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If I may be so bold, you deserved to swim. The discipline of the dump is the best whitewater instruction there is. You appear to be slightly heeling upstream and trying to low brace into the upstream current. As a lefty, you needed to be heeling to the gunwale downstream and supporting yourself...

Tony, that part of a Zav where the shaft transitions into the blade is sort of fat, and it's always been unclear to me whether I should consider it part of the shaft or blade. I don't need to sneak up in perfect silence very often, but if that bent Zav were my only paddle, I would simply not...

Thanks for that article, Benson, which was somewhat revealing. To me, Alexandra learned her paddle making craft in a niche environment from niche sources, and I find some of her paddle ideas appealing and others not so. A scalloped secondary grip, Yes. Using a Northwood stroke, Yes (occasionally...

I've never heard of these. What are they?

Just curious, RedSquirrel, are you in the medical profession?

Phyllis was on some of the whitewater trips I led in the 80s and 90s. She was an internist and ER doctor. In my prefatory speech before putting in, I would say: "You should feel very safe for yourself and family on this trip. If you get seriously injured, Phyllis is an ER doctor. If she screws...

You're a plenty good enough paddler to run a Kevlar boat down class 3 rivers, and enjoy the improved handling characteristics, rather than using a Royalex version. That's the ticket; get near the edge and then grab downstream current with your paddle. You're also good enough to turn sideways...

A full in-water return such as the palm-rolled box or Indian stroke, in which the paddle is never lifted into the air, would be quiet with any shape paddle blade. Yes, the stroke would be more awkward with a bent shaft because every other stroke would be with the back face, but it could be done...

I just found there is a "Part 0" video, with German narration and some English subtitles, which shows how Hans-Georg builds the initial gunwale frame and seat before he attaches the hull (in Part 1).

I'd like to gather an informal list of members from western Connecticut, southwestern Massachusetts and the mid-Hudson valley region of New York who may be interested in day trips in those areas. We have several members in that geography, and with some interesting canoes. I envision that...

Almost. The East Branch of the Naugatuck River flows from Winchester to Park, but not into Stillwater. The West Branch Naugatuck flows into Stillwater. Here is the inflow of the West Branch under SR 272 into Stillwater, which is now unfortunately about 1/3 choked with milfoil it its shallows.

And they are paddling real canoes, not the 8-foot, almost-cockpitted, electric-pumped, scarab-beetle-shaped things that pose as open canoes these days.

On Saturday, August 23, I took a day trip with two kayakers on Winchester Lake and then Stillwater Pond, both in the northwest corner of Connecticut. Some photos.

Freefall carnage and lots of rolls as five open canoeists take on class V+ Chile in 1993. I paddled with Bob Foote in northern California in the early 1980s and Mike Yee (et ux.) in the Hudson Gorge, NY, in the late 80s.

Bags add undesirable swing weight in the ends of a canoe. Racers prefer to paddle the lightest boats possible. Also, a dumped canoe won't go far on a short slalom race course with lots of rescue boaters around. Flatwater freestyle paddlers usually paddle with no PFDs during exhibitions for the...

Nothing improves whitewater boat control more effectively than participating in slalom gate racing or practice. Many a self-satisfied whitewater boater snaps into needs-improvement reality when she submits to the discipline of demonically placed slalom gates. Here's a paddler-eye-level view of...

The nonpareil Nolan Whitesell runs Bull Sluice at high water in 2004.

Coordinated, balletic paddling with two or more canoes, especially when synchronized to music, represents a high achievement in flatwater canoe control. This video also suggests that the future of "freestyle canoeing" may be in Europe. The crowds seem bigger and the participants seem younger...

Part 5: The gunwale caps, priming and coating

Part 4: The ribs and sheathings