I’ve always loved being on the water. My parents had a cottage in Nova Scotia in the mid-1970’s, on Sherbrooke Lake, and my Dad built three skin-on-frame kayaks for each of us kids (I was seven or eight back then). We also had a fiberglass canoe, and I spent many hours on the lake in either my kayak or the canoe.
Over the years, I’ve rented or borrowed canoes and kayaks on a number of occasions, mainly to go camping in Algonquin Park. I broke my ankle about fifteen years ago, and I can’t kneel in a canoe any more, and sitting without a foot brace gets painful after a while, so kayaking is good because my foot is braced against a foot peg. About six years ago (back in 2013), I started looking at kayaks in more detail. I saw the Delta 12.10 back then, and I wanted it. It weighs a lot less than “normal” kayaks, it has watertight bulkheads and awesome storage compartments with large watertight hatches. Back in 2013 money was tight, so I put it on hold.
Fast forward to the summer of 2019 – I finally bought a Delta 12.10 kayak. Its a great kayak – lightweight (41 lbs) and can carry a pile of camping gear. I built a portage yoke out of pine board, and took an old internal frame backpack and ripped it apart so I could make a dry-bag carrier to portage my camping gear.
The Kayak
Portage Yoke
Portage Back Frame
Camping Gear