Recent content by Tsuga8

Thanks, all, good info!

Thanks, all. Sounds like the advantages of a guideboat over a canoe are the speed/efficiency of rowing? And stability in bigger water? Other advantages? How does a guideboat compare to a canoe rigged for rowing?

I too just stumbled upon a kevlar Hornbeck guideboat listed for sale and started wondering. I have rowed a single scull/shell a bit and, as @Boatman53 said, I like to see where I'm going - part of the fun of being out there. Can a guideboat be rowed facing forwards? Standing up?

Nice lookin little fella!

Chip Cochran was recently pointing out something I hadn't thought about - that where the mass 'connects' to the hull also matters. He was talking about how a standing poler, while their center of gravity is higher in one way, they connect with the bottom of the hull standing in the chines...

I think the answer has to be: stay calm and improvise! When dealing with venomous snakes, calm deliberate movements, keeping one's distance, and having lots of patience is key. Snakes can generally strike about half their body length. I try to add a safety buffer and keep to at least a...

The regs in NYS differ by waterbody. As mentioned, I assume because water-based recreation is such a major part of the economy, there are a lot of invasive check and clean stations in and around the Adirondacks. However I've never actually been required to stop at one with my canoe. For the...

A park ranger once used his taser to try to disentangle a python from a tourist's truck engine. It did not elicit the desired response. It did elicit a fecal response. We ended up taking apart half the poor guy's engine before we got the snake out.

Totally agreed on that point! :)

Well, I finally got out the scales and weighed some boats. The RX Morningstar comes in around 60.5 lbs, and that's with only a center seat. I still don't have a yoke and the shape of the gunnels doesn't work that well with the clamp-on yoke I have. The Rx Heron is only 55 lbs with two seats...

Followed by loudly clanking the pole right where you just indicated? ;)

I don't consider your cottonmouth description to be aggressive behavior. We are giants to most snakes - something 100x bigger than a cottonmouth or rattlesnake. They don't want to get stepped on and crushed, so they're trying to get our attention. 'Hey, I'm here, don't tread on me!' There's...

Haha, fair enough! The fly fisher was friendly enough as I was putting in. I had a poler this weekend tell me the way to get on their good side is retrieving their snagged flies for them. But, they're a rarer breed around here, I don't see em too much thankfully.

I suppose you could get a 1ft length of scrap pipe (any material but same interior diameter), weigh it before and after adding foam, and multiply by 12 for a guesstimate of additional weight? There was a guy fly fishing at my poling spot yesterday. I sure wouldn't want to be trying to fish...

Well, it's definitely true - time in boat is critical. It is also true that getting all these tips and tidbits from polers on- and off-line is really helpful. I put in another couple hours practice today. Flows are up in the local creek and I had some very challenging (for me) climbs. I also...