Recent content by ABT

I may take freestyle class or two with it, but the one I recently got will primarily be a river runner and should be great for it. Super fun boat. There’s a Swift video on YouTube about one they built for a guy that puts float bags in his and uses it for everything from white water to salt...

Finally got to get out in the Starfire tonight for about 45 minutes. I had limited time so I put in on a local creek, fairly close to where it empties into the Mississippi. I don’t use it often because it has so little current it’s almost stagnant and it is not very pretty. But the slow water...

Yep. A lot of guys use weldwood contact cement for them, and that’s what I used for my knee pads. I wasn’t 100% decided on how I wanted my boat trimmed though, so I used an adjustable northwater saddle, long knee pads, and I made the ankle blocks adjustable with strips of 3M dual lock...

I have mentioned in some other threads how kneeling is difficult for me so I mainly do it only in my dedicated whitewater boat, although I do try to practice in my Polaris when I solo it. Both the ankles and knees are painful for me and about 20-30 minutes is all I can stand in the Polaris with...

I think Gumpus hit the nail on the head. I was apparently typing while he was so a lot of this says the same thing in a slightly different way. In general i think it does give you an idea of initial stability but it doesn’t tell the whole story. For truly flat bottomed boats it would probably...

I thought I would add my impressions of the Drafonfly 15 to this thread since I had the opportunity to get in one this past Friday. I wouldn’t call it a “test paddle” per se because I never really left the dock. I am primarily a sitter, and the seat was pretty high on this boat, so I’m sure...

Ok, so time for an update. It’s another long post, I apologize in advance. On Friday, I took off work, left at 5am, and drove up to Rutabaga to test paddle some boats: I did not test paddle the Pocket Canyon but I did sit in one, and I was surprised at how wide the paddling station felt. It...

Thank you, I appreciate the heads up! I actually saw this one a couple of days ago and reached out to him about it. He sent me some pics of the bottom and it was a little more worn than I was willing to make the 9.5 hr drive for. Not terrible, but worn through the vinyl in one of the stems...

I would really love to try out a Clipper in their duraflex layup, but they’re pretty far away unfortunately. The Caribou S or their P14 would both be worth a try I think but it would be a 16 hr drive to Winnipeg for me to get to a dealer. There was a dealer in St. Louis a couple of years ago...

I have seen a few Appalachians listed here and there, but I didn’t know there was a shorter/narrower version. It sounds like a sweet boat that would definitely be the type I’m after. I’ll keep an eye out for both and see if anything pops up, but it sounds like I’ll just have to get lucky on...

Haha thanks Glen, but if that video were on vhs I’d have worn it out over the last few months! I’ve watched and rewatched all of the HappyPaddlin’ YouTube videos on the Northstar solos to the point I can probably write out the scripts from memory 😆. It’s interesting that most of the folks he...

Thanks for the offer! I’m pretty near St. Louis, MO but occasionally get up to Gary, IN for work which would put me within a relatively short distance of SW Michigan. Not sure when I’ll make it up that way again but I may take you up on it! I totally forgot about the StarFire. A cool boat...

I didn’t include it above but I have researched the Raven quite a bit over the last several months since they seem to be fairly popular among forum members here, and think I would really like it. Unfortunately though, I have never seen one for sale. I look quite a bit (how I got the Rendezvous...

Long post, i apologize in advance. I have been fortunate enough to get a bonus at work, so I am finally ready to buy a new “nice” solo canoe. Some background: I picked up an older Rendezvous in tuf weave this Spring at a good price but have not used it a whole lot, just a couple of times...

My photos aren’t the best but here are some shots of the Missouri Ozarks: The Eleven Point, this past March (the water was up and murkier than usual): Dad on the Eleven Point in the MR Guide, same trip: Dad sacrilegiously double blading my Prospector 15 in a swift section of the North...