Last weekend we invited some friends over and headed down to the river. Nothing beats a day on the river when it’s hot, and man was it hot! When you drive through Dundee, most people don’t realize how close the Willamette River is to OR99W, but the river is less than a mile from the main road.

The Renaissance Man was on the rowing team in college and last October one of his teammates bought a rowing shell from Craig’s List and restored it. The video of the restoration is really awesome, and immediately The Renaissance Man was on the lookout for a rowing shell of his own.

Check out Lighting! Love the green!

And here is the rowing shell that The Renaissance Man found. How about that baby blue on blue paint job? It was $300 on Craig’s List, a major steal! The shell came with oars and riggers, and has required very minimal work. The Renaissance Man had to patch a crack in the blade of the oar and purchase new float bags for the bow and stern, but the rest of the gear was in pretty good shape.

Trimline by Graham circa 1980.

When I talk about the river, I’m really referring to The Chehalem Paddle Launch that was established in 2010. You can rent equipment from Chehalem Park and Recreation District from mid-June through Labor Day Weekend. However, The Launch is open year round for those bringing their own equipment. The rental fees are very affordable, and for a double kayak we only paid $30 for a two hour rental.

They have paddle boards, kayaks, and canoes available to rent and the staff brings your equipment down to the river and gets you all set up.

The Paddle Launch is located off the main channel of the Willamette River behind Ash Island. With all the river traffic on a hot summer weekend, it was nice to have a piece of river to ourselves where we didn’t have to worry about getting “waked” by big boats.

The boys played with the rowing shells, the girls rocked the doubles kayak! Despite our efforts to paddle in a straight line, our kayak had other thoughts. We were in a constant struggle to keep the kayak from going to the left. The kayak must have been Beyonce’s soul sister, “To the left, to the left…” I haven’t laughed that hard in a while. We tried everything and that kayak just kept going left, so we zig-zaged our way back and forth down channel.

Here’s The Renaissance Man on his maiden voyage, looking good!

And here is the man that ignited the fire once again, we’re both so thankful for our wonderful friends.

Friends and teammates out rowing on a beautiful day in Dundee. It doesn’t get much better than that.