1981 Mike Galt Essay: "The Solo Path"

This 1981 Canoe Magazine essay by Mike Galt is a poetic paean to solo canoeing, replete with many classic Galt-isms:

"Solo. Alone. But never lonely."

"The solo canoe: a light, slender form in utter symphony with wind and wave."

"An activity where men and women are equal. On the solo path, skill and knowledge supersede simple strength or mere gender."

"Solo paddling is a free-form performing art."

"There are those who think the solo canoe, at its best, represents the ultimate hull form."

"'Laying it down' is one of the solo paddler’s joys. Banking turns, after all, is quite natural and fun."

"Flare is a very subjective quality with me, so much so that I see no rational excuse for tumblehome in a real paddler’s canoe."

"Flare . . . gives a canoe life – read buoyancy – seaworthiness, and of course, final stability."

"While sitting and switching may be efficient, I find it undignified, ugly to watch, and boring to do."

Mike Galt—an opinionated pistol, a master wood carver, an eloquent stylist with paddle and pen, who designed canoes with a can of Bud and a Chesterfield dangling from his lip—man, I miss all the times I spent with that guy. Paddling. Dreaming. Philosophizing. Learning.

I fondly remember the old "Canoe" magazine with its numerous articles, photos and informative stories. Reading Mike Galt, Harry Roberts and others was my introduction to the philosophy and art of canoeing. I poured over those early magazines and spent endless hours absorbing all the knowledge they'd impart. I enjoyed the competing opinions of the authors, as well as the good natured bantering that went on between them. The magazine wasn't one big advertisement. It was an incredible education that was available to the masses. Man, how I miss it.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

Well, I missed that whole era. Thank heavens we have canoetripping.net.

And Mike's sentiments on solo canoes match mine, but he says it much better than I ever could.

Thanks, Glenn.

Certainly do miss those days…the heyday of solo canoeing. Replete with characters, excitement over something “new” at canoe demo days, the Conclave events, and the construction of the FreeStyle instruction program (the maneuvers themselves had been done for hundreds of years or more).
A more in depth Galt writing is the famous “The Solo Mystique” which can be found here…
Talk about a character, Mike designed canoes by carving a half model until “it looked right”, and then scaled up. Hard to imagine but that’s what he told me. Of course with Mike he could have been kidding?
Ahhh memories……

stevet said:

A more in depth Galt writing is the famous “The Solo Mystique” which can be found here…
The Solo Mystique – FreeStyle Canoeing

Click to expand...

From the Wayback Machine, here is that essay in its original 1978 Wilderness Camping magazine format complete with pictures, which I've posted before:

stevet said:

Mike designed canoes by carving a half model until “it looked right”, and then scaled up. Hard to imagine but that’s what he told me. Of course with Mike he could have been kidding?

Click to expand...

I recall the same information from both Galt and Pat Moore, but have a dim memory that they were quarter models.

I first met Mike in 1984 when I visited him in Tampa at his place on the banks of the Hillsborough River. I bought a Lotus BJX from him on that trip after paddling one with its namesake, Bardy Jones, in the Everglades. We kept in occasional touch by phone and letter until I visited Tampa again in 1986. I was then going by rental car to Tallahassee on business with a return to Tampa. Mike was pushing his Lotus Caper canoe for solo "sport canoeing" (later "freestyle") purposes and simply gave me one to take on my rental car to Tallahassee and back, encouraging me to paddle it on rivers along the way, which he mapped out for me. No paperwork, no money, nothing but trust.

With sparkling eye and his dangling Chesterfield, he simply said, "I know you'll buy it when you return." And I did! He had even carved for me a custom new seat in the meantime. The canoe remained roped on top of my Hertz and was driven all the way back to Woodstock, NY, leaving me to explain to IBM why I hadn't used the return portion of my airline ticket.

He even gave me the Blackburn brothers Sea-1 bent shaft paddle, seen in this picture with the Lotus Caper.