Prologue

Where the hell had my gas tank for my 4 HP Evinrude motor gone?

Three days before the start of our trip, I wasn't feeling well and I was hobbling around on one leg since I'd torn some soft tissue in my left knee. I was in the process of rounding up our camping gear for our annual summer vacation trip to Algonquin Park. Panic was setting in as I couldn’t find my gas tank.

Then, it suddenly dawned on me that I'd lost it last year on a trip to Opeongo Lake. It had been on the back of my flatbed trailer underneath my small aluminum boat, but wasn’t there when I'd arrived at Opeongo. Anxiety and panic was screaming from my soul as everyone was depending on me to get them down Lake Traverse to our usual camping spot. I imagined the worse, that I'd have to order one and it would take 1-2 weeks for me to receive it!

Luckily, I found a Mercury Outboard store that sold universal gas tanks. Mind you, the one I'd lost was only 2 ½ gallons and the monster that I bought helds 6 gallons of gasoline. I thought I should test my motor to see that it did still work. I must have pulled 100 times on the start cord, but the motor wouldn’t come to life. I thought it had to do with my new gas tank and that it wasn't compatible with my Evinrude motor. Anxiety was at its highest point! I ran my motor and gas tank down to a friend for his opinion, as he fixes small engines. He pulled twice on the start cord, and the damn motor came to life! I now had a gas tank and a motor that started and I was one happy camper!

The cast for this year’s summer trip weree Rebecca, Pierre, Linda, Raheem, Eyisha, Alex, Tristan, Sheila and me. Oh yeah, our dog Buddy too! Now what else could possibly go wrong?

DAY 1

My step-daughter Rebecca and her boyfriend Pierre came over and together we loaded all the gear into our two vehicles. Tried as we might, we couldn’t get everything in and we had to leave what I believed to be very crucial equipment behind . Rebecca’s son Tristan and his friend Alex were also in Pierre’s vehicle. The plan was that we would meet them at the Big Stop in Pembroke. Sheila and I were meeting Linda and her two children Raheem and Eyisha at Timmy’s. And, from there we would make our way to Pembroke.

We rendezvous'd at the Big Stop and had a nice breakfast. We then proceeded to Sand Lake gate, where we obtained our permits and eventually found ourselves at the access point on Lake Traverse around 2:00 p.m.

I wish I had a picture of the mountain of gear that the nine of us had brought. It had to be transported down Lake Traverse to our campsite. Of course, the look on my face would have been priceless as well. But I have no pictures of this trip to post.

There were a lot of people at the access point, so we decided that Pierre and I would load the boat and proceed down to our campsite to claim it. Besides my small aluminum boat, we had two canoes. Pierre and I shoved off, I pulled on the start cord and my beloved motor sprang to life. Then after traveling around 50 yards, it stopped. On top of this, on one of my pulls to restart it, my cord malfunctioned. Off came the top of the engine. There was a little gear inside that wasn’t doing its job when I pulled on the cord. It was supposed to raise and engage the fly-wheel. But it wasn’t. So now I had to raise the little gear myself and then pull on the cord. After what seemed like an eternity, my beloved 4 HP came to life again and down Lake Traverse we went. Pierre thought the reason it died was that it wasn’t warmed up.

The site we wanted was empty, so we unloaded the boat on shore and proceeded back to the starting point. Once we got there, Sheila and others had a canoe packed full of gear and I took the 3 boys in the boat while Pierre and Rebecca paddled a canoe. So down the lake a second time I went, pulling a loaded canoe. I met Rebecca and Pierre at the site, unloaded the boat and canoe, and back I went with one canoe for more gear. We loaded the boat and canoe once again. This time I had Linda and Eyisha with me and for the third time I headed down Traverse to our site. I dropped them and the gear off and back I went for still another load. Sheila and I loaded the boat and canoe. With her and Buddy, I went down Traverse for the fourth time .. pulling a loaded canoe. I dropped them off with all the gear and back I went for the last time to pick up the remaining gear .. this time with no canoe. So the fifth time down the lake I went. Finally I was at the site with all the gear and people and our dog and it was 6:00 p.m.

We had a nice fire that night. The kids played in the sand. The bugs were non-existent. And, I was very content. I slept like a log that night!

