Search results

Is it possible that Jerry used lighter canvas than the original Whites? I just had my 18' OT recanvased and it's much lighter with a thinner canvas then what was on it. It's also noticeably less stiff and has more flex than it did before, but part of this is due to not replacing the keel. As...

I'd say just keep practicing and refer back to the books every so often. I think it's mostly intuitive, but you need a good feel for how your boat is affected by current and wind to be able to react to it. Before I started poling I had about thirty years of paddling while standing in the boat...

Boating in WW is inherently dangerous and whatever method you use won't change that. Not everyone's situation is the same. Mason's method was probably influenced by the fact that he didn't use any extra floatation when tripping and he paddled w/c canoes. I don't agree with Bill on everything...

Another reason to have an axe along is if you ever buy a bundel of wood you get more out of it when you can split it into smaller pieces.

I don't have any experience paddling a loaded swamped boat in a rapid, but it doesn't sound easy, especially if you have to reenter the boat. With the tether I didn't have to untie or retie anything, just throw the packs out and dump the water (no bailing) and throw the packs back in. I don't...

High Falls, Oswegatchie River

You guys that tie your stuff down in rapids might also want to add a tether. All it takes is about 6 feet of para cord and thirty seconds to tie to a thwart and run through a strap or loop of your packs and then tie to the last pack. This way if you do swamp or flip you can unload the boat to...

I almost missed this one. Great job.

I think it's more of a healthy dose of anxiety rather than real paranoia Mem. The paranoid people probably stay home, at least after their first time out.

In Ak. I was concerned about getting stomped on the way to my truck in the dark hours of the morning.

That's too bad ppine, it must have been tough selling all your boats, but at least you're still getting out there. I guess you have no interest in day trips or paddling for pleasure. There's more to life than tripping on fast water. Maybe when your friend fixes up the old Guide he'll let you...

The thing I don't like about tying my stuff down in WW is that when flipped or swamped it will most likely float lower in the water which would increase the chances the it could get wrapped. It would also make recovery harder. Mason said to tie your stuff down tightly to the bottom of the boat...

Slightly off topic; there was a wolf killed in the Adirondacks by a coyote hunter this year. I recently saw a TV show about a first hand account about guy that was attacked by coyotes. He got tore up pretty good, they were lunging at his throat and he was lucky to have survived. A few years ago...

That moose had his ears back which is a sign that he is mad. I would have been backing up slowly from the beginning.

I agree that it works better to enter the boat close to the stems and that it is harder with a PFD on. The one time that I flipped a loaded boat in rapids I had my packs on a tether like Bill recommends. It worked great allowing me to remove any packs still in the boat and not having them float...

The two or three hours I spent with Jerry in his shop was not only educational but inspiring. He seemed just as excited to show me around his shop as I was to see it. When we had wrapped up our business we hadn't yet exhausted our canoe and canoeing conversations. I was reluctant to leave and he...

Glenn, I think Bill did a good job demonstrating that you sometimes need to move your position in the boat to match the conditions. I find it disappointing though, that he may have never realized all the benefits of comfort and efficiency from paddling from the stern seat and promoted them more...

Interesting video. I was surprised that he paddles from a nearly centralized position and doesn't use the bow seat, in fact he never even mentions it. This was in 1979. It wasn't until 1980, in Bill Masons "Path Of The Paddle" that paddling from the bow seat was mentioned. Does anyone know if...

I'm no expert but my guess would be cottonwood.

Here is one of my cat. He like canoes but hasn't been out in one, yet.