Lucare Outex Review

Gear

Mud, dirt, sand and  water don’t stand a  chance against this  tough SLR protection system. Com patible with dozens of cameras, the Outex uses professional grade optics, a cover that maintains tactile feel and an excellent viewfinder to completely envelop your camera with a submersible, watertight seal. It eliminates the need for bulky hard cases or flimsy bags so your camera’s ready when the moment strikes. A variety of accessories let you build a setup that gets you close to the action while protecting your investment.

outex.com | $200-400

This article originally appeared in Rapid magazine, Early Summer, 2011. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

Annual Whitewater Symposium Dates Annouced

Photo: Courtesy Whitewater Symposium — Whitewater Symposium

The ACA is excited to announce it is partnering with the Steering Committee of the Whitewater Symposium to co-host this exciting annual event. An industry leader, this event will be held in Bend, Oregon at the Mt. Bachelor Village Resort and Tumalo Creek Outfitters from September 27 to 29, 2013.

The Whitewater Symposium seeks to advance the spirit of whitewater paddling by bringing leaders of the sport together. Its focus is on generating new ideas to support the future of whitewater among those who are genuinely passionate about it. Collectively, paddlers have the greatest potential to influence the future of whitewater. The Whitewater Symposium program seeks to involve all those who actively love whitewater sport. This includes intermediate paddlers who want a deeper appreciation for paddlesport. The Symposium also supports the grassroots feeder programs that encourage new and continued participation, empowering more people to take on productive roles in stewarding whitewater paddling development.

Online registration opens on Monday, August 12th. For more information on the 2013 Whitewater Symposium, please visit: www.americancanoe.org/wwsymposium or www.wwsymposium.com

Rapid Media Founder and Publisher Scott MacGregor and Rapid magazine will be attending—come say hello!

River Alchemy: Human Factors

Stories

Photo: Francois Brassard — Paddler looks down at river through a gorge; weighing the risks

Neuroscience research on decision-making is pretty conclusive: we are bad at it. Creativity and ingenuity? We humans are good at this. patterns? We’re exceptional at recognizing these. Implementing rules? Check. Assembling vague cues and assessing relative options (i.e. decision-making)? Not so good. Funny that whitewater paddling should be a decision-making game.

Whitewater decisions are highly complex, whether formally scouting or boogie boating and making calls on the fly. Paddling decisions are about predicting dynamism—how moving water, stationary hazards and a paddler’s ability will interact. As we become better paddlers we not only increase our skill but also improve our ability to predict. This decision-making capacity is really what sets the expert apart from the novice. What’s more, this is a highly trainable skill and one that improves in proportion to experience level. Realistically, this is the focus of any instructional program once the basic mechanics of the sport are taken care of. But it’s not that easy of course. there is one major random variable and confounding factor: the decision maker.

Human Factors is the name of a field of study that tries to understand how trained and capable people fail to make reliable decisions. Airline pilots, military units and surgical teams have all come under study, as have professional sports teams and backcountry skiers. It turns out to be pretty simple: peer pressure and ego get in the way when we likely already know better. These human factors become subjective hazards in complex environments, as it turns out, and follow predictable patterns regardless of workplace…

This article appeared in Rapid, Spring 2013. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read the rest here.

Butt End: Backcountry Snobbery

Stories

The problem with ignoring others while traveling remote wilderness areas, besides being characterized as brash and unmannerly, is that you never know if you’ll need help later. It was my father who taught me this. He always insisted I say hello, maybe even have a quick conversation with the people we met in the woods.

My dad’s lesson echoed in my head as things turned dire for an ill-fated group of three paddlers I encountered last October. White-capped waves were forming and the air temperature hovered just above freezing. Midway across the lake, the paddlers capsized and yelled for help. Their canoe was overloaded with lawn chairs and a beer cooler, their clothes and sleeping bags weren’t packed in waterproof bags. None of them wore lifejackets.

Earlier that day, the trio drifted by my canoeing partner and me as we sat, eating our lunch. They didn’t return my friendly gestures. I waved, said hi and asked how their trip was going. In return, they completely ignored me and continued on across the lake, not once looking back in my direction. I wrote them off as snobs who feel that shunning other paddlers in the backcountry is the next best thing to seeing no paddlers at all.

My canoe buddy suggested we just snub the nasty trio right back and continue on our way. And we did. Until we caught up to them, cursing as they frantically searched…

This article appeared in Canoeroots & Family Camping, Spring 2013. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read the rest here.

