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Listening Point - General Discussion

Do you Have Canoe Passion?

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Basspro69

04/23/2012 10:08PM

I have to admit something, I really dont have the passion for canoes that a lot of people on this site have. I love the BWCA as much as anybody. I Love the quiet, the beauty, the calming feeling that it gives me, and I especially love the fishing. But I'm just not into canoes like so many on this site are.

I'm just wondering am I alone in this? I almost never canoe anymore outside the Bdub, can anyone here relate?

" I want to know Gods thoughts , The rest are details " Albert Einstein.

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gutmon

04/23/2012 10:34PM

I can relate. I love to see classic canoes like a Seliga, like the Kevlars I've rented, but have gotten much enjoyment just being on the water in my Royalex or aluminum. If it floats and gets me where I'm going it works for me.

"The trouble with the world isn't that people know too little, but that they know so much that just ain't so." Mark Twain

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ozarkpaddler

04/23/2012 10:49PM

Yup. Started out as the cheapest vehicle to get me down the river to fish with. Started visiting the BWCA in '84 and it too was nothing but the "Vehicle." About 10 years ago I started leaving the rod & reel home more and more. For me, it's BECOME all about fiddling around in the water enjoying the way a good boat moves in surroundings that I enjoy. After paddling so many different boats, I just love canoes and paddling period.

"Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." Mark Twain

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fitgers1

04/23/2012 11:13PM

Yep,same here. To me it's just another boat. Don't care if I am out in one of the canoes, the fishing boats or the old lund snipe duck boat or floating a tube down the Otter Tail., it's just all about being outdoors to me.

I love fishing, camping, hiking, beautiful vistas and serene solitude. The bdub offers all of it at the same time and so much more. Tall pines, wild life, star filled skies and on and on. It's peaceful there. Doesn't matter if I hiked in, took a canoe or paid that 10 bucks to get my fishing boat onto Basswood.

I'm very happy that there are so many other places in this state that do offer relatively the same thing without having to lug everything across a portage. We are very lucky here. Many places off the Sawbill, Gunflint and other trails. A small lake north of Bemij, LOTW and thousands of other lakes and rivers. I do love the tranquility of paddling a canoe but I'm just fine with being in a fishing boat on Mille Lacs.

The one thing I do require though is that I am at least 50 miles away from the godforsaken twin cities. There is much I love about the bdub but what it does for me there, well I can find that in a lot of places in this state. Heck, I hate to admit it but yes, even right here in the cities. Paddling the lakes or motoring the Mississippi or Minnesota rivers, even biking the trails. So no, it's not all about the canoe to me either, it's just about getting out there before the long dirt nap kicks in.

Wow BP. You hit something here. I could ramble on for a long time on this one. Sorry, I can be a rambler.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Ralph Waldo Emerson...and...“Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".

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Curmudgeon

04/24/2012 06:46AM

I love canoes for their simplicity, the ability to explore tiny backwaters, and the cost effectiveness relative to a motor boat.

I love small tiller style motorboats.

I like my friends house boat on the St Croix River.

I loved my uncle's offshore racing boat he use to keep near the Apostle Islands.

I enjoy the vintage boats on Lake Minnetonka.

I wish I could live on a yacht like Tigger Woods.

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OneMatch

04/24/2012 06:50AM

Not on the same page. Everytime I dip the paddle in the water, I have this "ahhhhhh, I'm where I belong" feeling. If there is an afterlife, I hope canoes are there, too.

We all have to believe in something. I believe I'll go paddle.

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arctic

04/24/2012 07:12AM

I pretty much only canoe in roadless areas like the BWCA/Quetico and beyond, or on rivers. I don't care to paddle on motorized lakes with cabins, etc., like the Brainerd Lakes area. Down there I'm a motor guy.

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yellowcanoe

04/24/2012 07:17AM

Well there are two roads here in this thread.

I spend at least half the days of the year in a canoe and over a wide ranging area. Today I will go out on the lake and since the summer people are not here, enjoy the loons and the newly emerging greenery. In three days, will be in Ontario. The living room is a mess of gear.

Fishing I could care less about! (that will get some going...for sure!)

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missmolly

04/24/2012 07:25AM

I'm middle of the road. I like a nice canoe, but not as much as I like the places a canoe can go.

I'm glad that yellowcanoe doesn't like to fish, just like I'm glad when people prefer motel rooms.

