Slow-motion paddle carving. A lifelong kayaker, I’ve only just begun to explore canoe paddles. But so far this one is my favorite: a simple beavertail shape carved out of a $10 stick of Home Depot “white wood”. ___ This post was originally featured on our Instagram feed. See the original post and discussion here....
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Video: Canoe self rescue practice
The only way to know if your self rescue is actually going to work in real life conditions is to practice a LOT. Through endless repetition in all kinds of conditions you figure out what works and what doesn’t and solve all the little problems BEFORE you discover them in real life emergency. My...
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Video: A glassy paddle in the Columbia River Gorge
It seems like every single time I need to test a new canoe sail this is what happens...you never see water this glassy in the Columbia River Gorge....
Various sailing bits and bobbles
Various sailing bits and bobbles for my adventures with more canvas than is advisable in such a tiny canoe....
Testing canoes in the Columbia Gorge
Out in the Columbia Gorge to test the new canoe design in all sorts of wind and wave conditions. Unfortunately today’s conditions are good for little more than glamour shots!...
Video: Light winds, sailing the newest canoe
I rescued this little red sprit sail from the dump ten years ago and finally got around to making a quick and dirty set of spars for it yesterday. A fun toy for very light winds and exciting in a gust! ___ This post was originally featured on our Instagram feed. See the original...
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Developing the canoe plans
We post occasionally about shooting video, but the other half of our online instruction is the plan sets. Liz has been translating sketches and notes into diagrams and documentation as we head into the final stretch before we release the canoe designs. Rather than a traditional set of boat plans, the plan set accompanying...
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Claire stopped by a few weeks ago to test
Claire stopped by a few weeks ago to test paddle an F1. She’s building her own this winter for a solo kayak journey from source to sea on the Columbia River next summer. She’ll spend 3 months paddling 2000 kilometres between Canal Flats BC and Astoria Oregon, documenting the journey in photographs and an...
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My latest cockpit arrangement for the new canoes
Pictured above is my latest cockpit arrangement for the new canoes. 4 inch diameter pool noodles lashed to either side makes this canoe self dumping when turned on its side in a rescue scenario. The Thermarest RidgeRest pad becomes a $20 seat that can be folded or moved in lots of different configurations but...
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Salvage canoe paddle: Part 2
Salvage canoe paddle: Part 2, Found a broken coffee table on the side of the road and couldn’t resist. Shaft, Douglas fir. Blade, some wood I had hoped was Cherry, but wasn’t....
Salvage canoe paddle: Part 1
Salvage canoe paddle: Part 1 Found this broken coffee table on the side of the road and couldn’t resist. Shaft, Douglas fir. Blade, some wood that I had hoped was cherry, but wasn’t....
Lukas’s F1 kayak
It’s been all canoes, all the time the last few weeks while we prep the building course for release, but check out this F1 built by Lukas in Vermont, from our kayak building course and plans. Lukas documented his whole build on the Student Builds blog on our website. We love to see the...
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Canoe fitting
Canoe fitting. Tom is going to be carrying this canoe for 33 days, climbing over 125 miles to an altitude over 17,000 ft, so trying the canoe on for size seemed like a good idea. When I heard about what Tom and Kyle of The Weight We Carry are doing – carrying canoes to...
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14’ full size solo canoe with an 11′ double-paddle canoe
14’ full size solo canoe with an 11' double-paddle pack canoe. 29lbs and 17lbs respectively. We're packing up the 14 footer and its nesting sister canoe this week to send to Nepal with The Weight We Carry, where they'll be portaged to Everest base camp....
Early morning in the shop
Early morning in the shop, building stuff, teaching stuff, filming stuff....