Recent content by yknpdlr

That's what you get with cheap materials, unskilled manufacture, near zero necessary skill set to operate, and the generational demand for instantaneous give it to me now.

I have many hundreds of canoe miles carrying canoes overhead with bow tie downs, a 34' voyageur, 23' C4, and a few different solos (only one at a time) on the roof of my 2024 Subaru Forester Wilderness. Never had a problem with the Eyesight system behaving properly any more than otherwise when...

Lke the Hornbeck and similar ilk (no offense, as I have 3 Hornbecks), they are normally propelled by kayak paddles, which is not much of a meaningful transition jump from kayaking to real single blade canoe paddllng.

Site 18 always catches the worst brunt of the west wind. Because of that it is a very desirable site during bug season, not so much in Autumn strong chilly winds. If you had not figured it out yet, if you stay close to the north (right) side as you come around the sand bar extending from Lookout...

Having said all the above, which is mostly relative to bow paddle racing in voaygeur and C4 canoes, I also by necessity and favor being more of a solo paddler. All season I paddle in one of several of my solo canoes as my primary way to train before the 90 miler. Most of my race partners are not...

I began family canoe tripping in a 17' Grumman in the early 1970's with my wife, two small kids, and a dog. Since none of the others had much of any canoe experience, I stern paddled to get us where we needed to go. But they couldn't always go so I learned to solo paddle that long aluminum can...

An abandoned loon egg. it's a long story, but when I discovered it after it had obviously rolled out of a nest perched on a mud mound, I contacted the Adirondack Loon Conservancy and was told that if it had been there for two days or more, it would not be viable. I should collect it and freeze...

But they don't test for determined red squirrels. A few years ago, I saw a Garcia, the heavy black bear resistant canister, with a corner of the rounded bottom edge completely chewed through to the inner contents. It was rented from the HPIC at Heart Lake. The renter admitted that he watched a...

i was in the Air Force TDY as part of a Tanker Task Force at Eielson AFB over December-January 1975-1976. We landed (coming from my base in Ohio) in a ground temperature of -56F. two of our four engines had to be shut down as soon as we were firmly down because even at idle throttle at that...

Paddling alone with no other boats in sight in a starting field of 80 or more boats on the Yiukon River races, hopefully with the majority of the pack behind us, is certainly an experience to be had. When we log upwards of 160 miles/day, it can be a lonely but a good and rewarding feeling to own...

As my normal crew position is in the bow, I start at the gun race beginning sprint at roughly 80spm. We keep that up for the first 3-4 hut rotations, until the open paddling space widens. Then, (depending on nearby same boat class competition, voyageur or C4) I back off to cruise at around no...

In the first view, Andy is adding some outside sweep to curve the canoe around the bend next to the trees in the river. He straightens out a bit later. Mary does a little better. Perfect form does tend to suffer a bit during sprints.

I agree with Steve, terrible form. Hip rotation is not as important in canoe racing as some would think. Good form includes an almost constant elbow bend angle on both arms, especially the lower arm which should bend very little, and a box structure with arms, paddle shafts, and shoulders. Grip...

Most racing configurations will use foot strap loops attached to a foot bar. I made them using tubular nylon/poly webbing, with flexible metal pipe straps inserted inside to hold a rounded shape around the front of my foot. The straps and webbing are slightly longer than what is needed to go...

Years ago, Charlie Wilson told me this is because, if you imagine the shape that a heeled canoe presents to the water, it is the shape of a curved banana. That explains the tendency to turn away from the lean. i find that to be very true with my solo canoes especially My PB Rapidfire and Shadow...