Recent content by Alan Gage

I don't have any personal experience with either canoe, I'm sure other who do will chime in, but from what I know about them I'd expect them to perform pretty equally for what you describe. If it was me I'd probably base my decision on budget, weight, condition, and price. I think either hull...

Mike McCrea is your wife? :) Alan

Any pictures? I haven't got a clue what you're doing (other than fabricating stops). Alan

That boat looks like it was made from curly maple. :) Alan

I'm not familiar with Swift canoes but my best advice would be to accurately assess how you treat your boats, how you trip, your level of skill, your tolerance of cosmetic damage, and your tolerance for repairs. If you treat your boats kindly and don't run rocky rivers you can get by with a...

Me too. Hammocks seemed vastly superior when I first started using them but that was mostly because my ground setup wasn't very good. I got a good ground setup when I was tripping where hammocks weren't practical and found it was very comfortable, more diverse, and just as lightweight. Ground...

I've never experienced motion sickness from it but I know what you're talking about. There are been times when I still feel like I'm swaying slightly long after turning over only to open my eyes and realize I'm not. I was most conscious of this when I first started sleeping in a hammock. The...

I used an old boat trailer for mine. Laid some 2x6 stringers for a flat platform and screwed a piece of plywood down for a top. Fabricated some rough stands from square tubing and angle iron. The stands are removable (held in with hitch pins) so the trailer can be used as a flat platform. Here...

I don't think I've ever done a restoration, nor am I likely to. What I have done plenty of times is put a canoe back in service. Putting them 'back in service' is a lot faster and less money and you get to paddle them sooner. And you also don't care so much when it bounces off a rock. Alan

I'm unfamiliar with that model. I looked it up and it seems like an odd boat. It's built specifically for kneeling but has apparently no rocker and is not meant for big water. Sounds similar to the Whisper except for the seating arrangement. I don't know how cheap you mean by cheap but if it...

A piece of wood and a hose clamp worked for me. Alan

If I stink in the forest, and there is no one to smell it, do I really stink? Alan

Sadie and I found the remains of a very large corral in the middle of nowhere on Fort Hall lake. It was on a peninsula jutting into the lake. There are no settlements anywhere nearby and the HBC outpost was abandoned in the 20's if I remember correctly. While it's not a well traveled...

I've never had one inspected. In Iowa the state issues you a HID number and then you're supposed to apply that number to the hull in an permanent and acceptable matter. I still haven't quite gotten around to that. Alan

Here's Sadie the day after I got her as a rescue. She took to the canoe immediately and we had many happy years paddling and tripping. She's currently 16 years old still going strong. Well, maybe not strong but she's still going.