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TuscaroraBorealis

04/24/2012 07:29AM

quote missmolly: "I like a nice canoe, but not as much as I like the places a canoe can go."
Don't think it could be summed up any better in one sentence.

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Cedarboy

04/24/2012 07:39AM

YC
Thats ok about fishing it just leaves more for the rest of us.
As far as "canoe passion" I guess I have a passion for building and trippig in the boats I build, my wife wouild call it OCD. I am always thinking 2-3 boats ahead while I am building the current canoe.
I would use a Dolfin fiberglass canoe if thats all I had to get me on a canoe trip.
CB

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housty9

04/24/2012 08:05AM

Love canoeing and a little bite of boating, like lakes you can't take a boat on more peace and quit.

our we there yet

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Spartan2

04/24/2012 08:13AM

We don't go canoeing much except for our yearly BW trip. Not real canoeing, anyway.

We have our Grumman at the lake cottage, but that lake is really just a pond, so the old boat just gets a quick spin around the pond, or sometimes a little fun time with the grandchildren. It's perfect for that; guess you could say it is "semi-retired".

When we bought the Bell Northwind in 1998 (green gelcoat) it was so pretty, and I vowed that I would keep it that way. Every year I sprayed it with 303 and every other year I wiped the wood down with Watco Oil like they told me to. For a while it stayed really pretty. . . then a couple years went by when I was too lazy, and of course we hit a few rocks and it began to get really scraped up, and once we hit a rock badly enough that it needed a bit of patching. The guy who did the patching did a crappy job, if you are talking about cosmetics (but it is patched.) And the last time I did the Watco thing I bought the wrong stuff and the wood has turned all dark and ugly. Sigh.

I told myself I was going to sand it all down and refinish it to its original glory. Yeah, right. The years are going by and my back hurts, and realistically, this boat is probably just going to look ugly now for as long as we have it. Maybe someday someone will buy it and "restore" it like a vintage auto; that would be nice.

But I figure: it is a boat. It floats, it gets us around in the canoe country, and WE don't win any beauty contests either, so perhaps it is fitting for us. I was prouder of it when it was pretty, but pride doesn't work into my canoeing adventures much anymore. I still manage to have fun, and to enjoy the peace and quiet of the BWCA. That's what the Northwind is for.

There are wonderful rivers and lakes in Michigan and we could go canoeing more than we do. It seems like we just have a lot more in our lives than canoeing, and things get compartmentalized. We have reserved canoeing for our time in Minnesota.

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bear bait

04/24/2012 08:18AM

quote TuscaroraBorealis: "quote missmolly: "I like a nice canoe, but not as much as I like the places a canoe can go."
Don't think it could be summed up any better in one sentence?"
agreed!

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amhacker22

04/24/2012 08:44AM

I'm way into the canoes. I just like them. I have a 14 ft. fishing boat, but I find that its a lot of screwing around and kind of a pain. A canoe, however, just pops on my car and goes wherever I want to go. When I'm done I just hoist it up to the garage ceiling and I get to look at it/them every time I go to the garage. They're simple to own and use, but are deceptively complex in their design, use, and construction.

Lately I've gotten into cedar canvas. They're just so pretty.

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CORIOLIS

04/24/2012 08:52AM

A lot of these replies resonate with me. When I bought my canoe 30 tears ago, a crappy sears fiberglass 16 HEAVY (78 lbs) ugly (simulated birch bark design that was rapidly overpainted) it was merely a means to fish. I wanted to be able to go where the fish were instead of standing on the shore hoping the fish would come to me. This served me well for over two decades on the rare opportunities I got to escape and go fishing. Then in 2005 took a chance and made my first trip to the BWCA. Real escape. Real fishing and camping and paddling and this new to me thing...portageing. I was hooked, been back every year since, twice last year, and I guess you could say we've upgraded to the rental kevlar portability. I bought a used kevlar MNII last fall for this season. She will be great for our group trip in the end of August, but not quite the ideal craft for my upcoming solo in less than a month. No disrespect to all the canoe purists out there, but my primary concern, like Basspro69, is not so much the ride but the escape back to the reality of His creation, however brief it may be.

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ryebread26

04/24/2012 01:20PM

im with you basspro dont really canoe all that much. im going up for the fishing

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tjburns1

04/24/2012 01:43PM

quote bear bait: "quote TuscaroraBorealis: "quote missmolly: "I like a nice canoe, but not as much as I like the places a canoe can go."
Don't think it could be summed up any better in one sentence?"
Agreed!"
+3 or however many that is now.

