Recent content by Alan Gage

I just discovered and finished Survival of the Bark Canoe by John Mcphee. How have I not heard of this book before? Just a wonderful read about a mid-1970's canoe trip in the Maine wilderness in birch bark canoes with a young canoe builder who is trying to keep the craft alive. Lots of...

I guess I would approach it this way: If you think working with epoxy and composites for canoe repair sounds like fun then go ahead and give it a try with some skid plates. If you think that doesn't sound something to do just for funsies then slap on the EZ-Keel strips and see how long they...

Looks great! Nice work under a time crunch. Can't wait for an on the water test. Very impressive weight if it's accurate! Alan

The more durable options: https://www.canoetripping.net/threads/more-skid-plate-repairs-and-retrofits.100773/ Alan

https://www.canoetripping.net/threads/more-skid-plate-repairs-and-retrofits.100773/

How long did it take for it to accumulate that much wear? It certainly doesn't look very deep or severe. If this happened over the course of years then something like EZKeel should be plenty. If it happened in 2 weeks you might want something a bit more robust. Alan

I laced one of mine with cord and tubing. It worked well. I've never tightened it and have never felt a need to. It seemed to hold taught when in use. With the sharp bends as it goes in and out of the hull there isn't a lot of transfer from one loop to the next (i.e. pulling on one end won't...

You're getting a lot of work done! I appreciate you showing your mistakes. I agree with you that it's important that new (or potentially new) builders should see that all of us deal with mistakes and setbacks and that they are all fixable. Alan

Uh, yeah, that boat always looks really weird from the outside. :) Alan

Well, if you're still thinking about the upstream trip at least you have the right boat available for it. :) Upstream travel was one of the main design considerations and it saw about 200 miles of upstream travel on its first trip. Alan

Specs on the boat look great. Seems like it would be perfect for Minnesota paddling. Price looks good too. Hope you find a buyer soon! Alan

I think you're looking at the wrong thread. This isn't the for sale thread you started, it's from another person (who is in Maine). Alan

I haven't been following Will Steger very closely but I believe he's already quite a way into his. I saw some updates a month or more ago traveling through the barrens in the snow and ice. I know a few years back he did a similar trip where he trekked in to experience breakup in the barrens. As...

I always thought 'jeezum crow' was just part of the regular lexicon but, now that I think about it, I think I'm the only person I've ever heard say it. I have no idea where I picked it up from. Alan

When I see the prices of some of these trailers I wonder why not just buy a van? Alan