QUEST FOR THE BAY: Day 1 (Sunday, July 1, 2001)
Route Log
Departed from The Forks in downtown City of Winnipeg traveling North, downstream on the Red River to Lower Fort Garry National Site (25km).
Quotable Quote
“When we’re done with this boat, we’re done with this boat…” (Marits – Day 1)
Trip Log
Well, after three intensive weeks of training and preparing for this ultimately unpredictable adventure, here we go! The sendoff at the Forks was incredible and overwhelming. There were so many people there, lots of family and friends, and a whole bunch of media asking us questions, even a few people asking for autographs. It was all very surreal and also very emotional.
Before it even started, though, we had our first challenge when we got to the boat at 7:30am and found two feet of water inside! F**k! We had to bail and repack everything.
It set us back two hours and we missed out on our final breakfast, arriving at the Forks late and in the middle of a frenzy of 3000 people. As crazy as it was, I felt really proud to be part of this event and receiving such a warm send-off.
We rowed away calm and cool, looking good and all in synch! Very professional and seemingly ready to go – let’s hope we are! We rowed to Lower Fort Garry and camped there. On the way we stopped at St. Andrew’s cemetery to visit the grave of Isaac Cowie. It was a really nice idea to do that.
My family followed us to our final site, Lower Fort Garry, and it seemed really hard for them to let me go. They are happy for me, but I think it’s also bittersweet for me to be taking part. I will do them all proud, and come back safe and soundly, a changed woman in some profound way.
Made our first fire with the flint and steel, a very exciting moment! It actually works! We had pemmican and potatoes for dinner, not bad actually. Eating it cooked is better than I thought it would be.
