Recent content by yknpdlr

I find that a canoe tends to track straighter with less need for correction strokes the faster you can make it go, to the limit of strokes getting sloppy. I like to cruise right along at speed with a bent carbon on one side using a pitch stroke and very (very) mimal occasional J when i feel I...

That sliding mid seat configuration is very common among C4 and voyageur (C6-7) racing canoes. Balance could be a problem with a C3, however. Seats are on a wheel system that rolls left to right and back again during huts. Coordination is critical though. One partial miss is forgivable, but a...

It is a somewhat different experience for me. It is difficult for me to not think about race mode paddling when solo. Most often I am in a multi-seat canoe when racing, and of course hit and switch is mandatory then. But when solo I do enjoy single side paddling for long periods on one side...

For canoe tripping, the best choice has got to be the chair. I found the Maxi Trac Folding chair at NAPA Auto Parts, of all places. With a large comfortable high back support it is as tight , and is as sturdy and lightweight in a small disassembled carrying package as any much more expensive...

Of course, you do need to bend at the waist, but not as much as you may think. It is not like bending over with arched back to pick something up off the ground, which results in sloppy catch followed by poor power application. Chest forward is more like puffing out your chest like a gorilla...

Watch the above linked video of Kevin Olson's "'how to turn a c1". you get good from the front views of how he huts and switches his hands. Also note that in what he calls a "pry' the paddle never comes in contact with the canoe, though some may think oherwise from the terminology. When I...

I retired 12 years ago with 41.5 years of combined active military and government civilian research laboratory credit to my pension, plus retired with concurrent 22 years in the AF reserves. I loved traveling to visit my son in the AF and grandkids while he was stationed in Korea, Germany, and...

Good wife example #1: A few years ago, a dear family friend who I had known and was best friends with his kids since kindergarten, was turning 80. He had paddled the 90 mile Adirondack race many years prior and wanted to do it again one last time in his home built solo wood kayak. As his health...

what is your "boat" and how do you propel it? If you "paddle" a canoe or a kayak, neither of which originated from English words. It is assumed that the word canoe came into English from the term 'canoa' that is used for the Caribbean dugout canoe in Columbus' travelogues in 1493. Possibly...

Although there appears t be no defined upper limit to its size, you likely have not paddled in a woodland vernal pool. Typically they are very small surface water bodies filled with snow melt or heavy spring rains. Every woodland hiker has had to negotiate around one or more of these.They are...

I inherited this 1984 F250 diesel from my dad several years ago. He had already made the wood rack sides for transporting firewood. I added the wood top cross rail supports and bolted on the front bumper upright support. Since the bumper was all steel, it was quite a sturdy attachment. Not so...

My two year old 51" GRB carbon bent gently curved blade weighs in at 10 ounces, matching the advertised weight. Exactly the same as my older 51" GRB flat blade.

Steve, were you paddling single side with correction strokes, or hit and switch to maintain a straight forward track? There are so many variables that may come into play. While I very much enjoy using my straight wood otter tail paddles and those of similar variant shapes, they are primarily...

A few years ago, in the early fall of the year I slipped off an old cabin roof while giving it a coat of aluminized asphalt paint. I thought I was being careful, but must have dripped a drop behind me. That is all it took for me to go flying down, right onto a rubble pile of a concrete cinder...

Watch Kevin's review video in the link on the web page I posted. He shows the paddle weighs just 10 ounces. He also makes note of what I noted in that at the exit to the recovery it lifts more water than a flat blade, and he also likes the catch, as I mentioned In my experience. Good on the...