Canyon Coolers’ New Spray Promises To De-funkify

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March 7, 2018

Photo: Canyon Coolers — New Canyon Coolers cleaning spray.

The following is a press release from Canyon Coolers.

Nothing tells the story of an epic adventure like a well-used cooler. And let’s be honest, after your multi-day excursion comes to a close, the last task you want to take on is cleaning your ice chest immediately upon your arrival home. It’s a good reason why most of us don’t, and against our inner voice of reason, leave the daunting task for another day. The result is not just a hard to clean cooler, but a hard to deodorize one with an odor so strong it’ll keep even the hungriest of bears at bay. That’s why high-performance cooler manufacturer, Canyon Coolers has introduced the ultimate cleaning/deodorizing spray that’ll take on any stench with stride: the new Canyon Coolers D-Funk Cooler Cleaning Spray.

Canyon Coolers are seriously rugged and while they can certainly take on any beating the Great Outdoors can dish out, taking great care of your cooler on the inside will ensure it’s always fresh and ready for your next big adventure. Whether you spent the weekend fishing, camping or just returned from your hunt of a lifetime, Canyon’s D-Funk Cooler Cleaning Spray will erase the presence of any odor accumulated from the likes of meat blood, fish slime, spilled beverages or spoiled food. How does it do it? Canyon Coolers’ new D-Funk incorporates Double Down Technology, which works at a molecular level, neutralizing and virtually eliminating the most stubborn odors as well as mold and mildew.

Not only is the D-Funk cooler cleaner effective, its natural formula contains no bleach or harsh chemicals and rinses clean with no residue. This means it’s environmentally safe so you can use it anywhere from the boat dock to the cabin without concern. In fact, D-Funk is up for cleaning challenges beyond the ice chest where using harsh chemicals around food can be an issue like refrigerators, deodorizing plastic containers, and more.

MSRP for the D-Funk Cooler Cleaning Spray is $14.99.

Canyon Coolers manufactures ridiculously cold, seriously tough coolers to keep food and beverages cold for not just days, but weeks. Ultra-tough in design from the drain plugs, latches, and handles these coolers are designed to take a beating from the hot sun in stride. Canyon Coolers are used by hunters, anglers, rafters, outdoor enthusiasts —and anyone else whose adventures are fueled by seriously cold refreshments. To learn more about Canyon Coolers’ full-line of premium, ridiculously cold and seriously tough coolers.

Alpacka Raft Launches The Caribou

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Press Release: Alpacka Raft

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March 5, 2018

Photo: Alpacka Raft — New raft from Alpacka Raft new available.

The following is a press release from Alpacka Raft.

Alpacka Raft, the industry leader in research and development of modern packrafting, today announced the launch of its new Caribou packraft, a front-end loading and ultralight packraft that offers a modern take on an original classic.

The Caribou is the lightest and most packable full-size packraft on the market. A new and innovative bow design at the front of the boat means the boat is built to carry bikes, full-sized packs, big game, and other heavy loads, while keeping the boat balanced on and off water. The Caribou weighs in at only four pounds and 12 ounces.

“By bringing the Caribou to market, we wanted to provide a better boat for specific uses,” said Thor Tingey, Apacka Raft CEO. “The Caribou, coupled with our new Late Rise Bow, is the ideal packraft for ultralight solo hunting, backpacking, and bikerafting. We’re excited to see what adventures our customers choose to take the Caribou on in the coming months and years.”

Additional features of the Caribou include:

Handmade in Mancos, Colorado
Single valve that provides high pressure one-way inflation and easy deflation with a quick twist of the valve core
Full-size standard seat
210d High Count Nylon lightweight polyurethane coated tubes
840d Nylon Floor
Handle on bow for easy dragging and portaging with gear on the bow
4 bow strap plates oriented for optimal bike attachment, 2 stern grab loops, and a floor loop to attach the seat
Optional Cargo Fly (for internal storage in the tubes of the boat)
Optional custom Titan-Straps bike strap kit
Includes: inflation bag, seat stuff sack, and repair kit

The Caribou packraft is available for purchase at select international retailers and on the Alpacka Raft website. Available in Persimmon and Mallard Green colors, the Caribou retails for $795 without the Cargo Fly and $945 with.

