Bow River Float 04

This was maybe my last float of the Bow River for 2024 and maybe not. I admit that I am currently scheming up ways to extend the season. I do think it was my last float of the river for this year with my daughter as she is not as bugnuts crazy about paddle boarding as I am.

We departed from McKinnon Flats, which has three selling points. A nice launch area, good parking, and an outhouse with some … character. I have to say that closing the lid on the hole like the sticker says doesn’t really help with the odors, but it’s still better to go before you’re on the water than to have to go when you’re on the water.

I repeated the previous weekend’s trip from McKinnon Flats to Johnson’s Island albeit with a different companion this time. It was marvelous for the most part. I remembered where the majority of the shallow spots were from the last jaunt, but not all of them and my board took a hit as a result.

I had realized I was heading towards shallows, but three inches of rain a few days before had sped the river up some and there was no way I could avoid getting dragged into them. Once I got out my board didn’t seem to be tracking properly, but it was tracking well enough that I could keep going. The front of the fin failed and the rear pin kept it from coming loose entirely. I always carry a spare fin just in case, but I didn’t need it on this trip. I finished out the float on the damaged fin (without realizing it until the end).

Skatinger, the manufacturer of my board, gets full marks here. I emailed them to ask what glue they recommended for repairing my fin and their answer was don’t bother, we’re sending you a new one for free. I hadn’t asked for a free replacement because I am certain I abused their equipment beyond what they should be expected to warranty. The fin on the board is obviously designed for flat water use on lakes and ponds, not in shallow rivers. I already loved my board to bits, but now I love it even more because of Skatinger’s top shelf service.

My stadium bench seat that I use on my paddle board is comfy by itself on short outings, but your legs start to go numb at the one and a half hour mark of a longer trip. I solved that by adding the original seat I purchased that did not work as a seat on its own as padding for the bench seat, and now it’s lovely for a longer float down the river. The bench seat was also digging into the non-slip surface of my board and damaging it, so that’s why you see chunks of pool noodle zip tied to the bottom. They take the wear from the seat and will need to be replaced occasionally. Pink was all that Walmart had left this late in the season. Bleh.

Also new is the cup holder that is held down by a snap cord. The Coupe de Ville isn’t really a Coupe de Ville without a cup holder, is it?

The cheap video camera I grabbed last summer for use on my scooter and then didn’t use because it got stuffed away somewhere and I didn’t find it again until this year is held to the front of my board with a suction mount. It’s not a wonderful camera (it cost $20), but it is remote controlled from a controller on my wrist and I can remotely take photos and start/stop videos, letting me do this:

Longer video, McKinnon Flats to Johnson’s Island, Bow River Float, 2024-09-15

Ashlyn and I had an absolute blast. The best part of the day for me was getting to spend time with my daughter. I am so incredibly proud of how strong, independent, and talented she is as an adult. In some ways she has become the person I want to be when I grow up (something I am still resisting).

Ashlyn also gets credit for being an incredibly good sport. The changes I made to the seat threw her off. The pool noodle cushioning on the bottom of the seat and the extra padding for the long float raised her higher than she was used to and her center of gravity was not where she thought it would be the first time she hit faster moving water.

The moment my kid biffs it, McKinnon Flats to Johnson’s Island, Bow River Float, 2024-09-15

She lost her balance and off she went. The shock of the cold water knocked her breath out of her, but then she calmed down and did a great job of making it to shore and getting back on. I know she was embarrassed, but she handled the whole thing very well in my opinion and she was a champ through the rest of the rough water after that.

More follow the leader, McKinnon Flats to Johnson’s Island, Bow River Float, 2024-09-15

I also have to give her credit for doing a better job than her father at spotting and avoiding shallow spots, she came back with her board’s fin still in one piece.

The temperature was about 19C at its height and there was a stiff breeze, so we noticed that fall was approaching every time the sun disappeared behind a cloud. There was more of a chill in the air on this float than our previous floats down the Bow River. However when the sun was out it sometimes made 19C feel like 29C.

I managed to get a fair number of videos during our float, and they can be found here.

I think the best part of the trip was when we pulled off to one side at the halfway point to eat our ham and cheese hoagies and just chat and have some dad daughter time, which there is never enough time for these days.

We floated for just short of four and a half hours and at times it felt too long when we were chilled, but at the end we sort of wanted to keep going.

I would say that the total distance floated was about 23 km. There’s a mild disagreement between the GPS feature on my TG-7 camera and the two apps on my phone that managed to come up with different figures using the same GPS data.

It was nice to get one last float in with the kid for the year, it’s just unfortunate that she got dunked during it. She was mostly dry by the end.

Images and videos are from my OM System (formerly Olympus) Tough TG-7 and my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra phone. Some videos and one image are from my cheapie Akaso EK-7000 action cam.