worse places to be stuck than Prague

So much for a quick start to my trip. Maybe I should have started in Amsterdam after all, given the better availability of canoes there. Here's a brief play-by-play of the quest for a suitable canoe so far:

Saturday: arrived in Prague and was promptly whisked off to party in a park, then a restaurant, then a bar.

Sunday: shops closed. Forced to be a sightseer. Is that anything like a seer?

Monday: Went to HG Sport and met my saviour: Stan. He sort of looks like me, which is to say he has that watersports look that seems to be universal. Stubble and quick-drying clothing. He's inspired by my trip and promises to help me find the best canoe available. The only Canadian style canoe he sells is Mad River Explorer, 14 and 16 foot. I try them both out on the river (the 14 footer we pull fresh out of its plastic wrapper, and Stan looks on uneasily, afraid of scratching it, as I hoist it over my head, testing its weight. It's pretty heavy (31kg), a solid plastic boat, but i manage not to drop it. But it doesn't paddle as nicely as the 16 footer. Yet the 16 footer is definately too heavy. Stan says he'll make a few calls, and that I should come back tomorrow morning to see if he's found anything else for me. He says he'll even send me to his competitors if necessary, because we as paddlers are part of a higher fraternity than that of commerce (or words to that effect).

Tuesday: Back at HG, Stan says the only other option he's been able to find is a 16.5 foot fiberglass boat being sold secondhand by his chief competitor, Boatpark. He phones them up and sets up a date for me to go view it, later that afternoon.
I check out the boat, a Czech made model called the Orlice, and it's nice - barely used - with a keel (good for paddling solo) and wooden gunwhales and 3 seats! The owner wants 16,000 Czech crowns for it (about $1000) and i think it's a fair price, but I walk away indecisive because I'm worried the length is too long for soloing easily.

Wednesday: I return to HG to speak to one Vojtech Jancar, whom Stan described to me as the most famous canoeist in the Czech Republic. The Czech Bill Mason! Stan said I should talk to him about my trip. I got out my map and showed him my route. The Czech Republic naturally drains mostly to the north, into the Elbe, which runs to the North Sea. But following that route would take me through a flat and presumably boring landscape, and I'm going to try a different route: it involves going upriver for many kilometres, up the Ohre, into the mountains that form the western barrier between the Czech Republic and Germany. If I can make it through that continental divide, it should be mostly downhill from there to Amsterdam. Everyone says I'm crazy to go upriver on the Ohre, but - significantly - both Stan and Vojtech think it's POSSIBLE. Great, that's all I need to hear! Actually, even if they had said it was impossible, i still would have gone for it. ESPECIALLY if they had said it was impossible.
Anyway, something about this encounter ends my indecision, and I decide to buy the Orlice. I go to the Boatpark and make a deposit. But there's one more hurdle: the boat has no yoke, and I'm definately going to need a yoke. So now I'm waiting, again. They might be able to order one. Though last time I talked to Pavel, the owner, he said that he was talking to a woodworker friend of his about custom-making one. I was glad to hear this, as it means he's being proactive about getting this done. Once the yoke is installed, I'll have to wait another 2 days to get it delivered to Havlickuv Brod, upriver on the Sasava River, where my trip will begin.

So I'm still up the creek without a yoke.