Caravan Adventures - Scorpio canoe

Scorpio Canoe

Kenny decided he wanted a canoe - so he built one.

He got the plans from the Internet and once the pieces were
cut out and roughly formed together the canoe suddenly
started to take shape!

Being made from marine ply sounds implausible but it works
very well and is cheap and lightweight. The design is an open
Canadian type which has good stability and manoeuvrability,
which is especially useful when escaping from swans protecting
their young (as happened on our first full day outing when
Kenny was ready to abandon ship and scramble onto the river
bank, but luckily I persuaded him otherwise!).

Kenny even made the paddles himself (very clever) and did
the paint work. Being the arty one I painted on the Scorpio
name, and the canoe was ready to be launched.

Kenny and a friend took Scorpio out on its maiden voyage and
everything went really well. See photos.

On our first full day out (just me and Kenny) we again launched
from Redcliffe near Wareham which is cheap and quiet and a
lovely setting. We have launched the Fly there before as the
small jetty means you don’t all need to get wet when climbing
aboard.

Paddling down the river in a canoe is delightful, so quiet and
relaxing (apart from the swans). However, going out into Poole
harbour is a different matter with the wash from some boats a
bit hazardous and you feel more exposed. We only did that
once.