Book Reviews

Jacobson, Expedition Canoeing. Connecticut, The Globe Pequot Press, 2001.

Cliff Jacobson lays down the law of canoeing big and small rivers of the Canadian North. He covers details such as researching, picking a canoe, picking gear, navigation, cooking, hazards and rescue, and much more. Jacobson also includes other great Canadian explorers as additional voices to enhance his book. You’ll here from such greats as Verlen Kruger, Bob O’Hara, and many others. If you buy one book on how to canoe, this should be it.

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Excerpt: page 53: “Some people are turned on by beautiful cars. With me, it’s canoes. So it was natural that I pour on the coal when just downriver I saw what appeared to be a gleaming new wood-canvas canoe. I hailed the paddlers – a middle-aged couple from Nebraska – and slipped quietly alongside. Sure enough, it was wood and canoe – and a 1928 Old Town to boot”¦.”

Dennis, Jerry, From a Wooden Canoe: Reflections on Canoeing, Camping, and Classic Equipment, New York, Thomas Dunne Books, 1999

You can tell from the mosquitoes and black flies squashed between the pages of my copy that this book is best read next to a lake at night in the middle of the Boundary Waters. Jerry Dennis writes with authority about all things old-fashion. The anthology of his essays, most of which appeared first in Canoe and Kayak Magazine, begins with a call back to the perfection of a wooden canoe, moves on to talk about old thermoses, cast iron, and finally ends with an essay about paddling at dawn. Each individual essay is the perfect bite sized chunk to read before falling asleep after a hard day of paddling, and all the essays taken together add up to a masterpiece.

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Excerpt: page 73: “Camping manuals often recommend packing those dinky folding camp saws, some of which have nothing more than a length of serrated wire for a blade. The implication is that cutting wood on a camping trip is no big dead and you might not want to bother bringing a saw at all. Sure, you can break enough wood over your knee to get by, if all you want from a fire is enough heat to warm your Spam and maybe smoke-dry a pair of socks. But if you’re after more than mere utility you flat-out need a decent saw and an ax.”

Curran, David, Canoe Trip: Alone in the Maine Wilderness. Pennsylvania, Stackpole Books, 2002.

This is a modern tale of a canoeist, who is struck by the soloist bug and strikes off into the Maine wilderness by himself with just a canoe. The story revolves around five short solo trips and how Curran deals with being solo. He recounts struggles against massive waves, his families past, and gives a detailed account about what it feels like being solo in the woods. This is an enjoyable and fast read that I think you will love.

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Excerpt: page 19: “After a drink, I began to think about the water rushing past nearby. How could it be on my left? Is it a swollen converging stream? I could remember none marked on my map in this area. Then again, I couldn’t recall a swamp being marked either. I was worried. I went to my pack for my map and compass. I wore no waist pouch back then. I searched the top pockets and then the rear, and then the sides. I opened the pack up. They weren’t there. I was confused. Then it struck me. I must have left them in the boat. I would have to go back.”