Recent content by tketcham

Here's a chart showing years of freeze over since 1816. You can see how the gaps between ice over are widening...

That's a nice one. The user defined scale entry would be handy because I often print my own maps but not always to a common scale. I have a cheap one that'll measure inches/centimeters and I have to convert to map distance.

Deitzgen is the company that made my Dad's drafting set, too. There were enough pieces missing, though, that I bought my own set for college. (Mine was made by Charvoz.) Drafting was one of my favorite classes, but I never designed machine parts or buildings for my job. Instead, I used the...

So here's the manual... And how it sets up... And an example of how it works... Using this planimeter, which measures one square inch per revolution of the measuring wheel (with the gradation markings), and having tenths of an inch increments, along with the vernier scale, I can measure the...

I went from hand drawing units from stereo pair aerial photo interpretation and USGS topo mapping to using Autodesk AutoCAD and ESRI ArcGIS. The incremental improvements over that time, using a number of devices and technology, was not without a fair amount of frustration. At times we'd have to...

Planimeter, able to measure to hundreths of a square inch. It was used by foresters to measure the scaled mapping area of forest stands, timber sale units, post-sale activity units, and fire areas, among other things. You'd measure the square inch area of a unit drawn on a map and convert it to...

Not sure what you mean by that.

Here's one that most people won't recognize. Well, ppine might...

Not really, I was looking for a lightweight version of our Curtis Northstar and was wondering if the Polaris was as stable. And like l said, we're getting older, but still enjoy "messing about in boats". Not at all. Gumpus's comment about steering from the bow/stern brought up another advantage...

That's what I'm looking for. (Well, it's an advantage to what I'm looking for.) We want to learn some tandem freestyle moves (I know better than to try and teach her myself) and the Polaris, while not a Savage River Harmony, Loon Works Duet, Colden Starfire, or any number of other nimble canoes...

Hmmm, wonder how that will affect the Adirondack Freestyle Canoeing Symposium?

That was my take on it. Your link to the Bell catalog is a nice resource and the specifications for the Northstar do strongly suggest that the Polaris is basically the same canoe. As for layups, I'm less concerned about durability and UV degradation than I used to be. The canoe won't be used on...

I get it, Glenn, we're at the age (now in our 70's) where we have to be realistic about our plans for the next decade or so. Thus, my concern about the stability and seaworthiness of the Polaris. I want my lovely canoeing partner to be comfortable in the canoe, even in windblown chop. I did...

Both reasonable primary characteristics but not the only ones... Perhaps you're correct if "any reasonable" is within the range of characteristics I'm after. I've been fortunate to have paddled some great tandem canoes over the years so I'm guilty of wanting to be a bit more discerning of a...

So that's your Bell Northstar, Gumpus? I really like the color. ;) I believe the Northstar Polaris is basically a revamping of the Bell Northstar based on Northstar's web page: "The Polaris accelerates quickly and offers a lively paddling experience. Skilled paddlers raved about the performance...