Discovery 147

As most agree, the Guide is indestructable but very heavy. Bounced it off the concrete driveway trying to get it on my 4 wd truck. Not a scratch. But putting it on top by myself is out of the question. People have said this boat is tippy. I fly fish standing up in it. My wife and I both fly fish in it. I built a transom and use a 30 lb MinnKota trolling motor. Battery up front to keep the keel in the water to help steer when I'm alone. I sometimes sit on an ice chest in the middle when solo and use a kayak paddle. The only time it ever flipped was in my neighbors pool when we were learning how to recover from swamping. Decided if we ever flipped, we would just drag it to shore. We filled it to the top of the gunnels and it still wouldn't sink but recovery required pulling it to the steps. Can't think of anything negative except weight. We're canoe camping the Buffalo as soon as the water gets high enough. I would give it 5 stars if it would just lose some weight! Priced right, stable, tough, seats with backrests.

I purchased it off a man that had just floated the Snake River solo, as a final trip due to his age. When he saw my face as he was pulling to his front yard with a for sale sign on it, he must have seen that 20 year old sparkle. I asked him "how much you asking sir?" and he asked asked if I "would actually use it", to which I replied "yes sir!". He looked me up and down, smiled, and asked what I could afford to pay. I told him I had just done some odd jobs and might be able to come up with a couple of hundred dollars if I could get a couple of days to do so. He chuckled and said "oh to be young", and with out even a pause said "what 'cha got in your pockets right now?" I quickly began checking thinking I better give this guy a deposit if I ever wanted to see this canoe again. Between my wallet and my pockets I came up with $83.54. I held it out as if to say "please".

The old man snatched the money from my hand, handed me back a ten dollar bill, and quickly turned around and began walking back toward the house. He climbed the steps to his front porch and paused. He turned around as if to take one last look at the canoe and said "take care of her son, and she'll take care of you. We've paddled over a thousand miles together, Enjoy". He tipped his hat and went into his house.

I never got his name, but I would go by leave pictures of his old canoe on various bodies of water, taped to the arm of the rocking chair on his porch every so often. After a couple of years, and probably twenty photos, I noticed different vehicles in the driveway, and children's toys in the yard. I never left another photo and never inquired about the older gentleman.

I think about him every time I look at that canoe. He was absolutely right... I have taken care of her, and she has taken care of me. She has gently carried numerous friends and myself through good times and rough patches. Now she takes care of my children too. My boys have now began to explore the "path of the paddle" and through that we have found new layers to our relationship that will last a lifetime.

I never got a chance to actually thank the old man that sold me that canoe (for whatever I had in my pockets), but something tells me he knew exactly what he was doing when he did.