Trips and Adventures | Cape Falcon Kayak

Quetico Trip Report

August 2024August 2024Leave a comment

“Hi Brian, I saw your email today about the updates to the canoe course and it reminded me that I never sent a report on the trip to the Quetico / Boundary Waters. It was the first long journey with the canoe and it shined! We were in the Quetico for 11 days in...

Jake and Monty’s Northern Forest Canoe Trail (record-breaking??) trip

June 2024July 2024Leave a comment

Congratulations to Jake and Monty who likely just set a record time on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail in a tandem they built from our plans. The trail itself is 740 miles with 23 rivers and streams, 59 lakes and ponds, 45 communities, and 65 portages (totaling 70+ miles). It took them 17 1/2...

On YouTube: Notes from a bad day out

August 2022September 2022Leave a comment

Here’s some raw footage from a bad day out kayak sailing. Broke a rudder cable, burned through 2 cleats, started getting hit by 45mph gusts, (forecast was 15-20) missed my first roll ever under sail, swam for 1/2 an hour, and had to carry the kayak up 45 degree slopes covered with poison oak...

On YouTube: Kayak Catamaran Trip Report

August 2022September 2022Leave a comment

I just put up a full trip report on the Cape Falcon Kayak YouTube channel about our first serious test of the new sailing catamaran system! Some thing I haven’t mentioned yet is that we were dismasted the first day forcing us to camp on a postage-stamp sized island where I had to do significant...

On YouTube: Multi-day Skin on Frame Kayak Catamaran Trip in the Columbia River Gorge

August 2022September 2022Leave a comment

Here’s a short clip from a video I just posted to the Cape Falcon Kayak YouTube channel showing our new kayak catamaran system on a multi-day trip in the Columbia River Gorge. Full video below! Details for how to build the catamaran system are already in our skin on frame kayak building course, and we...

Video: Second day testing the kayak catamaran on a multi-day trip

July 2022June 2023Leave a comment

Second day testing the kayak catamaran on a multi day trip. These are pretty much ideal conditions which is why we were able to fly the Skydio drone. Liz is steering and I’m flying the drone. Wind is blowing about 8mph boats are going about 4-5mph. Ditched the center sail yesterday after a somewhat...

Video: First multi day trip in the kayak catamaran

July 2022June 2023Leave a comment

First multi day trip in the kayak catamaran. Wind speed 10-15. Current 1-2mph against us. Total sail area 3.17 sq meters. Boat Speed 5-6mph. Not bad…. ...

Video: Rattlesnakes near camp

July 2022July 2023Leave a comment

Just wanted to share this great clip of a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake that Liz took while filming the river kayak on our last camping trip. If you turn the sound on you can hear the river. I didn’t see this one because I was in a kayak, but I saw them every day that...

James + Edward’s circumnavigation of Anglesey in F1 kayaks

November 2021July 2023Leave a comment

I want to share something really special today. This summer James Doherty and his son Edward circumnavigated Anglesey in F1 kayaks they built with Ant Mace of Shipshape boat works in Bristol, England. James put together this lovely YouTube video showing them building the boats and making the trip. Anglesey is a tough nut...

Just spent three days at an undisclosed location

September 2021September 2022Leave a comment

Just spent three days at an undisclosed location in the mountains getting some much needed footage of all four of our kayaks on the water. Living with the chronic illness these missions are always pretty hard on the body, but I’m extremely happy with what we ended up with. Some very good stuff to...

On YouTube: Solo skin-on-frame canoe test

July 2021September 2022Leave a comment

Check out the Cape Falcon Kayak YouTube Channel for the full version of this lovely little video I stitched together from our time testing the latest solo on the upper John Day river. For technical reasons natural audio isn’t usually usable but it seemed to work out this time so I just let nature do...

Video: Can anyone tell me what animal is making this noise?

July 2021July 2023Leave a comment

Can anyone tell me what animal is making this noise? Last week while we were filming at a remote mountain lake in southern Washington state, I was out on the lake fishing before sunrise when I heard what almost sounded like metal clanking echoing off the cliffs. It reminded me of the sound of...

Video: Instagram vs real life

July 2021July 2023Leave a comment

I’m frequently envious of how my own life looks on social media. Building beautiful boats and paddling them in stunning locations, man that’s the life! The reality of course is that building and paddling is only a small part of the job. I think we each lost a pint of blood last weekend to mosquitoes....

Video: Running a class II rapid with the latest solo canoe

July 2021July 2023Leave a comment

Been shooting a lot of GoPro footage lately but I’m not totally sure what to do with it. I don’t get quite the same satisfaction out of editing compilations from the same point of view but it is cool to be able to bring people into the “drivers seat”, and I learn a lot...

man running a river in a skin on frame solo canoe

Video: A scrapy run in the solo canoe

June 2021July 2023Leave a comment

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...