: Hey, Roland

: I think that if you trimmed the sides of the seat you could still make it
: fit. There is enough wood on the sides to trim off at least an inch, maybe
: more, on both sides, or a total width reduction of two inches or more. As
: far as Don Starknel goes, if people think he was crazy, then Victoria
: Jason was just as crazy. If people think Victoria was crazy, then so am I.
: ;-) Not likely! The only aspect of Don's trip that could have been better
: would have been if he had prepped better for emergencies and taken the
: time to know the people who were there to help him along the way (based on
: what I have read, anyway). I'm pretty excited to start the next leg of my
: trip. Hey, if you want you might think of joining us (me, Ken and
: Victoria's daughter/son-in-law) when I get to Lake Winnipeg. I'll be
: meeting Ken at Grand Rapids. I' haven't arranged to meet Victoria's kin
: yet but they would be joining me at some point later on. You're always
: welcome to join me. Let me know. I'll keep everyone informed as to my
: itinerary when the time comes.

: Robert N Pruden

Hello Robert,

The first time, my wife and I met Victoria was at her slide show presentation at the Fort White Center. The slides and the trip were from her last trip. The one she partly traveled with her “Prince” fellow kayaker Martin. There was a mishap on that trip, she was rescued and at that time, (slide presentation) found it very hard to talk about it. We saw her many times after; she was only living less then a mile from us. I never had the pleasure paddling with her, but I was curious on her paddling style. She must have been very efficient. What struck us the most with Victoria was how easy she was to talk to. She had a gift with people. Very friendly, down to earth…..super nice. She got my respect. To bad her time was cut short, I would have loved to have her second book.

This summer, Tony, Ken and I paddled on Lake Winnipeg’s north basin. Not far from Grand Rapids. We paddled around the Long Point up to the hole in the wall and back down to the South Bar. We had some big waves, biggest one we ever paddled. One wave caught me sideways and I ended up, big eyed, side surfing, bracing on the wrong side, all the way in to the shore. Tony is writing a trip report in our MRCA, paddling club’s magazine the Ripple.

Thanks for the invitation, I can’t tell you yet! I have to be in Switzerland on August 14. My brother’s daughter is getting married. Take care and wear a wet or dry suit for your next paddle. This week, three canoeists capsized in the freezing water, two dead- one survived, near the Manitoba border on shoal lake this week.

Roland