A couple of poling vid's

[Steve in Idaho]

First one is from last winter. This canoe was still pretty new to me. This was a little practice session at a small braid on the local river....

This one was an experiment on camera placement last summer. Sorry to admit, it's the most recent video I've shot. It's another braid on the local river with a couple of narrow and steep drops. You can't really get much of a perspective from the angle - but pay attention to the background as the bow comes up out of the water...

I hope to get some better videos this year.

 

[Murat V]

Thanks for posting these so soon. That spot in the 1st vid looked great for some practice. You really look confident in the boat with all that leaning...I'm not there yet. Really like how you demonstrated how quickly one can ascend a current...one massive push and you shot right up there.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Guess I'll stick another one here. Tried a new camera and tripod last week. Didn't pick the best location...

 

[Robin]

Those are very good self made poling videos, polingupdown2 really shows the power needed to push up thru that quick water, I was actually leaning into it while watching...ha,
and 0481 is a good one too, it gives an idea of what it takes to move upstream with the pole, and you make it look easier than it is. Thanks for sharing some good stuff.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

It's a funny thing, Robin - the power needed to get up a drop is often way more with low flows than with higher flows. In all three of these videos, the flows were about as low as it ever gets (it's a controlled river). With the late-spring/early-summer flows (about 3x what is shown there), the features in the 2nd and 3rd videos are nothing but a convenient eddy - while the first one gets a more powerful eddy to aid in climbing the drop (and less suckwater on top). Also, with flows this low, there are a lot of shoals to dodge - which makes selecting a good line more difficult. I often have to deal with the fact that the best line for taking advantage of an eddy or staying aligned with the current has a scraper right in the middle of it. And I don't get much rest from the eddies in the flats, 'cause they are so weak and shallow. Things get really fun in between spring runoff and irrigation season, when the flows are ideal. All the eddies have more power - so upstream travel is easier in general, and the drops are mostly easier to climb. It's just more intimidating, at first, and climbing some of the drops in higher flows takes more commitment.

 

[Guest]

Very cool! I made a pole some years ago and used it a bit with a Dagger Legend - 16 feet of stability. I no longer have that boat, but I have a Bell MorningStar (15'6" x 36"), a Mad River Independence (15'8" x ~30") and a Bell Wildfire. I imagine the MorningStar would be good for poling, but what about the Indy? It has good secondary stability but only marginal primary. Or is this not much of an issue?

Thanks.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Primary is only an issue if you need it. Can you pole an Indy? I don't know - but Axel can...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI3AeARXnQg

The Morningstar should be a good poling canoe.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Steve. Cool video, especially the outtakes. It does look like an Indy. I'll have to give mine a whirl. Or a dump.

Looking at it again, I see that it was posted by "toolboxafloat" aka Axel. I corresponded with him when planning a trip to Germany several years ago, looking for places to paddle. It's cool to "see" him again.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Another quick shorty. This is my son on his first overnight poling trip. First overnight canoe trip of any kind for him, actually. He's only been poling actively for a couple months, but he's catching on....

eta: BTW - this was shot pretty early in the trip. This stretch of river was so bony and technical that his learning-curve shot right up. I'll post a TR when I have more time...

 

[Steve]

Keep at it Steve. Though I didn't ask for one, my kids got me a gopro this past Christmas. Now it will be for me to put it to use.... poling videos???

 

[Canotrouge]

Hey Steve, which MillBrook boat is it in your first video? John sure make great canoes, I have a Shacho, I would love to have a AC/DC one day!!

Cheers

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Canotrogue, that is the Coho. The AC/DC interests me too. If you get one, I'd love to see what you think of it. I'm especially curious about how it compares with a Prospector design.

 

[gerrit]

Canotrogue, that is the Coho. The AC/DC interests me too. If you get one, I'd love to see what you think of it. I'm especially curious about how it compares with a Prospector design.

Steve, these are really cool and very impressive clips - thank you!

As you mentioned to be interested in the AC/DC: I am have one since last year, after paddling a NC Prospector (15,6 SP3) a few years. Once I tried a NC 16' Prospector in RX light, but found that to be even more sluggish than the SP3 version. The RX-light Prospector felt too soft and showed some serious oilcanning.

I think it is hard to compare the AC/DC to a Prospector. My NC Prospector feels initially a bit wobbly due to having a shallow arch bottom, and is a bit of work to lean properly when going into / out of an eddy. You can lean it to a certain degree with ease, and from that it feels like concrete.
The AC/DC, having 4" less width and chines with twice the radius of the Prospector's, has an initial position on the water due to the almost flat bottom midships. But because the flat area is quite narrow, it is very easy to lean the boat into a turn. Also, the round chines make it a very forgiving hull in crossing or squirelly currents.

Needless to say, the AC/DC is much more nimble and way faster than my NC Prospector. One has to remember - it was designed as a racing canoe for the combined class. But for being such a fast and nimble boat, it does the family-job exceptionally well, too.

