Paddling into 2013

Codger_64 said:
Want to see a shame?


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A dirty rotting shame.
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http://dragonflycanoe.com/wood-canoe-identification-guide/chestnut-canoe-company/
 
protourist said:
Thanks Codger. I do turn it around when I solo, the problem comes into play when I'm with SWMBO. She is far too light to make up for my weight. Perhaps adding some extra fishing gear and anchors may be just the ticket. Or perhaps I could lose some weight.:D
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If the wind is up, I sometimes scrounge flat river rocks to make up for Jake's lightness to keep the bow down. Jake weighs 40 or so, I am 185 without gear, so 100# of stones usually is enough. And then I add them to my pile at home I am saving for a sidewalk.
 
Codger_64 said:
Then you might like the Old Town Discovery series or the Stillwater or Sarnac. Box stores like Dicks and Gander have them a bit cheaper. And some models can be had in dark olive or even camo.
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Thanks. I might look around in the used market locally first.
 
I've bought my last two and sold one on Craigslist. Just keep up a search (City)/Craigslist/boats/canoe. I search a five state area when I am looking. And figure price + driving time and expense. From an individual it does usually save sales tax too so there is that discount. And being willing to take a functional scratch-n-dent makes a difference.

Here is the Blue Hole Starburst I have been working hard to ignore. Without much luck. If I put it off long enugh, someone else will surely buy this project and remove the temptation. I've not seen many white hulls with wood gunnels.

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The guy who bought my '63 Falcon Saturday drove in from Virginia, 10-11 hours each way. I don't know how close you are to the coast, but Biloxi/Mobile/New Orleans and Pensacola sometimes show good deals. If you are up North, consider South to mid Arkansas maybe West Mississippi and East Texas cities. And occasionally you will find a motivated seller who will meet you part-way.
 
Woodrow F Call said:
I'm South.
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A brief search shows a bunch of canoes not too far from you in the $200-$400 price range, used, some fiberglass oldies and some newer plastics. And one very nice kevlar canoe for around a grand, about 1/3rd MSRP. And everything inbetween.
 
DANG Codger, that thing is outfitted and everything!Waddaya wait'in on? Only needs four sticks and some screws.:confused::)
Codger_64;

Here is the Blue Hole Starburst I have been working hard to ignore. Without much luck. If I put it off long enugh, someone else will surely buy this project and remove the temptation. I've not seen many white hulls with wood gunnels.

t6xqxd.jpg
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mewolf1 said:
DANG Codger, that thing is outfitted and everything!Waddaya wait'in on? Only needs four sticks and some screws.:confused::)
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And a Mewolf1 inbound to put them on! Yeah, the foam would have to come out, thwarts and seats refinished etc. and a set of "sticks" installed by someone who knows what they are doing. Hull ends and sides are good but pictures of the bottom are suspiciously absent. Maybe I could send it to Mike Yee to be refitted. Wonder what he charges for a restore and tandem WW outfitting? And more importantly, what color float bags and webbing? You know you have to look good to feel good. Red or blue? I'm not into purple or lavender.
 
No one going to post a current paddling video? Ok, here is David Robertson and friends this past Sunday playing on the Mulberry River in Arkansas. As you might notice, the water is still quite low. But enough flow for a bit of surfing in the yaks and solo canoes. Even a brief glimpse of a duo going downstream in a tandem tripper of some sort at 6:20. I couldn't make out their outfitting, but I am pretty certain there was no center floatation bag. People on the forum are already chattering about rain in the forecast (last night's rain wasn't enough to affect river levels much) and a sunny weekend upcoming. The video is just unedited raw footage, better with the sound off and your own music playing..

[video=youtube;Ni0nRcODSGg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni0nRcODSGg[/video]

ETA: Some beta on the river itself.
http://southwestpaddler.com/docs/arkansas7.html
 
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What's amazing to me is that those guys seem to be able to actually go against the current and or remain stationary? :eek:
-Bruce
 
Ballenxj said:
What's amazing to me is that those guys seem to be able to actually go against the current and or remain stationary? :eek:
-Bruce
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It is the hull shape. It has a flat "pan" in the center and that is the part of the canoe where they "surf" and spin. In those currents, only the top part of the water is going downstream. A few inches down, it is circulating back upstream, or at least moving much slower than the water on top. It is like a submerged eddy. And the surface is depressed in some of those spots so they are "surfing" back downhill toward the drop or obstruction, even though pointed upstream. In some conditions, this can be done in a recreational canoe, but not often. In part because the hulls are longer with little or no rocker (rise from middle to ends) and bridge the hydraulic, and have hard (sharper) chines (angles where the sides and bottoms meet) that catches the current rather than let it flow unimpeded under the side of the hull. One can heel (lean) a harder chined canoe for the same effect to side surf sometimes, but it is difficult to maintain.

At least that is how one old Codger understands it. And I've been wrong before.
 
I was in a toursit raft on the Little Pidgeon once and we surfed a bit. Pretty bizarre feeling to be sitting still and feel like the world is rushing by underneath you. Would could feel the rumble and the water on either side was strong.

I have done some river fishing in John boats but have yet to try canoes.

Bill
 
lmalterna said:
I was in a toursit raft on the Little Pidgeon once and we surfed a bit. Pretty bizarre feeling to be sitting still and feel like the world is rushing by underneath you. Would could feel the rumble and the water on either side was strong.

I have done some river fishing in John boats but have yet to try canoes.

Bill
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My first experiences in canoes were on a small quiet lake at a military academy in Chattanooga back in the sixties. We had a few training sessions in an indoor pool, experience on the lake and then a floatilla trip down the adjacent Tennessee River. It helps to learn paddle strokes, balance and control on quiet water first, then learn how to read and navigate easy moving water. The film I posted early in this thread was filled with people who were attempting class II water with no skills or experience. Outfitters seldom give any instruction or much advice.
 
It does have those alu-minium gunnels though, not quite so astheticly pleasing as ash. But on the bright side, they are not bent and bashed like I've seen on many older Blue Holes. Including the ones I rented (and bent). "Left! Go left!" Bam! Wifey and I hit a boulder powerstroking down a rapid. It threw me into the middle of the canoe. It threw her prone over the bow. That metal bow plate was bent straight up. It didn't hurt the hull or the rock.
 
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