About Alpacka Raft

Alpacka Raft started in the fall of 2000 as a collaboration between Sheri Tingey, the designer behind the products, and her son Thor, who had just completed a 600-mile packrafting traverse of Alaska’s Brooks Range and had some ideas for how to make a better performing packraft.

Alpacka Raft seeks to design and hand craft the most innovative, premium packrafts available. They strive for a legacy of leadership, stewardship, and support that allows their community of diverse boaters a lifetime of use and adventure-driven fun. Every Alpacka Raft, from cutting the fabric to putting the final touches on a spray deck, is made by hand and shipped to customers from the Alpacka factory in Mancos, Colorado, under the Made in USA standard. Alpacka Raft is one of the largest employers in town.

8 facts about the history of the Canvas

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Canadian Canoe Culture, Scott MacGregor

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March 1, 2018

Photo by: Becky Mason — A man sitting under a canvas tent.

Here are 8 facts about the history of the Canvas

1. The Woods brand, relied upon by early explorers, pioneers, adventurers and outdoorsmen, has recently been purchased by the national department store chain Canadian Tire, which now produces nylon tents lucky to last a drunken long weekend with the boys.

2. Pablo Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust was painted in 1932 and auctioned in 2010 at Christies in New York City for $106.5 million. This oil on canvas painting set a new world record price for a five-foot piece of durable plain-woven fabric.

3. While canvas was traditionally made of hemp, modern canvas is usually made of cotton or linen fibers. These fibers are woven in two basic types: plain and duck. The threads in duck canvas are more tightly woven. The term duck comes from the Dutch word for cloth, doek.

4. Brown duck canvas was the creation of Hamilton Carhartt. Carhartt’s overalls for railroad workers were first advertised in a 1929 catalogue. These trendy “new 10-ounce brown duck bib” overalls revolutionized clothing for the working class and dirtbag paddlers everywhere.

5. The keel on the bottom of a cedar canvas canoe is primarily to protect the canvas during launchings and landings. Some paddlers argue the benefits of a keel for increased tracking and straight-ahead paddling. You will find these canoeists circling neighborhoods, going door to door to drum up support for their misguided opinions.

6. Local governments in the United States have passed laws to limit Americans’ ability to canvas. In 2002, Justice John Paul Stevens reconfirmed the Supreme Court’s conviction that canvassing is protected by U.S. First Amendment rights.

7. Recanvassing, on the other hand, is a completely natural process of rejuvenation. Headwaters Canoes of Wakefield, Quebec, says new canvas, filler and three coats of paint will cost $850, or $950 if it’s not one of their canoes. “We have rebuilt canvas canoes which have been blown off roof racks, run over by cars, crushed by falling trees, scorched by vandals, and smashed around on bedrock by severe winds.”

8. Bill Mason’s famous baker style campfire tent was not made of canvas, but rather, cotton. We think Bill would have appreciated Egyptian cotton. It is a difficult fabric to find, yet Egyptian cotton is strong, abrasion resistant and has a natural tendency to repel water. The tight weave makes it windproof but still able to breathe. A two-person baker style canvas tent weighs about 24 pounds whereas one sewn of Egyptian cotton is only 14 pounds. On long portage trips, I’m with The Bangles and would rather, “Walk Like An Egyptian.”

Scott MacGregor is the owner and publisher of Rapid Media, based in the Ottawa Valley on the banks of the Madawaska River.

This article first appeared in the 2015 Paddling Buyer’s Guide. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.

The Most Controversial Expedition Of The Year

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Paddling Magazine Staff

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March 1, 2018

Photo by: Kristin Locurto — Traci Lynn Martin standing on a beach next to her kayak.

On October 15, Traci Lynn Martin became the first person to circumnavigate North America’s three largest lakes in one season.

It was the 221st day of Martin’s controversial expedition, a trip that has been a source of much debate in the sea kayaking community. The original goal of the trip was to beat Freya Hoffmeister’s unofficial world record of longest solo sea kayak trip, made when Hoffmeister paddled 8,570 miles unassisted while circumnavigating Australia in 2009.

After unexpectedly frequent flares from rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic illness causing Martin extreme joint pain, she scaled back her plans. She decided instead to shoot for breaking the record of longest journey by surf ski, her craft of choice, currently held by Gerhard Moolman at 3,822 miles.

