Recent content by tketcham

Tractor seats will become the latest must-have collection for serious canoeists. 😃 I found that making a custom foam "inset" for a tractor seat is the way to go. I know that marathon racers have been doing that for many, many years but I'm a slow learner. It's what I should have done for all my...

I'm thinking of buying a Clipper Canoe or Zaveral bucket seat and figuring out how to attach it to the existing bench seat of my Kestrel. Either that or building up something like the Deal seat. You can get tractor seats online here: Clipper tractor seat or Zaveral bucket seats

Beautiful paddle, Marc.

That's why I gave up riding on roads with my bicycle, drivers have become so distracted and even outright negligent, that I don't trust them to see me, let alone acknowledge I'm there. Haven't ridden roads for almost fifteen years. A friend of mine was killed by a distracted driver a few years...

I like both styles of seat, just depends on the canoe and how I'll be paddling it. For tripping and cruising I prefer sitting in a bucket seat, while for noodling around on flat water and maneuvering on moving water I prefer kneeling on a bench seat. (For bigger white water I used a saddle.) The...

It's not just Florida's problem. Those monkeys aren't going to be limited to Florida for long because all sorts of living things get spread around pretty quick these days. These are the kind of introduced species problems that need to be dealt with at a federal/regional level, before the flora...

Humane solution? I doubt it, at least not a solution that's acceptable to many (most?) people. A cost-effective solution would likely be unacceptable because of the harm to (or death of) the monkeys, but a solution that's more humane will likely be very expensive and people don't like spending...

That's what I suggested to Bob, that the website should show photos of both faces (or include a side shot) for each type of grip.

Not pastries, but I usually bring a package of Fig Newtons along, which travel well and go good with a cup of coffee or tea for breakfast.

I emailed Bob Zaveral about a symmetrical grip for their Medium paddle several years ago and he said they didn't have any of the Barton grips and there wasn't enough demand for symmetrical grips to carry them. If you and others start asking for that style grip maybe ZRE would consider building...

Didn't own an Early Winters candle lantern but about 40 years ago I moved to Early Winters and lived there for two years. Incredible place, fond memories. I stopped using my French-made Le Grande Tetras candle lantern once I bought a Mini-Mag AA flashlight. You can take the cap section off and...

And these two threads are applicable to the discussion, which has been going on for 20 years and more. The topic isn't new, but it's interesting to revisit. Weight shifting & solo sit & switch – Yanoer (JUL 2005) Heeling to maximize strokes...

I've been researching that question online this morning and have yet to come up with a definitive answer. I can find anecdotal posts at paddling.com and here at canoetripping.net but nothing specific from racing focused websites, mainly videos of racers, mostly tandem. The book references I...

Interesting observation and something I use to keep the canoe tracking efficiently. A solo canoe paddled hit-and-switch travels in sweeping arcs due to yaw so it's a matter of deciding how much yaw is reasonable for efficient travel. Visual cues are the main prompts I use to switch sides but the...

I'm not saying it's the most efficient technique, but it's the one I've found works best for me paddling a fast solo touring canoe. The key is how narrow the paddler's station is in order to comfortably reach the water with a subtle offside heel along with a fairly narrow elliptical hull that is...