Recent content by Mason

Bozeman, huh? We should meet!

When I went by the Hellman shop some years back, Bob showed me a sample of the layup. It was impressively resistant to cracking, as if it were more ABS type than a fiberglass laminate, bending it at some severe angles.

Hellman Canoes out of Nelson BC uses epoxy, and has a boat worth considering, but has ribs: "The Cruiser is a high volume tripping canoe built for packing large payloads. It is fast, stable and designed to hold up to 3 or 4 people plus gear. The Cruiser is a safe and accommodating canoe for...

I just picked up two old planes for $30. One's about a 4, the other's about a 6--one Craftsman, the other a Ward's, supposedly made by Stanley(?). That goes with the 4.5 Stanley/Bailey I've been using for years, picked up for $40 I think.

Jeez. He must have had a helluva bilge pump! And was that a squirt kayak (and probably a Dancer)?. I wonder what he could do with a modern Blackfly! He's my hero's hero.

Having not paddled with a threesome, I can only say "I suppose". @yknpdlr has lots of experience with big boats and big crews. On loading near listed capacities, quoting Roy Scheider "You're gonna need a bigger boat".

Tumblehome is very advantageous for solo canoes because the paddler sits at the widest point of the canoe, and thus allows greater efficiency with a more vertical paddle. Most canoes up to 18'6" aren't designed for a paddler in the middle. Tumblehome amidships results in a wetter ride in rough...

The Carolinas of my youth were definitely warmer than the Alaska/Wyoming/Montana of my adulthood. But I still walked barefoot uphill in the snow to school, both ways. The polar bears got our adrenaline up so we stayed sorta warm.

It was a good day! Just the two of us (me in the pic, partner (faster) with the phone), at Thompson Pass. The uptrack was probably two hours or so from the car. We had to do this one twice!

Only tracks! I teled for 27 years, and then realized the error of my ways--AT gear in the photo. I still have some gear, and dust it off every now and then for craps and grins.

Yep, I'll take some of that.

I lived in western Washington several times over the last 45 years, and my daughter is there now (dammit).

Those Voiles are some pretty skookum flatland touring skis!

I've towed canoes over snow for about a mile at a time with skis. No big deal, but flat. Pulling canoes over snow on long expeditions is fairly common when there's paddleable water, usually by skis. Unless you're pulling over rocks, something to put the canoe on is not needed. Mine was a...

For me, as a sit and switcher, the catch is the most aesthetic part of the stroke, and dictates much about the paddler-paddle interface. It is there that I feel the nuances of the blade--the sound (or lack thereof), how the shaft fits in the hand (is it the correct oval), the flex (or lack...