Kayak outing

[Doug SC]

I have two solo canoes with the seat just behind the center of the canoe. That's the place you want to paddle from if solo. I enjoy my solo canoes. One is just 14' and the other my Curtis Kevlar solo tripper is 15'8". I use it when camping solo It only weights 36 pounds. When I use my Mad River Kevlar tandem explore 16 as a solo, I do turn it around and sit in the bow seat but mostly kneel just behind the center thwart. I will shift to one side of the explorer and heal the canoe so I can paddle with a more vertical paddle stroke and reduce the yaw thus requiring less of a steering component to each stroke. I like doing a knifing J stroke (often called the Indian or Canadian stroke) where the blade stays in the water and isn't lifted out. There are numerous different strokes that can be made with a single bland paddle. to name a few there is the J stroke, the goon stroke, the C stroke, the sweep stroke, active draw and pry strokes and static draw and pry strokes, and their crossbow equivalents. If you have never seen a free style canoe performance, it is amazing the control they demonstrate in a canoe with a single blade paddle.

Here is Marc Ornstein making his canoe dance. The dance starts at 1 minute 20 seconds and is well worth watching if you have never seen this done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofq_nl366VM

Here is the functional use of free style paddling on a twisty stream in the Pine Barrens. I love this style of paddling a solo canoe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xpkibUY1X4&list=RD-xpkibUY1X4&start_radio=1

[Doug SC]

Here I am doing a static draw in my solo tripper. If you look at the wakes at the bow and stern you can see I am moving forward and sideways toward the camera. Maggie loved the canoe and would jump in as soon as I put it down even if it was on the ground. I miss her.

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[Riley Smith]

The old house is a great base for those kayak activities. I paddled around Italian Island a year or two ago on a whim in the little green yak. There is an bayou off the river down the street that runs lengthway along the "island", and it comes up to the rear of the old house. ( But it's only an island if you count a ditch). It's almost a mile maybe on the yak. Very good fishing and sight-seeing opportunities. Including alligators if you're stupid and run up in the marsh messing about. My wife's nephew has a boat house on the bayou and just down the street, and I'm hopeful to be able to dock the catboat there for a time, once the weather settles down a bit. There's still a bit of summer to go before that happens.

[Captain Kidd]

just came across this video. "Cave kayaking"

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=1067627332174634

[Doug SC]

Very cool video!

My friend Brant and I paddled into a small cave near Wright Creek Falls on Lake Jocassee SC the first time we paddled there. I have paddled under the falls in a kayak with a skirt like the fellow in the first photo. In the second photo is Brant in the bow of the canoe. I am planning on taking the Scamp there to camp on the lake in the future. I have kayaked and camped there many times. Being a somewhat mountainous lake the winds can be shifty or blocked but I have oars and a small motor.

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[Captain Kidd]

Not totally related, but we've been back over to the lake - not to sail or kayak but to swim. Tuesday evening was hot but it was quite pleasant at the lake. We stayed 'til sunset. I took a few pics. One is of a storm cloud 30 miles away. I did a screen shot of the weather radar of the storm. In that pic we're the blue dot, of course. Pretty cool I think.

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Then I got a pic of a lone kayaker silhouetted against the sunset. As we were leaving I stopped and got a pic of the sunset glow off the water with the near half moon up in the corner of the pic.

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Just fun being on the water!

Oh, BTW: I sold my kayak yesterday. My SIL has a 10 footer I might offer to buy from him, or there's a 12' Necky Gannett I've been eyeballing. Ummmmm? We'll see.