You should own - and use - a PFD. That is, a Personal
Flotation Device, or life jacket. While there is no particular
reason why you might spill, stuff happens. One of our own
students, for example, on an outing with me on the
Housatonic River, was in a small ‘riffle’ and leaned over far
enough to put his gunwale under the moving water. He took
a swim.
I myself have swamped my boat going through rough water, and had to pull over and empty it out. In
retrospect, I probably should not have attempted what I did, but we don’t always make the best
decisions, and having a PFD protects you from the consequences of a bad one.
Repair kit
I always carry a roll of duct tape and a syringe of 5-minute epoxy (available
at any hardware store). I’ve never used the epoxy, but my original boat is
covered with tape, from wear and tear over a number of years. At some
point I may re-skin it, but for now, it still
works fine, like an old pick-up with a few
rust spots.
These boats are great for quiet ponds, slack-water riv-
ers, even larger lakes. They are not a white-water boat,
though I have run class 1 sections with no harm done.
With reasonable care, they
should prove serviceable and last a long time.
Getting in and out
You may ask yourself, really? Do I need instructions for this? Well, yes. First, you should never sit in
one of these on dry land. They need the support of the water wrapping around them to be at their
best. It follows, then that you don’t want the boat to be resting on the bottom, when you get in. You
want to be in enough water so the boat floats, and then ease in like you are sliding into the seat of a
low-slung sports car.
Stand in the water next to the boat. Grasp the gunwales on each side and step onto the floorboards.
Ease your butt onto the seat, and then bring your remaining leg in. If you scrape a little, no big deal.
The paddle may help here, as a big ol’ crutch, to help steady yourself. We’ve had at least one student
spill on his first attempt, but most find this works well the first time out.
Can you get in from a dock? Sure, if you steady yourself well and stay centered.
Once in the boat the first time, you may notice a little tippiness. Because the bottom is not perfectly
flat, the boat can rock a bit. However, as soon as the nearly vertical sides of the boat come into play,
there will be resistance to the the boat going over further. That slight tip can be used to your advantage
when paddling. If you want to make a long sweeping turn to the left, you can keep paddling normally
and lean a bit to the right. The shape of the boat in the water will start it carving to the left.
Paddle and paddling
While this boat can be paddled with a conven-
tional paddle, by an experienced paddler using a
J-stroke, but I recommend a long double-bladed
paddle - a kayak paddle. I use one that is 260 cm
in length. You might have trouble finding one
this long at Dick’s Sporting Goods or even some
of the paddle-sports retail stores. One source is
Bending Branches. The link for their impression
solo paddle can be found here:
https://bendingbranches.com/canoe-paddles/
solo/impression-solo/2pc
Other sources are:
Grey Owl Paddles
Shaw and Tenny Oars and Paddles
Beautiful paddles in a variety of lengths, but outrageously expensive.
Storing your boat
These boats should probably not be left unprotected, outdoors, year-round. Mine have spent the
winter indoors, but usually are under a roof, but open to the elements on the sides. A garage, a shed, a carport or porch are good choices.
If you don’t use your boat as often as I do mine, you may get some critters nesting: wasps, spiders, etc.
Just hose ‘em out.
You can see in these photos three appropriate ways to store your boat. 1: Upside down, supported at
about the 1/3 and 2/3 points, as in the first photo, and not unlike the way they were supported on saw-
horses when you were building them. 2: Hang it from the ceiling by the grab loops at either end of the
boat as in the second photo. This gets it up out of the way, and though a bit harder to get down, takes
up no floor-space. 3: You could buy or build a pair of slings to support the boat and display it. This
takes up the most floor-space, but makes the boat ready to go at a moment’s notice.
The key points are these: If suspending it, hand by the ends. If on stands, then divide the lengths in
thirds and support it on the gunwales at those points. In a pinch, a couple logs could replace the cross-
gunwales supports.
Transport
Because these boats are so light, they’re pretty easy to car-top, and easy to secure. For short trips, I
use a couple of bungee loops as shown here. For longer trips, I have some webbing straps (available at
EMS or REI or even some hardware stores) that go in the same place. You could also secure the bow
and stern to the with another pair of lines, but I’ve never found this necessary. Any car’s factory rack, as
long as it has cross-wise bars should be fine. In a pinch, a few blankets under the gunwale to pad the
roof and cord run through the windows would work.