I, like many of us, like to canoe, kayak, hike and backpack. That said, I like canoeing about as much as I like walking. I don't hike because I like to walk, I hike because it is the best way for me to see things other's don't, to go places others won't and to challenge myself in new ways. I canoe for the same reason.

I cannot make my days longer, so I strive to make them better. Paul Theroux

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BWPaddler

04/24/2012 01:49PM

I'm at the beginning of my passion. Grew up in an old fiberglass "herter's" canoe my dad owned his whole life (with his brother). Didn't know there were different kinds of canoes.

Branched out and learned to paddly myself in Old Town Discos on the Shenandoah in my 20s. Thought those boats were the bomb - virtually UNtippable. Then again, I was renting and never had to portage one.

At age 30 bought a house on a MN lake and squeaked out enough cash for a $200 Coleman RamX so I could be on the water. Even stuck a trolling motor on that thing to try to explore farther. "Found" the BWCA with that boat, and will probably keep it for generations to come - it will never die.

Age 41, my birthday present to myself was a SR Q18.5. Now, I'm starting to understand tradeoffs in models and layups.

Have added three more canoes since then, kevlar and RX. Have always appreciated the wood boats and I know I will make one myself some day. I'm NOT a good enough paddler to appreciate the different models YET. But the interest is there, "passion" if you will... and I am excited to spend the rest of my life exploring boats and going where they can take me... with a plan to work with wood also as life calms down after kids some day.

If I had to choose between being ON the water using a steamboat or a ski boat or a barge and NOT BEING ON THE WATER at all... I would choose whatever could get me ON the water. But if I get a choice of water vehicles, I choose the canoe (or kayak as ocean conditions demand).

Wherever there is a channel for water, there is a road for the canoe. -Thoreau

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DeterminedOrange

04/24/2012 01:53PM

quote OneMatch: "Not on the same page. Everytime I dip the paddle in the water, I have this "ahhhhhh, I'm where I belong" feeling. If there is an afterlife, I hope canoes are there, too."

I'm with you, can't think of a better place to be but in a canoe. The highlight of every year is when there is enough open water to set one in and feel the pull on that paddle.

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Basspro69

04/24/2012 05:05PM

quote missmolly: "I'm middle of the road. I like a nice canoe, but not as much as I like the places a canoe can go.

I'm glad that yellowcanoe doesn't like to fish, just like I'm glad when people prefer motel rooms."
+1 Very well said.

" I want to know Gods thoughts , The rest are details " Albert Einstein.

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bapabear

04/24/2012 06:29PM

quote OneMatch: "Not on the same page. Everytime I dip the paddle in the water, I have this "ahhhhhh, I'm where I belong" feeling. If there is an afterlife, I hope canoes are there, too."

That thought should be in a song........wait a minute!!!!

I'm also of the feeling that the connection between water and canoe and paddle and arms something goes up to the stress relief center of the brain. I love boats. I love canoes. Canoes connect you with the water.

May waters rise to meet you. May wind and current be always at your back. May the Good Lord paddle with you, And may yours be the lightest pack.

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RaisedByBears99

04/24/2012 06:34PM

I have a canoe addiction, does that count?

One day I realized I had 13 canoes and knew I had a problem.

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ozarkpaddler

04/24/2012 07:08PM

quote OneMatch: "Not on the same page. Everytime I dip the paddle in the water, I have this "ahhhhhh, I'm where I belong" feeling. If there is an afterlife, I hope canoes are there, too."

Just got home from the river. You summed up my feelings to a tee! I love just being on the water in a canoe and am fortunate I get to spend at least day or two most weeks of the year in a canoe. I've come a long way from my beginnings.

"Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." Mark Twain

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cowdoc

04/24/2012 07:17PM

quote fitgers1: "Yep,same here. To me it's just another boat. Don't care if I am out in one of the canoes, the fishing boats or the old lund snipe duck boat or floating a tube down the Otter Tail., it's just all about being outdoors to me.

I love fishing, camping, hiking, beautiful vistas and serene solitude. The bdub offers all of it at the same time and so much more. Tall pines, wild life, star filled skies and on and on. It's peaceful there. Doesn't matter if I hiked in, took a canoe or paid that 10 bucks to get my fishing boat onto Basswood.

