Recent content by VA paddler

I bring my iphone and my InReach. InReach gets us weather, verifies paper map orienteering, keeps the wife happy, and is priceless in a bind. Phone gives us tunes, a camera, and an alarm clock. Phone has managed to find some bars in some pretty unexpected places that were life savers. The...

Maybe a pocket Canyon? Or NovaCraft makes a slew of Prospectors. Old Town's Appalachian is an excellent boat. I have an old Mad River ME - which I like, but wouldn't recommend - she's a squirrely thing.

I got into paddling because someone offered me a loaner. And I've always tried to pay it forward. I bought a Dagger Caption so I would have it to loan to a buddy who was broke and didn't have a boat, and so that I could train my daughter in it one day (she was 2 or 3 years old at the time)...

I have a set of the [spoon on one side fork on the other], in stainless. We cook a lot of grilled meats and vegies and a fork is useful in that application. I also have a set of long spoons/sporks for the dehydrated meal bags. But really, I could care less what I eat with, just so long as the...

Maine, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West-by-god-Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah (raft), Alaska (raft), Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba

Able to count myself in the 40s for a few more weeks!

Grain of salt: this from the guy who packed a rotisserie chicken in his blue barrel for seven days.

For lunch on the float, in the boat, no time to stop, I’ll vote for mandarins & jerky. And those packets of 6 or 8 cracker sandwiches with the fake peanut butter between them. And granola bars. But if you’ve time on your hands and a cooler, there’s nothing wrong with putting out a full deli...

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that’s not why ships are built.” - fortune cookie wisdom

Yoga and firewood. I used to be the guy that guffawed at yoga. Got into it during the pandemic. Started using my old ridge-rest as a mat. Made me feel great. Was easy to keep up with on a work from home schedule. Harder now we are back in the office. Great to do when there's 16" of snow on the...

Snow squalls and hail off and on all day, but these South Bristol harbor rats refused to believe it wasn’t spring.

Or maybe get some help from a chopper a few days later…

Started this late Saturday night with a beverage. Somewhere in the neighborhood of the third beverage I zonked out. When I woke up around dawn, the dude was still paddling and the little red bar was only about 3/4 of the way across the screen. Will have to rewind and start anew.

If you paddle Spednik Lake you get a day on a beautiful big lake with plenty of camping options. Funny - I’ve taken both daughters, separately, on this trip. Each commented on the lake. One wanted to know why Canada looked so much like Maine - it’s a different color on her map of the world… The...

Gadabyte - the St Croix is a good option. Fun light class 2 rapids throughout, lots of campsites, easy logistics if you use C&C Canoe for your shuttle, great smallmouth fishing. Start in Vanceboro & take 3 days to the Kellyland dam. Start at the top of Spednik Lake and add a day and a night...