The best reason to move up to the trees is the elevation in comfort. The logistics of hammock camping are similar to tarp camping, except the sleeping area is off the ground. Gone are problems with uneven or wet rain, roots and rocks. The cocoon structure is cozy, and lying diagonally flattens the hammock so you can sleep on your back or side.

The basic setup is simple: You need two trees, 12 to 15 feet apart. They should be alive with no overhanging widow makers. They need diameters of at least six inches, as the force exerted isn’t simply your weight divided by two, but hundreds of pounds at each end. The hammock attaches to the trees with 1-to-1.5-inch nylon straps, which prevent damage to the bark.

Hammocks ideal for this application are sewn of lightweight nylon. A high-tensile line stretching from the head of the hammock to the foot establishes the hang. It also forms a ridgeline for draping an attached or removable bug net. Access is usually through a zipper or Velcro opening along the hammock/net interface, or through a slit in the bottom. Guy lines can be rigged from each side to keep the net from sagging, and to reduce swing. A tarp suspended from the pair of trees and guyed out over the hammock weatherproofs the setup.

The downside of hammock camping is, well, the downside. It’s colder sleeping in the air than on the ground. Your body compresses the bottom of your sleeping bag to the thickness of a tortilla, so you need to insulate. Some campers use traditional sleeping pads, but these slide around and most are too narrow to hug your hips and shoulders. One fix is to attach a second layer to the hammock bottom, into which you can sandwich a wider pad, clothing or tortillas. Another option is to suspend a down quilt—known as an underquilt—beneath the hammock.

It’s usually easy to find a pair of suitable hammock anchors. But what to do if the trees don’t cooperate? If you have to go to ground, suspend one end of your tarp from a paddle, trekking pole, stick or single tree, and stake and guy the rest. Then hang the hammock underneath, attaching the head to the vertical support and staking the foot. A hammock with attached netting will keep the bugs at bay. The ridgeline will be slack, so shorten it with a loop to keep the netting from sagging.

Before you pitch your tent, Google “hammock camping” or ask around at your local outfitter—you’ll find several hammock manufacturers and lots of uplifting advice.

Stephen Brede honed his hammock hanging skills during a three-month canoe circumnavigation of Lake Michigan. He prefers cedar trees, with a view of the water.

This article originally appeared in Canoeroots & Family Camping, Spring 2012. Download our freeiPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

This article on smooth dockside landings from the seat of your canoe was  originally published in Canoeroots and Family Camping magazine.

Gracefully bringing your canoe to rest adjacent to a dock or deep rocky shoreline is the aim of a well-executed landing. In this position, paddlers can more conveniently exit the boat, stabilizing themselves by using the dock or shoreline for support.

The ideal landing is completed with the canoe under constant motion, stopping it snuggly against the dock. To make this happen, approach a fixed target on the dock in a straight line, roughly 45 degrees to the landing. As the boat nears the landing point, the stern paddler initiates the turn by using a draw or pry. If the landing is on the stern person’s paddling side, he or she should use a draw. The stern person should use a pry to initiate the turn if the landing is on the opposite side. 
Immediately after the stern paddler initiates, the bow paddler reciprocates with a complementary stroke. If the stern paddler uses a draw, the bow paddler can assist with a draw or bow cut. If the stern paddler uses a pry, the bow paddler should choose from a pry, bow jam, crossbow draw or crossbow cut. Just before reaching the target, both paddlers provide well-timed reverse strokes usually followed by some subtle draws or pries to stop the canoe at the intended spot.

Practice the timing of your strokes. Initiating the maneuver too soon will leave you too far from your target. However, waiting too long could result in a collision with the dock.

As you develop this skill, communication be- tween paddlers is important, especially when changing partners. Plan the landing out verbally before you begin. It’s best to start at slow speeds so you don’t ram the dock or damage the canoe. Increase the speed only after you can competently complete the maneuver. Try slightly different approach angles to see what works better for you and your partner. Knowing how your boat responds to the strokes is important as all canoes maneuver differently.

Marty Tannahill is a Master Canoe Instructor with the Ontario Recreational Canoeing and Kayaking Association. When he’s not paddling you’ll find him fly-fishing Ontario’s remote rivers.

This article originally appeared in Canoeroots & Family Camping, Spring 2012. Download our freeiPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

Learn how to perform a wave wheel with this technique article from Rapid magazine.

The wave wheel lets you style almost any wave train and is one of the most basic downriver freestyle moves you can add to your arsenal. Resembling a downriver cartwheel, it involves using the face of a standing wave like a ski jump to throw your boat vertically into the air.

