four years together with your dog Jasmine in a canoe. So how did this come about?

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Oh, gosh. Well, there's a first.

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We've always been involved in canoeing we love the sports we love the way it's

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a nice mode of transportation and it's the way it was done in the old days the

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voyageurs travel with their canoe so at one point we decided to do a smaller

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trip from Grand Portage,

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Minnesota to Quebec City we did that a

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couple of years prior to our long trip and we enjoyed it

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so much that he said it's that's going to be a

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way of living so then we sold everything we own

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sold the car truck tools toys everything we own and

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it had to fit in the canoe and then we're gone all right so that that first

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trip was the perseverance journey is that what you called that yeah that's correct

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so that was in 2012 and it took well it lasted about two months okay and you

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said a grand portage to to back to quebec,

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Yes, that's correct. So tell us a little bit about that. Well,

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even before that, how did you get your start as paddlers?

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Okay, so, well, maybe I'll go first because my story is a little bit shorter than Pierre's.

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So I had a little bit of background, not much, like it was very minimal sea kayaking experience.

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And then with Pierre, we decided to go, it was at the end of 2009,

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beginning of 2010, we went into the Everglades State Park and we paddled for

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eight days. So that was my introduction to canoeing.

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And we had the Prospector canoe at that time. I think it was 17 feet.

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And so I enjoyed it so, so much. We had a blast doing that journey.

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And then the following year, we decided to paddle with friends on Lake Superior.

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So mainly Pocas National Park. They were in Sikayak and we were in the canoe.

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We were able to keep up. And we

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had Jasmine at that time. So that was her introduction also for canoeing.

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And then the following year, I think, yeah, the following year was 2012.

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So we did the Grand Portage, two months of canoeing.

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And then it was our next big adventure in 2014.

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And in between, we changed canoe. We went with more lake canoe or sea canoe, 19 feet.

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And we kept paddling during summer.

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And that's pretty much it for me. That's my background. Jennifer,

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for something, just one little thing.

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While we were in the Everglade, when we came out of the Everglade,

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we stopped at an hotel that night prior to driving back to Big C. And we met a gentleman.

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And we started talking about different things in life. And he said that he worked

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for a Northwest company.

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I said, oh my God, Northwest company? I thought it was over.

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He said, no, no, the Northwest company is still in operation.

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And we started talking about the voyageur and what the trip was all about.

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And then when we got home, he sent us a couple of books about the fur trade.

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So actually, we got involved with this gentleman because he got us really involved

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into what was the paddling, you know, the way it was done in the old days in Canada.

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So after reading many, many books and founding the proper trail,

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the river, all the portage and everything, we decided that that was something that we had to do.

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Wow, that's just a chance encounter in Florida that sets you up for future adventures.

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Yeah, that was the spark. yeah okay and for

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me the the start of paddling is

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well when i was young i did a little bit of paddling with friends

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and stuff like this and after that i joined the military with

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the airborne regiment special service forces and peruava and i live on the river

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almost so it was just natural to to paddle and i so i started paddling a full

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time i was 18 years old 17 18 years old paddle almost every day and I've been paddling ever since.

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So I guided many trips all over the place to go and kayaking and so...

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For me, it was just something natural, paddle during summer and winter.

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And in Quebec, we do also ice canoe racing during the carnival.

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So it was a full year long of paddling. So it was great like that.

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So I've seen the pictures of the ice canoe racing. Do you still do that?

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No, because in Ontario, we both have it. Now we live in Ontario,

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in southern Ontario, and there's no ice. Okay.

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So tell us a little bit about the ice canoe racing. I mean, for those that haven't

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seen that, this is a pretty crazy event. So tell us about that.

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There's many races happening around Quebec City. Actually, at one point,

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we also had races in Toronto.

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We would come down to Toronto at the Arbor and we would paddle here.

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So the origin of it is on the St. Lawrence River, there's a lot of island on the St. Lawrence.

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And that's how the doctor would come in.

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That's how you ship the mail. So during the winter, they would have these big,

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huge oak canoe, oak boat. They both have hoars also.

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And so there's five people in a boat. So that's how it started,

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just carrying the mail back and forth and furniture and stuff like that, like food.

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So at one point, it became a race. We started with a big wood canoe,

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and now we're doing in Kevlar and carbon fiber extremely fast.

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So there's one race in Quebec City where you cross a St. Lawrence two or three times.

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And it's very tough because there's jagged ice, very steep.

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And there's a lot of current also, like there's almost seven knots of current in front of Quebec City.

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So you have to find your angle of crossing.

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These big canoes are waxed. Like the bottom is waxed, just like a normal,

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it's a very interesting sports.

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If you go on site, you can look at the carnival.

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There's a big race during the carnival, Quebec carnival. And it attracts hundreds

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of thousands of people on both

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sides, on the Levy side, across from Quebec City, and on the Quebec side.

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Okay. I will make sure that, I'll find some of the information online and post

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that in our show notes for this episode so people can see that.

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But it is really quite interesting.

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Yeah, it's very fast. Yeah. So let's step back. Thank you. Step back a little

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bit. Let's talk a little bit about that perseverance trip.

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Okay.

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Yeah, so it started in Grand Portage, so one of our friends just dropped us

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there, and we visited the place there, because there is a, well,

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actually this was the Northwest, Hudson? Hudson, okay.

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Yeah, because up the, yeah, More North is the Northwest Company.

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So we visited the place, and like Pierre mentioned before, it was all about

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the fur trade route. So we really

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wanted to paddle exactly the same path that these people used to do.

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And the big canoes or birch bark canoe that were making their way there were

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between 36 and 40 feet long.

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And they were call and pier, the master canoe, I think. Yeah,

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master or voyageur canoe. Yeah.

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And so that's how it started. And we made our way to the North Shore of the Lake Superior.

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And after that, we went well into the North Channel and Jordan Bay.

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We made our way into the French River and then the Madawa River and back to

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on the St. Lawrence River.

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One thing that was very interesting on the Madawa River is all portages, I should say,

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they're all mark and paste because that's how the Voyager used to calculate

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the distance between each portage.

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And they all have their own unique name.

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So I hope I'm going to translate well, but there's one it's called,

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I think it's the Singing Canoe, something like that, because all the branches

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were touching the hull of the canoe and making those noises when they were traveling.

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And it turns out Pierre was the average size of a voyageur.

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All the voyageurs at that time were roughly between 5'7", 5'6",

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5'7". So that's how they could count all the pace.

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So as soon as we started doing all the portage, we were counting the pace.

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And it's amazing, after all these years, hundreds of years ago,

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It's still the same thing. Like all the pace is right in within like five to

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ten feet from one end to the other.

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But you're looking at a portage where it's 350 steps from one place and you

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end up, you know, more or less like a couple of feet different.

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So it was pretty amazing.

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So that's the historic part of it. And that was because the reason why we did that trip.

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And again, that was all coming from this park.

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From that person, David, that we met in Florida after the Evergate canoe trip.

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And it was a tough season.

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The wind was coming from the southeast all the time on the Lake Superior,

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so we paddled basically on the same side for the entire lake.

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But yeah, it was just great. It was wonderful. There's a place where we stopped, St. Ignace Island.

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It's kind of a dome place and there were a bunch of wolves that came at night.

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I don't know, all those wolves that were hollying and the way the,

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noise reflected on that dome of rock in the back it was just magical,

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yeah, it's just great memories of that trip and then at the end of the trip

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at the end of the trip we went back home and went back to normal life, the rat race.

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And after a couple of weeks, we realized that's it.

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It's not what we want to do. Traveling was more.

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That first trip ignited the rest of our life, probably, because you realize

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that you don't need as much.

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You don't need, like, for two months, you live out of a canoe,

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getting food whenever you can,

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fishing, you know, and that's such a simple life, simple way of living.

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And it also gave feedback to humankind. People were so kind, so generous.

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So everywhere you stop and people

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are talking to you and they're offering you like a place to come in,

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a meal, even just water, even seeing a boat in the middle of nowhere on Lake

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Superior, people stop and come to see you because you're paddling like far from

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shore and they're seeing you.

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So there's a curiosity and there's a generosity in all the people.

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I think it's not just a mode of transportation. The canoe is also a point of

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connecting between yourself and other people.

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I think people are attracted to seeing people traveling in canoe.

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There's, like I said, the curiosity, but it brings people very close.

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The humankind, the generosity is unbelievable when you're paddling. Certainly.

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It's just much more than just a mode of transportation. It's a way of connecting others.

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Absolutely. Now, was that trip, did you follow the Canadian shore of Superior or the U.S.

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Shore of Superior? The Canadian shore, right?

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Her trade has been done all on the Canadian side. They never cross the Superior.

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Even Grand Portage was the last place when it's on the U.S. side.

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But it's right by the border. That's the only section, a couple of kilometers from Canadian border.

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Now, I'm not a canoeist, so I don't do a lot of portaging or portage.

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But I understand that from Grand Portage heading west, there's quite an extensive

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either portage or network of portages to get back to the Boundary Waters area.

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Did you do that at all as well?

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Yeah, we did it. But on our second trip, not on the first one.

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From the first one we start right at portage right on superior but on the second

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trip we did all these huge amazing portages even one portage it's 20 kilometers long.

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Like we're carrying 700 pounds of material so it was 500 pounds of material

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so it was five trip back and forth so i was a call it run robin you're moving

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all your stuff for a couple of hundred meters and then you come back to pick

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it up another trip and back and forth like this all time.

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But on the Perseverance trip, every portage was done in one shot.

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We could take our canoe and all our dry bag, and we were able to do it in one

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pass. So it was pretty fast. But on the second trip.

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Technology. We brought more camera, we brought drone, we brought a rifle,

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we brought so much stuff.

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So the second trip was almost impossible to do it in one trip.

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On the same trip too, sometimes we had over a month worth of food,

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even though if it's a freeze-dried food, it still weighed a lot.

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And Jasmine, we needed to bring her food too. So she had a big pouch of food

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just for her, and it's extremely heavy.

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So yeah, that's one of the reasons why we were so heavy.

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So that first trip, or actually that perseverance trip, you mentioned that set

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you up and you kind of realized at that point, we don't need all this stuff.

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We can just do the trip. So how did you start the process of getting yourself

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ready for the Noram Odyssey?

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Well, before we got ready.

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So we didn't plan on doing the second trip right away.

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Like I said, we're back at the rat race. And at one point I had enough and Jennifer

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had her car, I had my truck.

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And one day we traveled, both of us traveled in her car.

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After work, we're coming back home. For a while, I wanted to tell Jennifer,

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listen, I don't like my job no more. I don't want to do it no more.

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And yes, people are sick and tired.

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They're always asking, they're not giving. It's been tough. And Jennifer was the same thing too.

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But we didn't want to tell each other because it would have been.