Don’t Get Caught Up The Creek Without A Trowel

Photo: Jonathon Pratt — Doing your business in the woods isn't always easy

Location, Location, Location

It’s important to get at least 60 metres (200 feet) from the water so that you don’t contaminate it with harmful bacteria. Sixty metres is often further than you think, so count your steps—a metre is about one big step. When you decide to stop, take a quick look around. Poison ivy, stinging nettles and wasps’ nests are good things to avoid!

In the bag

It’s easiest if your toilet kit is all together and handy to access. A stuff sack with toilet paper, a metal trowel, a couple of Ziploc bags for the used toilet paper and some hand sanitizer will do the job nicely.

Here Kitty, Kitty

A good cat hole should be dug about 15 centimetres (six inches) in circumference and 15 centimetres deep, where waste can most easily break down in the soil. Try to pick an area away from rocks and roots if you can—hard digging may break a plastic trowel.

Prepare for landing

Make sure your clothes are well out of the way once you are in position. You can brace yourself on the ground or against a tree. Fallen logs make nice seats.

Pack it in, pack it out

Don’t leave toilet paper flowers! Ziploc bags make good storage for the used toilet paper. Animals can dig it up if you leave it behind. Never burn it on site—there is just too much risk involved. Take it home and give it a fl ush. Consider a natural wipe, like a rock or a soft pine cone. Stay away from leafy vegetation unless you know exactly what it is, or more importantly, what it isn’t.

Work it in

Grab a stick and stir the dirt into your deposit as you fill the hole. This helps your waste break down more quickly.

What hole?

Make an effort to camouflage the hole. A few leaves and sticks scattered around will do wonders.

Wash Up

Hand sanitizer with at least 60 per cent alcohol has been shown to be effective and should be used in addition to, but not as a replacement for, good old-fashioned hand washing. Remember to wash 60 metres from water sources, using clean water.

Complete retreat

Before you leave the area, check that you haven’t left any of your toilet kit behind. Since you’ve done such a good job covering your tracks, it would be difficult to find the trowel if you had to come back.

This article originally appeared in Canoeroots & Family Camping, Early Summer 2010. Download our freeiPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

4 Best Ancient Rock Art Sites In Ontario & Quebec

Photo: Virginia Marshall — Four areas that offer interesting rock art

My feet shuffled uncertainly along the sloping, slippery granite. To my right, Lake Superior’s frigid green waters lashed at the precarious ledge on which I stood. To my left, a pink face of cold rock rose skyward in a single perfectly vertical pitch. Suddenly, I spotted them—caribou, men, canoes, snakes and a myriad of mythical creatures leaping and gliding across the granite canvas. To my young eyes, the creatures appeared almost alive. These were my first pictographs—ancient rock paintings symbolizing people, events and medicine important to the artists who created them hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

It’s no coincidence that many pictographs—including the ones I visited as a child at Agawa Rock—are found in spectacular natural settings. For it is in these places that the connection to the spirit world is strongest. The Agawa Rock paintings are still every bit as vibrant today, as are some 500 other pictograph sites found across the Canadian Shield.

[ Paddling Trip Guide: View all paddling trips and clinics in Ontario ]

Petroglyphs—carvings that have been incised, abraded or ground using a stone tool upon rock walls—are part of this same rock art tradition that denotes a connection with the spirit world. While pictograph sites are widespread in the Canadian Shield region, petroglyph sits are confused to the southern portion.

Want to see this fascinating artwork for yourself? Read below to find out more about pictographs and petroglyphs in Ontario and Quebec to plan your trip to see them.

How to read rock art

Pictographs and petroglyphs were used by the Ojibway, Cree and Algonkian peoples of Shield country to record historical events, share creation myths and give power to visions and medicine. Learn the meaning behind the imagery and you can read one of the most fascinating records of early history.

Radiating lines

Denote objects, places, manitous or people with great powers. For example, a human form with lines radiating from his head is probably a medicine man (Mide) who received a gift of power from a manitou and made the painting in recognition.

Tally marks

May represent the number of days fasted by a person on a vision quest or by a Mide seeking medicine.

Handprint

Prayer to Kitche Manitou (the Great Spirit), thanks for medicine received, or the mark left by maymaygwayshiuk—wise and mischievous fairies who live in the rock—when they closed the door to their rock home.

Bird

The Thunderbird was a powerful guardian Manitou that protected people from the bad underworld manitous of earth and water.

