Wednesday, June 27, 2012

We arrived at Lake Itasca last evening just before 9:00 p.m. Thanks to the Schley's for suffering through the 8 hour drive here. Got a nice campsite next to the lake to make getting in the water in the morning much easier.

The checks were dropped off in the mail as well, but we will still be raising money throughout the trip. A total of $1075 has made it to the Mayo Clinic for research towards Pulmonary Embolisms. Thank you to everyone one that has helped and to those of you that came to say goodbye.

P.s Facebook is a lot easier to update then the blog, make sure you "like" that page and watch for updates.

Www.facebook.com/canoeforacause

Monday, June 25, 2012

Less than 24 hours until we make our way to the headwaters at Lake Itasca. Stevie has been putting in a lot of work on the canoe and it is completely ready for the trip. Seats have been re-installed, bottom was re-sanded, and a fresh coat of varnish applied. Canoe looks amazing and is fully ready for this grand adventure.

I will be messing around with the app I have for this blog on the Iphone later today. I feel like Facebook will be a lot easier to update then this. If you haven't seen the Facebook page, make sure you check it out and like it to follow us there as well.

www.facebook.com/canoeforacause


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

This past weekend Stevie and I continued to finish the canoe, but the glue drying time took a little longer than expected, so when it came time to do a trial run down the river, we were unable to take our pride and joy. Instead we opted for the ole Alumicraft, which a trusty aluminum canoe that has been in the Schley family for over 30 years.

We wanted to see what kind of mileage we could do in a day, but wanted to do some fishing too. So we set off from Shawano, Hwy M boat landing to be exact, at roughly 6 a.m. Water was low and slow moving, we came to a few complete stops in the middle of the river due to low areas in the Shawano portion of the Wolf River. Fishing was pretty good in the morning, landing a young musky, some good size Northern, and some small mouth's. It slowed down a bit in the early afternoon though, that's when we concentrated more on just paddling.

Finally, just before 8 p.m. we made County Highway F, which we estimated to be around 30 river miles after taking a few guesses from some river loving locals. All in all it was a good paddle. We are very satisfied being able to put in that many miles, while fishing, in low, slow moving water.

Now it's just a matter of finishing the fiber glassing of the seats, which should be done this week.

We've also gotten a few more donations too, $160 more to be exact. Thanks to everybody for their generosity and support.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of my mom passing. In a way it feels like she just left us, but at the same time it feels like it's been forever since I've seen or talked to her.

Stevie and I will be doing a test float this Thursday-Sunday down the Wolf River, camping randomly here and there for 3 nights. A good time to make sure the canoe floats and also to find out if all of our gear is good to go.

Donations continue to come in. Don't be shy. Only 19 days to go.