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I was trying to listen to Jennifer when she was complaining,

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and she was complaining, and I was complaining also to her, so back and forth.

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And then there's one guy that drove in front of us.

00:17:05.150 --> 00:17:09.390
He passed on the red light, almost ribbed the front of our car,

00:17:09.470 --> 00:17:13.050
and I said, okay, that's enough. That's going too fast.

00:17:14.070 --> 00:17:17.550
Yeah, that's when Pierre opened up and he said, I had enough.

00:17:17.550 --> 00:17:23.030
I want to go back on the canoe trip. And I said, good. I didn't want to tell you.

00:17:23.270 --> 00:17:30.010
It's been eight months. It's been chewing me up inside. I'm not happy no more.

00:17:30.550 --> 00:17:34.630
I'm not happy here. I just want to go back again. So Pierre said,

00:17:34.770 --> 00:17:35.810
like, it's still in the car.

00:17:35.990 --> 00:17:38.750
Should we plan for six months, something like that? I said, well,

00:17:38.930 --> 00:17:43.550
you know, with the type of jug I have, I won't be able to live just for six

00:17:43.550 --> 00:17:46.130
months or even a year. So I will have to quit my job.

00:17:46.530 --> 00:17:51.370
So that's how it started. And so we figured out that we could do almost four years.

00:17:51.750 --> 00:17:54.730
And from that moment on, a year after, we were gone.

00:17:55.510 --> 00:18:01.870
So eight months of pent-up anxiety of thinking you each wanted to get back to

00:18:01.870 --> 00:18:06.510
the water, But not sure how to tell each other And then just in that one car

00:18:06.510 --> 00:18:08.690
ride It all came together Yeah.

00:18:10.730 --> 00:18:14.310
Wonderful So from that point on How did you get yourself ready?

00:18:14.903 --> 00:18:20.163
Reading, lots of reading, lots of planning, organizing, research.

00:18:20.883 --> 00:18:24.623
We also, you have to think of when you're leaving for a long trip like this,

00:18:24.763 --> 00:18:30.203
you have to think about selling your car, your truck, your tools, your toys, your house.

00:18:30.403 --> 00:18:33.763
So we had to plan on selling all our stuff.

00:18:34.283 --> 00:18:39.323
We had to find a route. We know the first part of it because we already paddled

00:18:39.323 --> 00:18:44.003
it, but we didn't know about that from Grand Portage on. So we did a lot of

00:18:44.003 --> 00:18:46.763
research and buying maps.

00:18:46.923 --> 00:18:52.043
And actually, we found different sponsors that helped us with the map.

00:18:52.223 --> 00:18:57.623
For example, we had over 250 maps of the trip that we needed to do a topo map.

00:18:57.803 --> 00:19:05.283
So we had to cut them and stitch them together and be able. So that took a long, long time.

00:19:05.743 --> 00:19:11.003
Well, if I may, so prior to those maps, the first loop was mainly in the state.

00:19:11.003 --> 00:19:13.923
But we had to do some research there also.

00:19:14.163 --> 00:19:20.563
And what we ended up doing was the Great Loop or the American Great Loop.

00:19:20.743 --> 00:19:22.103
But that wasn't the plan.

00:19:22.483 --> 00:19:26.583
No. At first, we're supposed to do a figure eight in the States.

00:19:26.583 --> 00:19:31.723
So as soon as you get into the top of the Mississippi, we're supposed to go

00:19:31.723 --> 00:19:36.703
down the Mississippi all the way down to the Gulf and then go west and trying

00:19:36.703 --> 00:19:39.643
to go up the Canadian River, the Sierra.

00:19:39.643 --> 00:19:42.843
There's many rivers going back up, the Brazo going back up.

00:19:42.943 --> 00:19:46.683
And while we're paddling down, that was the plan.

00:19:46.863 --> 00:19:52.083
We're already gone. We're on the road. We're paddling. And then we meet some loopers.

00:19:52.243 --> 00:19:55.723
Some people are saying, oh, no, it's impossible. You can't. There's no water.

00:19:56.043 --> 00:19:58.363
The Lake Powell is down 58 feet.

00:19:58.783 --> 00:20:00.843
The Brazo is almost dry at the bottom.

00:20:01.343 --> 00:20:06.443
The Red is also dry. So even Canadian River, there's just a little bit of water

00:20:06.443 --> 00:20:08.543
going back up. So you won't be able to make it up.

00:20:09.106 --> 00:20:12.146
And we met a paddler a guy that came down with

00:20:12.146 --> 00:20:15.406
a kayak and he said he walked close to 800 miles back

00:20:15.406 --> 00:20:18.406
and forth because there's he said there's no water so we

00:20:18.406 --> 00:20:21.346
had to change our plant on a like really

00:20:21.346 --> 00:20:26.866
fast so then that's why we decided to do the the great loop and we start asking

00:20:26.866 --> 00:20:31.566
questions about the great loop and all the looper the people are driving these

00:20:31.566 --> 00:20:35.686
big boat they said well it's impossible it's nobody can do that in a canoe we're

00:20:35.686 --> 00:20:40.986
doing it in a big boat and it's kind of rough and And then we met them,

00:20:41.026 --> 00:20:44.286
and then we met them another night, and then we keep on meeting them.

00:20:44.426 --> 00:20:46.626
So they were kind of… We were keeping up.

00:20:46.906 --> 00:20:52.686
We were keeping up, and sometimes we're ahead of them because they're stopping early during the day.

00:20:52.946 --> 00:20:58.226
They're more like driving their boat, like white-knuckle driving because there's

00:20:58.226 --> 00:21:01.886
barge, there's big boat coming, there's tugboat.

00:21:02.166 --> 00:21:08.346
So it was pretty… Actually, it was funny because we had a lot of incidents And

00:21:08.346 --> 00:21:11.906
at one point, we're on the Illinois River after we left Chicago,

00:21:11.906 --> 00:21:15.826
and we're going down on this big river with the tugboat.

00:21:16.046 --> 00:21:20.426
You have to announce yourself before you pass a tugboat because they're pushing.

00:21:20.826 --> 00:21:26.826
They're called tug, but actually a pushing barge and something up to 16 barges ahead of them.

00:21:27.086 --> 00:21:31.086
So you have to announce yourself, and then they're going to tell you if you

00:21:31.086 --> 00:21:33.046
go on the one whistle or two whistle.

00:21:33.546 --> 00:21:37.726
The whistle is in the old days how they would communicate because they didn't have radio.

00:21:38.346 --> 00:21:43.006
But now they have radio, but they still talk about not port or starboard,

00:21:43.146 --> 00:21:45.586
they talk about whistle, one whistle or two whistle.

00:21:46.026 --> 00:21:51.226
So we're paddling, and then all of a sudden, we're just about to pass one of these big barge.

00:21:51.446 --> 00:21:55.846
We're catching up to it because we're going down with a current,

00:21:56.026 --> 00:21:58.886
and they cannot go as fast as we are. Yeah.

00:21:59.834 --> 00:22:05.094
Contact him on the radio, on the VHF, and the guy said, let me know when you're close.

00:22:05.214 --> 00:22:08.594
Well, actually, we couldn't hear him because they're all from the South and

00:22:08.594 --> 00:22:12.214
they're actually- It's a very thick accent. Worse than ours.

00:22:13.394 --> 00:22:17.034
So finally, we understand what he's saying.

00:22:17.234 --> 00:22:20.234
Tell me when you're going to be close by and I'll let you know if you're on

00:22:20.234 --> 00:22:21.394
a one whistle or two whistle.

00:22:21.774 --> 00:22:26.134
And I said, well, I'm right there. So he come out of the tugboat,

00:22:26.374 --> 00:22:30.134
the wheelhouse, and he looks around and he doesn't don't see no big boat.

00:22:30.314 --> 00:22:32.654
So he come back to the wheelhouse, he grabs the radio and says,

00:22:32.834 --> 00:22:36.054
no, I told you to tell me when you're right there.

00:22:36.194 --> 00:22:38.414
I said, well, if you look on your port side, I'm right there,

00:22:38.534 --> 00:22:42.974
I'm right there, right next to you. So he comes back down and he look at us in the canoe.

00:22:43.274 --> 00:22:45.534
He goes back into the wheelhouse and he said,

00:22:46.097 --> 00:22:50.077
You think you're going to pass me in your pirogue? Because they don't call it

00:22:50.077 --> 00:22:53.137
canoe, they call it pirogue. I said, yes, we're ready to pass you.

00:22:54.077 --> 00:22:59.377
So he said, go on. But you have to remember that every tugboat on the Illinois

00:22:59.377 --> 00:23:02.677
River and the Mississippi are all on the same frequency.

00:23:02.977 --> 00:23:05.537
So now this guy is being passed by a canoe.

00:23:07.997 --> 00:23:11.077
And everybody else can hear what's happening.

00:23:11.337 --> 00:23:15.517
So that was a big joke all the way down. Every time people would see our canoe

00:23:15.517 --> 00:23:19.097
or our pirogue and they would say, oh, yeah, yeah, you're the guy that passed

00:23:19.097 --> 00:23:21.157
the tugboat and back in the boat.

00:23:21.297 --> 00:23:26.777
So it was pretty, the great loop was nice for that. We met a lot of great people.

00:23:28.057 --> 00:23:31.937
We actually helped a lot of people too with their boat because some people didn't

00:23:31.937 --> 00:23:34.657
have the expertise to navigate some of the place.

00:23:35.437 --> 00:23:40.477
So we helped two people to move their boat from one place to the other,

00:23:40.717 --> 00:23:44.457
putting our canoe on top of their boat. So it was a nice experience.

00:23:44.717 --> 00:23:47.677
Good. So tell us about some of those people experiences on the Great Loop.

00:23:48.117 --> 00:23:54.557
Well, we started meeting people from the Great Loop per se more on the Illinois River.

00:23:54.877 --> 00:23:59.357
And I will always remember one place where we stopped. It's Ennipon,

00:23:59.497 --> 00:24:01.117
it's called. That's Illinois.

00:24:01.797 --> 00:24:06.457
And there was a municipal dock, very small, and there were two boats.

00:24:06.457 --> 00:24:12.097
And because at one point we decided we needed to do the Great Loop because all

00:24:12.097 --> 00:24:16.217
of those reasons, and we register on the Great Loop Association,

00:24:16.737 --> 00:24:19.257
being people paddling instead of boating.

00:24:20.314 --> 00:24:24.334
Than that hat so words came

00:24:24.334 --> 00:24:31.294
out and everybody was looking up for a canoe that was going down doing that

00:24:31.294 --> 00:24:35.954
that great loop and so we ended up meeting those two couple and one of them

00:24:35.954 --> 00:24:41.814
came up and it's them it's them and they were yelling so so that's how we got in truth used to,

00:24:42.574 --> 00:24:47.454
loopers and that's how you call people doing that so loopers and so we stopped

00:24:47.454 --> 00:24:49.934
there like we had feasts.

