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This might be too picky, but I was not happy with the self-rescue at the beginning of the video. We were always taught that after a capsize 1. Hold on to your paddle, 2. Get to the upstream end of your boat, 3. Check for you partner, 4. Grab the painter, 5. On your back, attempt to swim the...

Yeah, yknpdlr. It is a true pain! No one enjoys reloading the bag.

All canoes in our club carried a throw bag on day trips, but I have never seen anyone use one. And we paddled gnarly, boulder-filled rapids pretty much year-round in the Vancouver area. To use a throw bag would require that lead boats eddy out, and the paddlers stand on shore, waiting for the...

My throw bag is over 35 years old, and not nearly as snazzy or technological as the bags shown in the video. Our canoe club back in Vancouver held an annual clinic on river rescue techniques. Most people could not accurately throw the bag any great distance. It takes practice. I think accurate...

My wife Kathleen and I spent three days in Rome last summer. Loved it. If we were younger, we could easily see ourselves moving to Italy.

Welcome. I had to look up RHIB. Big change to a canoe. Europe is a pretty big place. Can you be more specific, please?

We’ve had a very mild winter in east-central Saskatchewan, until last night when a dreaded ”Alberta Clipper” roared through. Temperature tonight is predicted to fall to -30 C (-22 F). Waiting for the plow to come to clear our lane. Kathleen is out throwing snow off our driveway. I am the...

For the last couple of years we have been giving our remaining dog a once-monthly pill during tick season that generally causes the ticks to jump off. Too bad there’s not such a pill for the people.

I have used the same approach as Alan. For 15 years Kathleen and I have had as many as five sled dogs that we walk three times a day. During May, June and July, we remove wood ticks every walk, not just from the dogs, but also from ourselves. Sometimes 20-30 per walk. Just grab them between...

I found this information on the internet. I couldn’t find where the data were collected; but, in my opinion from paddling the Thelon, and other arctic/subarctic rivers, the water was cold. Kathleen and I never went swimming; but maybe we’re wusses. Britannica https://www.britannica.com ›...

Scary, Mem. I’ve always been worried about, and reluctant to make open crossings

I have posted a version of this before, but it seems appropriate to do so here again. Kathleen and I, since we began wilderness tripping in 1990, have always used a spray deck. We tied our gear in only on our very first day in the Rock Gardens on the Nahanni River, as did the other two couples...

For much of our paddling career, Kathleen and I both carried SLR/DSLR cameras. In the bow, Kathleen kept hers in a waterproof Ortlieb pannier. In the stern, I kept mine in a Pelican case, with cutouts for the camera, telephoto lens, wide angle lens, and various filters. We always tripped with a...

Jim, In what way would you change/upgrade your preparedness?

I think this guy is so egocentric and clueless that he likely doesn’t realize that he looks stupid. He titles his video “My Canoe Sinks In Middle Of Lake.” No. The problem was not a sinking canoe. Don’t blame the canoe. Blame the no-skill paddler who precipitated the capsize.

Here is an article I submitted to our canoe club in Vancouver. A fortuitous rescue of an inexperienced fisher guy in a poorly trimmed, overloaded canoe. Very similar to the video here. You Never Know September 10, 2004, Pender Island British Columbia Kathleen and I stood on the beach enjoying...

Proper fishing attire, in my experience, is perhaps even more important than selecting the best lures.

I’ve also caught whitefish with Mepps spinners. I have even caught grayling with a bare hook. Perhaps my success is because of unsophisticated fish. I have generally been able to catch fish on demand. Usually five casts or fewer. I fish to catch food. Not for sport. Kathleen and I never want to...

Thanks, Boreal. That’s pretty mich how we have always treated our mukluks, except for that “yissing” part. They have always been slippery, even when new in 1999. Don’t know if they’re more slippery now or not.

I am a basic fisher kind of guy. Not a true afficianado. On all of our Barren Grounds trips I take just a few basic essentials: A two-piece spinning rod, a net, two Mepps gold spinners, and one Mepps silver spinner. With this basic equipment I have caught pike, grayling and this lake trout on...