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De-molded. I’ll trim and clear coat it this weekend.

The price we pay for racing in shallows. :) The full story on these two is that I made some modifications and added a thin, internal aluminum tip to make them more durable when paddling gravel bars and rocky shallows. The mold also makes that easier.

Broken by abuse. :-) We have a lot of shallow, rocky rivers and these two blades were snapped when they wedged between rocks during upstream, shallow water intervals and sprints. They’ve been sitting in the corner of my shop for the past 2-1/2 years and I’m finally fixing them. Before the...

New photos and a second paddle properly bagged. Here’s the mold: Here it is prepped with PartAll PVA and sealant tape: First layer of carbon wet out and placed: After this, the resin was going to kick and I didn’t have time to take photos between steps. So, the paddle was placed...

If you have ever paddled with a ZRE Power Surge Flatwater blade, you know that it goes in the water with almost no splash and carries almost no air down with it. That’s because the tip has this fine, very gentle, extremely precise backwards curve that uses black magic and witchcraft to...

Having paddled both, I can assure you that the D15 and Cirrus are quite different hulls. There is, of course, some overlap in potential mission profiles, but the D15 is geared much more toward long river tripping and performance paddling, while I’d say that the Cirrus is a great, all-around hull...

My first paddle of the year was back in February on the South River in Ontario, but it only lasted 15 minutes for a photo and video shoot, so I don’t think it counted. I got out on Saturday, March 15, for a proper first paddle of the season. We had an unseasonably warm Winter, so the banks are...

I wanted to run it last fall, but didn’t get enough training on the roads in. If I do it, I’ll be using my wife’s very light Hornbeck New Tricks 11 with a very cushy portage yoke. It comes in just below the 18 pound minimum, but i can slip a half pound of weight under the seat. :-)

They are, indeed, fun, but time on the water with my kiddos is even more fun in any setting. I’m sure it’s the same for you. ☺️ Unfortunately for me, after seeing me race the ARC120 last summer, both of my sons said that they thought I was insane and that they never wanted to do something that...

You’re most welcome! Here’s the less-elegant version that I make in my shop and could never bring to market profitably because each one is made as a one-off unit. It’s also quite salty thanks to winter in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. :-)

Thank you, Glenn. I’m excited to be here and feel a bit foolish that I didn’t join this community long ago. I fully agree with your spray deck perspectives. I like tunnels with quick-opening Velcro seams and giant pull-tabs. It also can’t be stressed enough that if a paddler uses a spray deck...

What are you race plans for 2025? I’m aiming for the Mississippi 145 in June, the ARC120 in July, and the Ely Portage Marathon in September. Both of the paddling races will be single bladed in a solo canoe. I’m just hoping to finish the Portage Marathon. 😆

My Cruiser 16.8 is Kevlar Fusion with a Textreme Innegra outer layer, epoxy, and UV Shield. It took a beating over about 1100 miles of paddling last season and was absolutely impeccable. It took a few hits and high-centers that would have trashed a vinyl foam core skin coat hull. I’m still...

They can make an amazing difference in cold weather, can’t they? I think the most grateful I’ve been for a full deck was in the 2019 MR340, where we ran a small butane lantern in the boat during the night as a heater. It kept the deck and hull ice-free in the 22*F overnight temps and kept our...

Personally and professionally, if a spray deck has a tunnel that goes around my torso, I want to avoid Velcro. In a capsize, the weight of a paddler's body (or paddlers' bodies) falling out of the hull can rip the Velcro loose. That could leave you swimming with a 15+ foot long piece of fabric...

The 3M 25mm domed SNADs worked wonderfully for about 3 years. Last summer, we had a rash of unusual failures that affected a number of customers on high-stakes, long-distance trips. Prior to that, a handful of customers would report that a snap disk had come off of their boat each season, but it...

I'm pushing for a thwart-handle-thwart, with the carbon bar sandwiched between two pieces of cherry... :-) The "Old Man Handle" comes from Steve Landick. He has them in all of his boats and sold me completely on them. They're 1-inch round carbon tube and are a great addition to boats with lunch...