00:24:50.114 --> 00:24:53.554
At that same place, we ended up taking our shower into a prison.

00:24:54.614 --> 00:25:00.514
Lincoln, where the president of the United States wrote all his Abraham Lincoln,

00:25:00.554 --> 00:25:02.994
when he wrote all his memories, it was at that place.

00:25:03.174 --> 00:25:07.734
So we were in the same courtroom where he was doing, it was pretty,

00:25:07.894 --> 00:25:12.294
there was a lot of important things that we had the chance to see,

00:25:12.314 --> 00:25:16.634
and we didn't even know about that place, if it would have been for that loop.

00:25:16.634 --> 00:25:19.854
Yeah, the looper. So that was our introduction.

00:25:20.354 --> 00:25:23.334
Those two people that we met, or two couples we met at the beginning,

00:25:23.534 --> 00:25:26.154
they became, both of them became very good friends.

00:25:26.694 --> 00:25:30.334
And same thing, they would leave a little bit later in the day,

00:25:30.474 --> 00:25:34.834
maybe 10, 11 o'clock in the morning, and we would leave early.

00:25:34.834 --> 00:25:38.754
But we always somehow ended up around the same place.

00:25:39.094 --> 00:25:41.634
So almost every night it was...

00:25:42.199 --> 00:25:46.959
Like a party or a gathering or something. We had so much fun.

00:25:46.959 --> 00:25:50.659
And that was the case all the way down to Florida.

00:25:50.899 --> 00:25:53.279
And then in Florida, well, it's winter at one point.

00:25:53.559 --> 00:25:57.899
Some people go to the Bahamas. Some stay a little bit more south.

00:25:58.079 --> 00:26:04.319
But as we were making our way up again on the East Coast or into the intracostal

00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:07.579
waterway, we start again meeting loopers.

00:26:07.719 --> 00:26:13.479
And the same people came back over and over again. And so it's just a very close-knit community.

00:26:13.999 --> 00:26:17.559
In Inupen, Jennifer forgot to say that while we're waiting there,

00:26:17.719 --> 00:26:23.579
so we park and then the two looper, our friend, says, well, you can pitch your

00:26:23.579 --> 00:26:26.859
tent here in that little parking lot. There's a little bit of grass up there.

00:26:27.139 --> 00:26:31.179
And then we start putting our stuff. But before, I wanted to ask the permission

00:26:31.179 --> 00:26:36.459
from somebody around. So I go to the store and I ask the lady,

00:26:36.579 --> 00:26:39.459
she says, who know, do you know who I could communicate, you know,

00:26:39.639 --> 00:26:41.359
about staying there tonight?

00:26:41.539 --> 00:26:44.519
Or she says, nobody can stay at night. There's nobody here, not allowed to.

00:26:44.839 --> 00:26:49.359
So she put me in contact with the chief of police. So chief of police tells

00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:54.739
me, no, you young kids are only going to be there and breaking everything apart and making fires.

00:26:54.899 --> 00:26:57.219
He says, no, no, first of all, we're not young kids anymore.

00:26:57.619 --> 00:27:00.419
So he came over and he looked at us. And the

00:27:00.419 --> 00:27:05.019
first thing he said when he came out of the car oh boy you're old so i think

00:27:05.019 --> 00:27:09.159
i just came back from quebec city on my canoe and you're telling me i'm old

00:27:09.159 --> 00:27:15.019
but then he introduced us to to while he brought us to jail where we can have

00:27:15.019 --> 00:27:20.179
a shower and then the story of the city so it was pretty nice and from there on it that's,

00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:26.219
every place we stopped there was always either people waiting for us or or willing

00:27:26.219 --> 00:27:33.499
to help some park ranger gave us the chance to sleep for free most of the time

00:27:33.499 --> 00:27:36.619
at the lock you can sleep at the lock and it's free.

00:27:37.439 --> 00:27:38.939
I don't know how many time we got,

00:27:39.462 --> 00:27:44.382
Free food, free booze, free, free, free, free. Like it was pretty.

00:27:44.942 --> 00:27:49.882
Yeah. And that's something I think we need to mention. When we started the Noram

00:27:49.882 --> 00:27:54.902
Odyssey, first we said it was a canoe journey. So it was all the canoe.

00:27:55.262 --> 00:27:59.482
Yes, it became the Green Loop. And then the second loop was in Canada.

00:27:59.482 --> 00:28:02.842
And it was more about the history and the fur trade.

00:28:03.142 --> 00:28:09.842
But it became quickly not just a canoe journey. It was a human experience.

00:28:10.102 --> 00:28:15.842
Definitely. And that's really what made that whole trip so special.

00:28:16.202 --> 00:28:20.582
We're still friends with people that we met during the trip on a regular basis,

00:28:20.642 --> 00:28:22.962
not just once a year. We met a couple.

00:28:23.162 --> 00:28:27.402
It was funny. We were at a big shoot on the Transsever.

00:28:27.802 --> 00:28:31.282
We were paddling down. We have to take the ferry.

00:28:31.362 --> 00:28:35.782
There's a trolley that takes your canoe or a big boat across from one water

00:28:35.782 --> 00:28:38.322
and from the lake back to the river.

00:28:38.562 --> 00:28:42.342
So we're on that big ferry with other boats. And as we're coming down,

00:28:42.742 --> 00:28:46.002
there's a couple that show up. And he said, where are you going?

00:28:46.182 --> 00:28:50.062
And we've been always answering that question so often. At one point,

00:28:50.302 --> 00:28:55.202
it's kind of like the answer is getting smaller and smaller and colder and colder.

00:28:55.482 --> 00:28:56.942
So I said, we're going to Florida.

00:28:57.502 --> 00:29:00.682
I said, well, good, good. You're probably going to be paddling by

00:29:00.682 --> 00:29:03.562
our place I said what do you mean Well we have a place

00:29:03.562 --> 00:29:07.722
here But we also have a place in Florida On Anna Maria

00:29:07.722 --> 00:29:10.622
Island I said you're going to be paddling in front of my place So

00:29:10.622 --> 00:29:15.082
you should stop for a steak and shrimp And I look at Jeffrey Yeah yeah we are

00:29:15.082 --> 00:29:21.302
No problem So we give him our card That was a six month Yes at least six months

00:29:21.302 --> 00:29:25.942
Before we would get there So then we're paddling down And we don't hear nothing

00:29:25.942 --> 00:29:30.202
During the entire trip You know we meet so many people all that, so many stories.

00:29:31.208 --> 00:29:35.528
And then when we get to Anna Maria Island, across from the island, we got a phone call.

00:29:35.748 --> 00:29:40.228
We got on our phone, we got a message saying, hey, I see you guys across from

00:29:40.228 --> 00:29:42.048
the island. I'm coming to pick you up.

00:29:42.908 --> 00:29:47.908
Holy cow. And we spent one week with him and then we became friends.

00:29:48.068 --> 00:29:50.288
And during that time, it was a Christmas holiday.

00:29:50.528 --> 00:29:54.408
We did the parade. Just before Christmas. Yeah, we did the parade with all the

00:29:54.408 --> 00:29:57.968
boats out there. All the people put lights on their boat.

00:29:58.108 --> 00:30:00.768
So, and they're all following. There's a parade.

00:30:01.208 --> 00:30:04.588
And then they said, you guys should be in the parade. So the city came and talked

00:30:04.588 --> 00:30:08.248
to us about putting our canoe in the parade. I said, yeah, no problem.

00:30:08.608 --> 00:30:12.688
So we put a Christmas tree in the middle of the canoe with a generator,

00:30:12.688 --> 00:30:14.248
with lights all the way around.

00:30:14.508 --> 00:30:20.568
As we're paddling that path, you go in front of the inlet from the ocean to that location.

00:30:20.748 --> 00:30:25.168
Between those islands, yeah. And there's a lot of big, huge bull shark.

00:30:25.408 --> 00:30:28.588
And we're paddling, and all of a sudden the bull shark attack our canoe.

00:30:28.828 --> 00:30:31.848
Wow. Grabbed the side of the canoe where all the lights were,

00:30:32.028 --> 00:30:34.328
or the Christmas lights, because they're just above the water,

00:30:34.528 --> 00:30:36.508
and ripped the light on one side.

00:30:37.148 --> 00:30:40.328
Jennifer couldn't see it because it was right behind her when he got,

00:30:40.608 --> 00:30:42.428
but the big bang on the canoe.

00:30:42.608 --> 00:30:45.448
So she said, what was that? Was it a shark?

00:30:45.588 --> 00:30:47.988
I said, no, no, no, it's okay. It's fine, it's fine. I didn't want,

00:30:48.128 --> 00:30:50.948
that's not a place or time to panic.

00:30:51.128 --> 00:30:53.868
So we kept on going and then it banged again.

00:30:54.268 --> 00:30:57.108
So then she turned around and says, that's a shark. It's got to be a shark.

00:30:57.248 --> 00:31:05.048
I said, yeah, okay, it's a shark. Wow. Yeah, it was a, and one more thing about people on the loop.

00:31:05.388 --> 00:31:09.248
People are scared, they're scared of the unknown, they're scared.

00:31:09.548 --> 00:31:13.248
Very often we would meet people and they'd say, where are you going after that?

00:31:13.348 --> 00:31:18.168
And we'd say, well, we're going down towards Alabama and Tennessee and all these places.

00:31:18.268 --> 00:31:21.648
And people look at you, oh man, you shouldn't be going there with your canoe.

00:31:22.108 --> 00:31:25.008
It's really bad, it's dangerous and there's like,

00:31:26.023 --> 00:31:28.863
you're not going to enjoy it, and people are going to try to steal your stuff.

00:31:29.023 --> 00:31:31.843
And I said, have you been? And very often you would ask people,

00:31:31.923 --> 00:31:36.963
have you been there? Which place should we worry about? And they said, no, we've never been.

00:31:38.203 --> 00:31:45.043
So people are making assumptions, or they're maybe reading the news too much

00:31:45.043 --> 00:31:49.743
or listening to bad stuff, and they start to believe.

00:31:49.943 --> 00:31:54.323
Because all the places that we've been told not to go we're probably the place

00:31:54.323 --> 00:31:56.663
where we were the most welcome.

00:31:56.943 --> 00:32:02.763
The people, poor people, there's some people, like there's actually one guy

00:32:02.763 --> 00:32:06.463
that we stopped, it was getting pretty late at night.

00:32:06.723 --> 00:32:12.743
You can see the red eyes in the water from the Cayman all the way around you.

00:32:13.203 --> 00:32:18.383
So we had to get out of the water real fast. And this young man who was cutting

00:32:18.383 --> 00:32:23.023
his grass with a racing lawnmower because it was sitting on a big V8 tractor.

