• siskiwit bay kayak on the water
    Articles

    New Siskiwit Bay Hits the Water

    Kari Moilanen from Haukivuori, Finland recently launched a Siskiwit Bay kayak. Kari writes: Hereโ€™s my version of Siskiwit Bay kayak. Made it mainly in the summer of 2019, and finished it this spring. The maiden trip was 28th of May, and it was very exciting. Strips are made from Aspen and thereโ€™s also little bit of Grey alder too. Skeg, seat, footrests, and hatches, I bought from Kayak Sport. The model is so good that I think I would like to build a Siskiwit LV, too, after I get the solo canoe that Iโ€™m building right now, ready. This build of the Siskiwit Bay looks great! We hope that Kariโ€ฆ

  • camping tips for families
    Articles

    26 Paddling and Camping Tips for Families and New Parents

    Weโ€™re now five years into the adventure of parenting. While it has slowed down the number of extended trips โ€” I havenโ€™t done a trip longer than 20 days since our kid was born โ€” it hasnโ€™t stopped us completely. Camping with our little one has gotten much easier as he has gotten older. This is especially true looking back at his first nine-day camping trip when he was six months old. Over the years, weโ€™ve learned a few paddling and camping trips for families and new parents that made our trips much easier. Iโ€™ll share some that weโ€™ve learned. Do you have any tips? If so, add them inโ€ฆ

  • beaver dam
    Articles,  Tent Bound,  Trip Reports

    An Ode to Beaver Dams

    We paddlers donโ€™t give beavers enough credit. When we come to a beaver dam that blocks our way, we know itโ€™s going to be a haul over. Often in remote canoe locations, paddlers will have tried to break the dam to make it easier to paddle through. But, we donโ€™t give beavers enough credit. Despite the slight inconvenience of maybe getting your feet wet as you pull your canoe over a beaver dam, beavers, a keystone species that important for the health of environment, create these wonders of the world and create helpful habitat for all sorts of species. They create wetlands by engineering a dam and raising the waterโ€ฆ

  • NRS Pivot Drysuit review
    Articles

    NRS Pivot Drysuit Review

    Since last August, Iโ€™ve been using the NRS Pivot Drysuit for kayaking. This is the second NRS drysuit that Iโ€™ve used, and my wife owns a NRS Womenโ€™s Crux. So, I was familiar with their drysuits before I got this one. Even though my last two drysuits were Kokatat and I loved them, I felt like I needed to give something else a try. The Pivot with its rear entry looked awesome. So, I went for it. With a significant amount of time spent in the Pivot, hereโ€™s my NRS Pivot Drysuit Review. NRS Pivot Drysuit Features The NRS Pivot Drysuitโ€™s main standout feature is the TIZIPยฎ MasterSeal zipper onโ€ฆ

  • Top 10 Outdoor Podcasts
    Articles

    Top 10 Outdoor Podcasts

    In these Uncertain Times, a good podcast can meanโ€ฆ Donโ€™t you hate it when companies lead with โ€œin these uncertain times?โ€ I do. If youโ€™re like the rest of humanity, youโ€™re probably listening to too much news or reading too much news on the internet. You need a break. I need a break. We all need a break. I typically listen to a lot of political podcasts, but right now Iโ€™m kinda sick of everything, so my retreat as I shelter at home is to listen to outdoor podcasts and hang out in my garage looking at my canoes and kayaks. What do I listen to? I listen to myโ€ฆ

  • Sunrise on Cherokee Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
    Articles,  Tent Bound,  Trip Reports

    Free Boundary Waters Guidebook

    Stuck inside somewhere waiting to be released, dreaming of adventures on the 1000s of lakes in northern Minnesota after they thaw or just someone who loves paddling? Then thereโ€™s a new free Boundary Waters guidebook for you. The Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness released The Friendsโ€™ Guide to the BWCA. The new guidebook is a free ebook available for download on The Friendsโ€™ website. If you donโ€™t know the Boundary Waters, then youโ€™re in for a treat. Itโ€™s a great treat, because these types of books usually run much more. For example, Exploring the Boundary Waters: A Trip Planner and Guide to the BWCAW runs $16. You can getโ€ฆ

  • Jerry Vandiver The Middle of Somewhere album cover
    Articles

    Jerry Vandiver Releases The Middle of Somewhere

    If you have followed alone for awhile, youโ€™ll know that Iโ€™m a big fan of Jerry Vandiver. I also consider him a friend. We paddled the Rio Grande together several years ago and have been on several other paddling trips together. He recently put out a new album of paddling-related songs called The Middle of Somewhere. In the past, Iโ€™ve interviewed Jerry and you can read that interview here. Iโ€™ve also reviewed his Every Scratch Tells A Story album. When you consider all things, Iโ€™m not really a music reviewer. I know what I like when it comes to music, and sometimes I can tell you why, but Iโ€™m notโ€ฆ

  • winter camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
    Articles

    When Avoiding COVID-19 Head to the Boundary Waters?

