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Happy International Axe Throwing Day! 🎯🪓🤾
Photo of the day
- Thread starter memaquay
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I used to live within a stone's throw of Morse Lake and always wanted to run the section of Cicero Creek from below the spillway to where it meets the White River but water level and my schedule never aligned.
We are hoping to do that section in the next couple weeks!
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I'd love to see some pictures if you end up doing it. I'm about an hour away now but still have it on my bucket list. You're probably aware, but there is a path to the bottom of the spillway off Albemarle Circle although I don't think you'd be able to leave a shuttle vehicle there since it's a cul-de-sac. I've seen people park on Hague road just north of 38 to use the walking paths so that would be another put-in option. Or the park on Hague road south of 38. But I've always wanted to start right from the spillway.
Enjoying a new to me Blackhawk Zephyr, which came from a fellow board member and friend. also enjoying this Ibis paddle, number 115. Not sure when that would have been made, but curious. These two are a nice pairing, well suited to my evening paddles on local lakes. 
Eric Schooley of Florida made Lutra paddles under his business name, Ibis Paddles. Kona, I don't know if your pictured paddle is a Lutra or some other model that Schooley may have made under the Ibis name, but I'll summarize some of the history of the Lutra.
The Lutra paddle is a large-bladed paddle with shaft bends of 2.5° to 15° and a curved power face. Hence, it was commonly called the S-blade by the early sport canoe community in the 1980s. Mike Galt designed the Lutra based off Mickey Landry's Honey Island paddle that was made by the Blackburn brothers of Atlanta. Blackburn was the first maker of the Lutra. Galt then licensed Eric Schooley to make the Lutra, about in the late 80s as I recall, and finally licensed Mitchell to make the Lutra, with Galt's signature, in probably the early 90s.
In 2019, I detailed the history of the Lutra with pictures of it and the earlier Honey Island paddle on another site HERE.
Eric made stunningly beautiful bent shaft S blades. Sold mine for a song to CEW years ago and even though I didn’t use it much have regrets… would love it if anyone has one, and would post a picture.
Island Falls EM White Wilderness Guide 16, along the shores of Long Pond in the St. Regis Canoe Area, ADK, Site # 5
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Beautiful !!!
Nice boat Brightraven. What are those things mounted under the gunnel aft of center?
Those are hooks for me to use either a removable kneeling thwart or a full seat. It’s rigged quite nicely for those options. I rarely use either though, as I prefer to kneel over a stuff sack.
Here it is with one of Tom Seavey’s “Saddle Seats”:
Here is the removable seat:
And here it is with the removable kneeling thwart:
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Paddling with the Oystermen of Willapa Bay today.
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Hole in the mangroves.
Weedon Island, Old Tampa Bay.
Weedon Island, Old Tampa Bay.
Anyone care to guess how this bluegill happened to get run over by a cement mixer 60 feet from the water, without human intervention.
In my neck of the woods, the answer would be Osprey. In your neck of the woods... maybe, Bald Eagle?
One time, I was sitting by my second floor, near a bay window, and reading a book when a fish bounced off right off the window! It happened so fast, I barely got a look at the blur, but my brain screamed "fish," even though that didn't seem to make any sense. When I went outside to investigate, I found a scup in my basement window well!
Very good guess. It was an osprey that caught the fish and then an eagle made it drop it. I assumed the eagle would have retrieved the fish after making the osprey drop it, but I guess it was more concerned with a trespasser than getting an easy meal. A couple days before I was out in the boat and saw the osprey with a fish and the eagle immediately showed up to harass it, making it drop it in my yard.