00:32:23.023 --> 00:32:26.423
It was racing in his field because it's a race out there.

00:32:26.823 --> 00:32:29.983
And he invited us to camp on his lawn, no problem.

00:32:30.163 --> 00:32:34.283
And I said, okay, good. And in the morning, the guy showed up and he tells us

00:32:34.283 --> 00:32:36.163
about what's his living.

00:32:36.683 --> 00:32:41.443
He's poor. I mean, he lives in an old garage where they used to do mechanic

00:32:41.443 --> 00:32:43.903
before. And that's his house.

00:32:44.143 --> 00:32:46.543
Him and his girlfriend, they have nothing, nothing.

00:32:47.843 --> 00:32:53.223
He's got a permit for roadkill. So whenever there's an animal being killed, he takes it.

00:32:53.723 --> 00:32:56.623
He was helping all his neighbor.

00:32:56.783 --> 00:33:01.523
He was catching big catfish on the lawn. You always feed his neighbor,

00:33:01.723 --> 00:33:04.563
always bring water to his neighbor, always helping his neighbor.

00:33:05.163 --> 00:33:08.163
But yet, people told us, you shouldn't

00:33:08.163 --> 00:33:10.863
be going there because people are going to try to steal from you.

00:33:11.003 --> 00:33:16.363
Even though I'm really sure, probably sure that in our canoe,

00:33:16.363 --> 00:33:19.803
we had more in value than he had in his garage.

00:33:20.343 --> 00:33:26.083
But yet he was willing to give us a shirt of his back and he wanted to feed us that night.

00:33:26.263 --> 00:33:29.563
And I said, no, no, it's fine, it's fine. So it's been like that.

00:33:30.389 --> 00:33:34.669
All these places we've been, it was humankind.

00:33:34.989 --> 00:33:39.969
You would show up at somebody's place, and in the morning, they're gone. They're gone to work.

00:33:40.149 --> 00:33:44.749
And yet, you're in their house. You have no clue who it is. You don't know.

00:33:44.989 --> 00:33:48.989
You have people letting you use their car so you can go do some shopping.

00:33:49.649 --> 00:33:53.169
And it happened more than once. And even sometimes, at one point,

00:33:53.389 --> 00:33:57.369
somebody let us use his car, and we don't know. We didn't know where to bring it back after.

00:33:58.229 --> 00:34:02.629
The guy just saw us on the side of the road doing a portage and he gave us a

00:34:02.629 --> 00:34:06.509
key for his truck and then he was gone and then we had to find a place where

00:34:06.509 --> 00:34:11.669
he was living everybody knew him in town but still Edson, Canada but it was amazing that people are,

00:34:12.376 --> 00:34:17.716
So generous, so kind. That's why we're saying that that first part,

00:34:17.936 --> 00:34:25.936
actually, bold trip, was more about human kindness, giving faith back to humankind.

00:34:26.236 --> 00:34:29.956
That's what it is. Yeah, definitely. I mean, you give what you get,

00:34:30.216 --> 00:34:32.896
or you get what you give, I guess. It depends on how you look at that.

00:34:33.236 --> 00:34:37.796
And if you go in with good intentions, people by and large have good intentions

00:34:37.796 --> 00:34:43.456
and want to experience you. You've come there traveling and they want to learn about you.

00:34:43.796 --> 00:34:47.696
And likewise, we love to learn about them as well. So I can't tell you how many

00:34:47.696 --> 00:34:51.376
times we talk about different trips and it's always the people and the goodness

00:34:51.376 --> 00:34:52.656
of people that makes the difference.

00:34:53.656 --> 00:34:59.416
Yeah, I think as human, maybe we don't realize it like in our everyday life.

00:34:59.576 --> 00:35:03.756
But once you get going on that kind of trip, even though if you have like a

00:35:03.756 --> 00:35:10.256
set goal in mind, it's really those encounter that you remember the most. Yeah.

00:35:10.916 --> 00:35:16.656
So we've made reference to the Great Loop, and I've talked to other Great Loopers, so loopers.

00:35:16.816 --> 00:35:20.016
Could you just give a quick synopsis for our listeners who aren't familiar with

00:35:20.016 --> 00:35:21.716
the Great Loop? What is the Great Loop?

00:35:22.496 --> 00:35:27.756
Great Loop is a path that all connects together, but there's an association

00:35:27.756 --> 00:35:31.136
that got created for all those people that wants to do it.

00:35:31.316 --> 00:35:34.676
So it facilitates the travel.

00:35:35.216 --> 00:35:39.976
So you can have information, you have peers to talk with.

00:35:40.216 --> 00:35:44.816
I think there's gathering every year or twice a year and everybody keep in touch.

00:35:44.956 --> 00:35:47.776
And you can also follow the track of each people.

00:35:47.996 --> 00:35:52.896
Once they register, you have a, how do you call that, a bergy?

00:35:53.096 --> 00:35:55.756
Bergy, yeah. Yeah, bergy that you can put on your boat.

00:35:56.436 --> 00:36:01.536
There's not a lot of people doing it in the kayak or canoe. I know that there's more and more people.

00:36:01.956 --> 00:36:04.976
Like, for the last 10 years, we've seen more people doing it.

00:36:05.296 --> 00:36:10.496
Maybe we were... We were the first one. According to them, we were the first...

00:36:10.836 --> 00:36:18.156
People that did the loop. But in 1664, La Salle went down the Mississippi in a birch bar canoe.

00:36:18.656 --> 00:36:22.076
So we're not the first one. Certainly. Well, yeah.

00:36:22.216 --> 00:36:27.636
So that great loop, there's multiple paths you can use or secondary paths,

00:36:27.796 --> 00:36:32.516
but mainly it goes from Canada to the state and it goes around.

00:36:32.676 --> 00:36:37.036
You can also, during winter, stretch it, go to the Bahamas and then come back.

00:36:37.696 --> 00:36:43.096
Everything connects together. There's lock, lift lock, marine railway,

00:36:43.376 --> 00:36:45.316
if you take on the Trans-Severian Waterway.

00:36:45.656 --> 00:36:51.236
Most people do it in trawlers, but you can find any type of boat doing it.

00:36:51.396 --> 00:36:56.916
And like I said, you don't have to put your boat on the hard at some place or on transportation.

00:36:57.356 --> 00:37:00.696
Everything connects together. Most people will take about a year,

00:37:00.816 --> 00:37:04.596
a year and a half to do it. Some people have been on it for 10 years.

00:37:05.196 --> 00:37:12.276
So it's a great way to travel inside the continent, go into Florida,

00:37:12.636 --> 00:37:17.576
do the Intra-Costal Waterway, and also explore the Canada, so that part there.

00:37:17.756 --> 00:37:22.496
So you can do the Rideau Canal as a side trip. There's the Trans-Severn Waterway.

00:37:22.676 --> 00:37:25.116
And you go also through the Great Lakes.

00:37:26.976 --> 00:37:32.896
Yes. So threading through the Great Lakes into Chicago and then down the Illinois

00:37:32.896 --> 00:37:36.496
River to the Mississippi River Mississippi down to the Gulf of Mexico.

00:37:36.916 --> 00:37:39.576
We go to the Ohio. They go on the Ohio River.

00:37:40.516 --> 00:37:43.796
Tom Bigsby down to Alabama. Okay.

00:37:44.136 --> 00:37:47.256
Or you go down to Mississippi. There's not too many people going down the Mississippi

00:37:47.256 --> 00:37:52.576
all the way to the Gulf because from not far before the Ohio,

00:37:52.796 --> 00:37:54.076
there's no more refueling.

00:37:54.236 --> 00:37:58.616
There's no... And the traffic gets more and more intense as you go lower.

00:37:58.896 --> 00:38:03.156
And the barge are much bigger, like up to 60 barge on the tug.

00:38:03.156 --> 00:38:07.596
So it gets kind of hairy. There's not too many places where they can't stop.

00:38:07.836 --> 00:38:11.176
In a canoe, it is not a problem because you can stop anywhere on the sandbar.

00:38:11.638 --> 00:38:14.658
But on the trawler, it's kind of tough.

00:38:14.778 --> 00:38:21.578
So most people go up the Ohio to Tennessee, to Kentucky on the lake,

00:38:21.618 --> 00:38:28.758
and then there's the top big B that goes all the way down to Alabama, to Mobile, Alabama.

00:38:28.918 --> 00:38:36.178
Maybe say like what we did exactly, that's I'd say probably 80% of people would do that.

00:38:36.358 --> 00:38:42.038
So for our part, we started on the Rideau Canal because we wanted to do those set of luck.

00:38:42.198 --> 00:38:45.278
I know it's not everyone that's going to do this one, but you can do it.

00:38:45.398 --> 00:38:48.518
And then it's the Trans-Severen Waterway, Georgian Bay, North Channel,

00:38:48.718 --> 00:38:52.338
Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Illinois River, Mississippi River,

00:38:52.378 --> 00:38:53.798
and that's where it splits.

00:38:53.818 --> 00:38:59.118
So some people keep going on Mississippi River, but for us, we decided to go

00:38:59.118 --> 00:39:03.698
on the Ohio River, the Kentucky Lake, Tennessee River, Tombigbee Waterway,

00:39:04.038 --> 00:39:05.358
and then it's Mobile Bay.

00:39:05.778 --> 00:39:09.858
You go around Florida, so Florida, Penandil, and the West coast.

00:39:10.318 --> 00:39:16.698
Again, there is another path. Some people decide to go across Florida using Lake Okechube.

00:39:17.058 --> 00:39:20.178
For us, we decided to go down to the Keys.

00:39:20.458 --> 00:39:26.358
And then you start making your way up on the east coast using the Intracostal Waterway.

00:39:26.818 --> 00:39:31.698
So you go through Georgia, North Carolina, South and North Carolina,

00:39:32.038 --> 00:39:35.838
Virginia, Maryland, and so on, Delaware, New Jersey.

00:39:36.378 --> 00:39:39.838
And then you have the Hudson River Erie Canal

00:39:39.838 --> 00:39:46.318
and for us we decided to go all the way to the end of the Erie Canal on the

00:39:46.318 --> 00:39:52.218
Niagara River but people well both won't go on the Niagara River so usually

00:39:52.218 --> 00:39:59.158
they go across at Syracuse I think and they go to Lake Ontario and then you start again your loop.

00:39:59.998 --> 00:40:02.778
Alright and how long did it take you to do the loop?

00:40:03.198 --> 00:40:06.598
That one I think was a year and a half about Yeah a year and a half Yeah Okay,

00:40:07.398 --> 00:40:11.118
All right. So you finished the Great Loop. And so how long was it between the

00:40:11.118 --> 00:40:13.578
Great Loop and your second loop, if you will?

