Recent content by Stoney Oats

Certainly won't be hanging up the paddles! I just want to take the opportunity to get one more big dog trip in before a few years of base camp trips.

I haven't gotten far enough to think through priorities, although I'll answer a resounding "yes" to all those, plus a fair bit of hardship along the way. We can probably do two weeks on the trail for something like this. I'm looking less for suggestions at this point and more for everybody's...

Howdy, I married Lady Oats over the weekend. Tonight, over our first wings and fries date as husband and wife, we had the family planning talk. Over the course of the conversation, we came to the conclusion that I may be able to get one more big wilderness trip in the bag before taking a few...

On my second deployment on USS Wasp (LHD-1), at about the time that I was drawn to this forum by Alan Gage's epic Nueltin Late Quest report, some fellas started calling me Brother Oats. That name has its own long and convoluted backstory that I still can't quite make sense of, so I won't get...

I've never been a very organized person, so for a while my morning routine was a blur of breakfast, breaking camp, and feeding the pup. After a break from a good long wilderness trip for a couple years, I started to refine it a bit, most notably by breaking camp relatively quickly and getting on...

AdkJoe, I saw Justin's video on the fate of this beautiful canoe via Mid-Atlantic etc. Canoe Fanatics on FB, and even in its broken state I was struck by what a beautiful boat it was. I googled "Hemlock SRT Orange" and this post popped up in Images. Knowing how recently you got this beauty makes...

They sure don't build them like they used to! Paddles and canoes alike!

Today I nabbed this Old Town Acadia for a steal. 15', royalex, bow and stern stems well-repaired with G Flex by the previous owner. The serial number indicates a 1984 hull. I figure I'll put some work into it; kevlar skid plates, swap the thwart for a yoke, swap the seats, and give it a good...

I paddle a pair of Old Town Penobscot 16s, one green, one red. They do me well in most environments, usually flipped around and paddled solo from the bow seat.

Right!? So far I've found nearly as many paddles as I've lost on various lakes and rivers, but without fail they're always of the plastic and two-bladed variety.

+1 for the Allegheny. I did the stretch from Buckaloons down to President for my bachelor party a couple months ago, and while it ain't no BWCA, it definitely scratched the itch in a busy year where I can't do anything more ambitious.

Paddles. It's always paddles. Whether it be my spare left behind after a lunch break on Basswood Lake, a couple beautiful Bending Branches left on a boat ramp on Lake Zoar, or a Sawyer lost in a rapid on the Houstonic, I have managed to lose more than my fair share of decent paddles. I hope I...

My first canoe experience was in 1999 or 2000 when I was 4 or 5 years old, a creek trip somewhere in northwest Ohio with my dad in his brand new red Coleman 16-footer. I don't remember many details other than my the presence of my brother and some cousins around my age being present, and a...

Glenn, is this still your local float? Since moving to Monroe a couple years ago, quick evening paddles on Lillinonah and Zoar are my bread and butter. I like to put in at the Pond Brook launch and head up the Shepaug arm or down towards the dam. I'm working on paddling the whole river in...

I'm back for another re-read. Alan, this trip report changed my life. I read it while on a deployment in 2017 and it lit a fire in my heart to seek the northwoods. Thank you for sharing this trip with a downtrodden sailor and inspiring me to cast myself into the world of canoe tripping.