Martin’s background is in surf ski racing, which explains her unconventional choice of vessel for a multi-month expedition with major open water crossings. In fact, Martin’s original route had her circumnavigating all five Great Lakes and passing Prince Edward Island before paddling down the coast of Nova Scotia and Maine.

This is Martin’s first major expedition. At home in Kansas City she works as a neonatal nurse. She’s quick to admit to unwisely approaching this expedition with a racer’s mentality, having planned to simply power through challenges to get to the finish line.

In March, after two distress calls relating to ice and inexperience with dead reckoning navigation—one resulting in a rescue from Lake Huron’s icy waters—the Huron County Sheriff threatened to confiscate her kayak if a third call was made.

In the seven months since those incidents, Martin has learned much about expedition paddling. She’s circumnavigated Superior, Huron and Michigan during a spring and summer plagued by strong wind and heavy rain. Though she continued to push her own limits—her longest paddling day on this trip was 50 miles—she now knows when conditions are too bad to venture out.

The journey has come at personal cost—to fund the trip Martin spent from her retirement fund, left behind her family, and has been advised by her doctor the expedition could be doing long-term damage to her joints.

When I spoke to her on day 228 of her trip, she sounded exhausted and humbled. Here, in her own words, are answers to some of our more pressing questions about a trip that’s earned both harsh criticism and heartfelt congratulations from the kayaking community.

WHY A SURF SKI?

A surf ski is just a faster boat; it’s not debatable. I started out trying to do all five Great Lakes in one year and time is not on my side. I’m racing against the clock and racing against the seasons, so it makes sense to be in the fastest boat possible.

WHAT’S YOUR APPROACH TO SAFETY?

I have an eight-foot safety line, one end attached to my boat and the other end attached to the strap of my lifejacket. There have been instances of failure with the traditional Velcro leg leashes used on surf skis and I didn’t want to take that chance. There’s a second line attached to my boat and paddle. I have a backup paddle, which I switch to if my shoulders start hurting. I have all the essentials I need in my two hatches, so if I can’t make it to where my support driver is going to be, I’m always okay to pull off and camp.

WHO’S DRIVING YOUR EXPEDITION?

It’s important for others to know having a chronic illness doesn’t mean you have to stop living your life. When I was 20 years old I wanted to join the Peace Corps and explore the world. I saw myself as a strong, capable individual—nothing was going to stop me. I’ve always wondered what my life would be like had I taken that route. I’m 50 years old now and I’ve got rheumatoid arthritis. Every day it’s harder to get up and move. This was the last chance to prove to myself I could have been that person. That’s what drives me not to stop. I want to see if I’m as strong as I think I could have been on a different path in life.

WHERE DID YOU PROVE THAT?

Throughout the trip I’ve conquered things other people would not have done. By the time I finished paddling the remote waters of Lake Superior on the Canadian shoreline, I felt I had proven to myself that I have the resilience and the internal strength that can get lost when living in modern society.

WHEN DO YOU RESPOND TO CRITICISM?

I don’t. Looking back on the icy days in March, I know I’m more knowledgeable about what I’m doing. Now that I’ve paddled 3,500 miles, I know I did put myself in harm’s way. When the ice comes back, I’m done—I’m not going back out on that water.

This article first appeared in the 2015 Paddling Buyer’s Guide. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.

Why The Iconic de Havilland DHC-2 Floatplane Will Never Die

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Canadian Canoe Culture, James Raffan

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March 1, 2018

This past August, I found myself puddling around the harbor in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. I was on a standup paddleboard painting the hull of a ship called the Polar Prince. And there came on the wind the unmistakeable cough of a de Havilland Canada DHC-2. I could hear it long before I could see it.

As the aircraft taxied away from the wharf and into view in the main harbor I was hit by a tidal wave of nostalgia. Like an old auntie whose means have made possible just about every canoe trip I’d ever been on, that old floatplane—the de Havilland Beaver—is part of my family and an integral part of the lingering lore of a lifetime of wilderness travel.