00:40:13.898 --> 00:40:20.398
So we took some time during winter because we had to readjust our itinerary.

00:40:20.678 --> 00:40:28.398
So we went back to Quebec City and I think we spent, I'd say it was September to March.

00:40:28.398 --> 00:40:32.358
We were in Quebec City and that's at the time we planned the,

00:40:32.638 --> 00:40:35.938
I'd say it was the more, the biggest part.

00:40:36.198 --> 00:40:42.698
There's more logistic involved into traveling into Canada because it's a little bit more remote.

00:40:42.918 --> 00:40:45.958
You need to have dropout at some places for food.

00:40:46.498 --> 00:40:50.998
Maps, it's not the same like when you're on the, let's say on the Illinois or

00:40:50.998 --> 00:40:56.318
the Mississippi River, you have marker for every miles and everything is documented.

00:40:56.318 --> 00:41:01.978
For the northern part of Canada, it wasn't the case. So we needed to do our homework.

00:41:02.178 --> 00:41:07.178
And that's what we did during that time. We also looked for a sponsor, which we had.

00:41:07.298 --> 00:41:10.378
We had a great sponsor at that time that joined in.

00:41:10.578 --> 00:41:15.418
And in March, we drove to... Our friend drove us to Winnipeg,

00:41:15.538 --> 00:41:18.098
to Lake Winnipeg. And we start...

00:41:18.638 --> 00:41:22.598
I told Jennifer it would be nice and warm in Winnipeg in March.

00:41:22.678 --> 00:41:25.698
Yeah, at the end of March, it should be fine. It should not be cold.

00:41:26.698 --> 00:41:33.478
Or not that cold. No more than like around zero degree. Yeah, no, no, not that here.

00:41:33.738 --> 00:41:37.098
It was minus 20. We had crazy.

00:41:37.598 --> 00:41:40.838
Yes, during the day. We had crazy. First night, no. Actually,

00:41:40.878 --> 00:41:44.698
we got there. It was nice and sunny. Probably around seven or eight.

00:41:45.178 --> 00:41:48.578
The ice is melting. It's almost Celsius we're talking. Okay.

00:41:48.898 --> 00:41:52.378
The snow is melting everywhere. There's water on the ice, on the lake.

00:41:52.498 --> 00:41:55.318
It's great. The canoe is, we're walking. it.

00:41:55.698 --> 00:41:57.998
We're going to a fast pace. Everything is great.

00:41:58.478 --> 00:42:02.618
Then that might we pitch a tent on the lake and then we hear the crack of the

00:42:02.618 --> 00:42:06.298
ice is all nice and it's spooky a little bit. And then,

00:42:06.885 --> 00:42:09.805
He got cold that night. It's getting colder, right? It's weird.

00:42:09.965 --> 00:42:13.825
So we get back in our second sleeping bag and put the blanket on and everything.

00:42:14.125 --> 00:42:16.265
Wake up in the morning, it's minus 20.

00:42:16.625 --> 00:42:22.265
The tent is stuck, it's solid in the slush underneath. The canoe is stuck in the ice.

00:42:22.765 --> 00:42:28.285
All our stuff is frozen solid. So it took hours to chip away with the axe and

00:42:28.285 --> 00:42:29.885
get our stuff ready to go.

00:42:30.245 --> 00:42:33.745
And then the wind picked up. And the wind picked up.

00:42:33.845 --> 00:42:39.645
And it went, it kept on going up and up and up. We had 70 to 90 kilometers. Wow.

00:42:40.165 --> 00:42:41.885
Yeah, it was interesting.

00:42:42.665 --> 00:42:46.345
And the canoe, so you're pulling the canoe. We had harness and we're pulling the canoe.

00:42:46.805 --> 00:42:51.705
At one point, the canoe is behind and a little later, the canoe is walking next to us.

00:42:52.545 --> 00:42:57.085
It's getting pretty bad. So, yeah, that first week was kind of rough.

00:42:57.345 --> 00:43:02.745
We met people on the road. It's like on the license plate in Manitoba.

00:43:02.945 --> 00:43:06.085
It says Manitoba, the friendly province. friendly

00:43:06.085 --> 00:43:09.085
manitoba friendly manitoba it's true we had

00:43:09.085 --> 00:43:11.865
people stopping on the road because we're

00:43:11.865 --> 00:43:14.665
pulling at one point we had to pull our canoe on the road so we put the

00:43:14.665 --> 00:43:18.605
wheels underneath we had a little trolley and then we're walking around people

00:43:18.605 --> 00:43:23.005
would stop with their car or their truck and opening the window and give us

00:43:23.005 --> 00:43:26.765
change what's the occasion what's your what are you walking for and they give

00:43:26.765 --> 00:43:28.565
us change and then they take off

00:43:28.565 --> 00:43:33.585
another guy at one point stopped close to close to Grimsby, like Gimli,

00:43:33.745 --> 00:43:35.785
like 50 kilometers from Gimli.

00:43:36.188 --> 00:43:39.228
And he said, it's too cold. You guys are going to freeze solid.

00:43:39.248 --> 00:43:40.348
I'm going to go get some coffee.

00:43:40.528 --> 00:43:44.628
So he drove back 50 kilometers to get two big, huge coffee.

00:43:44.948 --> 00:43:48.388
Jennifer doesn't drink coffee. So I had two big Tim Hortons coffee.

00:43:48.748 --> 00:43:50.988
And I stopped a lot on the way after that.

00:43:52.048 --> 00:43:57.108
We met people that let us stay in their house, even though they were not going

00:43:57.108 --> 00:43:58.268
there. They say, yeah, yeah.

00:43:58.548 --> 00:44:03.868
When you get into this village on the second street, you see I got third house right on the left side.

00:44:04.588 --> 00:44:08.708
It's not locked. Don't worry about it. It's not locked. So you can go up in a place like this.

00:44:09.148 --> 00:44:12.908
It was great. Many times, it was unbelievable. These long, long strip,

00:44:13.088 --> 00:44:15.828
like the road is flat, it's straight.

00:44:16.348 --> 00:44:20.688
And then we walked for hours and hours. We meet the snowplow one day.

00:44:20.848 --> 00:44:25.908
The guy comes with a snowplow because it's snowing. They drift and he sees us.

00:44:26.048 --> 00:44:28.248
So he stopped and said, are you guys okay? Do you need a ride?

00:44:28.348 --> 00:44:31.188
Do you need a lift? Something? He said, no, no, we're doing fine. It's great.

00:44:31.660 --> 00:44:36.080
Then he's on his way back in the afternoon and he sees us again, keep on walking.

00:44:36.340 --> 00:44:40.460
How far are you going? He said, across Canada. Oh my God, wait for a summer.

00:44:41.920 --> 00:44:47.200
Yeah. So your first week here, you're walking. How long before you get to paddle?

00:44:48.240 --> 00:44:52.640
I think it was about three weeks before. Well, actually not paddling.

00:44:52.880 --> 00:44:58.360
We took about three weeks between the moment we started on Lake Winnipeg and

00:44:58.360 --> 00:45:00.160
then we got to Madison Island.

00:45:00.720 --> 00:45:03.940
And we had to wait a little bit longer there.

00:45:04.120 --> 00:45:08.580
And then we started walking again on the ice, but we knew we were just on the

00:45:08.580 --> 00:45:11.600
edge of, you know, when the ice started giving away.

00:45:11.820 --> 00:45:15.480
It's called candle ice. You know, there's like long, long strip of ice in the

00:45:15.480 --> 00:45:18.020
air. So it's very, very brittle.

00:45:18.260 --> 00:45:21.200
Yeah. So when we started, actually on that first day we started,

00:45:21.340 --> 00:45:24.500
we pulled the canoe and then sometime we paddle, like, you know,

00:45:24.560 --> 00:45:30.380
going from ice to water and water to ice again. So it was a shorter day in our

00:45:30.380 --> 00:45:33.180
usual distance, but it was a nice day.

00:45:33.300 --> 00:45:36.560
And then we end up on that island a little bit further.

00:45:37.140 --> 00:45:41.780
And then that's something I think that's interesting maybe to tell on that night.

00:45:41.980 --> 00:45:44.560
First, just before, we forgot one.

00:45:44.940 --> 00:45:48.440
While we're getting to Madison Island, we meet the ranger.

00:45:48.740 --> 00:45:52.860
And the ranger asked us, so where are you doing? What kind of gun are we carrying?

00:45:52.980 --> 00:45:56.980
So while we didn't have a gun, yes, at that time we didn't carry it for the first part.

00:45:57.460 --> 00:46:01.540
But he says no you need a gun because there's a lot of wolf around here and

00:46:01.540 --> 00:46:03.160
they have the mange disease so.

00:46:03.880 --> 00:46:09.240
They're going to attack either you or your dog and we saw a wolf at one point

00:46:09.240 --> 00:46:12.780
attacking some people on the ice, ice fishing.

00:46:13.100 --> 00:46:18.860
They were in a wheeler and they hit it so he let us use a gun, he gave us,

00:46:19.327 --> 00:46:25.387
A fishing rod also, that small fishing rod for ice fishing, because that stuff

00:46:25.387 --> 00:46:28.467
they get from people that are not supposed to be fishing.

00:46:29.227 --> 00:46:33.507
Yeah, so it was pretty nice on that. Then just prior to getting to Madison Island,

00:46:33.647 --> 00:46:38.007
just before we go down for the crossing, we see a big wolf on the road.

00:46:38.207 --> 00:46:40.067
Huge, huge wolf on the road.

00:46:40.667 --> 00:46:44.747
And he stopped, he looked at us, we looked at each other, and then he kept on

00:46:44.747 --> 00:46:47.247
going. And then we got to Madison Island.

00:46:47.907 --> 00:46:50.787
We met a very nice gentleman, too, while we were there.

00:46:51.087 --> 00:46:55.147
He's a fishing guide. He's got his fishing company also out there.

00:46:55.427 --> 00:46:58.967
And we stayed with him for a little while at one of his houses.

00:46:59.407 --> 00:47:03.707
Actually, we went across first. We went across to Moose Island.

00:47:03.947 --> 00:47:08.367
And on the way to Moose Island... And that was our first day of getting back

00:47:08.367 --> 00:47:11.807
on the water. Yeah, we're all happy going from ice to water, ice to water.

00:47:12.047 --> 00:47:18.887
And then we slid down, just like the ice canoe racing, And we slid down close to shore.

00:47:18.987 --> 00:47:21.767
It was a very sharp rock that we didn't see.

00:47:22.027 --> 00:47:27.027
And it split. Well, we didn't know at that time, but it split our canoe at the

00:47:27.027 --> 00:47:28.747
bottom underneath from one end to the other.

