Walter has been out in the canoe with me several times. He does well – doesn’t seem to be very enthusiastic about it, but it beats being left home. The canoe isn’t as much fun as my kayak but the kayak isn’t big enough for the both of us, so I had been thinking about tandems to accommodate the dog.

Out of the blue, Robert asked me the other day if I wanted a free kayak; his neighbor had a 12′ two-seater he was giving away. Kismet! He brought it to Hood River when we did the Glass Butte trip last month.

Walter is nursing a sore foot so I couldn’t take him boating, but Mike and I went up to Kingsley Reservoir the other day to see how the boat handled. Spoiler alert: it handles like a barge, but it ought to be plenty stable enough for Walter Dawg.

We floated around the lake for a couple or three hours. I had added fishing pole holders so I dragged a line around, but the only thing I caught was a sunburn. We did get to watch ospreys fishing, which was fun and we got to see an osprey and a bald eagle argue over territory. They tussled for a bit right above us, eventually agreeing to disagree and going back to doing exactly what they were doing in the first place.

The Barge is actually heavier and only slightly less cumbersome than the canoe, though it sits lower and might be a little easier to paddle in a wind. Even on a calm day it took some effort to move it through the water. Still, it should be about perfect for what I want to do. I am looking forward to seeing if I can convince Walter to get onboard with this.

Emotion Spitfire 12T