After You - Keller

(I didn't turn on the GPS until we were halfway through the ride.)

Gervais Lake on a beautiful September afternoon. After launching from Spoon Lake, the little bubble in the middle of the map, we headed north.

Lily, my awesome first mate, apparently heard there was a cold front moving in. She was bundled up and as it turned out that wasn't so bad. Sunny, but cool. Here she's enjoying a mid-cruise snack. We like to have snacks on the boat.

One of the many reasons for going out this time was to try out the new motor! It's a Gamefisher 3.5hp motor I picked up used and cheap. She fired up quite nicely and pushed us around the lakes on just a splash of gas. Her top speed wasn't quite 10mph (ok, by a couple) but it ran solidly. It has twice the power of the electric, but there's a lot less "give" - so when that prop spins, it spins! No slowing down for hills! As a result the push is considerably stronger. In fact, it's fast enough that "steering by weight" really comes into play. By standing in my usual spot in the cockpit and just shifting my weight left and right, I can get the boat to turn left or right by degrees. If I walk to one side of the boat I can get a strong turn out of it, without even adjusting the motor. Quite nice not to have to keep a hand back there. I am always within reach of the motor, however, and understand the risks. So don't start.

The motor is loud, so conversation on the boat dwindled. Lily eventually ended up doing some reading and hanging out in the cabin.

After the last bridge passing into Keller Lake, I let Lily try her hand at navigating the boat using the electric motor. She can't do much damage, and I was Right There in case she needed help. But I think she enjoyed it, and when she's legally old enough to drive a boat I'll let her take over a whole cruise. For now it's stolen moments like these to keep her interest!

We spotted a few birds and the electric motor let us get fairly close. We were going to try and get around the island in Keller Lake, but there's a walking bridge that we wouldn't have been able to clear - by inches!

All in all a wonderful expedition, the motor worked great, and launching/recovery both went quite smoothly.

After You - Mantrap Lake

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For our second outing Up North it was decided that Mantrap and it's connected lakes might be interesting. Were they! Grandpa lent me his battery as a backup, which was good as mine was apparently not fully charged. As a result we got down the lake, through a channel and into another lake when the motor slowed. I swapped batteries and headed back. Ended up using all of our alloted time doing that, however. So we didn't lose much travel in the process. But it just gave me a taste of the lakes and their potential.

Hanna and Eli were along for the ride and halfway we had the traditional candy bar snack. It was cloudy, threatened rain just a little, but never did.

Given the beautiful landing (with dock!) and parking area, not to mention the core beauty and length of the lakes -- I will definitely be back! And next time I'll bring the new gas motor, which should give me a much, much longer range. Can't wait!

More photos here

After You - Lake George

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Our first outings on Lake George were a success. Launched at the public landing across the lake and Jill and niece Brooke and I took the boat across to the dock on the land. Lovely. Brooke didn't speak the whole time, but she did get a chance to sample some of the books in the After You'd children's collection. First mate Lily maintains that.

You can see the newly installed curtains. They're a hack job but meant to be placeholders for the real ones. I really wanted to get the curtain up under the lantern so I could keep junk in the bow and not worry that it looked messy. Ship shape!

Later that afternoon I took Lily and niece Hanna out on a ride. We discovered a previously unnoticed bay, saw at least three eagles waaaay up in the sky, Loons, and had a lot of fun. Lily introduced Hanna to the joys of sitting in the "front spot" that she enjoys so much.

More photos here