00:47:29.238 --> 00:47:33.038
Then at night, we're in bed and we're sleeping and we hear that huge bang,

00:47:33.218 --> 00:47:36.558
like a shotgun shell, like somebody just shot something with a shotgun.

00:47:36.918 --> 00:47:40.898
So we got out and you look around, there's nothing. There's no nobody around.

00:47:40.898 --> 00:47:42.798
It's pitch dark. We didn't see anything.

00:47:43.138 --> 00:47:46.498
In the morning, we loaded our canoe, put all our stuff back in.

00:47:46.658 --> 00:47:50.418
And then all of a sudden we realized canoe is kind of soft. I don't know what's happening.

00:47:51.378 --> 00:47:54.758
The water is not coming into the canoe but the canoe is flexing

00:47:54.758 --> 00:47:57.798
a lot so we stop we unload the canoe and we flip

00:47:57.798 --> 00:48:00.638
it and we look underneath and there was a crack from one end

00:48:00.638 --> 00:48:03.598
to the other where the water infiltrated and it

00:48:03.598 --> 00:48:06.378
was stuck between the honeycomb and when it froze at

00:48:06.378 --> 00:48:09.718
night that's what split the canoe ah okay so

00:48:09.718 --> 00:48:12.778
we had to turn around and go back to madison island

00:48:12.778 --> 00:48:16.658
but at that time during that day was really really warm and

00:48:16.658 --> 00:48:20.218
there was not much ice anymore so then it

00:48:20.218 --> 00:48:23.838
was getting pretty tricky because we had we couldn't be in the canoe because

00:48:23.838 --> 00:48:29.678
it was just opening even more so we we walk in the on the ice on the candle

00:48:29.678 --> 00:48:34.518
ice it was breaking and going into the water and we're walking and swimming

00:48:34.518 --> 00:48:39.378
next to canoe at places and going back to madison island we had their.

00:48:39.998 --> 00:48:45.638
Radio and we let people know that we're in trouble and this gentleman in Madison

00:48:45.638 --> 00:48:51.998
Island waited for us on the shore with his binocular and he waited there all day because it took us,

00:48:52.545 --> 00:48:56.345
almost nine hours to go back. And he waited for us the entire time.

00:48:56.445 --> 00:48:59.225
And when we got to the island, then he invited us to one of his,

00:48:59.225 --> 00:49:03.385
he's got a cabin and we stayed in the cabin until we got the new canoe from Clipper.

00:49:03.805 --> 00:49:08.885
Now, what was your route on that second loop? So we started on Lake Winnipeg

00:49:08.885 --> 00:49:11.005
and we made our way to Grand Rapids.

00:49:11.245 --> 00:49:13.425
From there, we took the Saskatchewan River.

00:49:13.885 --> 00:49:19.245
After that, it's Cumberland House, the Sturgeon Weir River.

00:49:19.845 --> 00:49:24.025
After that, it's the Frog Portage, There's a neat story about that.

00:49:24.245 --> 00:49:29.085
Churchill River, Métis Portage, Clearwater River, Atabasca River,

00:49:29.345 --> 00:49:31.265
Atabasca Lake, the Peace River.

00:49:31.465 --> 00:49:34.925
And then from there, at one point on the Peace River, we were in British Columbia.

00:49:35.305 --> 00:49:39.405
Everything froze solid, so we had to stop. So we took some time in Yukon.

00:49:39.505 --> 00:49:43.245
We got invitation to spend some time in Watson Lake and Whitehorse.

00:49:43.565 --> 00:49:48.405
And back in February or January, we moved back to Kitimat.

00:49:49.026 --> 00:49:54.406
On the British Columbia coast. And around mid-February, we start paddling again.

00:49:54.526 --> 00:49:56.966
And then we start on the Douglas Channel.

00:49:57.186 --> 00:50:03.306
And then it was the Inside Passage all the way down to Vancouver Island and

00:50:03.306 --> 00:50:06.686
then the Sunshine Coast, Vancouver.

00:50:07.026 --> 00:50:09.886
We met up with Pierre's sister. She lives there.

00:50:10.026 --> 00:50:15.026
And then we moved to, I'm just thinking here, the Oldman River,

00:50:15.346 --> 00:50:18.226
the South Saskatchewan River, Lake Defembeker.

00:50:18.226 --> 00:50:23.546
So that's on our way back east, the Keppel River, Assiniboine River,

00:50:23.766 --> 00:50:28.186
Red River, Lake Winnipeg, Winnipeg River, Lake of the Wood, the Boundary Waters,

00:50:28.526 --> 00:50:30.306
and Ketiko, Lake Superior.

00:50:30.726 --> 00:50:33.646
And that was the big portage we talked about earlier.

00:50:33.966 --> 00:50:39.086
Second big portage. Yeah, no, I mean the portage from the Boundary to Lake Superior.

00:50:39.386 --> 00:50:43.026
And then again, North Channel, Georgian Bay. And this time around,

00:50:43.146 --> 00:50:46.566
we decided to do the French River, Lake Nipissing, Marawa River,

00:50:46.746 --> 00:50:48.666
Ottawa River, and the St. Lawrence River.

00:50:49.126 --> 00:50:53.006
So that's the big list, huh? Yeah, that is. That is. Now, how long did that one take you?

00:50:53.486 --> 00:50:57.626
That one was, I'd say, about 18 months.

00:50:58.326 --> 00:51:02.486
Yeah. That was a longer one. And how did you plan that route?

00:51:02.606 --> 00:51:04.326
That's a very complex route. Yeah.

00:51:04.743 --> 00:51:09.263
So that one, we... Your trade again. Yeah, it was a fair trade. Fair trade, let's say.

00:51:09.603 --> 00:51:14.423
It's exactly the same path. So there's that Métis Portage.

00:51:14.703 --> 00:51:22.983
So the big canoe were traveling all the way on this, like from Montreal to Grand Portage.

00:51:23.163 --> 00:51:26.443
From Grand Portage, all the canoe were split into smaller canoe.

00:51:26.863 --> 00:51:31.663
And these canoe would be going everywhere, all the way up to BC almost.

00:51:32.523 --> 00:51:37.283
And so that's that path, the route for all these fur that were coming down or

00:51:37.283 --> 00:51:40.083
the food going up and the fur coming down.

00:51:40.283 --> 00:51:46.363
So there's a big meetup on the Mithy Portage at the Rendezvous Lake.

00:51:46.483 --> 00:51:47.963
That's what they call it, Rendezvous Lake.

00:51:48.103 --> 00:51:52.663
So it's 12 kilometers from the lake.

00:51:52.823 --> 00:51:55.683
It's a total of 20 kilometers, 19 point something.

00:51:56.143 --> 00:51:59.503
So you'd go up because actually it is going up.

00:51:59.503 --> 00:52:03.903
So that long portage of 12 kilometers going up to Rendezvous Lake,

00:52:04.043 --> 00:52:07.243
and from Rendezvous Lake, they would meet and exchange,

00:52:07.703 --> 00:52:13.723
and then they would do that last section, the 9 kilometers, 7 kilometers down,

00:52:14.023 --> 00:52:18.383
very, very steep, back to a clear water river.

00:52:18.643 --> 00:52:24.603
So that was one of the toughest parts of our trip, because you had to remember

00:52:24.603 --> 00:52:29.643
at that time, they had the big forest fire in… Fort McMurray, that was the same year.

00:52:30.166 --> 00:52:35.306
So we're stuck in a place where all the trees are burnt. There's still fire everywhere.

00:52:36.786 --> 00:52:39.626
It's called, actually, I don't know what it's called in English.

00:52:39.886 --> 00:52:41.686
The fire is running on the ground.

00:52:41.966 --> 00:52:46.046
And so you have to watch out where you're walking because fire can be burning

00:52:46.046 --> 00:52:48.386
for a couple of years on the ground without knowing.

00:52:48.606 --> 00:52:53.966
So you got to be alert on the track, on the trail.

00:52:54.666 --> 00:52:58.206
It made it very, very tough because everything is black. At that time,

00:52:58.366 --> 00:52:59.986
everything we owned was black.

00:53:00.606 --> 00:53:06.826
All our bag. And on that Métis Portage, not related to the Fort McMurray fire,

00:53:07.186 --> 00:53:12.086
but just a week prior, there was also a fire right there.

00:53:12.386 --> 00:53:19.446
So that was 2016 and there were a lot of forest fire a little bit everywhere,

00:53:19.646 --> 00:53:20.866
and especially northwest.

00:53:21.986 --> 00:53:25.186
And so we had to deal with that along the way.

00:53:25.466 --> 00:53:30.226
Again, though, people are so kind and generous. We meet a couple,

00:53:30.366 --> 00:53:35.006
actually they're down, they have a jet boat and they lost everything.

00:53:35.286 --> 00:53:39.406
They lost their house, they lost their business, they lost everything to the big, great fire.

00:53:39.646 --> 00:53:47.266
But yet they invite us to their camp that night. They want us to be part of their journey.

00:53:47.706 --> 00:53:53.786
They invite us to Fort McMurray to spend time with them. It's unbelievable.

00:53:54.086 --> 00:53:56.846
Like the guy, they don't have anything. They lost everything.

00:53:56.846 --> 00:54:00.786
They should be, you know, you say, no, it's no problem. We're going to rebuild.

00:54:00.906 --> 00:54:01.606
We're going to start again.

00:54:01.746 --> 00:54:09.906
And so, again, people just so kind, helping you and trying to help you find

00:54:09.906 --> 00:54:11.286
an easier way for your trip.

00:54:11.446 --> 00:54:16.986
Because for them, they're in jet boat and they just can't imagine paddling river

00:54:16.986 --> 00:54:18.786
like this and stopping water.

00:54:19.418 --> 00:54:24.398
For food and fishing. And actually, we had a great life. We didn't have to worry

00:54:24.398 --> 00:54:26.438
about finding gasoline.

00:54:26.758 --> 00:54:30.478
We didn't have to, you know, for us, it was a cheap way of living.

00:54:30.918 --> 00:54:37.418
Yeah, so if we go back to the planning, so yeah, it was all the fur trade route.

00:54:37.778 --> 00:54:43.258
Basically, what we use, especially on the first section of that loop.

00:54:43.258 --> 00:54:45.958
So, all going from east to west.

00:54:46.418 --> 00:54:53.298
And we use a topo map. So topographic map, we had about 400 of those.

00:54:53.518 --> 00:54:58.338
So we had to print them and then study them. And then we had different dropout

00:54:58.338 --> 00:55:00.498
along the way so we could use them.

00:55:00.758 --> 00:55:05.418
So that's really how we did it. And lots of research also into books.

00:55:05.918 --> 00:55:09.778
And then on the second leg, well, there's the inside passage.

00:55:09.798 --> 00:55:11.478
It's a little bit more documented.

