Friday the 24th of April we decided on a whim to look up canoeing rentals in the area to do a night of camping on Saturday. We found a nice outfitter just outside of Fredericksburg who set us up just up on a smaller stream that leads into the Rapahanock. We were a little nervous about getting Harvey into a canoe, but figured he'd have to learn sometime if he wants make a Boundary Waters trip at some point in his life.
With a lot of persuasion and a little tugging, we were able to get him into the canoe before we shoved off. The entire canoe had barely entered the water before he decided this was not for him and bailed, thankfully not, but nearly taking us down with him. The outfitter had said that there was a great chance that in the 11-12 hours (IS THAT RIGHT??? MORE LIKE 7???) of canoeing that we had coming over our two days, that Harvey would tip us at some point. Thankful to have avoided this before our first stroke of the paddle, we were happy to just let him swim down stream beside us.
Harvey was plenty comfortable in the water, but it wasn't long till we hit a couple rapid points and he began to get visibly tired, so we pulled over on a sandy point where he hoped in having learned that the free ride the canoe offers is worth the unstable feeling. Rapids & rock scraps would come along which would get him all nervously looking & moving about, but he was quick to learn that the more he moved, the shakier the ride got. For the most part he was really well behaved in the canoe and we are glad to report, didn't tip us once!
The trip went very smooth, we stopped for some lunch on a nice sandy camping spot just on the river. There was debate of camping the night in this spot, but we weren't going to make that decision until we had a nap in the hammock. After about 30 minutes of rest Harvey decided a goose in the river was too alien not to investigate, so he began swimming down stream after him. Instead of flying away, the goose just flitted out of range for Harvey, antagonizing him even more. Once he'd gotten about 100 yards down stream, we flew into the canoe and pursued the dog. It wasn't until covering a couple rapids and at least a half mile that we caught up with Harvey and got him back in the boat. Unfortunately we could not canoe back to our spot where all our stuff was, so we were forced to ditch the canoe at a new spot and hike back through thick, tic infested woods, Jill without shoes, to retrieve our stuff.
We ended up at a better site, so couldn't stay mad at our crazy dog too long, enjoyed a night out doors and at least came away with a good story. The rest of the stay went without a hitch. The next day H enjoyed several dips but stuck close and enjoyed the ride. We think a canoe is something we may want to own someday.
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