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Finally got my Millbrook out in some moving water - a Fife Brook run yesterday. Here I am going through Zoar Gap. My initial thoughts compared to the royalex version - definitely faster, crisper turns, really dry. I've always admired the Millbrook guys who were bailing out their boats with...

A worthy goal, but probably not realistic for those of us with a life beyond paddling, which is all of us. I focus on what I need for the types of boats that I have and the types of trips that I do. I'm always looking to improve, but I don't need to be an expert at everything. Whitewater...

The only paddlers I have ever seen do a bow pry are Bill and Paul Mason in their tandem videos. They would use prys to move the canoe sideways to line up on a shoot, and there were a couple of shots when Paul uses a wedge to turn into an eddy. Definitely not an American thing, except maybe for...

I’ve had an NRS Pilot on my PFD for years. Like others, I’ve never been in a situation where I needed to use it for anything other than spreading peanut butter. The blade definitely rusts over time. When it gets too rusty I buy a new knife (cheap, so maybe you get what you pay for). I’m not...

You're right - it must be a Rockstar. I'll ask him.

It’s tough to find anything on a Bell Starfire – at least as a solo. When you do find something, it is usually about the Starfire as a short tandem freestyle boat. Don’t know where my buddy found this boat, and I’ll have to take a closer look next time he takes it out. From what I could find...

It was not a fun swim - I was way out in the middle, and it was a long way to shore. I swam as best I could to the left shore and got there eventually. Of course, my boat ended up on the right.

Probably when I filled up my boat. Here was the result - look close and you can see my blue helmet.

My MR Outrage on the Dead last weekend. Hopefully I'll get the Millbrook out shortly.

I don't know how many Outrages got made. Shachos seem be be more popular, and he makes tons of 20/20's.

The Dead is great - one of my favorites as well. 14-miles of spruce trees and class II/III rapids - at least at the levels that I run it. This was my first trip back to the Dead since before COVID. Webbs/Riverdrivers stopped doing the shuttle around that time. For a while you needed to self...

Yup that’s it - same level too. In that video you can see a canoe going down the right side of Upper Poplar. That is the open boat line. On Lower Poplar he takes the right line that we were on. At about 3:14 you can see him go between a couple of big boulders and catch the eddy. The green...

There are rivers that aren’t too difficult if you take the right lines, but can be brutal if you don’t. I was on one of these rivers on Saturday – the Dead in ME, and I paid the price for a bad line on the last rapid - Lower Poplar. My first swim of the year. The Dead is one of the longest...

I’ve also joined the Millbrook club. I just bought a lightly-used Millbrook Outrage. This is the second boat that I have in both Royalex and composite versions - Wildfire/Yellowstone Solo and now the Outrage. I haven’t had a chance to paddle it much yet. I did do a short early morning paddle a...

I'm not much of a racer, but I did enter a flatwater race on my local river the Blackstone back in 2010. Looking back at the results, the fastest time was a tandem canoe at 1:52, but that team was only a couple of minutes ahead of the fastest kayak at 1:54. I remember being surprised because I...

A buddy of mine has a Starfire (at least I think it is a Starfire), but it is a solo and royalex - good tripping or "big-boy" boat.

To each his own. I have been trying to master the double blade for a couple of years now, but in a sea kayak, not a canoe. We rent a house on the beach for two weeks each summer and this is the first year that I didn't even bring a canoe - just my sea kayak. I use a 210 Werner Shuna paddle with...

I find it much easier to get up and out from a kneeling position. Lean forward with a hand on each gunnel. Bring one knee up so you have a foot on the boat. With those three points of contact centered in the boat you can get your body up and your other foot out over the gunnel on to shore. I...

You are going to get in right in front of the seat. Lean over the boat with one hand on each gunnel. Trying to keep you weight centered, bring you first foot into the boat. Once you feel stable on those three points of contact bring your other foot in. Stay low and keep your body centered in the...

Definitely - it needs to be a group effort or it becomes catering. That's no fun.