Serpent

Dangerous, malevolent spirits—often depicted with horns or spines, which signify power. Snakes lived in the water and would upset canoes and drown their occupants if not appeased by offerings.

Cross

Dates back 2,500 years in First Nation symbolism. May refer to the four cardinal directions and four Wind Manitous.

Circles

Another ancient symbol; refers to the medicine wheel. Medicine men used megis—small, round seashells believed to bring good luck—in medicine rituals. A circle around the head indicates a person with special knowledge.

Best places to see petroglyphs and pictographs

Mazinaw Rock

Bon Echo Provincial Park, Ontario

Above the waterline of Lake Mazinaw, at a level comfortably reached from a canoe, over 260 pictographs adorn a 1.5-km-long cliff face. Like the other tribes of Shield country, the Algonquins who painted these figures and symbols hundreds of years ago believed that the sheer 100-m cliff was not only a physical boundary between water and land, but also a gateway to the spirit world. The powerful messages they left for the spirits at Mazinaw Rock comprise the largest single collection of pictographs in Canada and are easily viewed by canoeists.

Stay Awhile: Take a tour of Upper and Lower Mazinaw lakes on the park boat, or by canoe (rentals available). Find comfortable wilderness campsites, sandy beaches and great fishing on Joeperry, Pearson and Mazinaw lakes.

Info: Bon Echo Provincial Park is located one hour north of Napanee (90 minutes from Belleville) on Hwy 41. (613) 336-2228.

The Teaching Rocks

Petroglyphs Provincial Park, Ontario

On a smooth, horizontal outcrop of limestone—in a peaceful Central Ontario forest—over 900 figures carefully etched into the rock comprise the most outstanding petroglyph site in all of Canada. The animals, birds, people, spirits and other images carved into the rock are estimated to be around 2,000 years old. Many of the visions, events and medicine depicted in the rock are not fully understood, but onsite interpreters can help explain some of the stories and meanings written in the stone.

Stay Awhile: Four short hiking trails round out a visit to this day-use park. Mountain biking, swimming and camping are available a 50-minute drive north at Silent Lake Provincial Park.

Info: Petroglyphs Provincial Park is located 45 minutes northeast of Peterborough, off Hwy 28. The petroglyphs site is closed Thanksgiving through early May. (705) 877-2552.

Oiseau Rock

Sheenboro, Quebec

Oiseau Rock, a 150-m cliff rising abruptly from a narrows in the mighty Ottawa River, is an example of the damage wrought by spray paint and ignorance. Nevertheless, those pictographs that are still visible—fish, canoes, a bear, a bird, arrowheads and a human-like figure (likely Nanabojou, a creator manitou who showed people how to make stone tools, weapons and canoes)—speak of the long history of the Algonkian people in this area. You can paddle or boat to the site from up- or downriver but no roads reach it.

Stay Awhile: In nearby Fort-Coulonge, adventurous families can sign up for the new via ferrata tour at Chutes Coulonge Park—literally, iron route, a guided exploration of the gorge and 48-m falls using zip-lines, bolted ladders and cable walk-wires.

Info: Oiseau Rock is located on the Quebec shore of the Ottawa River 13 km upstream from Fort William, QC, and 14.5 km downstream from Deep River, ON.

[ Also read: Canoeing Lake Superior: Discover A Canoeists’ Paradise ]

Agawa Rock

Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario

While many rock paintings survive because they are protected from the elements by an overhang or cave, the Agawa paintings have somehow defied centuries of pounding waves, grinding ice and harsh weather on an exposed cliff face. Members of the Ojibway mined ochre on nearby Devil’s Warehouse Island and mixed it with fish oil to create a lasting red paint, forming the images 150 to 400 years ago. One panel tells the story of Myeengun (The Wolf), an Ojibway chief who led his people across the lake in canoes to repel an invasion from the Iroquois tribe, while others depict manitous—natural spirits with special powers. The most fearsome of these manitous is Mishipizheu, a horned lynx who controls the moods of the lake and thrashes his tail when angered, whipping the waters into a fury.

Stay Awhile: A dozen day hikes explore the park’s rugged landscape. The Nokomis trail begins at Old Woman Bay and loops 5 km to a breathtaking view of the bay and its 200-m cliffs. A ride on the Agawa Canyon Train Tour also offers sightseeing through the heart of the park.

Info: The pictographs are located in Lake Superior Provincial Park, 140 km north of Sault Ste. Marie, off Hwy 17. At Sinclair Cove, take the half-kilometre Pictographs trail—and watch your step. (705) 856-2284.

