Recent content by yknpdlr

Well I trust Charlie, but stil, I do not recall ever seeing that technique done where I have been in canoe carry areas. Others, like myself, I carry by the upper gunwale. I am fortunate to usually have a couple of young strong landscape worker guys when I paddle the Adirondack 90 mile canoe race...

I don't think I have ever seen a canoe carried by a lower down gunwale. With that big sail up there I hope there is not any, or much crosswind, and your path is free of low hanging branches. Not recommended for a woodsy bushwhack I suspect.

Right. Not as convenient for many things as a tent on hard ground, but hammocs have has other advantages that best meet my needs. Many of my early wilderness exploration days were spent far off trails between remote ponds, with a canoe or not. Suitable flat open tent space is near impossible to...

Maybe ok for short casual carries. But I would not want o have to quickly locate and mount it without dropping it overboard as I approach and maneuver to safely land at a carry landing at speed during a race. For non race trips when I am not in a hurry, I have a carry yoke that easily and...

Maybe. I 'd like to see one in action. I suspect it would have to be temporarily duck taped in place and hope that it would not interfere with paddle strokes on that side. Could be a step up from foam pool noodles. if it works, I would buy one but $23 with shipping seems like a lot for a trial.

"You're gonna need a bigger boat". ;)

Same here. Bugs are definitely a problem here in the Northeast until most often mid-late August. I ditched a tent on most trips years ago, in favor of a much lighter net enclosed Hennessy hammock setup. with overhead syl-nylon rain tarp. Best advantage is I save time by not having to search for...

I have often heard Charlie talk about the on side heel presenting a "banana shaped" hull to the water, causing a bow bias carve toward the heel side, making it easy(ier) to paddle constantly on one side with little to no yaw. I find in my solo and C2 canoes, that using a pitch stroke, my bow...

I first met Gene and John Newman through a common Yukon paddler friend after I had been invited to join him on the Yukon River races. My friend owned a couple of 28' 6-7 seat cedar strip voyagers built by the Newmans. One, lightweight, extra thin and lean, dubbed "Slenda Glenda" was a training...

Over the years I have had back issues, in and out of paddling and normal daily activity. At times my slipped disk between #2 and 3 has flared up, made worse by long time sitting. At times getting out of the car is so painful I have to lift myself up by holding on the top of the door window to...

I saw at least one report that When Hitler was an army private in WWI, he almost died in the trenches bercause he couldn't properly seal his gas mask due to his then beard and broad mustache. Hence his iconic short mustache we all recognize him by during WWII.

So many of the above happenings and gear acquistions fit my own versions of game changers. For example, since I love to bushwhack to remote Adirondack ponds and waterways, so lets start with an original Silva Ranger compass (not Chinese made) I bought, still as a kid in the 1960s. With it, I...

That may be true in gneral, but I believe in most races I have seen, such as the Adirondack 90 miler, the guideboat rules include "Seats must be fixed, no rolling seats are allowed." As opposed to rules for canoes , C4 and voyageur canoes may have gunwale-to-gunwale rolling mid seats to...

Again, after actually trying one, i would not recommend the guideboat model made near Charlotte Vermont by Adirondack Guideboat Company. Compared to my cedarstrip guideboat whose image I posted above, theirs seemed heavy and very unresponsive. I use mine as a fishing platform, often with the...

I remember well the derecho "microburst" of July15, 1995, on a Friday night. It was a 100+ mph straight line wind that blew through the Adirondacks NW to SE. Millions of trees were toppled. Dozens of campers were trapped, some were extracted by chopper. Six people lost their lives. Would have...