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Santa Mike (AKA Wickerbut or Canoedad) will never live down these pictures.

You’re probably not going to believe this, but its true. I saw Santa Claus, and he was not in a sleigh being pulled by reindeer. He was in a canoe - a red canoe. Here’s what happened. It was Christmas Eve a couple of years ago. I had finished all my shopping, so I decided to take my canoe out...

It is a full body work-out - my body has been reminding me of that ever since the trip!

When you come to deep water there is nothing wrong with kneeling or sitting (or even standing) and switching to a paddle. You also might be surprised how fast you can go in deep water standing and using the pole in a modified double blade/kayak stroke. (Don't worry, Harry Rock said it is OK. ;)...

Everyone was wearing a drysuit - need it this time of year. I forgot how cold it is poling with a metal pole. Between the metal and the water dripping off the pole my hands got cold. Fortunately, one of the guys had an extra set of globes that I could use after lunch. When I paddle...

The Tilley is important. ;)

You should try it - its a lot of fun. Wood poles are pretty easy to make. Lots of people paddle standing with the long paddle. Folks interested in that will also probably also have a pole in case they need to push upstreams or snub downstream.

I don’t get out poling as much as I’d like to, but I was able to get out for a (day early) Winter Solstice Poling Cruise on the Nashua River. We did the section on the North Branch of the Nashua River from Leominster to Lancaster (MA). The river was about 2.5 feet on the Leominster gage - a...

That is crazy, and amazing...

I'll offer one of those arguments in favor of the double blade. It might come as a surprise because I am also a single blader for life - at least in a canoe. I took as gospel the old adage "half the paddle, twice the paddler" until I took my sea kayak out into big ocean swells - waves going one...

Just curious, do you know the spec's. Could probably search and find it somewhwere.

I currently have 8 boats - 2 tandem, 5 solo and 1 sea kayak. In terms of materials - 2 composite, 4 Royalex and 2 plastic. I never really been a boat collector, so the only boat I have ever passed on was my first WW solo - a Dagger Impulse. It is also with a friend, so I know where it is. I...

Why doesn't that boat show up on the Swift website? There is a Keewaydin 15, but not a 14. They do have the 14' Wildfire. Nice paddling.

I do have a friend who spends most of his time in a kayak, and he uses a double blade when tripping in his canoe. Works for him, and the rest of us with single blades have no problem keeping up. I recently bought a sea kayak that I paddle with a 210 Werner Shuna paddle with no feather. A...

Someday I am going to buy a John Kaz Millbrook - for me it will be the Outrage.

I'd join the OFPC, but you are a little far away. ;-) My solution has been to paddle with kayakers - so far they have been OK with having an old fart along.

That looks pretty good, and not much different than a normal metal hanger. It's been a while, but I do remember it having more slots than that, and I don't remember the cord lock. Maybe a later version. By the way, grunge is good!

Haven't seen one of those in a while. A friend had one with an adjustable seat that you could lower for sitting or raise for kneeling. Added to the weight but an innovative idea. Not sure paddlers actually move around that much.

It is a great boat. If it had symmetrical rocker like its composite cousin it would be even better.

Esquif does make a version in T-Fomex - Echo. Never seen one, but pretty similar specs to those old river runners. Not quite as expensive as composite, but still not cheap at around 2K.