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The Radisson, or Sportspals as we call them in Canada, are constructed from very lightweight aluminium, that is riveted together and then covered in foam. If you use them gently, they can be a great lightweight vehicle to get into fishing lakes. However, I would call them fragile, compared to...

It is possible to overthink these things. Once you start building, you will find your level of comfort with your desired outcomes. My desired outcome is to usually build a canoe as quickly as possible, and not worry much about aesthetics. I only ever plane the outer hull if the stripping has...

I had polypro once upon a time too, pretty sure if I tried it on now I'd look like ten pounds of boloney in a five pound skin.

Just put a bunch of kids through a WWR course taught by some very good instructors. They spent a lot of time on releasing canoes from pinned or broached situations, using throw bag ropes and carabiners. It is most certainly a valuable skill, particularly if you are solo. There is always a chance...

If you have ever taken a white water rescue course, the benefits of a quality throw bag will quickly become apparent.

In Canada, we must have 50 feet of floating rope (throw bag), a water bailer, and a flashlight. For regular boaters, they sell enclosed kits, a plastic bucket thing that holds the rope and the flashlight. It's just a cheap battery powered flashlight. Those three criteria must be on the water...

40 plus canoes now, staples on all but one of them. On the 20 foot freighter I used screws to hold the half inch strips on, lol.

Lots of blame being tossed around up here by armchair fire fighters, saying that MNR abandoned certain communities, etc. The truth is, as highlighted by this story, these fires were moving at incredible speeds. In some cases, fire crews escaped by the skin of their teeth. It's still an evolving...

Great write up, very entertaining. Don't worry about the bottom of your canoe. When I lived up north, the kids would ride their skidoos at -40 and get wicked frost bite all over their faces. They called the frost bite "man make-up". So you could say your canoe now has it's "man make-up" on...

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Bruce Hyers. He is an American who came to Canada in the 70's I believe, and is largely responsible for creating Wabakimi park. Anyway, last week his main lodge burned down, he says it was worth millions of dollars. He had two canoeists trapped in...

Northern Ontario is basically on fire right now. As I speak, the sky is an unreal orange, it looks like the end of the world. Three fires on or around Marshall Lake, and to the west, seems like there is more on fire than not.

Interesting, I thought the Bob's special was a shallow arch kind of hull. Can't remember seeing it as a V hull.

I've always referred to it as the knuckle. I'm not sure where I got that from, but I have built almost every canoe John Winters designed, so I'm thinking it might have come from him, but it could have also come from some obscure internet discussion too.

My eyes aren't that great anymore, but that young boy in the 20 dollar coin looks very much like an alien, one of those grey ones, in a winter jacket.

Even canoes with sliding seats don't often slide far enough back for me. I really enjoy paddling with a tailwind. On my current Raven, I placed the front of the seat 10 inches aft of centre, which seems to be the sweet spot for avoiding broaching. Plus, the Raven has a lot of rocker, which...

Hmmmmmm.....going to have to respectfully disagree with you on that one. Here's a few reasons- all in good fun of course. *A kayak looks like a brightly coloured plastic suppository that escaped from the Joly Green Giant's medicine cabinet. *A kayak is what happens when a canoe and a recycling...

The kids finished the solo Pal hybrid yesterday. Can't wait to see how it performs. Here's some pics. They have also been hard at work on the other two canoes. This is the 18.5 foot Quetico. And here is the 20 foot Outback. They finished sanding the outside yesterday, we are going to...

In Canada, solo canoes were a relatively rare bird until recently, well a decade or two. I had solo canoed quite bit in the early years, always in a tandem turned around. I got the solo fever when I built my first osprey, I think in the late 90's, and I'm pretty sure I was the only guy with a...

Satan and his Dirty Double Blade has successfully infiltrated canoe communities across North America. We need and old priest and a young priest for the exorcism. Be prepared for lots of explosive vomiting and 360 degree head turning as we attempt to yank the DDB away from the infected. Satan's...

I think that's quite a good price. A new one lists at $3,699, and there are quite a few goodies included in this sale. That canoe looks mint too. I didn't think much of the Spirit 2 until I actually used one on an 8 day trip. It is a solid tripping canoe, fast on the flats, very capable in...