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As a senior citizen, I just finished a single carry trip over 3 ancient canoe portages in coastal Maine. We had an 80 pound tandem, 8 gallons of water (we were paddling in salt, and found opportunities to top up every other day). We brought chairs. The trick? Invite an ex-marine twenty years...

I have a quite useful Sealine waterproof rolltop duffle which I use all the time. However it has the most useless feature that I just cannot fathom. On the side is a small zippered compartment, maybe for your wallet or a snot-rag, whatever. It has a nice waterproof zipper. Unfortunately it...

Nice website! I stopped keeping track of costs but it's something like $50 or $60 a year s long as you buy multiple years. I just might go check Squarespace out.

It's got a great name. Far better sounding than the Hal Stroke, which I use for hours on end when I forget that I'm even paddling.

I appreciate the guy who, after realizing the first paddler was not reappearing, made a beeline for the edge and threw a throw rope, like perfectly. Quick and efficient when every second counted. Unlike the guys I have paddled with, on the opposite bank, snapping open beverages and wondering...

Back before the Dawn of Time, Doug Doremus and I started our own free webpage on Geocities.com. All that was needed was a rudimentary grasp of HTML and a few hours here and there to add articles. Over the years it grew, we got our own domain and called it voodoocanoe.com. With the advent of...

Wow. I will never stop leaving my leftover firewood next to an established fire ring. My favorite is to find an intact tube of birch bark and fill it with kindling. I get a kick out of the LNT crowd. For instance a banana peel, field stripped and scattered, is unacceptable because it's not...

First, the Maine Island Trail is not so much a trail as it is a collection of campsites and picnic sites. It's not linear. Second, I have canoed from Penobscot Bay to Casco Bay a couple of times. The big difference is that you want to take advantage of the ancient portage trails rather than...

The Nahanni Park Service was considering whether to evacuate us by helicopter last summer, due to a 6 inch rainfall event. The inreach messaging allowed the park ranger to text us, we retreated to higher ground, and we bivouacked for three days until the water levels receded. Of course that...

Dodging wildfires on Bowron Lakes, BC

I don't think there's anything you can do about it. Loud or constant talking is probably a lifetime habit and difficult to correct while on a trip. What kills me is when some wild animal comes into view, the person who shouts "OOOH LOOK AT THE MOOSE!"

In researching old canoe routes, it's hard not to learn all the history from the first people. Add to that the writings and maps from white people and you've pretty much exhausted the body of knowledge - or so it seems! Sometimes I think I know everything about Maine, then am delighted to find...

That's kind of what I expected. My gas mileage currently goes from about 28 down to about 20 mpg with 2 canoes on the roof. I'm planning on an electric vehicle in 2027. It's a plan, and if the charging situation improves like I expect, won't be a bad one. If I had to buy a vehicle today, I'd...

I can't wait to meet Goonstroke, who is talking about my favorite subject: Obscure Canoe Routes in Maine. I'll be presenting a loop trip poling up the East Machias and snubbing down the Machias, among other things. We will have a lot to talk about. This year's trip is going light on old...

I love naming my gear after famous people too! Sometimes I bring Molly (Hatchet), Cyndi (Lopper) or Kate (Bush...saw).

Paddle partners. I'd rather go solo but my wife insists I bring others along for safety. Small price to pay, I suppose. ;)

30 days without a drier! There is a book "The NOLS Cookery" that probably describes how to do what you're trying to do.

I paddle my boat backwards so...

I once carried two full sized coolers full of ice, beer, raw meat etc. on a packframe over the carry from Attean Pond to Holeb Pond on the Moose-Bow Trip. And they weren't even mine! I bring coolers on beer-drinking excursions or when it's a family trip. A Coleman Extreme will keep food...

Go on a monthlong trip with a canoe partner that isn't tried and true.