For a moment, it looked as if the plane was going to run right into our ship. Instead, the pilot, Murray Hamer, shut down the engine and stepped out onto the pontoon and skirled a bag pipe serenade, presumably in recognition of the fact Polar Prince had just nearly completed a circumnavigation of the world’s longest coastline—from Toronto, Ontario to Victoria, B.C. In response to this salute, Jim Pearce, the chief mate of the Polar Prince, himself an accomplished strangler of the three-legged swan, struck his pipes and responded in-kind to the roar of the Beaver pulling away.

Standing there, looking down on my long paddle and lime-green inflatable SUP, then up at the pontoons still dripping as she headed off into the blue, the whole scene made my heart skip a nostalgic beat. I thought of Sir George Simpson, governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, arriving by canoe at posts from New York to York Factory, Astoria to Alaska with his personal piper playing in time to the swinging of voyageur paddles. I thought of the opening of North America by canoe and how, since World War II, it’s difficult to think about backcountry paddling, trekking, prospecting, hunting… backcountry anything… without simultaneously paying homage to the aircraft which, more than any other, has been responsible for dropping us there.

The cool thing about de Havilland Beavers is they are so much a part of the story of accessing trackless ground all over the world—by the end of production in 1965 there were more than 1,600 Beavers working in 63 countries around the globe—fanatics record their life stories.

A quick Google search reveals the Prince Rupert plane—C-FIAX— was born in Malaysia on July 27, 1951, arriving by sea in crates from Toronto. After a full hitch in the South Pacific, she worked all over Australia for Snowy Mountain Hydro, Aerial Agriculture and Barrier Reef Airlines among other outfits, before being dismantled, repacked and shipped back to Canada. And yet, there she is 68 years later, in the shining colors of Ocean Pacific Air, still lifting people and freight into out-of-the-way places.

On floats, skis and wheels, Beavers have been to the North Pole and the South Pole and almost everywhere in between. The U.S. Army purchased hundreds of Beavers for military assignments, particularly in Korea. Beavers have delivered people and they have rescued people. They have had folding canoes in them. And they have had canoes and ATVs and kitchen tables tied to their pontoons. Even iron clawfoot bathtubs and upright pianos. They have been crashed and they have been rebuilt, re-engined, repurposed and reskinned. And the Beaver has been mythologized by every adventurer whom has ever strapped themselves inside one.

[ Further reading: 8 Expert Tips For A Fly-In Canoe Adventure ]

Perhaps the most famous Beaver in the paddling world is Bradley Air Service’s C-FODA. It carried generations of whitewater and wilderness canoeists into the wilds of West Quebec from its base at Rapides des Joachims on the Ottawa River, flown by legendary bush pilot Ronnie Bowes. When it came time to put a Beaver on a new set of millennial edition Canadian coins, in honor of Ronnie’s 21,400 hours in the air—reputed to be the world’s highest time for a Beaver pilot on a single aircraft—a likeness of C-FODA, including its registration, was engraved and minted by the millions for circulation during the final months of 1999.

For anyone who has flown over the threshold of wilderness in a Beaver; for those of us who get all misty-eyed at the very sound of the 450 horsepower, nine-cylinder, air-cooled Pratt and Whitney radial engine, it’s important to acknowledge we passed a family marker date this past summer.

Back on August 16, 1947, the de Havilland Beaver aka DHC-2, was born in Downsview, Ontario, with World War II flying ace, Russell Bannock, at the controls. This summer, my friends, Old Auntie turned 70.

Here’s to the venerable Beaver and to the dedicated characters who fly them, still. Many happy returns.

James Raffan is a regular contributor to Paddling Magazine and the former director of the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario. He stepped out of his canoe for five months in 2017 to be the Zodiac driver, bear guard and musical consort to the Arctic icebreaker, Polar Prince. Find more of his articles here.

This article first appeared in the 2015 Paddling Buyer’s Guide. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.

The Send Boys On Why Unleashed Will Thrive Where The Whitewater Grand Prix Did Not

By

Carmen Kuntz

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March 1, 2018

THE SEND BOYS ON WHY UNLEASHED WILL THRIVE WHERE THE WHITEWATER GRAND PRIX DID NOT | Photo by Seth Ashworth

There’s no doubt Unleashed has balls. The question is, does it have legs? The brand-new, self-supported, multi-stage kayaking competition is a who’s-who of big water boating. Fresh off its success from the inaugural event in Quebec this past spring, Unleashed is now preparing for its second event in Uganda in January. The invitation-only event is the love child of the SEND crew members, Bren Orton, Adrian Mattern, Dane Jackson and Kalob Grady.

