Recent content by tketcham

We bought one of those Suspenz carts on sale at REI for a good price, otherwise I was going to make a DIY cart using a kids bicycle frame and wheels. What you're experiencing highlights the flaws in using that cart with a canoe, especially carrying gear on a rough trail. We've used it a couple...

Thanks, Marc. Glad to see there will be local options for meals, especially as a group. Thanks, Molly.

It was an easy guess for Robert (RPATCH) and me. I think we both noticed how Glenn took an interest in Marc's Illusion, especially how effortless it seemed lifting it on to and off from roof racks and how smoothly it negotiates the obstacle courses of the Pine Barrens. Of course, Marc's skills...

How to recruit new canoe paddlers? If you are really asking about converting kayakers to canoeists, my observation is that most kayakers prefer it to canoeing mainly because kayaks are much easier to paddle. Both water craft need a place to store them and require PFDs and paddles so it's not...

I received a spork as a gift many years ago and tried it out but didn't like having sharp points projecting from the end of a spoon. Made no sense to me. Instead, I've always carried a soup spoon of one variation or another. To eat salad (which I never bring), I use my knife to cut it up into...

That's about as simple as it gets. :)

When I was a kid, we used to fish for speckled (brook) trout in the small brook that ran behind our house. The "legal" minimum length back then was six inches but we'd keep whatever we caught because most of them were stunted due to the lack of (or competition for) food and didn't get much...

I'm hoping that there might be a Cruiser 15.8 I can try out at the WPASCR this year. I thought about requesting to test paddle a Cruiser 15.8 at Collinsville's Swift canoe demo day but it's a three and a half hour drive. I don't need another cruiser canoe but I'm curious how it compares.

This poll seems to be reflective of a conversation I had with a canoe/kayak retailer recently. When I went to pick the canoe up, I mentioned that it was replacing a similar canoe that's 16 lbs heavier. He chuckled and said other than kayaks, that's what's selling these days: lightweight canoes...

I think freestyle goes above and beyond basic boat handling (as I mention below) and Marc put some perspective on freestyle instruction vs traditional instruction... That's why I decided to start attending Freestyle symposiums back in 2019. I had attended clinics and classes geared towards...

The idea of functional freestyle does make sense if you think about canoeing narrow streams or along a shoreline and purposefully maneuvering through all the inherent obstacles while adding a bit of flare and elegance. Otherwise, I guess it would be sport canoeing? ;) I agree, "freestyle"...

That's why I'm thinking that if I can figure out a way to add lateral (?) strength and support for the bracket attachments that it will be more like traditional wood drops than just a thin metal bracket hanging from the in-rails. I like the ability to relatively easily change seat height...

The Wenonah adjustable height brackets are an experiment before I commit to a 12-day trip this fall. I've considered all kinds of things to set the seat at a good height for sitting and a good height for kneeling, and tried a few things, but I want to experiment to see if I can find a good...

I can understand Wenonah's reluctance to sell parts that aren't being used the way they were intended because the USA has become the land of litigation. Rediculously large jury settlements and lawyer-legislators in Congress bolstering tort law. As to using wood brackets; nah, seems too kludgy...

Good article with good photos for reference, although I think more photos showing the artistic flair of interpretive freestyle would help get the distinction across. As the photo of Bob and Elaine hint at, there's more to it than the advanced skill of heeling to the rail. It is unfortunate...