00:55:11.878 --> 00:55:18.438
And on the last leg of that journey, going back east again, And those rivers

00:55:18.438 --> 00:55:22.438
were not as much as part of the fur trade route.

00:55:23.158 --> 00:55:27.418
Well, they were used, but at that time there were two companies.

00:55:27.658 --> 00:55:30.018
There was the Northwest Company and there was the Hudson Bay.

00:55:30.198 --> 00:55:33.458
So the lower part were more used by the Hudson Bay.

00:55:33.678 --> 00:55:40.958
So we did a lot of research on the Northwest Company, not enough on the Hudson Bay Company.

00:55:41.138 --> 00:55:44.038
But they were used, the Hudson Bay Company would be using those.

00:55:44.038 --> 00:55:47.298
So we had to listen to what people were saying.

00:55:47.678 --> 00:55:52.338
And at a different place, we found people that paddling section of it.

00:55:52.458 --> 00:55:58.458
So we were able with the map to figure a way out because it's not that complicated

00:55:58.458 --> 00:56:00.418
because they all feed one another.

00:56:01.218 --> 00:56:04.638
So your dog Jasmine was with you. What was Jasmine's favorite part of the trip?

00:56:05.149 --> 00:56:11.389
Oh, my God. She loved it so much. Before saying what was her favorite part,

00:56:11.509 --> 00:56:16.809
let's just say at the end of the trip, she cried for three weeks straight.

00:56:17.049 --> 00:56:20.889
Oh, no. Sitting at the canoe and begging to sleep in the tent.

00:56:21.569 --> 00:56:25.709
We actually pitched our tent in the house. Yeah. Pitched our tent in the house

00:56:25.709 --> 00:56:30.049
so she could go back in the tent and she would look through the door and say,

00:56:30.089 --> 00:56:31.889
okay, let's go now. Let's come

00:56:31.889 --> 00:56:35.809
and bring your sleeping bag in here and let's sleep again in the tent.

00:56:36.629 --> 00:56:40.049
Well, a big part of her life was the canoe journey.

00:56:40.269 --> 00:56:43.129
She started paddling, I think she was four months old, like,

00:56:43.149 --> 00:56:45.929
you know, on the river close by where we used to live.

00:56:46.189 --> 00:56:51.629
But I'd say maybe her favorite part was just starting in the morning.

00:56:52.329 --> 00:56:59.049
She was pressing us to pack up as fast as we could. and she was jumping in the

00:56:59.049 --> 00:57:02.169
canoe and complaining if we were not going fast enough.

00:57:02.369 --> 00:57:06.789
She just wanted to go on the water. And she's not like she can swim,

00:57:06.949 --> 00:57:11.429
but she doesn't really mind or she doesn't care about swimming.

00:57:11.649 --> 00:57:15.829
She just wants to be on the canoe, smells everything. She was so curious.

00:57:16.049 --> 00:57:17.409
There's so much wildlife.

00:57:17.729 --> 00:57:21.809
She loves people also. So when we met people, she was very happy.

00:57:22.109 --> 00:57:29.109
But I'd say probably the Norton or the Sagan Loop, like more into northern Canada was her favorite.

00:57:29.909 --> 00:57:33.489
She's very, very attracted by beaver. Okay.

00:57:33.769 --> 00:57:38.069
Beavers is a big thing. Deers. We lost her a lot of deers.

00:57:38.369 --> 00:57:42.989
We lost her many times. We lost her to deer. We lost her to beaver.

00:57:43.649 --> 00:57:49.689
We lost her to bears. We lost her to squirrel. One day she started running in

00:57:49.689 --> 00:57:51.609
a big patch of poison ivy.

00:57:52.429 --> 00:57:58.809
Chased her in a poison ivy. So the next day I was huffing and puffing. One day we're on the,

00:57:59.253 --> 00:58:05.253
Peace on the, which river was it, with the sandbar that she chased the deer?

00:58:05.453 --> 00:58:08.453
Oh, that was on the South Saskatchewan. South Saskatchewan. In the Badlands.

00:58:08.493 --> 00:58:13.053
Very, very, very steep walls of sandy on both sides. We're paddling.

00:58:13.373 --> 00:58:16.693
There's a couple of deer. But it's apparent too. Yeah, very fast water.

00:58:17.353 --> 00:58:21.253
There's a couple of deer on the side of the river. So we're starting,

00:58:21.413 --> 00:58:23.533
we're staying very far from shore at that time.

00:58:23.673 --> 00:58:26.193
And at one point, we come around the corner, there's some more deer.

00:58:26.773 --> 00:58:31.513
She jumped out of the canoe, started swimming, get on the sandbar and went up

00:58:31.513 --> 00:58:34.873
really, really steep hill all the way to the top, chasing the deer.

00:58:35.253 --> 00:58:40.373
So I got off the canoe. It took me probably 30 minutes to get on top because

00:58:40.373 --> 00:58:42.293
it was just the sand was sliding.

00:58:42.613 --> 00:58:46.573
I get to the top. I was mad. I was huffing and puffing.

00:58:47.053 --> 00:58:51.753
I couldn't, she didn't want to come back. She was chasing deer. She was ending a blast.

00:58:51.973 --> 00:58:56.073
And she's going all over the place with the deer. And yet, at one point,

00:58:56.193 --> 00:58:58.373
She turns around and there's coyote chasing.

00:58:59.253 --> 00:59:02.093
Now I was scared because I left the rifle in the canoe.

00:59:02.453 --> 00:59:06.773
And then she turns around when she sees the coyote and she's chased the coyote.

00:59:06.933 --> 00:59:08.393
She started running after the coyote.

00:59:08.653 --> 00:59:11.933
I said, that's not going to be good. Then the coyote are going all over the

00:59:11.933 --> 00:59:15.273
place. And then she just stopped. Okay, they don't want to play with me.

00:59:15.753 --> 00:59:18.793
Come down. And when she saw me and she knew I was pretty mad,

00:59:19.033 --> 00:59:23.913
she went down the hill again, back into the canoe, seeing Jennifer wiggling

00:59:23.913 --> 00:59:28.513
her tail. Like, oh, everything is fine. I come down and I'm mad and she's looking

00:59:28.513 --> 00:59:30.033
at me. I don't know what's wrong with you.

00:59:30.413 --> 00:59:36.173
It's a pretty weird way of acting after doing something so stupid.

00:59:36.533 --> 00:59:41.013
But like, to me, like we should, like it sounds like Jasmine was running away

00:59:41.013 --> 00:59:42.533
all the time, but it wasn't the case.

00:59:42.553 --> 00:59:46.053
It's just a few of those times that I guess. It's fine.

00:59:46.333 --> 00:59:50.133
Yeah. Well, out of four years, it's not bad. Yeah.

00:59:51.227 --> 00:59:56.007
I think it's because she saw like especially on that day she for a week straight

00:59:56.007 --> 01:00:00.467
she was seeing deer and a bunch of animals and we kept telling her no,

01:00:00.707 --> 01:00:02.507
no, no. So she had to stay in the canoe.

01:00:03.087 --> 01:00:07.187
And I guess it was too much. Like she couldn't control herself no more.

01:00:07.347 --> 01:00:10.947
So at that point on and the river became a little bit narrower.

01:00:11.267 --> 01:00:16.107
So we had to put our harness on and she had a big leash. So if she would ever

01:00:16.107 --> 01:00:18.427
jump like it was easy to retrieve her.

01:00:19.047 --> 01:00:24.707
She's a type of Actually, it's a hunting dog, so that's the breed.

01:00:25.067 --> 01:00:29.027
So it's hard to tame her instant.

01:00:29.487 --> 01:00:36.667
That's part of who she is. But she was such a great dog during that trip.

01:00:38.047 --> 01:00:43.827
She chased cougars. She always kept her camping safe.

01:00:44.527 --> 01:00:51.187
Wild boar in Georgia. She chased pretty much anything. And if there was something

01:00:51.187 --> 01:00:53.547
at night, she would start making some noise.

01:00:53.667 --> 01:00:57.927
She did bark on comment also. So she would ask me if she should bark.

01:00:58.087 --> 01:01:00.007
I would tell her, yes, bark.

01:01:00.467 --> 01:01:05.567
It's necessary this time. She would start barking. Pierre was always sleeping with air plugs.

01:01:08.267 --> 01:01:14.927
One of us has to sleep. Yeah. Jasmine and me was on guard every night.

01:01:14.927 --> 01:01:21.687
But yeah no she was a great addition to that trip and we would have not have it,

01:01:22.164 --> 01:01:25.564
any other way. Yeah, she was just wonderful.

01:01:25.724 --> 01:01:28.544
And she really, truly enjoyed it.

01:01:28.684 --> 01:01:34.924
And you know a dog, usually they sleep, I don't know, 15, 16 hours per day, like normal dog.

01:01:35.124 --> 01:01:38.024
She was maybe sleeping four hours.

01:01:38.504 --> 01:01:44.224
She never, never slept on the canoe trip. She was just like high all the time

01:01:44.224 --> 01:01:47.444
from all the noise, the smell, anything.

01:01:47.664 --> 01:01:51.044
Like anything was intriguing. Intriguing. Intriguing.

01:01:52.804 --> 01:01:57.904
And at night, she would crash only when we were still outside the tent,

01:01:57.944 --> 01:01:59.644
so she knew she could sleep at that time.

01:01:59.684 --> 01:02:02.784
And once we were in, then she would sleep only on one ear.

01:02:03.264 --> 01:02:08.604
So, yeah, she was amazing. Well, it sounds like a good life for a dog, that's for sure. Yeah.

01:02:09.084 --> 01:02:11.564
So, what's next for you both? Oof.

01:02:12.604 --> 01:02:14.164
People are going to think we're crazy again.

01:02:15.264 --> 01:02:19.664
We're building a sailboat right now. We're building in our backyard a big steel sailboat.

01:02:21.584 --> 01:02:25.644
And hopefully it's going to be in the water next spring, next fall. As far.

01:02:26.024 --> 01:02:29.504
And again, we're selling everything we own and we're going again.

01:02:29.724 --> 01:02:34.084
We're going to go around the world. We don't know. We're going, we like the north.

01:02:35.084 --> 01:02:38.244
Actually, I should say, I like the north. I like where it's cold and the fur

01:02:38.244 --> 01:02:41.604
likes the heat. So we're going to have plenty of time up north and plenty of

01:02:41.604 --> 01:02:42.744
time where it's nice and warm.

01:02:43.224 --> 01:02:48.344
We decide that this is the type of life we want to do. So we want to live together.

01:02:48.712 --> 01:02:54.652
We want to live. We don't want to wait for a tomorrow. We don't want to live for anybody else.

01:02:54.892 --> 01:02:59.652
We still have to plan and organize our own life. But for us,

01:02:59.832 --> 01:03:02.332
this is much what we're looking for.

