Recent content by MrPoling

Better: Carbon Kevlar - tough, stiff, and light. For perspective, when I first paddled good fiberglass canoes were in production but rare. Good plastic kayaks - my creek boat is light enough to carry on my shoulder, tough enough to seal launch off granite rocks, and doesn't need to be any...

Yes, the Explorer. The section shown is shallow and great for poling the Explorer. I normally take it for the deeper sections and large beaver ponds near falls lake. I only get the Appalachian out for the whitewater sections.

My default canoe is a fiberglass Mad River Explorer. I've been watching for a lighter replacement. The Polaris is on my shortlist. I pole frequently. While the FG Explorer isn't any narrower, it has a shallow v bottom. The Polaris has a rounded bottom. Does anyone know how it poles?

Yes, the Eno is mostly wooded. Eno River State Park stretches most of the way from Hillsborough to Durham. This is the best paddling and includes a class 2-3 gorge. This section is forested except for expensive and well kept homes. The bank is frequently rocky and covered in laurel. It...

It has been unusually cold here in the Carolinas. There has been lots of ice. We even had several weeks where the temperature rarely exceeded freezing. I tried poling in early January, but it was too cold. Ice formed on the pole, dry bag, inside, and outside of the canoe. It was a mess...

The AI accounts can be used by hackers. They gain your confidence by being part of the group. I think this is less useful here because there's not a lot of money changing hands. But high end boats do sell for enough that it would be worth scamming somebody. To other use is to establish...

My daughter woke me early this morning to go look for beaver. We paddled up a misty Sevenmile creek. We didn't see any beaver. There were several large trees down from the storm, including this large pair which took the stairs with them into the river. We also found part of a floor pan...

Glad you are healing. I trail run. A few decades ago I got a stick in the eye. It knocked me down but fortunately left only a black eye. Now i wear either sunglasses or safety glasses. My daughter is running cross country now, I got her prescription safety glasses. I think safety glasses...

Nice find, it looks like it is good shape. I had an OCA. I don't know if it was factory, but it had oak trim. It might have had oak gunwales. It was a fun and seaworthy, but heavy.

Hey on283, welcome to the forum. I've not seen many factory boats that were fiberglass and carbon. My impression is both are very stiff. I have a fiberglass.Mad River Explore. It is wonderfully stiff, and doesn't even need foam reinforcement. Kevlar, on the other hand, is normally...

No thanks, my paddling gear is a tool. If it is too nice to use it is just wasteful, no matter how easy it was to buy. Wasteful has never appealed me, even when I could afford it. I've seen similar furniture before. Art built by talented craftsman. That is a much more reasonable case for...

Thanks for posting this. I've read a lot from the american whitewater database, especially in my home states. It is good information. Lots of horror stories about pins. It is worth noting that the database focuses on white water. It isn't comprehensive for flat water paddlers, or boaters. The...

Updated, inadvertently posted before complete

Location: Eno river from Kings Highway Park to dam at Orange-Alamance Lake. Date: Late September 2025 Craft: Mad River Explorer, Fiberglass In July tropical storm Chantal dumped around 10 inches of rain into the Neuse River basin. The Eno, Little, and Flat rivers experienced serious flooding...

I like living where I can get to the water easily. I've lived waterfront, which was amazing. About half the places i've lived had somewhere I could get to in a few minutes to paddle. Not necessarily something spectacular but just somewhere I could access the water legally and get some...