This article originally appeared in Canoeroots & Family Camping‘s Spring 2010 issue. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions here, or browse the archives here.

Little Explorers: Keeping Track

Skills

Photo:Megan Kopp — A fun way for kids to keep a memento from your trip

Spotting wildlife on a camping trip creates lasting memories for the whole family. Most wildlife, however, is active at dawn and dusk or at night when we are tucked into our sleeping bags fast asleep. Although you may not see wildlife on your next camping trip, you can spot animals’ activity by searching for tracks in the soft mud or sand along riverbanks and trails. With a few simple materials, you can create an animal track casting—a unique and wild keepsake of your discoveries.

Materials

Animal tracks identification book
Plaster of Paris in a re-sealable bag
1 pop bottle
Scissors
Water
Stick
Plastic straw
String

Instructions

1. Search for animal and bird tracks in soft ground or mud. Use a track identification book to discover which animal left the imprint.

2. Clean any loose leaves or twigs out of the track.

3. Cut the bottom off the plastic pop bottle to create a small bowl. Then, cut a ring of plastic, at least 10 cm wide, from the plastic bottle.

4. Place ring around the track, pushing lightly into the ground to create a seal. In the ring, press the straw vertically into the ground above the track.

5. Dump the plaster of Paris into the pop bottle bowl and add water, stirring with a stick until it reaches a thick, smooth and creamy consistency like pancake batter.

6. Carefully pour the plaster in the ring over the track and let it dry for at least one hour.

7. Brush sand and dirt off the track casting. Cut the straw flush with the top of the track and thread a piece of string through the hole to hang it.

8. Paint it, collect more and tell a story about your animal track at the campfire.

This article originally appeared in Canoeroots & Family Camping, Spring 2010. Download our freeiPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

Royalex Canoe Material is Dead

two people canoeing in a Royalex made canoe — Royalex canoes have a tough exterior but a loving interior. | Photo: Scott MacGregor

PolyOne, the publicly held company that produces the most revolutionary material in canoeing, is closing plants and ceasing production of Royalex.

According to its press release, the plant shutdowns will produce $25 million in annual savings for the Avon Lake-based company. This ranks PolyOne as North America’s largest compounder and one of the region’s largest resin distributors. The closings are expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

Although the PolyOne press release doesn’t say specifically that they’re stopping the production of Royalex, Bill Kueper of Wenonah Canoe, Inc. told Paddling Magazine that, “The morning following the press release we received a phone call from PolyOne detailing the termination of the Royalex enterprise.”

[ Paddling Buyer’s Guide: View all Royalex material canoes ]

He says that given the relatively small size of the Royalex business worldwide, he’s not surprised PolyOne didn’t detail this in the press release. “At this point, we’re all hoping someone else will buy the line, but there’s no surety of it yet,” says Tim Miller of Nova Craft Canoes. Royalex canoes represent a substantial portion of his business.

Are Royalex canoes dead?

If the Royalex product isn’t bought, what happens next is anyone’s guess. According to Miller, there are no reasonable material alternatives to Royalex at this time. The next best option could be a three-layer polyethylene canoe, which would be stronger but also heavier. “There’s nothing else like Royalex,” he adds.

PolyOne’s decision doesn’t come as a complete surprise. When PolyOne bought out Royalex-producer Spartech Corp. last year there was a discussion among canoe manufacturers that PolyOne may cease manufacturing the material. “For the size of PolyOne, Royalex is a tiny portion of what they do,” Miller says. “Still, it’d be a very sad day if they close the plant and Royalex doesn’t go anywhere else.”

Aluminum was the choice for most canoe trippers until 1978 when Old Town Canoes and Kayaks touted the durability of its Royalex Tripper by tossing one from the roof of its Maine factory—it escaped unscathed.

Due to its near-indestructibility, Royalex became the go-to material for whitewater boaters, summer camps, and remote expeditions. While canoes come in plenty of materials that suit the needs of flatwater paddlers just fine, whitewater canoe paddlers are particularly worried by the news.

[ Video: No Royalex? No Problem ]

I learned to paddle rivers in Royalex canoes. Without it, we’re going to have to change the way we all paddle whitewater,” says Scott MacGregor, founder, and publisher at Paddling Magazine. “On the other hand, this may be the kick in the ass the canoeing industry needs to find a material lighter, stronger and even more durable.”

