Canoe Tripping Fundraiser & Raffle

[Guest]

Raffle Prizes 2021

I am going to edit this initial post with a running list of raffle prizes, and will update it here occasionally as more swag is donated:

Dcloots – $50 gift card to LL Bean or Cabelas

Lawson Equipment – 50’ of 2mm orange Reflective Glowire, 50’ of orange Guywire Accessory Cord and eight 2mm bar tensioners.

Billconner - Adirondack Park Map pack

Boatman53 – Choice of multi-tool, puukko knife blade and handle blank for you to make your own knife, or a 24”x36” print of a Kennebec canoe

Glenn MacGrady - Amazon Echo Dot (3[SUP]rd[/SUP] generation).

Kayak Ken – Custom Dry bag tags.

Shop or shed wall sign – anonamouse.

PaddlingPitt – Western Canoeing & Kayaking 40” x 60” center airbag (NIB, never used)

bluecanoed – (Books): Building the Maine Guide Canoe (Stelmok) and Canoecraft (Moores & Mohr)

Snapper – Choice of had carved wooden spoon or small Sami leather pouch

Canotrouge – Canvas paddle bag for Ottertail or Beavertail

PaddlingPitt – (Book): Franklin, Oops, Mud and Cupcake (Pitt)

DougD – 40” ash yoke

LanceR – Custom knock-down reflector oven

Cheeseandbeans – REI or MEC $25 gift card

Patrick Corry – Books: The Lonely Land (Olson), Reflections from Canoe Country (Angus), Freshwater Saga (Morse)

McCrea – Two yards of heat sealable fabric, red flag and multi-color flag

McCrea – Red canoe overhang flag and multi-color tarp flag

+++


We are approaching the usual time of year for the Canoe Tripping fundraiser.

For newer members, who may not be aware, Canoe Tripping is wholly self-supported; no advertisements, no shilling of products, no sugar-daddy with deep pockets; just us making a once a year donation that pays for the site-hosting fees, licensing and IT support.

Part of the fundraiser in years past has been a raffle of member donated items, and an accompanying video of the random draw of winner’s names. While the financial contributions are what keeps Canoe Tripping ad-free, the assorted raffle prizes are a chance to share, and the accompanying video always enjoyable in the community watch spirit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpGtHAzGang

So that the prizes do not need to be mailed twice, and to reduce the admin responsibilities and cost, the donor simply mails the prize directly to the winner after an exchange of names and addresses.

If you would like to donate a fundraiser prize post your offering to this thread and, if DaveO agreeable, I will post/update a running list of the awards and donors.

I’ll start the ball rolling with two prize offerings:

#1, two yards of heat sealable fabric, dark blue Packcloth enough to make several dry bags in various shapes and sizes. Custom DIY dry bags (make your own)

PA070118 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

#2, a red canoe overhang flag with reflective tape, and a multi-colored flag to hang on the tarp as a windsock, or at the water’s edge to mark your site.

PA050088 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

(Yeah, there is some high-intensity reflective tape on that flag as well, in case I need to find my campsite in the dark)

 

[Patrick Corry]

I'll donate the three books pictured:

 

[LanceR]

Well, as I get a lot of enjoyment from the site and the folks here I guess I can get off my duff long enough to make someone a reflector oven.

This one is 15" wide, 8-38" deep and 12" high. It will hold up to a 1/4 size sheet pan (half the size of a home oven sheet pan) and the stainless steel shelf rods can double as light duty fire irons to support a small pot or be used as kabob style skewers. It knocks flat and total weight is 2 pounds 5 ounces. The new one will weigh about 2 ounces more and have four shelf rods as three rods makes it tough to keep muffin pans and such in place without tipping as the cups fall between the rod spacing sometimes.



The 1/4 sheet pan is about 12" x 9-1/2".



And knocked flat. Please excuse the scratches on the prototype.....





And shown with a little 1 pound sausage stuffed and rolled venison loin roast at our stream side camp site late last winter...



And I suspect either Nancy or I will pull out some Cordura or other pack cloth and make a carry bag for it. If the winner wants a different size we can discuss that later and within reason I'll make what they want And yes, I'll ship it internationally..

Best regards to all,


Lance

 

[DaveO]

Mike, thanks for getting us started. I will take this opportunity to provide some philosophical color and operational details.