    Last weekend Madison, Wisconsin was to hold the worldโ€™s largest annual paddlesport expo. Canoecopia, as it is called, was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It seemed all but certain that the show would be cancelled, but people were waiting for the decision because just days prior to the show it was reported in Madisonโ€™s The Capital Times that the show would go on. On Thursday, Wisconsin Governor Evers gave guidance that gatherings should be restricted to 250 or fewer people and by Friday at 5pm, Evers banned gatherings of over 250 people. Between those two announcements, Canoecopia was cancelled. Had it gone on and caused infections, it might foreverโ€ฆ

  • model of Siskiwit SOF
    Articles

    Bear Goes Kayaking

    Mike Magee sent me this picture of the model kayak that he built using the Siskiwit SOF drawings. He scaled down the drawings and built a kayak for his teddy bear. We think that President Teddy Roosevelt would be proud. Mikeโ€™s next step is to build a full-sized version of the kayak. While PaddlingLight only provides drawings and not building instructions, there are a couple of books out there for those that wish to try that. Robert Morrisโ€™ Building Skin-on-Frame Boats is a classic for your library. Fuselage Frame Boats A guide to building skin kayaks and Canoes or the updated More Fuselage Frame Boats by Jeff Horton are moreโ€ฆ

  • aeropress go a gift for kayakers
    Articles

    Best Gifts for Kayakers and Canoeists

    Itโ€™s almost Black Friday again (or just the middle of summer and your favorite paddlerโ€™s birthday if somehow you googled this up and it wasnโ€™t in November), and itโ€™s time to come up with the latest and greatest and best gifts for kayakers and canoeists. This year has been a good one for paddlers and here are a few ideas AeroPress Go: If youโ€™ve never used an AeroPress to make coffee, you are missing out. The AeroPress uses a pressurized tube to extract an espresso-like shot of java within about a minute of time. You add hot water to your cup and have a smooth cup of Americano. When Iโ€ฆ

  • lightweight camping cookware
    Articles

    Lightweight Camping Cookware for a Family of Three

    When I used to solo canoe trip, it was easy to pick cookware. Iโ€™d just go with the lightest cookset that made sense for the time of year and trip. As my family has grown from one to three, Iโ€™ve found that itโ€™s a little harder to balance lightweight camping cookware against ease of use and the desires of everyone on the trip. While Iโ€™m willing to forego special treats on a solo trip, it might make the night better for my kid if we have pudding after dinner. That means more lightweight camping cookware to haul along. The weight adds up. Still, we have managed to refine our selectionโ€ฆ

  • Two kayakers on Jenny Lake in the Tetons
    Articles,  News

    PaddlingLight News Update

    Just a quick news update about the PaddlingLight website. Over the last year, Iโ€™ve been meaning to update the website to increase the speed and load times. I finally had a few days to do that, so before the craziness of my fall schedule kicked in I sat myself down into my office and worked on the website. This is step one of getting things updated around here. While doing that, I also made a few changes to the look of the website. Itโ€™s basically the same-ish look but with a slightly more compact design with a simpier color scheme. Hopefully, I also increased readability. Let me know if youโ€ฆ

  • canoe paddler watches sunris
    Articles,  Tent Bound

    Photography and Paddling Mix in My New Video

    The other morning, I paddled out to a location that Iโ€™ve wanted to photograph at sunrise for a couple of years. I paddled about 20 to 30 minutes in the dark and landed under cloudy skies. I thought it was going to be a big bust. In the end, the clouds broke up and the sunrise was amazing! Pictures below. The video I made from the morning is a mix of paddling and photography. Most of my photography is landscape photography, but if Iโ€™m traveling by canoe or kayak Iโ€™ll put a canoe or kayak into the landscape. Itโ€™s a combination of the two activities that I love most. Iโ€ฆ

  • canoeing on the Sag to Seagull route
    Routes,  Trip Reports

    Sag to Seagull Route Trip Report

    The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Sag to Seagull route is a short trip that can be broken into an easy multi-day trip or a long day trip. It consists of paddling across two large lakes, through many islands and across three small lakes. There are three easy portages. At higher water levels, you can skip one and maybe two of the portages. The route passes through areas of the BWCA that burned at least once in recent years. We recently paddled the Sag to Seagull route over four days and three nights. Most of the days consisted of short paddles between campsites and then lazy days in the campsiteโ€ฆ

  • siskiwit lv kayak on grass
    Articles,  Build It Yourself,  Tent Bound

    Siskiwit LV Launched

    Ralph M. recently completed a Siskiwit LV build. Hereโ€™s what he wrote: I put my just completed Siskiwit in the water (Puget Sound) for the first time on Thursday evening.  It is a wonderful boat; stability and handling  exactly as you said.    Excellent response to leaned turns, a bit of skeg as needed.    With skeg all the way down it obediently heads downwind.   I had whitecaps building up, modest chop, a good first test for an old guy with back problems.   Weight is a bit under 40 pounds.   Thank you for a really good design.  Here are a few photos that he took of his kayak. Itโ€™s aโ€ฆ

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