While MacGregor remains optimistic, he’s also ordering spares of his favorite Royalex whitewater canoe models.

Royalex canoes have a tough exterior but you just have to get to know it. | Feature Photo: Scott MacGregor

A Day Well Spent

Stories

There’s something seriously wrong with me. It’s weird—I’ve never felt this way before. It’s a perfectly sunny, inviting weekend with all the sparkling promise of early summer. The fresh, new leaves on every branch are the most vivid green imaginable; the sky is an impossible, electric blue. A gentle zephyr dances across shimmering waters, whispering refreshment and encouragement. And yet I don’t know what to do with myself. It’s not that I don’t feel inspired to do anything, it’s that I desire to do everything. All at once. I’m torn in too many directions and so, wracked with indecision, I stand rooted to the spot, morning coffee in hand, unable to do anything.

The problem is one of scarcity: I have only these two precious days away from my desk—it’s imperative that I spend them wisely, make them count. And it’s also a problem of abundance: I have way too many interests, passions and, yes, nagging chores (we’ll forget the latter for now—certainly not a day well spent). Instead of excitement and possibility, I feel anxious and unsure.

The feeling is doubtless heightened by my recent relocation to a new part of the country, complete with a brand new index of potential adventures. I yearn to explore all its pages, make them my own, worn and dog-eared, annotated and highlighted. With the long, lingering daylight of the approaching solstice, this could be the day I launch my sea kayak on that multi-lake mini-epic I scouted at the dinner table, maps spread out after the plates were cleared. But the water level on the backyard creek is perfect for exploring that hidden marsh I discovered over the winter, and I haven’t had the canoe out yet this month.

Wait a minute, though, now that it’s well and truly hot out, wouldn’t it be fun to get out on that SUP a friend promised she’d let me borrow one of these days? And if the water level is perfect on my creek, that means it’s also ideal for a playful day run down my local whitewater river.

Decisions, decisions—what’s a paddler to do?

It took getting slammed with a virulent bout of summer flu to put things in perspective. Couch-ridden, eyes squinted shut against the needling brilliance of an otherwise perfect weekend—clear-as-a-bell, unseasonably warm nights, bugs not yet intolerable, friends available to paddle—I remembered at once what I’d somehow, ridiculously forgotten: Any day on the water is a day well spent.

14 Expert-Tested Ideas For Customizing Your Open Boat

Male paddler sits in front of two canoes giving thumbs-up and thumbs-down hand signals. — How far will you take your canoe mods? | Photo: Virginia Marshall

There’s no reason to let auto buffs, washed up MTV hip hop artists and the Teutul dynasty have all the custom mods fun. Even un-tattooed, decidedly un-Teutuliar open boaters can reap the benefits of home tuning. And it doesn’t have to cost a rapper’s squandered fortune.

Take a lesson from the budget strokers and rice burners in the pages of Car Craft and Import Tuner and do more with less. Replacing a couple $5 thigh strap anchors, or spending just five minutes adjusting said straps correctly, can make your old beater perform as well as the slickest new digger and have you hanging louies, roscoes and U-turns—er, S-turns—with the best.

Here are some performance- and appearance-enhancing suggestions for whitewater canoe outfitting from canoeing Modfather Brian Shields.

1. Performance bucket seats

The saddle is your primary connection point with the boat. Use pieces of closed cell foam and contact cement to widen the saddle by an inch or so on each side to prevent sliding around on the seat. Create an even more secure feeling by gluing small foam wedges on the top edges of the saddle to make a custom bucket seat. Shag optional.

[ Further reading: Tips For Buying A Used Canoe ]

2. Clear coat and flames

Plastic paint in aerosol cans is readily available in most standard canoe colours. Restore a worn hull by painting just the bottom where the outer layer of ABS has worn away. If you can’t find your hull colour, use flat black and mask a symmetrically shaped area  to allow you to paint just below the waterline. Or get bold and creative with air brushing, pin stripes, flames or metal flake to produce a one-of-a-kind show boat.

3. Material matters

Ultra-light, super-tough nylon floatation bags are must-have upgrades from vinyl beasts. Nylon bags take the heat better than vinyl, expanding rather than exploding. Nylon is also much nicer to work with, staying flexible in cool weather, and easy to deflate and stuff in your gear bag when transporting your boat. Harmony 3D End Bags come in three sizes: 30-, 54- and 60-inch. Buy bags that fill your cages to displace as much water as possible.