Canoetripping.net is wholly self-supported, with no advertisements or selling members’ data. We have a fundraising drive once a year. Donations will be used for the site-hosting fees, licensing, IT support, and associated out-of-pocket costs to keep the board going. I have no plans to receive compensation for my time, but canoetripping.net will be run like a business.

This is a group effort, and I intend to administer the board as such. I appreciate every post, and I am always receptive to any suggestions to make the board even better. Several members have volunteered to cover for me as needed, and I am grateful.

I volunteered to take over the board at the end of last year, because it is such a valuable resource for us canoeists, and it has developed a special camaraderie and fellowship. I have long believed that there is so much more that unites us than divides us, and this board is proof, IMHO.

I put the board’s licenses and other assets under LLC, of which I am the CEO. (There are plans to expand LLC into publishing and perhaps other social media businesses)

I have established an LLC bank account for canoetripping.net. Canoetripping.net has a current balance of $936.86. It may sound like a lot but it isn’t really. We have some substantial licensing expenses upcoming. IT needs can arise at any time, and can be expensive.

Donations to canoetripping.net are unconditional gifts. As far as I know, donations to canoetripping.net are not tax deductible. When the fundraiser is over, I plan to provide at least one member with a private list of donors and donations, as a type of internal audit. Otherwise, donations will be kept anonymous (unless of course the donor chooses to share in a post as a way of mutual encouragement, which has been done in past years.)

Checks must be made out to LLC, not me personally, and not canoetripping.net. I will be establishing a paypal account shortly, to facilitate donations. Details to follow.

I am honored to lead caneotripping.net, and thank you for your support.

 

[Guest]

Dayum, that’s some nice swag in a few hours time, bookians with extensive canoe tripping libraries, gear builders and tinkerers get busy. I may have to up my game.

While I love the raffle prize aspect, donors please bear in mind that it is the filthy moola donations that actually keep us going through the year; the raffle prizes are just the little extra community happiness we share amongst each other via video each year.

DaveO, that was a very cogent philosophical color explanation of Canoe Tripping operations , expenses and quickly diminishing balance. I expected nothing less.

At some point, as the Fundraiser draws nigh, you will hopefully provide various payment options; I’m not a PayPal person, so will need a physical address to mail a check made out to Fork Branch LLC please.

Otherwise I swear I will find you somehow and knock on your door swinging a sack of pennies.

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

I can’t think of any gear I don’t use that isn’t partly used up or useless so I will donate a $25 gift card to REI or MEC - their choice.

Lance- that is an awesome reflector oven!

Bob

 

[PaddlingPitt]

I’m curious, DaveO, are you able to tell us approximately how much canoetripping needs to operate on a yearly basis?

 

[DaveO]

The site hosting fees are about $1000/year. The software license fees for Vbulletin have not come up for renewal, so I am not sure what that adds up to. It is substantial. We have IT expenses whenever bulletin upgrades the software, or a bug shows up. We have managed to procure IT services at a substantial discount only after a lot of work by Doug, and it is not clear how long that will last.

Bottom line, My sense from Doug is that, in years past, the fundraiser basically matched expenses with a small cushion that's been rolling over.

 

[LanceR]

I can’t think of any gear I don’t use that isn’t partly used up or useless so I will donate a $25 gift card to REI or MEC - their choice.

Lance- that is an awesome reflector oven!

Bob

Thanks, Bob

They are still kind of a work in progress. I've only made a few of them and each one has had some tweak or modification. About the time I think I have something like that pretty nailed down either another idea surfaces in what passes for my brain or another interest distracts me....

Currently, I'm getting ready to cut a bunch of 1/4" steel for a "patio" sized wood burning smoker or two and a larger trailer mounted one.....

Best regards to all,


Lance

 

[dougd]

I'm offering up an ash carry thwart I just cut out, 40" long. Still need to shape it some more but there is time for that.

dougd

 

[PaddlingPitt]

I would like to offer my book about our trips down the Coppermine, Seal, Anderson and Snowdrift rivers in northern Canada, which is the subtitle. This started out being the title, which the publisher said was boring. So Kathleen came up with a one-word summary for each trip. Franklin for the Coppermine because we had Sir John Franklin’s journals and maps of his trip down the Coppermine in 1821. Oops for the Seal, which ended at Hudson Bay north of Churchill. When discussing our plans with a local, we indicated that we planned to paddle down Hudson Bay to Churchill, to which he replied “Don’t even think about it. We’re tired of fishing dead bodies out of the bay.” Well, that was still our plan, but we also had a backup plan just in case we didn’t like our prospects once we reached the bay. Neither plan worked. Oops. Mud for the Anderson because we paddled out from where we had overwintered on the spring flood. Very muddy all the way to the Arctic Coast. You have to read the book to find out why Cupcake is the one-word summary for the Snowdrift River.

