Recent content by goonstroke

I did something similar a couple years ago, although with 3rd Lake as the takeout. I did it in April during covid and to my surprise most of the roads were closed, so instead of starting with ~6 miles of slackpacking it was a full portage. I wasn't expecting that so I wasn't even packed light. I...

Moving to the back area of the campsite, when it comes time for #2, there are two kinds of people, those who scrunch toilet paper and those who fold/reroll it nicely before using it. Does this correlate with tent/hammock/tarp behavior? Are there people who scrunch their TP but roll their tents...

I love a NWS Hourly Weather Forecast Graph, especially for a quick weekend trip, but on a longer trip when I have think for myself the most useful signal is the wind direction. This is somewhat location/geography specific, but in interior Maine, where the predominant (and driest) winds are from...

Given your profile photo, I'm surprised you didn't preface that with "I'm glad you asked that question ..."

I respect the backwards swedeform coalition, but I've always hesitated to join it because it would put the trailing end of the boat farther out over the rear bumper. My shortest canoe is longer than either of our cars. I always flag the end with something red, but still I worry that someone will...

Where's the tow truck anchor point on your Forester? On my Crosstrek it's an eye bolt that screws into the rear bumper, and I use that when I tie off the stern. It's at a convenient height, which is nice, but the downside is I have to find it in the spare tire kit and screw it in. Also it's only...

Another reason I need to keep my '15 manual transmission Crosstrek going until the robots kick us off the roads.

Double blades are OK if you're in or near (a couple thousand furlongs, give or take) the Adirondacks, just remember to tip your hat to Nessmuk. Welcome!

I'm good with two cam buckle belly straps 95% of the time. The only time I add bow and stern ropes is when I'm driving long distance, more than a couple hundred miles at interstate speeds. I find the bow lines in particular can reduce the amount of yaw axis movement, which over time can cause...

Another resource is the NASA daily visible satellite shot. The only drawback is that if it's cloudy you may need to click back several days to see anything. https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov/?v=-70.21460463884455,45.323895900802064,-68.01724915727829,46.397395610025576

How rigid is the hull in the middle? If it's fairly stiff, it could be that it never had thwarts and doesn't need them. If it once had a center thwart/yoke I expect you'd see some signs of mounting, like whatever brackets are holding the seats. It also wouldn't surprise me if it never had...

Dugout canoes look just amazingly hard to build. It seems like it would be easier to hike a thousand miles to someplace that had birch bark, spruce roots, pine tar, etc, or maybe trap and skin a thousand squirrels to make a skin-on-frame boat. I guess if people really need a boat they'll find a...

I hate to be a gram weenie, but a couple coats of varnish on a carbon blade might add an ounce to the paddle. That's a lot for a stick that weighs less than a pound. When one of my carbon paddles needs nourishment I use a regular laminating epoxy, and as sparingly as I can.

Why not come up here for the 57th annual Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race? Purportedly the largest paddlesports event in New England. https://bangorme.myrec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=28991 http://kenduskeagstreamcanoerace.com/ Last year there were ~350 boats, about 300...

That winter did indeed suck, but it's spring now, I've been out paddling a few times. Today we had this storm blow through with high winds and heavy rain, but just behind it the winds calmed down and the rain tapered to drizzle, so I headed out to the usual early spring stream in the late...