While events like Sickline and the Freestyle World Championships challenge creek boaters and play boaters respectively, Unleashed took a cue from the dearly departed Whitewater Grand Prix (WWGP). Unleashed rolled big tricks, boatercross and giant slalom into one 10-day event, awarding victory to the best all-around kayakers. To no one’s surprise, of the 15 men and five women competing in four stages and battling for cumulative points, Dane Jackson was crowned king in 2017.

With DIY logistics and transparent management, the boys behind the event are keen to keep it simple by eschewing sponsorship, hoping by starting with a low-budget approach this competition can survive to see many seasons. Here the foursome undress Unleashed, revealing the ingredients having made it successful so far.

HOW DID YOU PULL OFF UNLEASHED 2017?

We did the entire thing self-supported in an attempt to start fresh and see how this kind of thing works. Athletes were responsible for [paying for] themselves and we did everything from the blog posts to online edits. Bren and Adrian were up till 3 a.m. after each stage producing media. —Dane Jackson

Unleashed was strung together with absolutely no budget. Thanks to a select group of competitors who believed in us, we managed to pull off the first event and lay the foundation for what we hope will become the sickest event in kayaking. —Bren Orton

unleashed 1

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR UNLEASHED?

We don’t see Unleashed as just another kayak competition. We see it as a platform to push kayaking to new levels. During the first stage [of the 2017 event] at the Ruins, we witnessed multiple three to four trick combos from top athletes. They were going for it because everyone else was going for it. That’s the atmosphere we are striving for. —Kalob Grady

Where most events have to worry about finding good whitewater sections near a town to make it spectator friendly, we simply got the competitors together and chased the best section or feature the area had to offer, using social media to share the day’s events. Having this freedom allowed us to adapt to the conditions and host events on the best waves or biggest water. —Dane Jackson

IS UNLEASHED JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF THE GRAND PRIX?

We were collectively devastated when the WWGP was cancelled. It provided a unique platform for kayaking to progress. We wanted nothing more than to see the return of WWGP but when the return looked bleak, we decided to step up and hold our own event. —Bren Orton

Unlike WWGP, the organizers of Unleashed did the judging, but we put a lot of effort into making things as transparent and as fair as possible. We agreed on which tricks would score highest and used video replay if needed. There was not a single complaint about the results during or after Unleashed, so I feel we did a fair job. For future events, we aim to bring in impartial judges to ensure the best and most neutral judging possible.

—Adrian Mattern

THE SEND BOYS ON WHY UNLEASHED WILL THRIVE WHERE THE WHITEWATER GRAND PRIX DID NOT | Photo by Seth Ashworth

WHY WILL UNLEASHED SURVIVE?

Having four events in 10 days gives us the timeframe to move events forwards or back a day or if water levels will deliver a bigger or better option, or if hazards, such as ice, prevent us from holding an event. —Adrian Mattern

Instead of going big [and needing sponsorship] straight out of the gate, we are starting small by being self-supported, with plans to add on to the event each year. Our hope is as the event grows, we will add on more in terms of athlete support and media coverage, while maintaining a strong foundation and understanding of what’s essential and what’s extra. —Dane Jackson

This article first appeared in the 2015 Paddling Buyer’s Guide. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.

Combining Whitewater Kayaking With Professional Whitewater Photography

By

Kaydi Pyette

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March 1, 2018

What do you get when you combine world-class kayakers, a high-tech team of photographers and a brighter-than-the-sun camera strobe? Magic. Last May, Rafa Ortiz, Rush Sturges and Liam Fields teamed up with veteran photographer Michael Clark to showcase the power of Elinchrom’s new flash technology.

“It is one of the best assignments of my entire career,” says Clark, a 21-year veteran of adventure sports photography. “This kind of photo was impossible to do in the past. We wanted to show off the strobe by stopping motion—to have all this water flying everywhere frozen in the air, and the kayaker frozen too.”

“What makes these photos so unique is the flash overpowering the ambient lighting,” says Clark. Even at a distance of 100 feet the strobe is powerful enough to overcome direct midday sun.