I'm very happy that there are so many other places in this state that do offer relatively the same thing without having to lug everything across a portage. We are very lucky here. Many places off the Sawbill, Gunflint and other trails. A small lake north of Bemij, LOTW and thousands of other lakes and rivers. I do love the tranquility of paddling a canoe but I'm just fine with being in a fishing boat on Mille Lacs.

The one thing I do require though is that I am at least 50 miles away from the godforsaken twin cities. There is much I love about the bdub but what it does for me there, well I can find that in a lot of places in this state. Heck, I hate to admit it but yes, even right here in the cities. Paddling the lakes or motoring the Mississippi or Minnesota rivers, even biking the trails. So no, it's not all about the canoe to me either, it's just about getting out there before the long dirt nap kicks in.

Wow BP. You hit something here. I could ramble on for a long time on this one. Sorry, I can be a rambler."

If you get that Indy home and don't have passion for it, give me a call and I'll happily buy it.

"What could happen?"

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Sierra1

04/24/2012 07:31PM

I had a run-about boat for a couple of years then sold it. I went back to my Alumacraft 17ft and really never looked back. I took it on local lakes and rivers and to the BWCA. It has recently taken a backseat to my solo canoe. I can go to the some of same places larger boats can go but I can also go places they cannot. Don't get me wrong, I like other boats but I'm at home in a canoe.

Watch out for that rock!!!........ Oooo.... That's going to leave a mark...

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Greenman

04/24/2012 07:33PM

A canoe is just a vessel, a means to an end. It's a lot like an airplane, only slower, and much more quite.

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bruceye

04/24/2012 07:44PM

I have a Disco 17 river barge that I acquired through marriage. Ok, so I guess it's OURS. Before that, was an aluminum Grumman which should suffice as an answer to the pending question,, no. I have absolutely no affinity or desire to own a {pretty} canoe. That being said, I'm reluctant to admit that the ravages of age are crouching at the door and it's recently coming to me more out of necessity than want, I may have to go shopping.

Bruceye

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walllee

04/24/2012 08:38PM

I do not no if I have a passion for canoes or a passion for solitude. I have a 21 foot fishing boat that has not been out of the garage for 3 years here at home, and a 17 footer that gets out a day or two at my place up in Minnesota. Its not that I do not like boating anymore and the comfort of fishing from a boat,it is just that a motor does not take me to the solitude that I need . The canoe does.

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Savage Voyageur

04/24/2012 08:50PM

I have a 14' fishing boat and a ski boat but nothing compares to the fun I have with a canoe.

"So many lakes, so little time."

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nctry

04/24/2012 09:04PM

The canoe and the places it takes us goes pretty much hand in hand. I paddle at home, but it's the paddling in the back country that really makes it for me. Not sure if I'm passionate just because I tuck them in at night.

Nctry Ben

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Kevlar

04/24/2012 09:30PM

I'm with Miss Molly...It's where the canoe can take you. I like to paddle, much more than motorboat. I like the quiet, the feeling that I'm in control, the intimate feeling you get with nature when you are part of it, instead of intruding physically and noisily as with a motor boat. And motors don't like me...they balk, sputter, won't run at all.

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bhouse46

04/24/2012 10:59PM

Started canoeing in '79 and fell in love, mostly like miss molly with the places I could go, but also the feel of the paddle. Paddling partners moved away and I switched to kayak in '96 and found the rhythm of the double blade. I sense the little bit of Cherokee I am lucky to carry comes out on the water with the paddle. I do not think the passion is for the boat, but it is strong for the experience of gliding quietly through nature.

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RaisedByBears99

04/25/2012 04:20AM

We've just about always lived on water. I've had quite a few boats, but have never had the same kind of feeling about them that I've had about canoes. Presently, I have one boat, a pontoon boat. It goes in the water just before my brother-in-law and his family show up each year in August. We go for an afternoon cruise around the lake, and maybe up the river for a ways. Then it sits until September or October when I pull it up on the bank again. I hate the thing. It is just a lot of work and (for me) no fun. When I go out - it's in a canoe.

My mother couldn't see why she should give up canoeing just because she had kids. I was in a canoe before I could walk - used to get paddled for moving around when I shouldn't. Somehow, this never deterred me from loving canoes. One of my first memories is of my mother calling a moose with a cone of rolled birchbark.

