Recent content by Steve in Idaho

Good point. Maybe it would be a good idea to just have a sacrificial section of wood inserted into an aluminum tube sleeve (or aluminum pole end. With the insert turned so it has a press fit with a shoulder to keep it in place, and maybe a set screw in the side, it could probably stay in place...

You might be onto something. You could pair that with the customary copper cap. Just drill through the cap like we usually do for the hanger bolt and screw the hammer face over that.

As I was scrolling through some of my old videos, I found another with some good examples of offside (or outside) healing. Note that even with the bow stem out of the water, most of the forward half of the chine is still engaged. Yep, there's some heeling to the inside there too. It all...

Watch this guy's boat closely as he demonstrates the forward stroke in his WW canoe. This is the first video I ever noticed this happening. It's subtle, but it's there.

That's one of my favorite things. Catching a small eddy behind a rock is tricky indeed, but bigger eddies in deep water are pure joy. The technique for that works as well as any paddle, once you get the hang of it. Skip to 11:10 in this video to see the best example I have. It's fairly weak...

I guess I'm still stuck on the idea of lifting the bow out of the water. With the bow of the Solitude just clearing the surface, almost the whole offside waterline is still in play when carving. That means all of the chine ahead of the widest part of the hull is still a major influence. To...

Looks like a fun stretch of river. I love your bow art. :D Nice hopicopter move!

I'm not sure I do. The only reason I have zero rocker solos is that is all I have found in the longer canoes in my limited used market, and the used market is all I have here. I seem to recall CW commenting that a little bow rocker doesn't necessarily cause an efficiency penalty. So I'd love to...

H Haha! Not the nicest guy in Idaho, but I live near the Owyhees and I'm not one to pass up an excuse to visit them. The group I picked up were some younger guys I used to paddle with until they got too much into whitewater for me. Ppine is right that the river can be flashy and it can be...

BTW, the BLM website probably still has a link somewhere for river maps of the entire drainage above the reservoir. Let me know if you can't find it. Worst case, if it's not there anymore, I can scan my hard copy.

That photo looks familiar. Three Forks, right? I picked up a group there a couple summers ago. That would be the takeout for the upper runs with very remote and inconvenient access. Putting in there takes you through a lot of class 3, some 4, and a couple of class five (one is+5) on the way to...

Oh yeah, that's one of mine. And it's a real concern in my area. The lower Boise river runs right through the Capitol City and then the rest of the valley on its way to the Snake River. Between the runoff from streets and yards after a rainstorm and the runoff from nearby farms with gravity...

When matching a preexisting opposing hole, I use those insets Boatman pictured above to mark the location. These jigs can be either centered on the edge of the stock or offset as needed (the one on the left requires shims to offset). Amount of offset can be matched to an existing hole by first...

Getting the holes straight freehand is always a challenge. I've used the guide on the right with great success, but I believe it's probably no longer in production. I recently found this Harbor Freight guide on the left that comes with threaded inserts for several increments, plus the two holes...

Yes, that six inches or more in the difference of hull width is a big deal. Back when my only canoe was the 16' Prospector, when I paddled it from the kneeling thwart, all of my turns were heeled on the paddle side. Offside heel was not an option. In fact, the onside heel facilitated going...