The strobe let Clark capture the action at super high shutter speeds ranging from 1/2,500th of a second up to 1/4,000th of a second, giving the shot a hyper-realistic feel.

This isn’t the first time photographers and athletes have collaborated to create some truly cool shots at Washington state’s Spirit Falls. The waterfall is ideal because it combines gorgeous natural scenery, a relatively accessible location and a short 40-foot drop, which allows paddlers to run it multiple times to capture the perfect image.

During the two days of shooting the drop, Ortiz ran the falls 15 times, and Sturges and Fields more than a dozen each. “This takes a toll on their bodies. Running it once is similar to the forces of being in a car accident, so to run it many times in two days is pretty amazing,” says Clark.

[Also Watch: Rafa Ortiz Sets Himself On Fire And Drops Waterfall]

Because it takes two seconds to recycle the flash, Clark could only get off one shot during each run, raising the stakes for both photographer and athlete to nail their execution perfectly every time.

“What people don’t understand is how collaborative the process is,” says Clark. “The athletes are working too, not just to have perfect technique, but they’re also sharing ideas and then really excited to see those ideas come to fruition.”

Lighting the Spirit | PHOTO BY MICHAEL CLARK

Going into the shoot Clark envisioned replicating ice climbing images he created at the same location a couple years prior. “The series of ice climbing shoots really gave me a sense of how I could approach this,” says Clark. Spirit Falls drops into a basin, allowing 270 degrees around the waterfall to set up camera angles and stage lights.

To get this photo of Sturges standing safety as Ortiz drops over the falls, Clark positioned himself to the far side of the gorge, so he was straight on with the waterfall curtain and used a 70-200mm lens. “These images show the entire waterfall and give a better sense of the height and the kayaker’s position on it,” he says.

This article first appeared in the 2015 Paddling Buyer’s Guide. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.

The Paradox of Choice And Choosing Your “Perfect” Canoe

By

Kaydi Pyette

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March 1, 2018

On a scale from one to 10, how much happier would you be if you could buy any boat in the hundreds of listings in the Paddling Buyer’s Guide? I know the answer, and it’s going to shock you. Not much happier at all.

Let me explain.

Back in 2002 there was a psychology study conducted at Harvard University. Volunteers were enrolled in a semester-long black and white photography course. At the end of the course, each student chose their two favorite pieces of art. The researchers told the students both prints would be enlarged and framed at the university’s expense.

[ View all canoes in the Paddling Buyer’s Guide ]

Then the students were split into two groups. The students in the first group could choose only one print to take home, but if they ever changed their minds the university would swap photos with them. The other half of the class was told their decisions were final. The photos they were donating to the university would be sent away and never be seen again. All the students wanted to be in the first group.

Six months later, who was happier with their chosen photographs? Take a guess.

“There’s just too many options. There’s no one best boat,” Dave told me. And he’s right. Perfection is impossible.

“People who made an irrevocable decision were much happier with their choice,” said researcher Dan Gilbert on NPR’s Hidden Mind podcast. Gilbert is a neuroscientist who studies happiness. You might recognize him from the very first TED Talk ever filmed, which now boasts 15 million views.

At the time of the Harvard study, Gilbert had been living with his girlfriend for more than a decade. Upon reviewing the results of his study, a friend of his joked this explained the difference between cohabitating and being married.

“That had never occurred to me,” says Gilbert on Hidden Mind. “I went home and proposed.”

Much of Gilbert’s academic research indicates people are terrible predictors of their own future happiness. Though we profess to prefer more choice, more often too many options makes us doubt our decision-making abilities.

More options not equaling greater happiness isn’t breaking news. This paradox of choice is widely known thanks to Barry Schwartz’s 2004 bestseller. In The Paradox of Choice, Schwartz suggests the more choices we have, the more unhappy we are with the choices we make. Why? Because we’re always wondering if the grass is greener.

Schwartz goes as far as to suggest the current state of unbounded possibilities is a factor in why North Americans have never seemed more miserable, despite living in an age of unprecedented abundance. We simply have too much of a good thing.

In the Paddling Buyer’s Guide, you’ll find more than a hundred drool-worthy canoes. Boats for lakewater canoeing, canoe tripping, kayak fishing, hunting, picnicking, river running, racing and more.

Prepare yourself.