There were no life jackets. My parents were concerned about this, especially after one cousin drowned. I have very vague memories of being a toddler and learning to swim. This consisted of my parents standing waist deep in water, about 15 feet apart, and having my mother toss me in and say, "Swim to your father." Vice versa with my father to my mother. As it was "sink or swim" I learned to swim in record time.

Canoes are mobile. Boats are locked into the lake where they are launched.

As a kid with a canoe, I could paddle from my home (in a very clumsy flat bottom home made canoe) anywhere my paddle took me. As I discovered maps I realized I could paddle from home to the Atlantic, the Gulf, or Hudson's Bay. I never did, but what a sense of freedom to realize you could.

We also have a canoe tradition in the family. My grandfather had an Oldtown wood/canvas canoe, a dugout, named the "Lone Trapper," and several home-made birchbark canoes. My great grandfather had ten dugouts - that I'm aware of. He probably had others when he was younger. My great-great-grandfather had a 65 foot dugout canoe, named the "Lily-Dale," with which he delivered wooden shingles to more settled areas. It took six paddlers and a helmsmen to operate. The "Lily-Dale" could hold 30,000 shingles - or so I'm told.

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BearBrown

04/25/2012 05:32AM

Something inside me just feels much more connected to my surroundings when i am propelling myself forward with canoe and paddle. I appreciate things more and for that i appreciate my canoe and enjoy canoeing inherently. Canoeing is much more than just a means to an end for me.

Richard "Bear" Brown----- "I would rather give someone one photograph they can't live without than one hundred they can live with." anonymous

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Basspro69

04/25/2012 07:39AM

quote nctry: "The canoe and the places it takes us goes pretty much hand in hand. I paddle at home, but it's the paddling in the back country that really makes it for me. Not sure if I'm passionate just because I tuck them in at night."
LOLOLOLOL

" I want to know Gods thoughts , The rest are details " Albert Einstein.

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coilcove

04/25/2012 11:41AM

For the motor to break down on my canoe, I would have to die. than I wouldn't care.

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mc2mens

04/25/2012 12:08PM

"Big fish eat little fish."

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mirth

04/25/2012 12:22PM

I don't know what I have. I just want to paddle. Pretty much the first thing I think of when I wake up & again as I fall asleep.

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inspector13

04/25/2012 12:51PM

I never was one that became overly passionate of any material possession. They don’t last you know. : )

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BWPaddler

04/25/2012 02:26PM

@raisedbybears... more chapters for the book you should write. I think I would really like your mother!

Wherever there is a channel for water, there is a road for the canoe. -Thoreau

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SunCatcher

04/25/2012 02:57PM

I do have a passion for canoe's...but more a passion for where they take me, not only physically but in my mind.

But, I am pretty sure Inspector13 nailed it on the head.

SunCatcher

Dad Always said "We don't Always catch fish...but we ALWAYS have a good time"

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andym

04/26/2012 01:16AM

Definitely have a passion for canoes. And that covers our $50 aluminum beater or our SR Q17s or our Ally collapsible or many canoes I see. There is just a simplicity that is beautiful and the feel of paddling with a single blade is perfect to me. "Just another boat?" Well, maybe. I also love other boats like our sailboat. I also like my kayak but the canoes are a cut above.

BTW, I don't consider this a passion for a possession. I don't need to own them. I just need them to exist and to paddle them. I also sail boats that belong to a club I belong to and I love them too.

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RaisedByBears99

04/26/2012 04:03AM

quote BWPaddler: "@raisedbybears... more chapters for the book you should write. I think I would really like your mother!"

She was unique

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awbrown

04/26/2012 07:50PM

Many years ago, I was sitting quietly in my old Coleman canoe....alone in the Pecatonica River......silently trying to convince some old catfish to swallow my stinky bait.

Up until that point in time, my canoe was merely a vessel that I could afford, and would get me into these little fishing spots where nobody else would bother me.

It was a beautiful, calm, summer Saturday morning, with a mist still rising from the water.

As I sat there as quietly as I could, it seemed as though the loudest noise had to be the beating of my heart.

Suddenly, something caught my attention......I caught some sort of movement out of the side of my eye. Very slowly I turned my head and noticed a muskrat slowly making his way through the river water along side my canoe. He wasn't the least concerned about me being there. I was just another log.......

I held my breath as I watched him frolic for what seemed like the longest time.