01:03:02.792 --> 01:03:07.232
So a sailboat is just an extension of our canoe.

01:03:07.472 --> 01:03:12.092
We can bring more toy in our sailboat than we could in our sailboat.

01:03:12.512 --> 01:03:18.192
It's a little bit easier also as we're not old. But like as you age,

01:03:18.312 --> 01:03:22.312
like sometimes, like, you know, pitching your tent, inflating your mattress every single day.

01:03:22.472 --> 01:03:25.112
So doing it for four years was something.

01:03:25.272 --> 01:03:29.872
But, you know, like it does put a lot of wear and tear on your body.

01:03:30.192 --> 01:03:34.692
Oh, it's tough. Sure. It was tough. I mean, we'd get up at 5 o'clock in the

01:03:34.692 --> 01:03:37.552
morning and never be in bed before 11 o'clock at night.

01:03:37.732 --> 01:03:40.092
We paddled roughly 10 hours a day.

01:03:40.372 --> 01:03:48.112
We paddled at 50 to 70 stroke a minute. We took a break, a five-minute break every hour.

01:03:50.372 --> 01:03:54.812
When we started the trip, we were fit. When we finished the trip, we were powerhouse.

01:03:55.912 --> 01:04:01.932
We could paddle on the way back, like 70 strokes a minute for nonstop for five

01:04:01.932 --> 01:04:03.272
to six hours, no problem.

01:04:03.432 --> 01:04:06.592
With a canoe fully loaded, there was no problem.

01:04:06.652 --> 01:04:11.392
It was just tough to get back to normal life after that. And when we did the

01:04:11.392 --> 01:04:17.752
second trip, the second loop, well, with the portage and all this stuff,

01:04:17.892 --> 01:04:20.532
it's the same thing. I mean, you're top shape.

01:04:20.872 --> 01:04:26.532
As long as you take a day off every couple of weeks, a day or two off because

01:04:26.532 --> 01:04:28.912
you're waiting for material, you're fixing something.

01:04:29.332 --> 01:04:34.152
And that was the time where you recuperate and you regenerate and then you go

01:04:34.152 --> 01:04:42.772
back after. So for me, it was the best way to stay in shape and to come up to another place.

01:04:44.057 --> 01:04:48.237
I've been in shape all my life. When I was in the army, I was in very,

01:04:48.237 --> 01:04:53.037
very top shape, but nothing compared to that trip, that paddling trip.

01:04:53.377 --> 01:04:56.557
Well, here's hoping you won't have any portaging on the portaging.

01:04:57.397 --> 01:04:58.677
I hope not. That's the old one.

01:04:59.657 --> 01:05:04.697
Yeah, so it's going to be much easier in so many ways, and it's like bringing

01:05:04.697 --> 01:05:10.417
our house, but yet we can still live that nomad life that we love so much.

01:05:10.417 --> 01:05:15.377
Even our sailboat is a special, it's an expedition sailboat,

01:05:15.477 --> 01:05:17.137
so it's got retractable keel.

01:05:17.337 --> 01:05:20.477
We can bring our mast down ourselves using a tabernacle.

01:05:21.157 --> 01:05:27.837
Everything is made, it's not a pretty sailboat, it's a good sailboat, it's a tough sailboat.

01:05:28.317 --> 01:05:32.337
Its design was designed for expedition boat for high latitude,

01:05:32.677 --> 01:05:38.277
so it's not the prettiest, but I know it's going to go everywhere we need to.

01:05:38.277 --> 01:05:43.317
And it's all electric there's no diesel there's no it's all newer technology,

01:05:43.857 --> 01:05:48.037
so that trip we also don't want to we want to have minimum impact on nature,

01:05:48.637 --> 01:05:51.557
we've been using nature all our lives so we want to have

01:05:51.557 --> 01:05:58.097
as little as possible so that's why we don't carry fuel we don't it's electric

01:05:58.097 --> 01:06:02.817
power and if there's no power there's going to be the wind if there's no wind

01:06:02.817 --> 01:06:06.977
we're just going to stay there and wait until the wind picks up so that's that's

01:06:06.977 --> 01:06:09.297
why we got to go Good. Well, how can listeners connect with you?

01:06:10.129 --> 01:06:13.509
To know more about our past expedition, so Canoe Expedition,

01:06:13.629 --> 01:06:16.049
you can log on our old website.

01:06:18.209 --> 01:06:23.249
It's wildravenadventure.com. So again, W-I-L-D, raven, like the bird,

01:06:23.409 --> 01:06:25.789
adventure, singular, dot com.

01:06:26.089 --> 01:06:31.589
So you can, yeah, you can know all about the previous expedition. And other expedition.

01:06:31.869 --> 01:06:35.309
Yeah. A little trip there too. We'll make sure we put links to both of those

01:06:35.309 --> 01:06:36.949
in the show notes, so I appreciate that.

01:06:37.229 --> 01:06:39.669
One final question for you as we wrap up here.

01:06:40.449 --> 01:06:43.629
Who else would you like to hear as a future guest on Paddling the Blue?

01:06:44.289 --> 01:06:48.069
Well, I paddle and I work with a gentleman called...

01:06:49.117 --> 01:06:53.837
Gilles Couette, who used to be the owner of Chlorophyll Clothing Company.

01:06:54.177 --> 01:06:57.537
I've been paddling with Gilles for many years.

01:06:57.717 --> 01:07:00.997
We've been in contact. We still see each other once in a while,

01:07:01.217 --> 01:07:02.617
especially in Georgian Bay.

01:07:03.097 --> 01:07:05.957
He would be a great person to interview.

01:07:06.517 --> 01:07:13.337
And Jennifer, you also? Yeah, so Gilles also, he's in his 70s and he has a very good friend, Alan.

01:07:13.877 --> 01:07:18.457
And both of them make a point every single year to keep paddling.

01:07:18.457 --> 01:07:20.757
So as long as they can, they keep paddling.

01:07:20.917 --> 01:07:26.917
And they have such a nice view or philosophy around the paddling.

01:07:27.097 --> 01:07:29.297
So they're sea kayak paddlers.

01:07:29.937 --> 01:07:35.297
And I don't know, like, I think it would be very, very interesting to hear them

01:07:35.297 --> 01:07:38.937
and see what they have to say about paddling in general.

01:07:39.317 --> 01:07:41.237
He should have been at canoe paddling also.

01:07:41.797 --> 01:07:47.597
He paddled a lot of the big river with all the well-known people in canoe.

01:07:48.877 --> 01:07:55.117
Mason, Bill Mason and his family so many great people that we had a chance to

01:07:55.117 --> 01:07:58.697
meet because of him so it would be a great person to interview also.

01:07:58.977 --> 01:08:02.597
Super, well thank you very much and thank you very much for the opportunity

01:08:02.597 --> 01:08:10.637
to hear about your trips your NORAM odyssey over the course of four years all over the US and Canada,

01:08:10.697 --> 01:08:14.597
that's just an amazing amazing experience as well as your other experiences

01:08:14.597 --> 01:08:19.697
and absolutely wish you the best as you begin on Sailing Wild Raven and your

01:08:19.697 --> 01:08:20.517
Around the World journey.

01:08:20.517 --> 01:08:23.657
So we'll be following that one as well. But thank you again for the opportunity.

01:08:24.577 --> 01:08:28.317
Well, thank you very much for having us. It was a pleasure talking to you today.

01:08:28.437 --> 01:08:30.217
Yeah, you're welcome. Thanks. Thank you.

01:08:31.113 --> 01:08:34.813
If you want to be a stronger and more efficient paddler, Power to the Paddle

01:08:34.813 --> 01:08:38.433
is packed with fitness guidance and complete descriptions along with photos

01:08:38.433 --> 01:08:42.873
of more than 50 exercises to improve your abilities and enjoy your time on the water.

01:08:43.033 --> 01:08:46.873
The concept and exercises in this book have helped me become a better paddler

01:08:46.873 --> 01:08:48.533
and they can make a difference for you too.

01:08:48.793 --> 01:08:52.473
The exercises in the book can help you reduce tension in your shoulders and

01:08:52.473 --> 01:08:56.353
low back, use the power of your torso to create leverage and use less energy

01:08:56.353 --> 01:09:00.253
with each stroke, use force generated from your lower body to make your paddling

01:09:00.253 --> 01:09:01.133
strokes more efficient,

01:09:01.513 --> 01:09:03.833
have the endurance to handle long days in the boat,

01:09:04.253 --> 01:09:07.693
drive through the toughest waves or whitewater, protect your body against common

01:09:07.693 --> 01:09:10.913
paddling injuries, and while you're at it, you might even lose a few pounds.

01:09:11.093 --> 01:09:16.213
And who wouldn't mind that? So visit paddlingexercises.com to get the book and companion DVD.

01:09:16.733 --> 01:09:21.593
Thanks to Ed Hill from episode 147 for referring Jennifer and Pierre as guests

01:09:21.593 --> 01:09:24.333
on the show. They were a lot of fun and they had a great experience.

01:09:24.553 --> 01:09:27.893
They really enjoyed life afloat so much so that they're going to be back at

01:09:27.893 --> 01:09:31.613
it again with even bigger visions much further from land this time.

01:09:32.033 --> 01:09:35.353
You'll find links to their website and more by visiting the show notes for this

01:09:35.353 --> 01:09:39.093
episode at paddlingtheblue.com slash 162.

01:09:39.333 --> 01:09:44.673
And as a reminder, you can find programming and trips from me personally at paddlingtheblue.com.

01:09:44.993 --> 01:09:47.913
Click that courses and trips link up at the top of the page.

01:09:48.013 --> 01:09:49.073
And I hope to see you on the water.

01:09:49.373 --> 01:09:53.913
If you're not already a subscriber to onlineseakayaking.com or online and whitewater.com.

01:09:53.993 --> 01:09:54.893
Be sure to check them out.

01:09:55.073 --> 01:09:59.573
Use the coupon code PTBpodcast to check out and you'll get 10% off just for

01:09:59.573 --> 01:10:01.573
being a member of the Paddling the Blue community.

01:10:01.973 --> 01:10:06.893
Thanks as always for listening and I look forward to bringing you the next episode of Paddling the Blue.

01:10:09.153 --> 01:10:12.653
Thank you for listening to Paddling the Blue. You can subscribe to Paddling

01:10:12.653 --> 01:10:16.833
the Blue on Apple Music, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

01:10:17.093 --> 01:10:19.973
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01:10:19.993 --> 01:10:21.833
We truly appreciate the support.

01:10:22.033 --> 01:10:25.273
And you can find the show notes for this episode and other episodes,

01:10:25.593 --> 01:10:31.013
along with replays of past episodes, contact information, and more at paddlingtheblue.com.

01:10:31.213 --> 01:10:34.313
Until next time, I hope you get out and paddle the blue.