Composite or polyethylene? Vinyl or wood? 15 feet or 17? Bench or bucket? Traditional or modern? An inch of rocker or two? Red or green? These are just some of the choices on the very first page. Schwartz likely believes canoeists would have been happier with their purchases back in the ‘60s, choosing between only wood-canvas and aluminum.

What if you buy a sleek carbon model, only to wonder if you’d perhaps get more use and have less stress with a rugged polyethylene model? Or worse perhaps, buy the rugged poly hull, and then curse the extra 50 pounds on portages and wonder if you’d go tripping farther and more often if you’d chosen a featherlight boat?

Stop that.

A friend of mine was in this quandary. Last year’s Paddling Buyer’s Guide sat on his living room coffee table all winter. Pages were dog-eared and shortlisted canoes circled in black Sharpie. As spring bloomed into summer and then faded into fall, his roof racks ran empty. Paralysis by analysis.

“There’s just too many options. There’s no one best boat,” Dave told me. And he’s right. Perfection is impossible.

Schwartz’s antidote to limitless choice is to get comfortable with imperfection. “Good enough is almost always good enough,” advises Schwartz. “You don’t need to find the best. There’s virtually no difference between the best and any number of alternatives which are almost as good as the best. If you’re looking for good enough, choosing becomes a lot less onerous.”

[ Also read: How To Buy A Canoe ]

There’s no single boat boasting the fastest speed, most maneuverability, best stability, lightest weight, greatest durability, prettiest aesthetics and lowest price. There’s no so-called best canoe, yet any canoe is better than no canoe.

So, to all the Daves out there, buy a canoe. You’ll be much happier for it. If you don’t believe the research, just go paddling.

Kaydi Pyette is the editor of Paddling Magazine. For the record, she has more than one canoe. But over the last year she’s applied the “good enough” advice to buying kitchen appliances, a touring bicycle and a 2003 Subaru Outback. So far, she says, good enough is pretty great.

This article first appeared in the 2015 Paddling Buyer’s Guide. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.

Enduring Ice

By

Diana Kushner

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March 1, 2018

As we watched the de Havilland Twin Otter fly off, circling over the still frozen Lady Franklin Bay, realization set in. For the next five weeks, we would be some of the most isolated people on earth. It was July 2 and we were at Fort Conger on Ellesmere Island, 500 nautical miles from the North Pole. We were embarking on a kayaking expedition through Nares Strait, the channel between Canada and Greenland.

We expected to cover roughly 500 kilometers. Our team of five included experienced polar explorers and a polar oceanographer. With us were 1,096 pounds of food and equipment, packed into our ultra-tough Prijon tandem kayaks.

Our goal was to get footage for our documentary, Enduring Ice, a film to draw attention to the darkening Arctic.

In the past 40 years, Arctic sea ice volume has declined by 72 percent. Most polar scientists now predict the Arctic Ocean will soon be ice-free in summertime. With that change, the Arctic Ocean is no longer the solar reflector for the planet like it once was. Our concept for the film was to use the excitement of an extraordinary adventure as a way to raise awareness about the essential role the Arctic’s sea ice plays in keeping our planet cool.

Based on past experiences in Nares Strait, our team imagined ice conditions might be different from previous expeditions, but still recognizable. They weren’t.

What we encountered was something new—a polar slurpee. A mess of unconsolidated ice that made travel by foot or paddle nearly impossible. Gone were the large solid ice floes. The conditions were especially surprising to the polar oceanographer on the expedition, who was accompanying us to add to his research on sea ice floe size distribution.

THE ENDURING ICE EXPEDITION TEAM NAVIGATES THROUGH A NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN “POLAR SLURPEE.” | PHOTO: ENDURING ICE EXPEDITION

With ice conditions so challenging, we were mostly forced to follow the icefoot, that narrow band of sea ice frozen to the shore. However, because Nares Strait had not frozen across last winter, the icefoot was a mess. Giant blocks of ice tossed up during winter storms were stuck in place, and often impassable. We were completely beset by the deteriorating ice conditions we had come to document.

This image extracted from drone footage is of us navigating our kayak around one of these sections of almost impassable shore. It took 33 days to travel just 100 kilometers. Carl Ritter Bay, the closest landing strip, became our absolute goal.

Learn more about the Enduring Ice project and get updates on the documentary at www.enduringice.com.

