• An example of three ranges on a chart.
    Technique

    Navigation: Ranges

    When paddling, if you line up two features — artificial or natural — you have the makings of a range. A range is a type of line of position that can help you stay on course or help you find your position on the map (think of a line of position as an imaginary line that runs between you and an other point. It helps you find your position on the map). For a range, imagine a line that runs from the two lined-up features to your boat. As long as the two features remain lined up, you are somewhere along that imaginary line. If you can find those features…

  • St. Frances free canoe plans.
    Free Canoe Plans,  Free Kayak and Canoe Plans

    1865 St. Francis Canoe Plans

    The 1865 St. Francis 2-Fathom Canoe appears as Figure 80 in The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America. It represents the typical form of a late-19th century St. Francis canoe, which, as described by Howard I. Chapelle, has high-peaked ends, a quick upsweep to the top of the stems, a vertical end profile with a short radius turn from the keel and rocker that occurs only in the ends of the canoe. By the middle of the 19th century, Chapelle notes that the St. Francis were building a fine canoe and selling them to sportsmen. These models became the standard for hunting and fishing in Quebec. Because of…

  • Example of aiming-off on a marine chart.
    Technique

    Navigation: Aiming Off

    When you’re paddling to a destination located somewhere along a nondescript shoreline, it’s easy to miss your target even if you took an exact bearing. There are lots of reasons why this might happen, some of those reasons include wind or current pushing you off course, lack of attention, slight inaccuracy in your compass reading or maybe magnetic deviation. But, the truth is that it’s hard to end up at an exact location without a visual clue. In situations like this, use a technique called aiming off to make sure you end up at your desired destination. How to Aim Off To aim off, you deliberately set a course off…

  • Skin-on-frame kayak and kayaker ready to hunt.
    The Lightweight Philosophy

    Experiential Values in Lightweight Canoe and Kayak Travel

    In A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold argues cultural values make and feed a healthy culture. For outdoor sports, he outlines three types of experiential values that provide nutrition to the sporting culture. These values apply to the modern lightweight movement as well as they do to the hook-and-bullet sports he writes about. Awareness and practice of these values enhances our experiences while traveling light. The three cultural values that Leopold defines are: Experiences that remind of us of our distinctive origins and evolution. He calls this “split-rail” values presumably after split-rail fences that personify the American pioneer homestead and the frontier spirit. Experiences that remind us of our dependency…

  • Fram Museum 1888 West Greenland kayak.
    Free Kayak and Canoe Plans,  Free Kayak Plans

    Fram Museum 1888 West Greenland Kayak Plans

    When I visited the Fram Museum in Olso, Norway, I fell in love with a West Greenland kayak displayed as part of the Fram collection. The kayak is Fram number 176. Native Greenlanders built the kayak in 1888 for one of arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen’s colleagues after Nansen’s successful crossing of the Greenland icecap (Sea Kayaker article about the Fram kayaks). The kayak has a sweeping sheer, little stern rocker, and an extra partial chine half-way between the chine and sheer near the bow. Leather and bone decklines decorate the kayak’s deck. Plates, pegged to the boat, protect the bow and stern. The lines appear in Harvey Golden’s Kayaks of…

  • Sleeping Bags

    Sierra Designs Lazer 30 Review

    All summer, I used the 2010 Sierra Designs Lazer 30 as my only sleeping bag — for one trip report, check out the Sea Gull Lake loop trip report. I bought it to supplement my excellent Mountain Smith Wisp 800-fill down sleeping bag with a synthetic. Although, I don’t worry about getting a down bag wet on paddling trips, sometimes I just like synthetics, because the smell of down doesn’t always agree with me. I also wanted a sleeping bag that would quickly dry after washing it. The 2010 version of Sierra Designs’ Lazer is an “ultralight” synthetic bag. It features a flexible mid-section, a jacket-style hood, an ergonomically shaped…

  • Kayaks in the Lofoten Islands.
    Trip Reports

    Fram Museum Kayaks and Kayaking Gear

    In 2008, I visited Norway to kayak and be a tourist. The trip started in Oslo with visits to the museums. Then we flew north to kayak in the Lofoten Islands. After the Lofoten Islands, we kayaked in Aurlandsfjorden near Flåm. The scenery was stunning the entire trip —  it’s the type of place that you can drop a camera and get a great picture. Even though the scenery was overwhelming and the kayaking good, I enjoyed the museums the most. Seeing my first “real” traditional Greenland kayak and the accompanying gear was one highlight. The Fram Museum in Oslo houses the polar ship Fram, which still holds the record…

  • Free Walrus sea kayak plans.
    Free Kayak and Canoe Plans,  Free Kayak Plans

    Free Walrus Kayak Plans

    In 1921, Norman L. Skene surveyed the 1921 Peabody Museum’s Southwest Greenland kayak. Taken by the lines, he drew up plans for a westernized version, which he named Walrus. For the Walrus, he widened the boat to 22 inches, lowered the deadrise and designed a larger cockpit. Construction changed from bent ribs and animal skin to dimensional lumber, truss-like framing and canvas skin. He published the free plans in the June 1923 issue of The Rudder. By the time Skene published the article, many kayaks of his design had already been built. Builders noted that the design was seaworthy and easy to learn to paddle. Recently, George Putz covered building…

