John Day river trip, 4th day on the water. Camping immediately above a 45° round rock slope made loading the Canoes a bit treacherous the next morning. I often turn the canoes upside down at camp and tie rocks to the seats to keep the strong up canyon winds from stealing them. For whatever...
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Video: John Day River trip, 3rd day on the river
John Day River Trip, 3rd day on the river. There’s music here. If you’re wondering why I spent two posts describing a single rapid, it’s because there are four separate articles in travel magazines right now that make the John Day sound like something you can do with zero experience after a quick trip...
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Video: John Day River trip, 2nd day on the river
John Day river trip, 2nd day on the river. In the last post I described the mile long rapid called Clarno, including the most consequential portion called lower Clarno. I’ve run this once in a (specially-designed) skin on frame kayak at 4000 CFS, which was fairly uneventful, and once at 2000 CFS in skin...
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Video: John Day River trip, 2nd day on the river
John Day River Trip, 2nd day on the river. FYI, there’s music. The Clarno to Cottonwood stretch of the John Day river is guarded by a mile long rapid called Clarno. Like most rapids, it’s fast with powerful holes at high water and bony with numerous pin spots at low water. I haven’t run...
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Video: John Day River trip, 1st day on the river
John Day River Trip, 1st day on the water. As usual there’s music if you’re into that. The 70 mile popular section of the John Day river between Clarno and Cottonwood cuts through a deep desert canyon. To limit river traffic, the BLM has instituted a permit system which I am very supportive of....
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John Day River Trip, Post 2
John Day River Trip, Post 2. While I try to summon the courage to start working on the 20 hours of video we shot, here’s a few more pictures from the trip. I’ll spend more time going into detail on the video posts but basically the point of this trip was to push last...
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John Day River Trip, Post 1
John Day River Trip, Post 1 We just spent a week on the John Day River testing last year’s solo nesting canoes. These sorts of trips are pretty brutal for me because of my medical issues, so if we could forgo the “Good to see you on the water looking so healthy!” comments, it...
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A quick preview of the latest canoe
Just a quick preview of the Canoe I just finished building. I have so much to say about this latest canoe but unfortunately I’m pressed for time at the moment and I’m not going to be near the boat or my phone for at least a week so for now I’ll just share the...
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Video: Sunlight reflecting through the skin
Being able to see the water through the boat is one of the cooler things about skin on frame construction. I’m mostly concerned with waterline widths and turbulence, which is why I appreciate Liz pointing out this special moment of sunlight reflecting at the waters edge....
Gabe’s canoes
I feel like I’m always singing the praises of Gabe at Tufts & Batson these days. A professional bamboo fly rod maker and all around meticulous crafts person, Gabe purchased our course last year and has been cranking out a couple canoes a month ever since. The thing that makes our system unique is...
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Oiling the frame with Corey’s Pine Tar Boat Sauce
Generally I finish my frames with Watco danish oil, not because it has any special marine properties but just because it’s relatively inexpensive, it penetrates well, and it dries quickly. In any project where you can’t paint all the surfaces you don’t want a hard encapsulation because water is just going to get behind...
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Experimenting with tumblehome
I like skin on frame construction because it’s the only type of boat building where it’s practical to be an experimental designer. I can build something, try it, and then build another one the next week and try that, and then build another one two weeks later, until eventually I build some thing that...
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On YouTube: New solo canoe — with tumblehome!
We just posted a video about the latest solo canoe on the Cape Falcon Kayak YouTube channel. Lots of juicy detail and in depth design discussion. Enjoy!...
Video: Skin on frame solo canoe testing
Skin on Frame Solo Canoe Testing. There’s music here and full specs in the previous post. For a variety of technical reasons it’s actually quite difficult to design a good skin on frame solo canoe, but this latest effort increases my confidence that it might actually be possible to create something that a serious...
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Latest skin on frame solo canoe specs
Latest Skin on Frame Solo Canoe Specs: Just the physical details in this post. On the water videos and a full paddling report tomorrow! 15’3” long 28” gunwale width 29.5” max width 26” waterline width w/160lbs. 12.5” deep 1.75” stern rocker 2.25” bow rocker Asymmetrical, plan and profile Total weight: 32.5 lbs with seat....
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