This article first appeared in the 2015 Paddling Buyer’s Guide. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.

Kevin Callan Is Not Dead Yet

By

Canadian Canoe Culture, Kevin Callan

-

March 1, 2018

Alex Traynor and Noah Booth are up-and coming video bloggers who call themselves the Northern Scavengers. When I loaned these two weekend warriors one of my canoes for their latest big trip in the far north, I insisted they take one of my lightweight and durable Prospectors, rather than their sinkable, flat-bottomed scow. They couldn’t thank me enough and I think revered me as some kind of Jedi of the canoeing world.

They even called me Uncle Kev, as in, “Thanks for the canoe, Uncle Kev.” That was awkward.

The Word Is: Experienced

I get it. I’m a year away from getting a senior’s discount at my local pharmacy. I’ve been writing and making presentations at shows for well over 30 years. Traynor and Booth are 26 years old. My first book came out in 1990. For three decades I’ve been traveling the country convincing others to get outside and paddle. Sometimes I feel like I’ve seen it all.

I can remember running rapids without a helmet. I know the feeling of a cold butt from the seat of a Grumman. I was a member of a canoe club that wouldn’t allow kayakers to join.

I attended the grand opening of the Canadian Canoe Museum. I not only remember the end of Royalex, I remember early Old Town ads introducing the revolutionary new material. I cried the day Bill Mason died.

I’ve lived through the era of Deliverance inspiring new paddlers to get out onto rivers. I’ve also witnessed the growth of websites having the word paddle in the title but nothing to do with the kind of watersports I enjoy.

I’ve watched the cult-like fervor for paddling books fizzle. I’ve seen canoe movies go from Beta and VHS to DVDs to YouTube. I got excited once filming a documentary in Quetico Provincial Park with a state-of-the-art high-definition camera. I just recently returned from filming a documentary in Nova Scotia with a 360-degree virtual reality camera.

I used to load actual 35mm film into the back of cameras. Dan Gibson nature sounds were once used while editing actual movie film instead of downloading your choice of digitally mastered loon calls served up by Google.

My first book, Killarney, was written on a type-writer. My second book, Cottage Country Canoe Routes, was saved on 5 1/4-inch floppy disks. A Complete Guide to Winter Camping was typed on a computer, saved digitally and uploaded to the Cloud—not one word scribbled on paper.

ENTERTAINING CROWDS SINCE 1982. | PHOTO: KEVIN CALLAN

I showed trays of slides during presentations. I learned PowerPoint. Now I just Bluetooth my presentations from my phone—imagine saying that to an A/V guy in the ‘80s.

Radio shows have turned into podcasts. And these days, I do more live streaming on Facebook than face-to-face interviews on television morning shows.

Canoeing Will Never Die

Through all of this I’ve listened over the years to crusty, bearded, Tilley-capped men in plaid proclaiming, “Canoeing is dead.” They used to mail me letters. Then emails. Now I receive these doomsday decrees through Facebook Messenger. They write to tell me kayaks and standup boards will rule the world. They say canoeists will just fade away.

Take it from an aging canoeist who’s been around the bend on a lot of rivers—they’re wrong. Canoe sales have increased 110 percent since 2016. Canoeing has increased 40 percent, especially among young families and Millennials, since 2014.

Take for example the Northern Scavengers. Here are two guys roughly the same age as me when I launched my first book. They’re creating a community, with the technological tools of today, where campers of all levels can come to give or gain a little insight on anything backcountry related. On the Northern Scavenger website they’ve written, “The best way to appreciate the raw beauty is to immerse yourself in it. Camping is an unparalleled physical journey that can connect us to the land in the most organic way, and can bring us to places unbothered by the modern world.”

Bill Mason died 29 years ago and before the Northern Scavengers were born, but the boys have this Mason quote on their About Us page: “The canoe feels very much alive, alive with the life of the river.”

Canoeing will never die.

Kevin Callan is the author of 16 books, including the bestselling, The Happy Camper and Wilderness Pleasures: A Practical Guide to Camping Bliss. He is still presenting across North America and has been a key speaker at all major canoe events. Butt End first appeared in Canoeroots magazine 16 years ago.

This article first appeared in the 2015 Paddling Buyer’s Guide. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.