Unfortunaletly I cannot comment on poling the AC/DC - standing in a canoe is nothing I feel comfortable with...


Gerrit

 

[Canotrouge]

Steve, these are really cool and very impressive clips - thank you!

As you mentioned to be interested in the AC/DC: I am have one since last year, after paddling a NC Prospector (15,6 SP3) a few years. Once I tried a NC 16' Prospector in RX light, but found that to be even more sluggish than the SP3 version. The RX-light Prospector felt too soft and showed some serious oilcanning.

I think it is hard to compare the AC/DC to a Prospector. My NC Prospector feels initially a bit wobbly due to having a shallow arch bottom, and is a bit of work to lean properly when going into / out of an eddy. You can lean it to a certain degree with ease, and from that it feels like concrete.
The AC/DC, having 4" less width and chines with twice the radius of the Prospector's, has an initial position on the water due to the almost flat bottom midships. But because the flat area is quite narrow, it is very easy to lean the boat into a turn. Also, the round chines make it a very forgiving hull in crossing or squirelly currents.

Needless to say, the AC/DC is much more nimble and way faster than my NC Prospector. One has to remember - it was designed as a racing canoe for the combined class. But for being such a fast and nimble boat, it does the family-job exceptionally well, too.

Unfortunaletly I cannot comment on poling the AC/DC - standing in a canoe is nothing I feel comfortable with...


Gerrit

Gerrit, did you have the chance to load the AC/DC with some gear and see how it paddle loaded, especially in class II-III rapids? I'm wondering how much would this boat sink with a good tripping load... John, being a great guy is not easy to pull info from is brain...lol!

 

[gerrit]

Gerrit, did you have the chance to load the AC/DC with some gear and see how it paddle loaded, especially in class II-III rapids? I'm wondering how much would this boat sink with a good tripping load... John, being a great guy is not easy to pull info from is brain...lol!

Hope Robin doesn't regret verifiing my account, as I am posting serious OT here...

Canotrouge,

being located in northern Germany the next WWIII is far away from me. I have paddled my Prospector through some II+, but the AC/DC has just seen moving water and the one or other ledge or shorter descents.

But I have attached ome pictures: With all of us in, the AC/DC has still some left to it's "waterline. The WL is were my fingertips of my "wet hand" are, the boat is loaded with 440lbs on this picture. Even with this load, it paddles effortlessly and catching eddies is a breeze. You can still do sideslips pretty easily, but this has to do with seat placement, too.

John is a real boat building machine and an even more nice guy. He was very helpful getting the boats over here and dealing with him was easy. And what I like even more, is his "blah-blah-lessness"

This boat does it all - except mowing the lawn...


Loaded with 440lbs - waterline at my fingertips, so there is some capacity left....




Sometimes she hangs over the gunnel up to her hips...



Germanys AC/DC No. 2

BTW: There was a bit talking on cboats.net, too: https://cboats.net/cforum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7968849


Cheers!

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Been gone from here a while. Kept having login issues, but I thought I'd check again, and now it's working. So I just see these recent posts....

Gerrit - no worries about being OT on my thread. I like a little free-form discussion. Thanks for posting about the AC/DC. I suspect, but Kaz couldn't confirm (he said he isn't a poler and hasn't paddled a Prospector) that it may be a good poling canoe along the lines of my NC Prospector - but a little more sporty. Your input encourages me to maybe give it a try. Are those sliding seats I see? Did Kaz install those?

edit: Ah, now that I read your link, I see you already answered those questions.

 

[gerrit]

Gerrit - no worries about being OT on my thread. I like a little free-form discussion. Thanks for posting about the AC/DC. I suspect, but Kaz couldn't confirm (he said he isn't a poler and hasn't paddled a Prospector) that it may be a good poling canoe along the lines of my NC Prospector - but a little more sporty. Your input encourages me to maybe give it a try.

Thank you, Steve.
Indeed I once tried to do some "stand up paddling" in my ACDC, but I am afraid it would be a long way until I'd be able to do some poling in it. But that would be the case in almost any boat, I guess

The AC/DC is not a little, but a whole lot more sporty than the NC Prospector. For poling I think it will move much easier upstream, but it will also lack the concrete-like secondary stability of the P.

Really cool poling videos, btw!

 

[Steve in Idaho]

the concrete-like secondary stability of the P

Sounds like something my friend Matt M said after poling my NC Prospector. IIRC, he described it as "like standing on the sidewalk".

Speaking of that Prospector's stability - I have another short video I need to upload as soon as I have time...

 

[Steve in Idaho]

This video was taken by a friend at a little-known local play spot, near the end of a rather tiring run. I know...excuses....Anyway, it was my first time on a wave like this and it took a few tries to make it stick. I hope to spend more time in that spot next summer....

 

[shanks]

Thanks for the continued inspiration!
I've got matching shin bruises from poling a section of the Sheepscot in Maine, this past Sunday. There where no waves that big though!