This is part two in a two-part article about learning the basics of reading a marine chart. Part one, Navigation: Read a Marine Chart Part 1, covered reading the basics discovered at first glance, like the chart’s scale, name and variation. This part is about the specific symbols on a chart, like water depths, lights, [...]
Learning how to read a marine chart is an important part of learning to navigate. A chart, like a map, represents the real world projected onto paper. It helps you figure out where you’ve been, where you’re going, where you’re at and what to expect at each point along the way. There are lots of [...]
Fresh bread on an extended paddling trip feels like a treat, especially after eating hard crackers, bagels or pitas for a week. One way to make this treat is by cooking bannock. For over a 1000 years, bannock, a simple bread made from the flour of a variety of grains, has filled the bellies of [...]
A couple of years ago, I watched a friend of mine carrying his wife’s boat down to the shore. A new kayaker taking a lesson from us carried the bow. Unfortunately, the worn-out rope attaching the kayak’s end toggle to the boat broke sending the bow of the $3200 fiberglass Valley Pintail to the asphalt. [...]
A guest post by Amy Funk of Campgirlz.com To talk about why I canoe, I have to first address my passion for the natural world. Sometimes tragedy can push you to find comfort. The year I turned six, my brother was killed in a car accident in July. A few months later, one of my [...]
Over at Kayakquixotica.com, Derrik asks, “I know there are lots of very experienced paddlers out there. Help me out and share how you got into paddling in the first place…” Taking up his challenge, I posted a comment on his blog. Many more comments followed mine, and I found each comment interesting and enlightening. From [...]
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 [...]
An easy way to drop weight out of your boat is to switch from a tent to a tarp. Even using a tarp with a bug bivy will save over 2 pounds for the lightest tents and over 4 pounds for average weight tents. Besides saving weight, tarps provide more usable space, less parts to [...]
Lightening the load in your kayak or canoe saves you energy, makes your load easier to portage, and ends up making camp life easier. These 8 easy tips are a few ways that you can reduce your load. Store your composite kayak or canoe upside with the hatches open. As composite materials age, they can [...]
Considering how restricted the seating actually is in the average cruising kayak, it’d better be comfortable. Hours of being jammed in an uncomfortable cockpit is no one’s idea of fun – cramped muscles, hard-spot aches, and that pins-and-needles feeling in the legs just purely takes the fun out of a day on the water. For [...]
In the Fall of 2007, I set out to build a new kayak to serve several goals: Build a kayak that fits Ilena, my significant other, better than my Romany. Build a kayak that would be a Greenland style hard chined boat that is as easy or easier to roll than my Romany. Try several [...]
Gathering Supplies (2:30 Hours) The biggest show stopper for most new kayak and canoe builders is the gathering supply step. Having to decide exactly what materials to buy, where to find the best deal, and how to get everything together in the same location at the right time is complicated. For this kayak, I’m using [...]
Fair Inside (4 Hours) After the kayak is lifted off the forms, it’s time to fair the inside. This kayak is mainly flat on the inside, so fair is easily accomplished using a block plane, hobbyist plane, and a flat surform tool. A Convex surform can be used on the concave sections of the hull. [...]
Cockpit Coaming (8 Hours) There are many methods of building a cockpit coaming and making a carbon fiber coaming is certainly one of the hardest, but it is an achievable project for the home builder. I like to build mine in four steps. The first step is to make the foam mold that will be [...]
How to Adjust a Sea Kayak
Adjusting a sea kayak or touring boat to fit not only makes the boat more comfortable but also makes it easier to control. With the proper fit, edging, which helps you maneuver, feels easier, rolling becomes easier, and torso rotation, which propels a kayak forward, becomes unimpeded. For all-day touring, I feel that you need [...]