Cruising by assorted boatcraft down the Ganaraska River is what Float Your Fanny Down The Ganny is all about. As always traveling down the Ganny in Spring is very much dependent on the often sporadic weather. This season was no exception with cool and wet finally changing to a sunny, warmer but still windy crisp day for paddling down the Ganaraska river that Rainbow trout would be going up in a week or two.
The river crosswalk marks the finish line
As you can see from above , the weather was fine and the Ganny was gurgling but not absolutely rambunctious as was the case last year. And the turnout of spectators was distinctly higher in keeping with the weather and the availability of welcome sunny Spring day.
As usual the canoers and kayakers have first “sailing” rights on the Ganny. And so up at Dale Road about 2-3 miles
North of Port Hope, the canoes and kayaks are first to appear at the bridge overcrossing. These are the more civil Ganny crafters leaving the racing to about a half dozen paddlers literally plunging down the river. Here the pace is more decorous, one could be reading about it as a scene from a Jane Austen novel. But don’t be fooled, getting a canoe or kayak down the Ganny without going in requires skill – the rapids and changing water depths put a premium on good paddling technique. And of course there is the matter of having to traverse around the fish ladder less than a klick down stream.
Custom Float Craft:The Heart of the Show
But lets be honest, people come to Fanny down the Ganny to see the custom made float craft. It is sort of like going to an antique car show – with the emphasis on instantaneous boat/float “antiques”. If they make it down the Ganny in one piece, count that a major triumph as can be seen in this sampling of 2010’s Custom Boat/Float Craft:
A Classic Inner Tube Float with lashed and modified deck accouterments – a little wet and prone position oriented.
The CountrynWestern Khaki Canoe Craft – with signs, pretty lasses and front bumper horns.
The Red-painted Barrel 4 Wheeler – barely suitable for transport on land let alone water.
The Inverted Satellite Dish – you know they had to patch this one up with all the plastic bailing pails on board.
The Great Ganny Nile Barge – filled with paddlers, beautiful princesses, and note the water gunner.
This is only a sample sampling of what neato Custom Crafts that were to be found on the Ganny this Spring – go to the galleries here and here for lots more Fanny on the Ganny pictures.
Ganny Fanny Watchers
It was implied that the chief reason that people came out for the Ganny Run was to catch a bit of Spring and to see how the various custom craft made it down the river. But there are other attractions. Of course it is a chance to visit and socialize and the many conversation and chats all along the riverbank attest to that. Also it is an opportunity to get the kids out for some fun and they certainly take advantage:
Warm enough to run through wading pool
But there is another attraction – water balloons. Any custom float craft that comes armed with water guns like so:
Plastic Bottle cruiser with well armed water cannon
these floats are fair game for attack from the shore by water balloon barrages. Let me tell you there has been an arms race going on over the years and now the water guns carried on board some craft with their quick suction refills and long piston shooting are getting pretty potent as water weapons. Their shots can go 20-30 feet from the craft. And onshore, “innocent” spectators can easily be hit in the crossfire. So a very close riverside seat has some getting wet drawbacks.
But getting wet is par for the course, especially for Fanny Ganny Goers. If there is one consistent attribute among the Ganny Floaters is that they are pretty wet [and last year, largely soaked]. But that is a feature of Fanny on the Ganny, it marks the end of Winter because it is warm enough to get soaked and still have fun.