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When I was first learning to pole, I tried to power my way up everything. That's a mistake for a couple of reasons. First - it wears you out and can cause an injury. Second - it can cause your bow to raise out of the water unnecessarily, which slows you down and increases effort. Try easing...

Standing farther back does make it easier to avoid introducing yaw while pushing hard, but also reduces your leverage for heeling. Sometimes it's an advantage, sometimes not. Every drop is different, but the more ledge-like it is, the more it helps to get the bow up when attacking it. Going up...

More about weight and hopping forward at the top of the ledge... Hopping forward while topping out on a climb gets the stern out of the accelerated water quicker and releases you from its drag. But with an empty boat, you have to make this move really quick because the boat gets stalled before...

Couple of videos from a couple of my local play spots... On this one, I can't climb this because there's a slick slab of concrete under it. But if you want to practice bow control, find yourself a surf wave. Idunno if this demonstrates bow light or bow heavy though. One things for sure - if I...

No disagreement there. And I note that if you start with bow down trim, the moment you apply thrust, the bow will raise. So, there's that. I gotta get to the desktop and dig up a video ...

When it comes to poling upstream though, it's not that cut & dried. Few of us are going to approach hull speed in a recreational canoe, even accounting for opposing current. In features where river flow exceeds 3-4 mph, fall rate begins to dictate what you can get away with doing with the bow...

That is correct. The pushier the current you're going against, the lighter the bow needs to be.

I want to say it works best with the vee and least with the flat, but it's been so long since I compared all three that I don't feel confident in that statement. The shallow arch canoes I've had were always the most forgiving and stable in the rough, so that's what I've gravitated to. Your...

This is where aggressive healing works wonders. If you're getting blown out to your left, pick up your right foot and really edge the boat, and most times the bow will swing right up.

Well it's not as bad as I thought it might be. The skid plates have been shaved down so that they're very thin. Don't know for sure what's under there, but they're very smooth and don't appear to be hiding a lot of damage. At any rate, they don't look like they're going to be coming off, and...

When I say "restoration", that's what I mean. :D

Happens to me all the time. :D My lightest aluminum pole weighs about 3 lbs. Also my lightest wood pole (the "Home Depole") is about the same. The trick today seems to be finding a good straight grained doug fir closet rod. I have not seen one of those for several years now. I have one I made...

He's not available to show it until later today. ;) It's been a while since I've done a restoration. From where I sit, this one looks like it could be fun. It's not like I need another flat water solo, but who knows? Maybe at least I can save a boat and compare with what I have (Clipper Solitude).

This is the boat. Definitely going to need work, but maybe not too much. I'm going to see it in person this evening. https://www.facebook.com/share/1BEqma8sYT/

I've been trying to get people interested here for years. No takers, although a few have given it a brief try. Good luck.

Good advice.

I see one for sale here cheap. Possibly a fixer-upper. Haven't had a look at it yet, but I wonder if it's worth my time.

Wild guess - Charlie and Mike?

Fun video! My favorite kind of paddling too.

I'm a side sleeper also. Same experience with the Hennessy Hammock as described above. I get the best sleep in it, but a lot of places I go lack trees big enough to hang. For the last several years now, I've been sleeping on the Sea to Summit Ether Lite. I sleep as comfortably on that as I do...