This little blurb might sound familiar to some of you, as I have posted these trips on canoetripping already. But you might like to have a hard copy. I hope so anyway. I gotta get rid of a lot of books in the basement before we make our next move, which will likely be a major downsizing.

The main image on the cover is of Kathleen enjoying lunch above the Anderson River. Below, from left to right, is bannock, which we prepare for nearly every breakfast when we are tripping. Then Carey and me dragging up the Winter River, heading overland to Point Lake on the Coppermine River. Then a polar bear keeping us company on Hudson Bay.

Please win my book. I gotta get it outta the basement!

 

[Canotrouge]

Well it is time for me to contribute, I was thinking of making a nice canvas paddle bag for a beaver tail or an otter tail paddle! So add me in for the raffle donation!!

 

[snapper]

Last year I offered a wooden spoon made from white cedar. I can do that again or make a small Sami leather pouch. Winner's choice to be discussed once a name is drawn.

One word of caution regarding the spoon; I don't think anyone will be unhappy with the end product but I carve with the curvature of the wood so you won't be getting a straight spoon. It may have some dips & doodles to go with what the wood presents.

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

snapper

 

[bluedcanoed]

I will donate these two books.

Bob

 

[Jim Dodd]

DaveO ,please post info on separate thread, on sending funds ! Thanks !

 

[Guest]

I hope DaveO doesn’t mind (sure hope he was planning a raffle with this year’s fundraiser, or I’ve really stepped in it), but something he mentioned in the Operational post above about financial contributions reminded me of additional raffle details from past years.

If you do not wish your financial donation to include your name in the raffle drawing let Dave know along with your contribution.

. . . . donations will be kept anonymous

Some past raffle prizes have been donated anonymously. I don’t exactly remember how that worked, maybe contact DaveO (or “self-appointed list keeper” me) with a description/photo of the anonymous prize for the raffle list, and after the raffle only the winner need know your identity/contact info.

Amomanouse. Amanonamooose. Dang, that’s a hard word to say on camera

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFUIOwiPWPU

(The Canoe Tripping private message function does not like me, or perhaps my ancient computer’s software. If you need to message me to offer an anonymous raffle prize, try “My last name plus paddler, allonewordlowercasenospaces, with the usual G-mail suffix”)

Please do not send Dave fifty contributions of $1 each, I call dibs on that plan.

 

[PaddlingPitt]

For the last couple of weeks, Kathleen and I have been going through all of our closets and storage areas looking to dispose/donate/recycle the large amount of a lifetime accumulation of stuff that we will never use again. We have had this center air bag (48” x 60”) for at least 20 years, left over from the days when we used to paddle whitewater nearly every weekend in the Vancouver area. The package has never been opened. Probably not ever going to use it. Time to donate it to the fundraising raffle!

 

[Guest]

I made a bunch of those heat sealable flags, red canoe overhang flags and multi-color tarp/site flags.

P2050026 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

More than I need, and I already have some, so I’ll include a red overhang flag and a multi-color tarp/site flag along with the two yards of heat sealable material prize, which will need to be shipped boxed anyway.

Not to be nationalistic divisive, but cross border shipping costs come into play. I can mail just the flags to Canada folded in a standard envelope (re-iron them flat to take out the creases), but for a winner with cheaper US postage I’ll attach reflective line, along with a minibeener on the overhang flag and a Gator Clip on the tarp/site flag.

https://www.harborfreight.com/multip...-pc-63067.html

Those Gator Clips are handy as heck; if you blow out a grommet or webbing loop, or just need an extra guy line point or pole position somewhere on a tarp it’s convenient to have one available.

 

[Guest]

We have our 1[SUP]st[/SUP] anonymous prize.

I’m waiting for the photo, but as described it seems a particularly attractive wall hanging for a fermented molasses lover’s Man-cave or She-shed.

I’m more a straight bourbon sipping guy, but I could find room on my shop walls.

 

[Kayak_Ken]

My wife said she would make a set of removable dry bag tags with your name on one side and item inside on the other side.

Kayak_Ken (in a canoe)