DAYS 2 & 3

Nothing particularly eventful happened as the days were spent swimming, walking the beach, playing in the sand and watching the world go by. The kids had their marshmallow and wiener roasts around the nightly campfires.

DAY 4

This was the day that Linda and her two children were leaving, as they had to be back in Ottawa for Saturday night. We proceeded to pack her stuff in the boat. The plan was that Pierre and Rebecca would paddle one of the canoes full of gear and Linda with her kids would go with me in the boat. This was a good plan, except for the fact that my 4 HP motor decided not to start again. What else could go wrong I seemed to be repeating over and over in my head! Try as I might, I couldn’t get it to start. Plan B was now for Linda and daughter Eyisha to paddle one canoe with Sheila, Raheem and I in the other canoe. Linda and Eyisha have only paddled a canoe once before. So for safety sake, we decided to stay quite close to shore on the way back. We had just pushed off when Pierre finally got my beloved 4 HP motor started again. He noticed that after I refilled the tank, I had managed to hook the hose that connects the motor and gas tank on backwards. Now we come to Plan C which called for Linda and Eyisha to paddle one canoe and Sheila and I with Raheem in the boat full of gear.

The lake was calm when we left. However, the wind came up about three-quarters of the way down the lake. Although Linda was having some difficulty steering, we managed to make it to the small opening where you turn to go in to the access point. As luck would have it, just as we were about to turn in, 3 canoes were coming out. Linda tried to make a last second adjustment to avoid a collision, but didn’t do so well. I didn’t see them capsize, but Raheem did and he was laughing his head off.

I immediately turned the boat around and went back to retrieve them. Luckily, they had capsized in a small bay and were quite close to shore. When I arrived, they were already on shore and I told them to climb in the boat, and leave the canoe. I transported them to the access point and then went back for the canoe. As luck would have it, we had most of their gear in the boat so they had dry clothes to change into. What else could go wrong I was thinking?

Well, that "else" didn’t take long to materialize. When Linda went to drive her car down to the access point, she had a flat tire. Thank God she had a spare that was full of air! I fixed her flat and gave her directions to get into downtown Pembroke where hopefully she could get her flat fixed. We said goodbye and wished her no more mishaps on this day.

Quite a few canoeists were still arriving and we managed to get a weather report for Sunday. Fittingly, the report called for thunderstorms and high winds. Once back at camp, we were debating about us leaving that day as well to avoid the next day's weather. In the end, we decided to stay the final night. After all, my mind was racing with all kinds of things that could go wrong if we decided to leave early.

Day 5

I awoke to raindrops assaulting our tent. Perfect!! What a better way to end a trip than to transport the mountain of gear we had back to the cars in a thunderstorm and high winds. And that was assuming that my beloved 4 HP motor would start and I didn't have to row our gear back!

I wasn’t too keen on getting up in the rain, so I drifted back to sleep. A short time later, I woke again to the sound of "silence". No raindrops and no wind could be heard. I got up and although the skies looked dark and scary, the clouds were really moving fast.

I got a pot of Timmy coffee percolating on Pierre’s stove/percolator. By now, the rest were getting up. I told them coffee was ready and then proceeded to knock over the coffee and stove. I scalded myself in the process. What else could go wrong? That was the end of our Timmy coffee. So, instant was now the order of the day.

We started to dismantle our camp and to carry the mountain of gear down to the beach. We then loaded it into the boat and canoes. I was expecting the skies to break loose with torrential rains at any minute. But, that didn’t happen. I was also expecting my motor to act up again. However, it started on the first pull and didn’t give me any more grief that day. The rain and winds held off long enough for our 3 trips back and forth on Traverse. We managed to stuff all the gear back into our two vehicles. Then, with us safe and dry inside, the rain came pelting down. We were treated to a lightning display by Mother Nature.

Linda and her two children found their way to downtown Pembroke, where she had her flat fixed in short order and from where she made it home in time for her appointment. The rest of us made it home without any incidents as well.

Plans are already underway for this year’s summer trip. It's scheduled for August on Lake Kioshkokwi. Everyone wants to do it again, as they all had a super time.

Now, what possibly could go wrong?

Ken Born

(January 28, 2007)