Recent content by Sliding Focus

The Indy was available with aluminum gunwales in its last year or two of production (2003 or so), but on this one it’s definitely a retrofit (the photo of the HIN in the OP suggests it was made in 1992). I agree with @M Clemens that the foam core + wood trim would be enough to float a stock...

Glad to hear I'm not the only one with enabling friends ;) But I predict you're going to love that canoe: my Indy was my first solo canoe (and my first canoe of my own), and I absolutely adore it! It's definitely a good one in which to learn solo paddling, too. Congrats!

Thanks in part to the encouragement (or enabling?) of several of our other members, I brought a 1978 Wenonah Jensen C-1 home from WPASCR yesterday. Before this weekend, I wouldn't have guessed that a marathon racer might suit me—I think of canoeing as being about the journey, and I like spinning...

One thing I have heard about covers—which up to now has prevented me, perhaps mistakenly, from getting them for my canoes—is that materials left in contact with the hull can damage canoes stored outside, e.g., by trapping water against the hull (potentially encouraging wood to rot or gelcoat to...

I definitely wouldn't call the Independence a river boat, but I think it would be about as capable on a river as most similar solo tripping canoes. Its biggest problem is, like you say, that it slices through waves, which is great on a windy lake but means you'd have to be pretty careful to...

Here's one more suggestion for your "linebacker" solo: a Vermont Canoe Indy. This would be a hard canoe to find (Vermont Canoe wasn't around very long!), and the depth at center is a little shallower and the waterline a little narrower than your ideal (29" is the 4" waterline), but otherwise...

I'm in this region too, and definitely interested in joining other folks for paddling!

Haha, I like that way of thinking of it!

Ready for my first outing of the year!

Unfortunately, according the the WPASCR site, both events are on the same weekend this year :( (I also had been dreaming about attending both...it's probably not a realistic dream for me, but still, being forced to decide between them feels like a quandary!)

I too prefer a symmetrical grip on a straight paddle: the asymmetrical grips are very comfortable when oriented the "right" way, but uncomfortable when oriented the "wrong" way, while a symmetrical grip is comfortable no matter which way around it is and so it saves you a little bit of thinking...

This seems like a good suggestion! A 6’ cargo area with the rear seats folded is the same as my Outback, so unlike a Forester, it might (just) be long enough to sleep in. Now THAT is a sweet ride!

Quick correction: I just remembered that the Buick Regal TourX was a thing...these aren't yet old and cheap and aren't as capable off-road as an Outback, but might need fewer repairs?

@Glenn MacGrady, with the above in mind, I think that a Subaru Outback is pretty perfect for you, at least on paper—it's a great canoe vehicle, and great adventure vehicle in general. I have a 2009, and as others have noted, it's long enough to sleep in with the seats folded down (I'm also 5'...

Wow, they really cut the prices by a lot! I wonder if Hemlock got any interest at all at the "original MSRP adjusted for inflation" prices they were originally asking—these are neat canoes (the black Lotus Caper is just stunning), but it seems to me that only someone with very specific, niche...