Eventually, he silently slipped beneath the muddy water and was gone.

Only then did I raise my head up, and notice the mama Whitetail Deer and fawn silently watching me from the opposite bank. They had been standing there watching the muskrat and me.......not the least bit concerned. I stared at them in silence, and they went about their business, and drank their fill. Eventually, they also silently slipped away into the thick brush along the river bank.

That was the day that the connection between me and canoes became something more.

I realized that the wild life had no fear of you while you are in a canoe.....you merely become a part of what they perceive to be the natural landscape of the river.......you are just another log, and this opens up a life time of amazing blessings.......the privilege of sharing the environment with those who truly live there.

I led a very busy life, and the canoe taught me to slow down and observe what is around me.

Try that in a motor boat!

Keep the open side up

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HighPlainsDrifter

04/26/2012 09:42PM

Yes I have a love (or is it an appreciation) for the lines of a well made canoe. When I study a hull, I can almost feel the flow through the water..... a quiet simplicity, not demanding of me. Part of the joy is to simply sit in a canoe. Lately I have found new joy in bringing a canoe to life (building). In the shop you are one with the canoe. You know each curve as if in an intimate relationship with a woman....... and that is passion.

"Boredom, Tyler - that's what's wrong. And how do you beat boredom, Tyler?... Adventure...(Never Cry Wolf, 1983)

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PINETREE

04/26/2012 10:26PM

I have 4 canoes and have no interest in being in or owning a motor boat.I just like the peace and quite and not having to smell the gas fumes. Outside of the BWCA I usually just go to small lakes where activity is light.
That said in my lifetime I have had probably more hours in a boat with a outboard than all most everybody.Utilizing old outboards that plugs fouled constantly to the much improved 4 cycle motors.

Sig: All of us our Dreamers. Dreams are what started everything. We our asking ourselves a great question? all of us interested in wilderness preservation are asking...What kind of world do we want.?

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04/27/2012 08:08AM

You are not alone. I love my canoe because it is my canoe. I might think your canoe is pretty cool looking, but since it is not my canoe, I don't really care. I just love canoeing. Preferably in my canoe, and not your canoe.

"Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!" - Calvin & Hobbes

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ozarkpaddler

04/27/2012 10:49AM

Canoe "Spa day" yesterday. They were cleaned, oiled, pampered. Is that "Passion?" For me, a motorboat just can't look as purty as this!

"Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." Mark Twain

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HighPlainsDrifter

04/27/2012 10:04PM

Ozark

Nice fleet
I see a Dagger reflection in the middle. I bought 2 Dagger reflections in 1990 (Royalex) when Dagger made the canoes. I still have them and can not part with them

"Boredom, Tyler - that's what's wrong. And how do you beat boredom, Tyler?... Adventure...(Never Cry Wolf, 1983)

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Merganser

04/28/2012 11:07AM

quote RaisedByBears99: "I have a canoe addiction, does that count?

One day I realized I had 13 canoes and knew I had a problem."

That only sounds like a problem if you don't have room to store them. If one is a Bell Wildfire I could help you with that. I have room for one of those. :)

I started canoeing pretty much to go canoe camping. I liked it. Then I got into paddling solo and was introduced to freestyle. Then I bought a solo canoe. Now I am on the water every week during paddling season just for the sake of paddling.

"That sort of thing is my bag baby."

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Basspro69

04/28/2012 11:27AM

quote ozarkpaddler: "
Canoe "Spa day" yesterday. They were cleaned, oiled, pampered. Is that "Passion?" For me, a motorboat just can't look as purty as this!

" Spa Day LMAO Yeah that qualifies as passion, clearly I dont have that passion, but thats ok .

" I want to know Gods thoughts , The rest are details " Albert Einstein.

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wildernessfan2

04/28/2012 07:59PM

Great thread and Point!

It's not so much the vehicle I use as much as the surroundings I enjoy. I do however appreciate the no motor and man power of a paddling or sail boat. I understand how boat quality and style can make a big difference but, a little suffering on a trip just makes me appreciate it that much more. I am sure even with the best of gear I would be like normal people and just question how it could be better. I prefer the simple life and not knowing everything about the path I am taking. Give me a safe canoe and I am fine. Of course when others are involved I am all for getting the best to make sure they are happy. I do wish I could build a canoe as that has sooo much more satisfaction that is functional for the long run.

Freshwater is delicious! Saltwater not so much..

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