Recent content by Punkinhead

My friends kayaks always have water in them from getting out to get unstuck due to their refusal to learn to read the river.

On the flip side, a lot of my older friends have a lot of trouble getting in and out of a sit-in kayak due to aging knees and hips. They'd be better off in a sit on top or a canoe.

I'm the only one in my friend group who paddles a canoe. My friends don't want to learn more skills, they just want a day out in nature with friends. Skill-wise, kayaks have a low barrier to entry which is what my friends want. It's not about price with them. They could all afford a high end...

Years ago I was at REI thinking I was going to buy a cheap boonie hat. Just for grins I tried on a Tilley hat and, by chance, I'd picked up the perfect size. I've never had a hat that really fit and it changed my perspective. That's what I like about Tilley hats - they actually come in...

I'm don't see who would benefit from such a classification system. The flatwater paddlers who don't check the wind, thunderstorms, or water level and don't have the ability to recognize a strainer aren't the people who are going to check some complicated classification system.

Is the roof structure enough that you can load a canoe on it? We had a camper van and loved it but it was built on a 9' tall Transit chassis so was too high for loading boats. That forced us to use a trailer which meant we lost a lot of the mobility and convenience of a van. There were...

There's a group of us who meet in the Ozarks every Fall for a week of paddling, typically in mid-September. It's always worked out great because the rivers are spring fed so the water levels are always fine. One of group has gone on the road full time in an RV and will be out East this Fall...

I'd love to see some pictures if you end up doing it. I'm about an hour away now but still have it on my bucket list. You're probably aware, but there is a path to the bottom of the spillway off Albemarle Circle although I don't think you'd be able to leave a shuttle vehicle there since it's a...

I used to live within a stone's throw of Morse Lake and always wanted to run the section of Cicero Creek from below the spillway to where it meets the White River but water level and my schedule never aligned.

If it's any consolation their strap system doesn't work well on kayaks either. Just like with a canoe, the cart sits near the bottom third of a kayak where it's tapering so the cart wants to slide off. Wrapping the straps around a canoe or kayak doesn't help - they need to attach to something...

I asked Northstar about this because my canoe was going to be on the roof for a 2 month trip out west and a 3 month trip to Florida. They basically told me not to worry about it. I sprayed it with 303 protectant the same way I do for my wife's plastic kayak.

Paddling in the Gulf south of Tampa.

It might be an unpopular stance, but I wear a PFD less than half the time. I stopped paddling with my local club because it's a requirement that everyone wear a PFD all the time. I'm an adult who's been paddling all types of water for 50+ years. I wear one when paddling whitewater and even...

We've been getting flocks of sandhill cranes flying overhead northbound for the past week.

Not having an electrical systems means that's one less thing to go wrong. I just fly low enough to see the town name on the nearest water tower to get my bearings. An advantage of living in farm country and flying a plane with a tailwheel that lands at a brisk walking pace means the world is...