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I was cycling through Bladensburg Waterfront Park yesterday when my eye fell on a dumpster full of boats. Mostly plastic kayaks, but that’s a Disco 169 on top, cut neatly in half. A park employee in the area saw me eyeing the dumpster and assured me the boats were all too far gone to be...

We have a larger than average front hall closet. It houses 34 of my wife’s coats, two of my coats left-over from my suit-wearing days, extra leaves for the dining room table, an umbrella for the deck, and miscellaneous baby toys for grand kids. PFD and most paddling gear is in the garage. Boats...

Saturday night I went to the kayak club party, which included a “secret Santa” style gift exchange. I guess I’m a ”stir the pot” kind of guy, because I was determined to give a canoe-centric gift. I painted a pair of wine glasses with the CANOE guy graphic. My gift was the third to be opened...

I never understood their reasoning, but my parents called me Chip rather than the name on my birth certificate.

Last year I was repairing my kayak and needed pop rivets with large flanges to reinstall the seat. CD told me the same thing, they couldn’t spare the parts due to supply chain issues. Yet, when I looked on Amazon, there were several sources and I had the needed rivets the next day. My thought...

I bought a new canoe: a Northstar B-17. I've paddled it a few times now and I like it, it's a keeper! But, really, that name? I've always called my canoes by their model name. The Wenonah Rendezvous is "the Rendezvous", the Old Town Appalachain is "the Appy," and so forth. But b-17 is no name...

Paddling in Maryland, it’s rare to have to contend with ice. The few times I’ve done it, I found poling effective. I’ve been able to push my canoe up onto the ice, but can see the pole would be ineffective if the water is too deep to push off the bottom. Once up on the ice, I walk to the stern...

in the beginning I paddled whitewater. One year, a local club asked me to sweep after their annual Jones Falls Race. I started ten minutes behind the field, which I had not seen go off. “The Flume” is a 5-foot falls on the Jones. Except for me, the race was all kayakers, they stopped to drag up...

The difference is the wood. IMO wood boats have a more lively feel, whatever that means. And I think boats of modern materials that are railed with wood have a more lively feel than the same boat with aluminum or vinyl gunwales. or, as Lowangle says, maybe it’s just my imagination.

Called the number on the sign, answered by Annapolis Rec and Parks, who referred me to the office of Annapolis’ Harbor Master. The fellow answering the phone at the Harbor Masters volunteered he was a new guy and didn’t know all the background, but said the signs were due to electrical current...

A local kayak club used to run a couple of annual events out of this park, so I was very surprised to see that new sign. There is a trailered-boat ramp just off the the right of the photo. I'm thinking paddlers must have pissed off the trailered-boat users. Really, it's hard to figure. I'll have...

Truxton Park, Annapolis, Md.

I won a Duluth pack in one of the fund raiser lotteries. I was happy to be able to give it back when Robin posted about wanting one. I couldn’t think of a circumstance where I’d want to use the Duluth pack rather than my big dry bag with shoulder straps. They are both big bags with shoulder...

IMO, trip reports are greatly enhanced by maps. Corry‘s TR included wonderful mapping, and I appreciated it. Well done!

Good TR. thanks. I paddled there on an August weekday in 2018, and didn’t see anybody. So, I’m surprised there were other groups at the dam / campground. I’ve always wanted to go there for a full moon paddling trip, thinking it will be neat to be out on the lake at night. Probably good...

I’ve tried to be careful and gentle with my kevlar Rendezvous. On a recent trip I paddled several rivers that were shallow and rocky. I grated my teeth every I heard the rocks grinding away beneath me, which was about half the time on a couple rivers. back home, looking at the bottom, I can’t...

I've seen those fiberglass arborist poles but never got to try them out for canoeing. If you go that route, I'll be interested in how they adapt. I had trouble using stainless steel ferrules for poling because they want to over telescope--they aren't made to be continually jammed together. The...

Don't know if you considered a fiber pole. It looks as though Fibertex makes poles, if you want to explore that. I know you said you didn't want to make a pole. How do you feel about fixing a pole? I still have the remains of Frankenstick, formerly a two piecer made from closet dowel. I used...

Easy, cheap and useful! Thanks for sharing.

Comment: I’ve been using a two-burner Magellan propane stove for the last year. In the past, I always wanted a liquid-gas fuel stove in cold weather, because the little isopro gas bottles just didn’t seem to perform well once temps went below 50. On a trip last October, the stores were all out...