As the northern hemisphere shifts into winter and the water turns solid, many kayakers will hang up the paddling gear and store their kayaks until spring. It doesn’t need to be that way; winter kayaking can be enjoyable, albeit more dangerous than the other three seasons. PaddlingLight features multiple articles that give you great winter [...]
Over the last few months, we built a new tandem canoe under a tarp in the backyard. It has been an interesting process plagued with problems, such as humidity and bugs, that we wouldn’t experience in a controlled environment. But, despite all the problems, we managed to get to the point where we could test [...]
By September 18, 2011 the Pagami Creek Fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA), the United States’ most used designated Wilderness Area under the Wilderness Act of 1964 and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978, had burned about 94,000 acres (147 square miles, 380 square kilometers). It had burned approximately [...]
During fall on the Great Lakes, strong, dense winds blow across the flat expanses of Canada and collide with the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes making explosive sea conditions. Those steep waves — the old timer fishermen called them square because almost vertical wave faces separate the wave’s tops from their bottoms — [...]
Sanborn Canoe Company, based in Winona, Minnesota, makes durable, handmade, lightweight paddles that look as great as they perform. (Plus, they’re really nice guys!) They declared 2011 the year of the paddle, which means that they’ve been giving away a paddle a month for the entire year. This month they’re giving away a Gunflint Canoe [...]
If you’re a loyal reader of PaddlingLight, you know that I’ve been modeling old canoes and kayaks from sources like The Bark Canoes and Skin Boat of North America and turning them into free plans. I’m almost three months into the project, which started on October 8th. So far, I’ve modeled 12 free plans during [...]
At the 2010 Summer Outdoor Retailer show, the yearly pilgrimage for gear obsessed outdoor store owners and buyers, Mad River announced the release of five new canoes. The first two ultralites weigh in at 45 lbs and 43lbs for the Explorer 16 KX Ultralite and the Malecite KX Ultralite, respectively. They range in price from [...]
Paddler: Why? I don’t know why; I don’t know. Never been in a kayak. You? Narrator: No, but that’s a good thing. Paddler: No, it is not. How much can you know about yourself, you’ve never been in a kayak? I don’t wanna die without any swims. The eight rules of paddle club1: You do [...]
![125pxad20091227[1]](http://www.paddlinglight.com/pl/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/125pxad200912271.jpg "Permalink to Sanborn Canoe Co.")
Nessmuking welcomes a new advertiser: Sanborn Canoe Company. Sanborn Canoe Co. is based in Minnesota and makes lightweight gear tested and proven in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, our home waters. Here’s a little more about Sanborn Canoe Co.: Sanborn Canoe Co. is a lightweight wooden canoe paddle and cedar strip canoe company located [...]
Over at Xtranormal, a website that allows users to easily create animated videos, a number of paddling related videos are appearing. They take a humorous look at serious issues and debates that occur within canoeing and kayaking. Many of the videos are based on some of the actual silly online debates that have occurred over [...]
I live near the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) and on the shore of Lake Superior. Both locations are among the most pristine locations in the world. When paddling on Lake Superior, I can see what seems like forever into its depths–it looks cleaner than a swimming pool. On the inland [...]
GPS units can be useful tools for some wilderness trips, and they become more useful when loaded with topo maps. If you own a Garmin GPS unit, high quality free topo maps may be available for the areas you travel. You’ll need a Garmin GPS capable of receiving user uploaded maps, software, and the free [...]
![hansel_bryan_090419-1[1]](http://www.paddlinglight.com/pl/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/hansel_bryan_090419-11-150x150.jpg "Permalink to Public Radio Interview with Nessmuking Author Bryan Hansel")
This interview appeared on WTIP and The Roadhouse with Buck Benson and Bob Carter. The interview is covering my (Bryan’s) Around the Great Lake Expedition 2009. Click Here to Listen: Around the Great Lakes on the Roadhouse with Buck and Bob [22mb, mp3] Learn more about the Around the Great Lake Expedition 2009.
Grand Marais, MN – February 14, 2009 – On May 2, photographer, writer, guide Bryan Hansel will paddle out of the Grand Marais, MN harbor on a 5-month, 3,800-mile solo kayak circumnavigation of all the Great Lakes. During this expedition, Hansel will attempt to become the first person to complete this circumnavigation by kayak. His [...]
Fatbikerafting the Arctic
Starting in the early spring of 2012, Andrew Badenoch is heading far north on a 7,000-mile, six-to-eight-month, lightweight journey and attempt to hike, packraft and fatbike a circuit that starts in B.C. heads north to Great Bear Lake, then the ocean, west to Alaska and then back to the starting point. On the trip, he’ll travel 7,000 [...]