4. Transformer

Master playboat multi-day tripping with this mod. Using quick-release clips, create access openings in your float bag cage so you can carry gear on longer cruises. Start by sewing or gluing short loops of webbing onto webbing clips. Then cut your existing float bag cage cord and thread it through these loops.

5. Custom trim

Wooden gunwales are the granddaddy of canoe mods. Once you paddle with wood, everything else feels like an ‘81 diesel Jetta towing a Jayco Haul-All travel trailer.

[ Further reading: How To Install Your Own Wooden Gunwales ]

6. Bobbed thwarts

The existing thwarts in most canoes are way over-engineered. The forces on the thwart when paddling are compressive, so 3⁄4-inch square material is all you need. This cuts the weight  by nearly half and improves the appearance dramatically. Round over a straight-grained piece of cherry or ash, leaving just the ends square to improve fit under the gunwales.

Be warned, however; just as chopped roof struts and urethane body panels can reduce the structural integrity of street rods, scaled-down thwarts aren’t suitable for the paddler who portages like a rampaging Godzilla and exits his canoe like an Outfit crime boss splitting a chop shop bust.

7. Chop shop

Deck plates have no function except to hide the outfitting knots. Remove them and send them to the recyclers. Then tie neater knots. However, if you have wooden gunwales, you can install custom wood deck plates that—like aftermarket body kits and spoilers—do nothing for the performance of your ride, but look oh-so-hot. Choose a piece of wood with a grain you like, set it on the ends of the boat and mark the outline on the underside. Cut just outside the pencil line with a jigsaw and do the final precise fitting with a wood rasp. Just as quick and satisfying as a Ched ‘R’ Pepper burger at the Sonic Drive-In.

8. Lowrider

Lowering the saddle greatly improves stability. Try going down to an 8-inch saddle height. Bold paddlers with excellent joint flexibility can tolerate seats as low as 6 inches. Remove the saddle and trim off the desired amount using a band saw, or work top-down with a rasp. Aging and arthritic paddlers and those who enjoy a loftier perch can ignore this mod.

9. Lift kit

If your knees lift excessively when you’re strapped in, consider moving the anchors forward so the knee straps pass over your leg closer to your kneecap. A new set of anchors is inexpensive and helps make you one with your boat. Embracing tip #8 will also reduce knee lift.

10. Retention and retrofit

Avoid strap slip when rolling and bracing by checking to see if your thigh straps are installed with the wide, padded portion up and the strap completely contacting your leg (rather than hanging ineffectively in the air). Thigh straps are often installed or adjusted incorrectly, an oversight that—as with brake shoes, steering arms and sub woofers—tends to result in spectacular blowouts.

[ Paddling Buyer’s Guide: View all whitewater canoes ]

11. Suspension package

A lower seat results in paddling with your instep flat—kinesthetically disagreeable for all but the most elastic of boaters. Support your shins with hollowed-out minicell foam blocks glued to the floor with contact cement. There’s no sense in sporting a pimped-out ride if you can’t pull off the swagger to match. Warning! Paddling with your instep flat can result in your toes extending underneath the foot pegs and has resulted in foot entrapments. Rivet plastic plate extensions on your foot pegs to prevent this, or rip them out and install foam toe blocks instead.

12. Aftermarket accessories

Install a yoke in your tandem playboat… all those trippers can’t be wrong. Humping 55 pounds again and again to the top of the set can feel a lot more like work than play. A yoke leaves you with energy left over to paddle. Fine, sculpted cherry will make you smile every time you look at it—and at the frugal non-tuners nursing backaches at day’s end.

13. H2O in the trunk

Tired of your water bottle rolling around your knees on a carabiner? Modfathers know the best place to stash fuel—be it a cylinder of nitrous or a Nalgene of water—is in the trunk. Remove the rear seat block on your saddle, carve out a bottle-sized channel with a band saw or router, replace the block and hold the bottle in place with a bungee cord bolted through the foam. Or use a fret saw to cut your bottle bunkie in situ.

14. Bodywork

Using scrap material (broken hockey sticks work well) for temporary thwarts, experiment with various hull shapes. The stability of smaller, flat-hulled boats like the Esquif Zoom improves by lengthening the rear thwart by an inch and shortening the bow thwart by half that. Hulls that are rounded and soft chined are seldom improved from factory specs. Making them wider just makes it harder to reach the water. Narrowing them can cause stability to disappear entirely.

Brian Shields has been fine-tuning floating toys for 13 years, making handsome boats fit happy paddlers.