Find a steep standing wave that is deep on its backside—wave wheeling into shallow water can be extremely painful. Choose a green wave, as breaking waves will slow your downriver momentum too much. Although it’s possible to wave wheel on any sized wave, a larger wave will make this move easier.

Approach the steepest part of the wave with speed; the faster you go, the higher you’ll launch. Speed also helps your boat break free of the water, making the move easier.

As you reach the wave and begin climbing its face, take a powerful forward stroke with your boat edged toward the blade you’ve planted. Time your stroke to finish when the peak of the wave reaches your hip. This will wind your body up for the next step and pull your stern underwater, allowing your bow to rise off the backside of the wave.

Keeping your boat on edge, begin reversing your forward stroke into a back stroke on the wave’s peak—this pushes your bow down into the trough behind the wave and your stern free of the water into the air. The power for this move comes from unwinding your torso to bring your bow under your body. Rotate your upper body down towards the water, thinking about getting your paddle shaft parallel with an imaginary plane extending off the wave’s face.

Timing is everything. If you unwind too early, you’ll drive your bow into the face of the wave; too late and you’ll plant your paddle into thin air.

As you back stroke, think about pushing your feet under your body and keeping constant pressure on your planted blade. If you finish your stroke before your boat reaches vertical, your momentum will end abruptly and you’ll fall back to the water.

As your boat approaches vertical, lift your knee to flatten your boat and switch to the other edge. Keep your weight forward as you fall onto your hull facing upstream. Finish the move with a back stroke that acts as a brace to assist in returning your boat and body to an upright position.

Wave wheeling is an excellent way to spice up a mellow section of river or drop into a wave or hole to front surf. Once you’ve mastered wave wheeling forwards, try it backwards. On bigger waves you can even wave wheel your creek boat. 

 This article originally appeared in Rapid, Spring 2012. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

I’ve long used the jet ferry as a reliable meth­od for crossing wide expanses of current, or reaching mid-river surf waves. But the incred­ible speed and efficiency of this move wasn’t fully revealed to me until last summer.

Paul Mason and I were teaching out West on Alberta’s Red Deer River and were impressed with the many spectacular surf waves. Front surfing, back surfing, spinning on waves—on this river you could do it all! Paul commented curiously on the remarkable speed of his jet fer­ries. Could it be that there was something differ­ent about these waves compared to ours back east, or was there something different about Paul? (Some of you may know the answer al­ready if you’ve read his Bubble Street cartoons.)

To solve the mystery, I watched Paul and oth­ers tackle some challenging jet ferries. Most kept an active paddle or ruddered throughout their move. But not Paul. He kept his paddle vertical, practically side slipping on a draw. When I asked him to rudder instead, he claimed the magic was gone and the surf felt slower. It turns out that the secret to Paul’s accelerating jet ferry is to use the paddle blade as a foil to sail across the wave. When he ruddered, the blade no longer had the foil effect, making the move feel sluggish in comparison.

To understand how this works, imagine a min­iature sailboat upside down on a jet ferry wave. The inverted boat would have its sail catch­ing the current instead of the wind. A paddle blade acts in much the same way. Just as with a sail, a paddle catches the rushing current and redirects it behind you toward the stern of the canoe. With the water deflected to the stern, the paddle is propelled forward increasing the speed of a jet ferry—just like a sailboat tacking across the water on a windy day.

Similar, too, is how the hull of a sailboat or ca­noe tracks the boat to prevent sideways move­ment. A sailboat needs a keel to grip the water so that the force of the wind will move the boat forward. A canoe uses its chine in the same way. The edge of the canoe carves aggressively into the wave face—that plus gravity pulling the canoe down the wave keeps the canoe on a for­ward path so it doesn’t slide downstream and off the wave.

To gain the most momentum from the paddle sail, angle the blade so that the leading edge points slightly in the direction of the ferry. Simi­larly, point the canoe across the wave but with just enough upstream angle to cause it to surf down the wave face. For sailing, the best jet ferry waves are ones positioned perpendicular to the flow of the current.

Mystery solved. As it turns out, Paul is differ­ent, at least in how he jet ferries.

Andrew Westwood is an open canoe instruc­tor at the Madawaska Kanu Centre, member of Team Esquif and author of The Essential Guide to Canoeing. www.westwoodoutdoors.ca.

 This article originally appeared in Rapid, Spring 2012. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.