A short edit from a second trip to the upper John Day River. With the water draining out fast this was actually too low to run. It was bump and scrape the whole time, which is pretty hard on my standard lay up cloth and coating combo. I could always go with heavier cloth...
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Rory’s yellow cedar tandem canoe
Check out this latest student built Tandem Canoe. 16’3” x 36” 49lbs (complete) with an all yellow cedar frame. Rory did an incredible job building, but also documenting his entire build on our Student Builds Blog. (I’ve included some screenshots below.) “We got this boat out on the water over the weekend for the...
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A warning to sensitive viewers…
A warning to sensitive viewers: these images contain explicit depictions of canoes, Jeeps, fishing poles, and rivers and may not be appropriate for all audiences....
Video: A couple more solo canoe self rescue clips
Here’s a couple more solo Canoe self rescue clips. Both of these are the same rescue from different vantages. Just like last time I also did the same rescue with a 40 pound camping gear load, with similar results. This is my second time trying this and things are getting a little bit smoother....
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Video: Capsize + self rescue testing in the solo canoe
AFTER my short run on the river I decided that it was probably a good idea to get some sense of what would happen if I accidentally capsized. If you turn the sound on you can hear me taking a moment to speak with the Lord during my first attempt here. Honestly, the number...
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On YouTube: Skin on frame canoe catamaran trip on the John Day River
Just a quick FYI, we finished and uploaded two full length videos about the John Day River Trip to the Cape Falcon Kayak YouTube Channel. The first is the full version of all the shorter videos we posted last week, and the second is a video of me talking about the boats and the...
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Video: Catching eddies and dodging rocks
Here’s a short edit of the same run I posted yesterday, but from the vantage of the canoe. Whether it’s continuous class IV in a creekboat or class II in this new canoe, catching eddies and dodging rocks on a shallow creek is definitely my happy place. It’s like playing an incredibly beautiful video...
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Video: A short river run in the solo canoe
After spending a day practicing maneuvers I felt reasonably confident that I could control the canoe, so the next morning Liz shuttled me a few miles upstream for a short run. Pro tip: if you want to catch that beautiful early morning filming light, it helps to remember to bring your paddle with you....
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Video: R&D in the new 14 foot solo on the Upper John Day
Last week we went back to the John Day River, this time on one of the upper sections for some R&D in the new 14 foot solo. I experimented with different seat positions, different float bag configurations, and different gear loads. The first day we parked next to a swift water section with plenty...
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Rainy day activities
Rainy day activities: This week I’m rigging the new 14 footer, trying to find the least worst float bags that are currently manufactured, and figuring out seat location and seat balance with various gear loads in various situations. So much of what I do it is just figuring out annoying little technical things. Like...
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Video: How tough is the skin?
For understandable reasons, the most common questions I get about skin on frame have to do with durability. Just like every boat the answer has to do with how it’s built. My general approach to choosing scantlings and coverings for my skin boats is to start out by building light and then abusing the...
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Video: John Day River trip, Day 8 on the river
John Day River Trip, Day 8 on the water. Most people who run this section of the John Day River take out at Cottonwood Canyon State Park, but we decided to go 20 miles further and take out at McDonald Crossing, the historic crossing site for the Oregon Trail. People typically don’t run this...
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Video: John Day River trip, Day 7 on the river
John Day River Trip, Day 7 on the water. Having fun with the music on this one. … continued from yesterday, the canoe catamaran system has gone through several evolutions since that first trip. For my pack canoes I put boards directly beneath the self rescue loops that are attached to the top of...
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Video: John Day River trip, Day 6 on the river
John Day River Trip, Day 6 on the river. People have probably been catamaraning canoes together since canoes existed but it’s not something you see much these days because modern composite construction isn’t compatible with the immense forces the outriggers place on the structure. How I got interested in this was literally an afterthought....
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Video: John Day River Trip, 5th day on the river
John Day River Trip, 5th day on the water. The single most important thing you can do to improve your experience on a river trip is to wake up early. And by early I don’t mean 7, I mean 5. This might not sound like something you want to do on vacation so let...
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