Recent content by Tsuga8

After another outing with my crow's foot, I'm determined to lighten the swing weight. I think I'm going to try recreating the foot entirely with 1-by- stock instead of 2-by- stock. I think the thickness is unncessary for strength and adds a lot of weight. I debating gluing a strip of 2-by- to...

As @memaquay says, bare, smooth ice seems to be a rarity in a lot of places. I briefly looked into backcountry or wild ice skating after seeing a few videos. But quickly realized that while frozen water is increasingly rare down here, good skating ice in the wild is even more of a unicorn...

You got it, Jim! As soon as I saw the runners I realized what I was looking at. Ice boaters are a declining breed around here, probably because our ice is also on the decline. Many regions have ice boats and boaters - getting good ice on the Hudson is rare these days between the tides...

Now it should start being more obvious....if you know what you're looking at. By the way, @sailsman63 , I was unfamiliar with Mersea duck punts and looked them up. Looks like a fun, versatile little craft.

I had similar thoughts - skin on frame with the red skin untightened somehow? Or all punt or skow either under construction or with the bottom missing so it can't be stolen.... Any more guesses before we get closer?

I was out canoeing a tidal bay of the Hudson today when I spotted something up in the woods. As I approached it seemed to be some sort of watercraft, but what? Here's an early view. Anyone want to guess? I'll post subsequent pics with more clues later.

Yeah, I've been sort of trying to track down a newer, lighter one with aluminum rails. A lot of sellers have trouble accurately describing the materials or year of used boats they're selling, let alone an accurate weight. Many just reference catalog weight, but of course that depends on what...

I poled an easy Class III the other day with only moderate puckering. Not sure I'd attempt Tannery Falls, but since Riffle-Raff mentioned poling in the Penobscot, I thought he might have considered it. The problem, I find in my creek around here, is that you often can't get a good pole...

Somehow my Penobscot is 68 lbs. If it weren't I'd be in it a lot more often. I think they must have come out with a lighter version in later years. Guess that run is too much to pole, eh? :)

Tempting. If it were just a little closer....

StraightER, flatER, and LESS pushy. It's all relative 🙂

Thanks for your thoughts, Steve. I've heard of ballasting amidships so the stems rise for paddling in open-water waves. Wasn't sure the same applied for poling but it makes sense. The poling creek I was on this week often barely has enough water to float, so I won't be adding ballast there...

Your son should rescue it and use it! I've never tried one but hear great things - very lightweight and surprisingly durable, so they say. Cape Falcon is a company that makes kits and instructional videos on building these - he's added rowing and sailing rights to them as well.

Water levels are decently high at my creek again, great for practicing eddy-outs and peel-outs, which I spent some time on Thursday and yesterday. A couple things I'm chewing on: I was without bow ballast both days. I was trimming back a fair bit (two hops from the yoke backets) to get the...