  • Canoe and kayak building books on the floor.
    Books, Videos, and Movies

    Review of Canoe and Kayak Building Books

    If you want to build a kayak or canoe from the free plans found on PaddlingLight, you should buy a couple of canoe or kayak building books. Most use different methods, which you can combine to make your boat uniquely your’s. There are lots of books out there to cover in a review, so I’m going to break them down into different categories and arrange them from the first to buy to the last. I’ll write a quick one-paragraph review. I’m leaving lots of books off this list, because I think these are the best. Cedar Strip Kayak Building Books Most of the plans that I do are designed for…

  • Two compasses showing magnetic deviation.
    Technique

    Understanding Magnetic Deviation

    Magnetic forces contained within your kayak can cause your compass to read an incorrect bearing. This type of error is known as magnetic deviation. With 1 degree of compass error, over a mile, you’ll end up about 92 feet away from your destination. If your deviation is extreme like shown in the image, you could completely miss your target by over 1.7 miles on a 10 mile crossing. Worse still, deviation varies as you turn your kayak. For example, you might have a negative 10 degree error when pointing northwest, but that might change to a positive three when pointing southwest. Making a chart showing the deviation error at each…

  • Free kayak plans 1921 SW Greenland kayak
    Free Kayak and Canoe Plans,  Free Kayak Plans,  Kayaks

    Free Plans: 1921 Southwest Greenland Kayak

    In 1921, Norman L. Skene took the lines off of the Peabody Museum’s Southwest Greenland kayak. Those lines, drawn by Howard I. Chapelle, appear as figure 207 in The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America. The kayak is similar in length and width to the 1883 Southwestern Greenland kayak with a few differences. The 1921 kayak shows little rocker, whereas, according to Chapelle, the 1883 kayak shows about the most amount used in a southwestern style. The 1921 boat shows both less deadrise and less flare than the 1883 boat. Also, the sheer line is less sweeping than the 1883 kayak. Chapelle notes that both the 1883 and…

  • Integral Designs SilTarp 2
    Shelters

    Rab SilTarp 2 Review

    The Rab SilTarp 2 is an 8 feet by 10 feet silicone nylon tarp targeted at the fast and light crowd. Rab uses a 30-denier, 1.1 oz. parachute, rip-stop nylon impregnated with 1/4 oz. of silicone. This level of impregnation gives the nylon the ability to withstand 1 lb. per square inch or the equivalent of 2 feet depth of water pressure. They claim that’s enough to withstand leaks from even strongest rainstorms.  The tarp has 16 nylon webbing loops sewn to the corners and at 2-foot intervals along the edges. A ridge-line seam, that needs seam sealing, runs 10 feet down the center of the tarp. An additional tie…

  • Kayaking through a sea arch at the Manitou River.
    Routes,  Trip Reports

    Manitou River Kayaking Trip Report

    If a kayaking trip included one arch, one cave and one waterfall, I’d call it a winner. By that definition, the trip from Sugarloaf Cove to the Manitou River on Lake Superior wins the world championship. During the 11 mile round-trip, you will paddle past three arches that you can kayak through and many others above the waterline. You’ll see two postcard worthy waterfalls, paddle past towering palisades, kayak into caves (one with a waterfall falling down over the entrance) and encounter mansions and old fishing buildings. Rock from Keweenawan lava flows and intrusions makes up the shoreline and the presence of glaciers gone shows itself with gouge marks. A…

  • 1883 Southwestern kayak 3-D plan view
    Free Kayak and Canoe Plans,  Free Kayak Plans,  Kayaks

    Free Kayak Plans: 1883 Southwestern Greenland Kayak

    The original survey for the 1883 Southwestern Greenland kayak appears in The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America (Figure 206). Howard I. Chapelle, the surveyor, writes that this kayak represent one of the last southwestern Greenland boats of the old style, a style characterized by a strong sweeping sheer at the bow and stern. This kayak shows what Chapelle believed was close to the maximum amount of rocker used in a southwestern-style kayak. The original survey shows bone plates pegged to the bow and stern to protect the kayak from landing and launch on ice. Chapelle writes that the old form was a fast and handy hunting boat.…

  • Kelty Noah Tarp
    Shelters

    Kelty Noah Tarp Review

    If you’re looking for an easy-to-pitch, inexpensive tarp to use as a camp kitchen or shelter near the campfire, then Kelty’s Noah Tarp is it. The Noah Tarp is a catenary cut, easy-to-pitch tarp. It features 12 guy-points, tapped seams and quick-adjust line tensioners. It ships with a long but narrow stuff sack and guy lines. Stakes are sold separately. Noah Tarp is Easy to Use The tarp’s sides measures 9 feet by 9 feet, and although its sides measure the same, the diamond shape limits the usable space, which makes it good for a kitchen or dry area near the fire but not large enough to sleep comfortably under.…