Last weekend was the Zoar Outdoor Demo Fest and was a successful event. Wave Sport had all the boats at the Demo site. Each boat was heavily used, which was great to see. I worked some awesome clinics and met some great people. The best part of an event like this is when you see the improvement of boaters by the end of the clinic and how they walk away with feeling like they learned something.
I was able to grab an Ethos nine and ten to take with me to NY. I haven’t had the chance to paddle one yet and was very excited to finally get them. I took the Ethos Nine out yesterday in Henderson Harbor on Lake Ontario.
I applied Watermans Sunscreen before I left the cottage, always wear your screen and your pfd!. I dropped the Ethos off the dock and it was very stable getting in it and adjusting myself once in the boat. I didn’t wear a skirt because I was pretty confident that I wasn’t going to flip over and I used my wing paddle. I paddled it for a few minutes with the skeg up and it handled just like a whitewater boat paddles in flatwater, not very straight. Then, I dropped the skeg and was impressed with how well the Ethos tracked and handled on the water. There were some nice rollers out on the lake and the Ethos just glided right over them nice and smooth and very stable. I paddled it around the mooring field and it was easy to maneuver. The Ethos paddled faster than what i thought it would, that was a surprise to me. I jumped out of it in a cove and went for a swim and got back in it with no problem. The wind picked up on my way back around 7 knots and of course it was a head wind but I had no issues with getting it back to shore.
I had a super fun time paddling it and will be paddling it a lot more on the Lake. We can bring them on the sail boat with us which will be fun or tow it behind. I’m going to use it today to tow the dingy back to the boat ramp because the dingy has a leak in it.
I can’t wait to get it on a river. I’ll probably get it on the Black River this weekend and next time I go home to visit my parents I’ll get it on the ocean. I’m excited about this boat and we are going to try to do a trip in it if we can fit it into our schedule this summer or fall.
When I get the Ethos out on a river I’ll put up another post about it with some video. This boat would be great for a newbie who is looking to get into whitewater but has the option of using it in flatwater and a great boat for river running and overnighter trips.
Till next time,
Elaine Campbell
