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National Parks Traveler’s Guide to Paddling the Parks Is Out
The 2nd Annual Essential Guide to Paddling the Parks by National Parks Traveler is out. The cover photo is mine and I have an article about paddling through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness from Voyageurs National Park to Grand Portage National Monument. There are a ton of great articles in the magazine and it’s worth spending some time on this winter day looking through its pages.
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Free Kayak Plans and Free Canoe Plans
For years, PaddlingLight has been giving away the free drawings of historic and recent canoe and kayak, but I didn’t know how many plans people were downloading. In the last year I decided to start tracking just a few of the downloads to get a grasp on how many were actually being downloaded. I picked 5 of the 35 free drawings that I offer: a popular historic kayak design that has been built many times, a history canoe that has been built many times (most often in Italy), a canoe that looks interesting but hasn’t been built often (if at all), an original yost-style, skin-on-frame kayak and another historic kayak…
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Kayaking Adventures in 2014: My Paddling Year in Review
It’s January 2015 and I thought I should look back at 2014 and see what fun I had kayaking and canoeing. 2014 was a busy year for me otherwise. We bought a house that needed (and needs) lots of work. My kayaking company, North Shore Expeditions, hired its first full-time guide other than myself and my photography business was busy, busy and more busy. That left very little time for personal kayaking and canoeing. I actually didn’t get the canoes out once this year. Kayaking this year was mainly work for me. I paddled very little for personal reasons and when the season was over, I didn’t paddle at all after…
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Launching Your Kayak in Light Surf
One of the challenges for new kayakers is launching your kayak in light surf, especially if you haven’t had any instruction and haven’t developed a sense of balance or gotten your sea legs. A light shore break can feel mighty challenging if you’ve never paddled out before, especially one with a slight dumping wave. The viral video making the rounds on the Internet right now shows a man trying to get through the surf break on a sit-on-top kayak. He fails big time, ends up mowed over by his kayak several times and eventually ends up on the rocks. While the video is suppose to be humorous, it shows the…
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Welcome to Minnesota. Show Me Your Boat Trailer Papers, Please.
This law was repealed! You now have to affirm that you understand the AIS rules when you register a boat or get a out-of-state fishing license. Next time you trailer your canoe or kayak in Minnesota, you could be pulled over by a conservation officer who demands to see your papers. Well, it might not be that bad and your papers are a decal on your trailer, so it’s really not like that at all. But, next July if you trailer your canoe or kayak in Minnesota, you’ll be required to have an Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) decal on your trailer. This new law is another attempt by Minnesota to…
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Vargo Titanium Ascent Tent Stake Review
Most campers put little thought into the stakes that they use. With newer tents, you almost don’t need to because they often come with v-shaped stakes. It wasn’t always that way. Just a mere 10 years ago, most tents were shipped with flimsy aluminum pegs that bent the second that they even saw the ground. Not so today — at least with the tents that I’ve bought recently. So, any aftermarket stake that you buy has to be something special. For me that means a lighter and stronger stake beats out the stakes included with a tent any day. With that in mind, I had a chance to test out…
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Protect Wilderness and Our National Parks with Your Vote
One of the missions of PaddlingLight.com is to grow paddlesport participation in order to increase wilderness protection. The belief is that as people start to paddle and enjoy the woods more, they’ll want to preserve it. As Teddy Roosevelt said, “”The farther one gets into the wilderness, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom.” Unfortunately, Canoeists Are Getting Older and Introducing Fewer New People to the Wilderness. When you have fewer people interested in the wilderness and the national parks, there’s a smaller chance the people of all political philosophies will want to protect it. In the past, we’ve had Presidents and candidates from both political parties that wanted to…
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Should Kayakers Pay for a Rescue?
