Recent content by Monel

Remember, you don't have any weapons, you have a pocket knife, camp knife or camp hatchet.

Chrisresac describes what is going on quite well. Trim is key. You absolutely need the upwind end of the boat lower in the water than the downwind end. I've been out in my Wildfire with strong tailwinds and no waves. My stern was light and the boat hung up 45 degrees off the tailwind. I could...

I've put a lot of miles on rivers wearing Simms wading pants. Very durable with neoprene feet. Only two downsides are they get hot quickly when it warms up. I also worry about unexpected immersion, especially on big rivers where getting to shore is out. I envision removing them before...

I've got the shipp;ing to Alaska covered. Know a guy who lives in Kentucky and drives up here every summer. He pays his gas bills by hauling stuff. I gotta pay for it but this is a one time splurge and the shipp;ing is going to be what it is. His route takes him right by the Northstar facility...

Thanks all. Well, I'm leaning towards a Trillium with a canoe seat now, but have also looked at the specs on the Northstar Northwind Solo. It's a bit more boat but may suit my stability needs when bringing in a big ranibow or silver. At 64 my balance isn't getting any better .... The Northwind...

Hello folks, I'm hoping to treat myself to a new solo touring canoe this year and would appreciate some opinions. I'll mostly be using my new boat for multi-day trips on the Swan Lake canoe trails on the Kenai in Alaska. The lakes aren't too big but can draw a wind, the portages not too long...

By paddling 330 miles, more or less, on the Noatak, from Ivahuna Creek to the mouth of the Kugururok River, catching a shuttle flight north over the Brooks Range to the mouth of Amo Creek on the Colville River then floating roughly 340 miles of the Colville down to Umiat. Monel

Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner This novel reads like a biography and immerses you in a world that few have experienced; growing up in an Inupiaq bush village in Alaska. Not a romanticized vision, but the gritty truth of it. I call it a chewy book because i read a chapter or two and then have...

I use this technique all the time. It is just another useful tool in your quiver of strokes. I regulary encounter strainers on the outside bend. Sometimes I will set via backstroking and make my way around the bend as so adeptly described in this post. Sometimes I will float with the current...

The reason I ask is that I paddled an inflatable kayak, not a canoe. There was one Grabner inflatable canoe, several IK's and, believe it or not, a Feathercraft tandem folding sea kayak. Would a trip report on this 6 week 700+ mile trip be welcome? Best, Monel

Check out the Hilleberg GT tunnel tents. Not freestanding but quite easy to pitch. How tall you are and what conditions you anticpiate matter a lot in tent selection. Hilleberg has a superb selection from Yellow Label (lightest and fly does not extend 100% of the way to the ground) to Black...

I would have been 8 years old at the YMCA Camp Douglass somewhere in central Michigan, 1970, on a lake of course, with a wooden dock and frogs to chase. The boat was an aluminum Grumman, no idea how long it was. Situation was a race .... first time ever for me in a canoe, and I was racing, along...

I was 17 back in 1979 and my first canoe was Bart Hauthaway's largest, the Allagash tandem, that I paddled solo with a single blade - stern first while seated on the wrong side of the bow seat. I grew up outside of Chicago, Oak Park, reading the old Herter's Catalog and Outdoor Life, dreaming...

The prusik and biner you can see is part of the ratio compounding. We did have a capture pulley, but it is out of sight behind me and not visible in the photo. Monel