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A lot of posts here with folks looking for advice on composite boats – especially solo river runners. My first thought on seeing these posts is to recommend looking for a used Royalex boat, but I know they are hard to find. When I started paddling back in 2004 there was a nice group of solo...

He did fall off a couple of times playing in a squirrelly eddy line at the end of the trip. He just climbed back on the board and was on his way - much easier than emptying a swamped canoe. I have been out on a SUP in flatwater. It's fun as long as you are not out in the wind.

Back in September I ran the class III section of the West River below the Ball Mountain Dam during the fall release. The first rapid just below the dam is called Initiation. It’s one of those rapids that is relatively easy if you take the right line, but usually ends in disaster if you don’t –...

Not my car - I was getting a ride back to the put in. He did have a fold-up stacker bar that my canoe is strapped to. It does make it easier, but its not necessary. I only have a 60" bars on my car, so I often have to put boats on their side. I strap them down individually, and then run one long...

Yesterday's shuttle - my 12' Outrage on a Honda Fit. Tripping boat would have looked even better. There's a kayak on the other side, but no one cares about that.

I have a friend who brings a 1-hp trolling motor to trips on the Allagash. It seemed like cheating at first, but it sure made crossing those windy lakes a lot easier, and got us into camp with plenty of time to set up and gather wood for the fire. Rangers use them, so why not us.

For us, the fire is just part of the routine. After landing at our campsite we: Take a quick break, but not too long or you will run out of energy. Set up camp. Forage and cut up firewood. Get cleaned up. Move the chairs to the water to enjoy a cocktail while the dinner fire gets going. Cook...

Yup - first thing you do when getting to a campsite is drop a bag where you are going to set up your tent. To be honest, it usually works out that everyone gets a good spot sometimes, and a less-good spot sometime. If the same person was getting rocks and roots every night, we would make...

Individual tents for us - we spend enough time together, we don't need to be in the same tent. When you get 4-5 people in a group, having enough room can be a problem on smaller sites, but we usually make out OK. If we had to double up we could. I have 1, 2, and 3-person tents. The 3-person...

First thing you need to figure out is what is "cold" water, and when do you have it. If you go with ACA guidance, cold water is 60 degrees. Around here (southern New England), water temperatures don't hit 60 degrees until around May, and drop below 60 degrees again around October, so anyone...

MVP is more about whitewater trips - many class 3 and up. NHAMC has a whitewater group and a river tripping/canoe group that are pretty active. Being an open boater I paddle more with NHAMC. I sent you a PM with the contact info for NHAMC.

For 21-years, the MVP and NHAMC have been sponsoring the year-end Drawdown and BBQ on the class II section of the Piscataquog River below the Gregg’s Falls Dam in NH. Jonathan and I were planning to do a tandem run, so we rounded up a few other tandem boaters to join us – a tandem boat posse...

@Nick Pending - those pictures are great. Nick Pending - those pictures are great. This is not exactly a sequence, but three drops on the same river - the Scantic in CT.

Another way to look at it is the competency model that looks at ability vs. difficulty - in this case paddling, but could be other outdoor activities. You can look at it individually - so for me the difficulty of trips that I can do decreases based on the type of paddling I am doing and my...

I vote for the alien tractor beam. Either that or the Secret Service has installed a new security system to keep people away from Trump National. Obviously a sail boat can move (indirectly) into the wind using the position of the sail and the boat. You wouldn't think that a canoe or a kayak...

I usually bring both - small hatchet (which is usually used more for pounding tent pegs) and a folding saw. If I could only have one it would be the saw. We like to cook on the fire and sit around the fire, so we spend a fair amount of time gathering and cutting wood. The small stuff you can...

Wow - they are amazing. Safe to say that gear was tied in, and a good spray deck helps. Funny to see them sitting on the capsized canoe and paddling out. I guess you hang on to your boat for dear life there.

We agree that we wouldn't tether. Interested to hear what others say about that. Now that I think about it, it probably doesn't matter if the boat is filled with gear and water, or just water. Float bags would definitely help, but they take up space you might need for gear. It is pretty...

Paddling with some friends on the Androscoggin in NH. Got a late start, so they were waiting for me at the put in in Errol. Speed limit on Route 16 up to Errol is 30 miles/hour, with lots of signs warning of moose crossing. I was stuck behind a van going the speed limit. When I got a chance to...

I love to paddle whitewater, but haven’t done much tripping in whitewater other than real easy stuff. When I paddle solo I am in a dedicated solo boat, so I am in the middle with one bag in the bow and one bag in the stern. They fit snug, so usually I don’t tie them in. If I was in extended...