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Good reading, thanks for sharing

I'm curious, @lowangle al , would you consider the Bennett/S&T Northwoods to not be a Maine Guide paddle because of the narrower blade? What about my OT paddle that's only 59in with a 6.5in wide blade? I suppose I'm lumping; perhaps you'd split them out and call them something else?

This summer I poled a section of the Housatonic down to Housatonic Meadows - fun! The Housatonic is too low right now but I see that the Farmington is still supposedly runnable at the moment according to the gauges. Wondering if anyone (looking at you, @eckilson ) can recommend sections of the...

Exploring tidal wetlands of the Hudson River. Main Hudson not visible, but the Catskills on the far side were. I enjoyed the weather, better than blazing sun despite the wind.

For the whitewater-ignorant of us, care to expand? Is a 'frowning' hole more likely to be a keeper and catch you in a recirculating current?

So what flow level is recommended for poling that run? ;) Very cool, thanks for sharing.

Very cool paddles with a great backstory. Look and sound like they fit the bill to me (not that I'm any sort of expert). I'm gonna guess spruce on the wood but others here may know better.

That's interesting, Al. I won what was supposed to be a Penobscot paddle from S&T in the NFCT auction. The Penobscot is the same blade as the 1897 but with a pear grip instead of the blockier grip (as you know but others may not), and I asked them for an 1897 instead of a Penobscot, which they...

I was referring to the side of the blade - as you say the spline in the bottom should prevent damage to the tip. I was surmising about the edge but haven't actually had it happen in 3 yrs. Very glad to hear you never had an edge chip either, and over a much longer period.

MyKneesHurt has some merit to their argument - whatever paddle a Maine Guide uses is a Maine Guide paddle. And let's not forget Maine Guides are a diverse bunch in terms of size, preference, waters they frequent, etc. But combining various sources I've encountered, including the article Benson...

As I recall, Mike at Badger paddles claims that a narrower tip is more likely to have a quiet entry into the water, assuming an out of water recovery. I believe the racers among you can get a smooth and silent entry with a flat-bottomed Sugar Island blade, but I'd expect it take less...

Really hate those Artificial Intelligence canoes!

Count me in. I was just pondering a fall HV gathering. I've also been meaning to get out on the Housatonic more.

I actually brought a beavertail and a bent-shaft Sugar Island-y paddle (homemade, I think, came with a used boat) to try both, thinking that if the Sojourn was a good tracker it might finally get me into using the bent shaft sit-and-switch. Now I am definitely not proficient at bent shaft...

Just stumbled upon this thread. I have an old Alden Ocean shell that my mom bought to row when I was little. When I was really little, she'd sit me in the bow while she rowed - probably my first small boat experience. As we got a little bigger, we started using the shell as a kayak when...

Looks like a fantastic trip and great dogs! Well done training them, including training a role model for Max. What is a Hanoverian Scent Hound/why did you opt for one? What boat and paddles are you using? Looks like your cedar GP I asked about before? Fine looking combo: boat, paddles and dogs!

Perfect example of reasonable DB use in my book. Some here will claim they can keep up with any kayak with a single blade. I'm not one of em. I'm getting faster and faster with a single but I'm faster still with a double. If I'm out to lily dip I always chose single. If I need to get...

Need =/= want indeed! When tripping lakes I sometimes wish I had something with stickier stems like a Prism, NW Solo or even Magic. When I'm in the twisty creeks I'm glad to have the Phoenix. It does tend to wander when drifting though. I was hoping the Sojourn would be more like a Prism...

@Erica just finished this series. Fantastic trip report, you had me on the edge of my seat. It takes work to put these together, thank you for sharing! I really appreciated your strength, honestly and openness, including the end. Hoping many more adventures await you in your freedom!

The seller was nice enough to let me test paddle the Sojourn yesterday. I was in a creek; at the put-in the current was almost imperceptible, just upstream it got shallow with enough current to have to work upstream a little. I spent about 10 min in the boat and tried my beavertail and...