Canoeing on the Sazava

Last year I missed the trip to the Sazava because I was too lazy to get out in the cold weather (in June). This year I was determined to go no matter what. The water level was expected to be low, but we all hoped it wouldn't case too many problems. When we arrived at the train station it was clear that we had picked a good day for a trip, since the station was completely full of people. However, George waited in line for the group to get us our tickets.
As we rode along the river we watched from the train, and it was clearly very low level. Once we arrived we got our equipment with little difficulty and Megan and I hopped into our canoe and went into the river. It had been a while since I was in a canoe, so we paddled about waiting for everyone else, so I could practice steering. There was a mixed crowd, and not everyone knew how to handle a canoe, so I tried to help a few people, but hopefully I'm a better English teacher than canoing teacher, cause I didn't actually seem to help anyone. Anyway, everyone eventually got into the river, and we headed out for the trip. Several of us stopped for lunch at this fun little grill on a rock in the river, and at this point the group began to split up. After lunch we went back into the river with little problem. For a while it was pretty smooth sailing, just paddling and enjoying the view with a few challenges at the several weirs along the way.
However, it wasn't too lon before we began to run into rocks that were banging around the boats, beaching the rafts, and turning over canoes. Megan and I did all right for a while, as I was able to steer around most of the rocks, but one finally got us in the middle of a rapids, and we took a little bath. Unfortunately, at this point I could barely keep hold of the canoe, and so couldn't help Megan to the side. Eventually George came along and helped me beach the boat so that I could delve into the river to rescue my girlfriend. We managed to get out safely and drain the boat so we could continue, but form this point forward Megan was pretty stressed about possibly turning over and banging her head on a rock, so I'm afraid she had considerably less fun than me.
On the bright side we again managed to stay upright for a while and dry out a bit. At one of the weirs, we'd caught up with those who had passed us while I was trying to hold onto my canoe.
This weir seemed to be quite a challenge as most people who went over it also went into the water. Without bothering to ask Megan I steered us into it, and we promptly turned over. The water was moving a little more slowly this time and I managed to grab the boat, but noticed Megan's shoe was floating away. I dove back into the water and took a few bruises for it, but managed to rescue the flip flop. I beached the boat, this time with Megan sitting inside. After draining the boat, we stayed and I helped a few others pull their boats out of the water.
Finally, we got back on the move. A little further along we stopped for a snack and some beer, where Megan could change, and I could dry off a bit. At this point we realized that our boat had a hole in it and we were taking on water. This made it more difficult to steer, and we had to pull over occasionally to drain the boat. However, we managed to get through the remaining rapids without going over again, as Megan began to get the hang of not turning with the boat, and we eventually reached the end of our journey. Here again we stopped for beer, and listened to what appeared to be a Hispanic cowboy band playing folk music while we waited for our train.
Photos.

Mom comes to Prague

My mother finally came to visit me. While she was here I took her for my 3rd trip to Kutna Hora, Prague Castle, Vysehrad, Karlstejn, etc. I will update further when I can also upload the photos that she took while here.

Photos.