Every now and then someone does something stupid or someone does everything right and gets into trouble, he finds himself in a situation that he can’t get out of on his own and calls mayday (see How to Call Mayday When Canoeing or Kayaking). This happens to both professional and recreational boaters and it happens to kayakers and canoeists. We rarely hear about the rescues of people from freighters or off of cruise ships, but if a kayaker or canoeist gets into trouble, there’s no doubt it will make the 6 o’clock news. That news is often followed with the pundits calling for the person that got rescued having to cover the…
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Enerplex Solar Power Review
Over the summer, Enerplex sent me a few products to test out and review. I received Enerplex Kickr IV and a Enerplex Jumpr Slate 10K for review. I spent the summer using them to charge my smartphone and tablet and other USB powered devices, such as a camera. And I’ve found that I love the products. I find writing reviews for products that I love more difficult than for products that I’m so-so on, so I’ve been procrastinating on this review, because I love this bit of kit. Enerplex Kickr IV Reivew The EnerPlex Kickr IV solar panel is a foldable and flexible 6.5 watt charger. EnerPlex claims that it’s powerful…
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Aquabound Manta Ray Carbon Paddle Review
For a little over a month, I’ve been using Aquabound’s Manta Ray Carbon paddle as my primary paddle for personal trips and for guiding. Aquabound sent me the paddle so I could do a Manta Ray Carbon paddle review. I’ve used the paddle with a number of different boats, including a NDK Explorer, Wilderness Systems Tempest 170 Pro and a Dagger Alchemy. The conditions that I tested it in ranged from calm to 4-foot choppy wind waves. I also used it for surfing in waves up to 3 feet and for playing in rock gardens in waves to 3 feet. I tested the 210 cm version. Aquabound describes the Manta…
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Kayaks For Sale
I have one new and a few used kayaks for sale. The kayaks are in Grand Marais, Minnesota, but if we can coordinate it correctly, I can meet someone in Duluth, Minnesota, because I often get down there. SOLD — 2012 Perception Expression 15 Red w/skeg. Mid-level touring kayak with some features of an expeditions kayak. Turns easily and the skeg keeps it going straight when you want it to go straight. Lots of room for hauling gear. 2011 UK Canoe & Kayak Magazine Best Touring Kayak! Length: 15’0 / 456 cm Width: 24″ / 61 cm Max Capacity: 325 lbs / 148 kg Deck Height: 14.5″ / 37 cm…
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River of Doubt Centennial Canoe Expedition Completed
Minnesota adventurers Dave Freeman and Paul Schurke, who have been in Brazil since late May canoeing the Amazon’s mythical “River of Doubt,” successfully completed their 400-mile expedition today. During this centennial year, they have retraced President Theodore Roosevelt’s epic 1914 first descent of the river that nearly cost him his life and now bears his name, the Rio Roosevelt. Despite the challenges that plagued the 1914 trek, Roosevelt commented repeatedly in his diary about the stunning beauty of the jungle. Dave and Paul were pleased to find that although some areas near the river have been cleared for pasture, most of the Rio Roosevelt remains as pristine as it was…
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Kayak Deck Slates for Navigation
Last year, I had a bunch of kayak deck slate stickers made to make them for sale again. I still have a bunch left and available for purchase. Deck slates are handy for taking notes while on the water, for tracking tide information and for keeping notes for navigation. Instructors also use them for writing down names and tracking how a student does during each exercise or paddle stroke. You write on a deck slate with a grease pencil, and the slates clean up easily either by rubbing the grease off with a wet finger or with an alcohol prep pad. The stickers are easy to apply. And stick to…
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Rhythm of the Hayes: Paddling Expedition to Hudson Bay
From Juan Pablo Quiñonez: The expedition will focus in creating a short film with “our connection to nature” as its theme. Two ecotourism and outdoor leadership students will embark on a remote route along the Hayes River from northern Lake Winnipeg through 610 kilometres of wilderness to arrive at their destination on the shores of Hudson Bay. Their journey will follow along a historic fur trade route and one of the few major rivers in Manitoba not influenced by hydroelectric development. Jennifer Ford and Juan Pablo Quinonez are students at Mount Royal University in Calgary; Juan Pablo is an international student from Guadalajara, Mexico and Jennifer grew up in Winnipeg.…
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Namby Pamby, the Kayaker and Minnehaha Falls
Minnesota is in flood. We’re getting lots of rain on top of lots of rain, which means that many of the streams and rivers are at some of their highest levels ever. If you’re a whitewater kayaker, your ears probably just perked up a little, because you know that the legendary whitewater rivers of Lake Superior’s north shore run the best during the spring runoff when the water is cold. It’s June and the water is somewhat warm, which means warm whitewater on the north shore. But that’s not all, 53-foot Minnehaha Falls on the Minnehaha Creek in Minneapolis hit an all time record high yesterday. Apparently, there was a huge…
