get 'er done

Sometimes when you want a job done, you just gotta do it yourself. I woke up this morning with a furious determination that, one way or another, my canoe would be yoked today and i would shortly thereafter be happily paddling down the Sasava. I arrived at the canoe shop to the bad news I had been expecting from Pavel: he'd have to order a yoke from Holland (it has crossed my mind that perhaps it would have been wiser to start my trip in Holland after all), it would cost lots of money, and take more time than i was willing to spend waiting. But i already had a plan B. I headed out to the end of the metro line, into suburban Prague, to a big box store that was a carbon copy of Home Depot, and bought me a nice piece of some sort of hardwood, some nuts, bolts, and washers, and sandpaper. Then took said hardware back to the canoe shop, where Pavel's extremely helpful technical guy gave me free use of his tools, and i soon had me a yoke - if a little crude looking. actually, it wasn't quite that easy, since the courtyard i was working in was baked by midday sun and at first i had to try to cut my hardwood with a pathetic little hacksaw equipted with a blade intended to cut aluminum or something. it was almost like trying to cut through the wood with a nail file. my shirt was soon off from the exertion and the sweat was soaking my shorts and stinging my eyes. luckily the technical guy - who spoke almost no English - saw my plight and intrusted me with his skill saw. much better...in all it only took me about 4 hours from purchasing raw materials to finished product.

after the job was done i tried it out and the balance seemed a little back heavy, but in all not bad. i cut a V into the board to better fit my neck, and plan to spend down time on the river further perfecting its curves with my whittling knife and sandpaper. the technical guy and his assistant even improved it by sticking a couple of reinforcing blocks against the side of the canoe just under each end of the yoke where it joins the canoe's hull. i bought them a few Budvar beers as thanks.

but i was struck by how friggin heavy it is; it took all my strength to get it up onto my head. granted, my lifting abilities will surely improve as the trip goes on, but i suddenly had an idea for yet one more accessory: one of those two wheeled contraptions used to lug boats around. I asked Pavel if he sold them, but unfortunately he was sold out. But he told me where i might be able to buy one, and I quickly headed off there.

quickly, because i suddenly learned that i would actually be leaving Prague the next day - probably early. This had been my fantasy all along, but truth be told i doubted it would happen. i managed to get the canoe yoke done in time for Pavel to call the courier, but he was having trouble getting through, and said that was typical. he said i'd probably have to wait until monday, with delivery of the canoe to the sasava on tuesday. then he tried the courier one more time and got through! they'd be there to pick it up in 50 minutes, and deliver it the next day to Nedec nad Sazavou, the little town on the Sasava that Pavel recommended i start in. (where to deliver it was a whole other problem: Pavel made some phone calls and found a penzion that was willing to receive the canoe on my behalf.)

on the way to the other canoe shop, i stopped in at the railway station to buy my ticket, and discovered i'd really have no time tomorrow morning for last minute prague preparations: the train leaves at 7:45am.

off to the other canoe shop, i find it easily (nothing like that ever happens easily), they're still open, and - yes! - they sell the wheels. i have a feeling that this will be $75 very, very well spent. and low and behold, this canoe shop is close to my favourite beer garden in Prague, so off i go there for a quick bite and a celebratory drink.

i am still in awe of how well everything went today. i put aside my usual laid back self, and channelled my growing frustration, anger, and faltering patience into incredible productivity. my motto for the day was "get 'er done", and it worked!

So i'm off bright and early tomorrow to at long last begin this trip. I don't expect to find much internet access out there in the wilds of Bohemia (but plenty of beer - i love how there are icons on my canoeing map indicating where you can buy beer), so the blog updates may be few and far between from here on in.

i am naming my boat the Sarka (pronounced "Sharka"), after a woman in Czech mythology who was part of a female uprising against men, which led to a city of all women and Amazonian-like warriors. (they eventually got bored and let the men back in.)

wish me luck. i'm sure there will still be many challenges ahead, only they will be of a differt sort from now on.

feverously clutching my duct tape,
Sean