Recent content by Glenn MacGrady

This trip, IF it goes, will go on Sunday, October 19. I say "if" because right now I only have one solid commitment, and I would like at least one other canoe, especially someone who can shuttle two canoes on their vehicle, which I can't.

I take it you are asking about heeling from a centralized solo seat. I'll make some points, probably repeating what others have said. 1. Any canoe I've ever paddled will turn better when heeled. Heeling shortens the waterline and can pull the stern stem out of the water. If the stern stem is...

On283, I'm not one of the folks with building expertise, but do want to welcome you to site membership! Feel free to ask any questions and to post messages, photos and videos, and to start threads, in our many forums. Please read Welcome to CanoeTripping and Site Rules! Also, because canoeing...

Let's say 35 freestyle instructors in Europe. That's about twice as many as in the USA, where only 17 are listed by the USCA, and about four of them are no longer active. Many of the U.S. freestyle instructors do a diligent job of traveling long distances to the instructional events in New York...

There's a used one for sale on Craigslist in Tucson: https://tucson.craigslist.org/spo/d/green-valley-tracks-sherlock-hiking/7847671259.html

In October 2025 in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, open canoes paddle through a canopy tunnel of coloring leaves and then disappear into the marsh grass of a low-water lake.

I've been told that the primary issues were long-time negative experiences in dealing with various aspects of the large ACA bureaucracy, which was trying to control curriculum and instructor training in ways that were unsatisfactory. There also may have been some issue about getting better...

That seems to be an omission on the Savage River website. The Illusion is essentially a scaled up June Bug, so the hulls look almost identical except for size. Here are two photos of Marc's June Bug, Illusion and Harmony lined up next to each other on the floor stands at some event in 2019:

I knew you were attending the instructional event, Keith, and thought I might see you during the hour I was visiting the YMCA site, but I had to leave to get back to Connecticut before most of the students arrived and registered. Hope we can get together to paddle again somewhere.

Marc Ornstein has written the following excellent blog article on the technical and safety aspects of running these types of fallen tree and log-choked rivers: Tree Dimensional Paddling—AKA Bushwacking by Canoe

On October 5-9, 2025, I paddled various parts of the Pine Barrens prior to the Pine Barrens Functional Freestyle Canoeing Workshop, being held right now from Oct. 10-12. Included among the paddlers on various days were seven USCA Freestyle instructors, including CTN members @Marc Ornstein...

I believe the reason this thread revived is that I made my third Facebook comment ever, to a post where Phil Greene describes a visit by @Marc Ornstein and their shared paddle-making thoughts, and linked this thread in my comment...

"Traditional solo flatwater paddling was the order of the day at the first-ever Style Canoeing Rendezvous East, held over five days in mid-July 2025 at Murphy’s Point Provincial Park near Perth, Ontario." "The gathering featured a sequence of paddling clinics offered by legendary instructors...

To change context, I've been doing more than my usual lurking along the shore in 2025. I've been paddling a lot more this year than in recent years, even as I've become more and more unrecent. All day trips, most from base camps, but quite a few of them and more to come. A 10 pound lighter canoe...

Great to hear from you, Michael. Actually, you never know what people are reading. We have hundreds who are reading here every day, but very few (relatively) post anything.