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I liked the old title: "For the benefit of My Kite". I just wanted to make sure the reference to the Beatles song survived in some way. Quite creative. Mark

Wow! They deserve an award for gettin'r done. I would probably use butter instead of margarine as a release agent. Mark

I have built a number of canoes from plans and with the Kite I found that if you have properly made and set up the forms, there will be no need to bevel anything but the stems. In this case, fairing will only invlove the process described by Brian. Of the different designs I have built, 2 of...

You'll very likely see people, motor boats and airplanes on this route. There are outpost cabins the whole way and a small native village and a lodge on Whitewater Lake, and a couple lodges on Smoothrock. If you want no human contact, you'll have to go further afield. Mark

As others have said, you have to somehow know the flow at a specific stream gage that is un-runnable, either through your personal observation, or through other paddlers, paddle shops, online resources etc. Once you know that number you just go to the real time flow conditions for that gage and...

Thanks for sending that link Benson. I see a similar symbol painted near the end on one of the canoes on his website. Mark

My memory is that Henri Vallencourt built Malecite style bark canoes, at least in Mcphees book, that have a different stem profile than the canoe in the photos which I believe is Algonquin. I don’t have a copy of the McPhee book or Adney and Chapelle with me, so I could be completely wrong. Mark

Thanks, that's good to know. I've never had problems anywhere I've left a car. It might be that I drive old, beat up looking cars that look like somebody already got to them. Mark

Looking foward to seeing your progress. I have looked at Mems maps for this route before, what's the parking situation? I had to laugh, my 86 year old mother replies to every single OK message. Even after I explained the additional cost of extra messages she still responds to every one. Even...

If you're looking for the lightest tent ground cloth, try window heat shrink film. I don't know what it's made out of, but it is crazy strong and impervious to water. Somehow it doesn't seem to puncture, at least not easily. There is the standard stuff that works fine, and the slightly heavier...

I have a mini given to me by a concerned friend. I keep it turned off in the front pocket of my pfd. For those of you who clip it to the outside of your pfd, or just below your chin on a backpack strap, why? I’ve seen backpackers do that and wondered why it needs to be on and so accessible at...

I’ll guess this is a male mold for either a composite hull or possibly wood canvas. Adding the steel rivets was the clue. Mark

I apply varnish with a 4" foam mini roller, up and down, then side to side to get a nice even coat. Then tip with a foam brush from dry to wet. Work in 2 to 3' sections down one side of the boat and back the other. Work at a good pace and do the tipping before the previous 2-3' start to dry...

Try Quetico. Essentially just a northern extension of the boundary waters but less people. As far as I know still easy enough to get permits. Once you do your first trip there you’ll become aware of the limitless paddling opportunities in Canada. Protecting your food from animals is important...

I had a similar experience wetting out kevlar, especially the amount of resin it took. The weave of my fabric made it tough to get the resin through. Much different than fiberglass, my Kevlar was more difficult to see the starved areas and areas where resin pooled underneath. Once pooled...

Stephan - northwestcanoe.com has canoe plans for download. If you look at the Northwest River, it is a 16’ prospectorish design that might be what you’re looking for. It may even be an improvement over an actual prospector. They used to offer this plan and some of their others for free but now...

I stretch canvas with the canoe upside down on sawhorses, so having anchors low to the ground works best. One anchor point is an eye bolt into the bottom plate of a 2x4 stud wall in my garage. The other anchor point was my car parked in front of the garage. Last time I had a come along attached...

I agree with Robin on stripping the inside varnish. After removing varnish you can tear into the stems and do inwales if they need them. Those are the first two things on the form when they're built new. Mark

I had one notable bear encounter in Wabakimi this spring. I did a trip in from the west side. As I approached a portage around some rapids, a bear popped up from some thick trees on the opposite side of the stream. It looked at me for a second, I gave a yell, and it scurried into the woods. Good...

Lots of great advice. Getting the bias strips on with the wetout allows you to scrape those edges when the epoxy sets, before you start with fill coats. Then you can fill the weave of everything together. This just reduces the number of steps. This being your first time with epoxy/glass, you...