Thank you for your kind comments. Yep I deliberately choose harder conditions and I did not find it easy. Got one more of these to do at some point.

Yep if you are ever in the UK it is a unique paddle. Not been in North Carolina for 30 years or more. Was over there white water kayaking back then.

The problem was that David wasn't sure what to do. Normally in an experienced tandem crew the bow paddler is involved in steering in rapids but both must have an agreed plan or method.

Hi, thanks for watching and commenting. Side slip can countered by using a leeboard and is often used by those with more efficient rigs, they they can then beat to windward. A heavy keel is not necessary with such a small sail area on my rig and by lowering the weight it is very stable. On bigger rigs some use outriggers. Here is a link to the Open Canoe Sailing Group and they use much better rigs with leeboards and sometimes outriggers. www.ocsg.org.uk

It’s a canoe. I certainly don’t want a heavy keel and it’s not necessary. Some up the game and install a rudder but for the sailing I do that is not necessary.

Thank you kindly

The thumb up is a more powerful and easier to learn steering stroke. The J stroke, with thumb down, is a far more efficient transfer between the power element of a stroke and the steering, you are using the same blade face to provide power and steering. It is harder to learn and until you learn the real tricks of the stroke, this is explained in the video, it can put stress on the wrist. You will need to watch carefully to see what I do with the top/control hand. Try to follow the explanation carefully as I do cover it in the video. Hope this helps. Ray

Thank you Ray, of course it helps. The only problem is that I can only sit in the Kanu, but it is like it is. 😊 Best regards Steppe

Many thanks Dan. Appreciated

That was seven years ago. Each learning point in its own time. This was a big experience for her. No need for her to brace in there. Yep she has expeditioned in Canada twice since then as well as UK and France. She has developed into a really good bow paddler.

Much appreciated

Thank you

It is great fun

Thank you

Thank you for such a full response. Yep hitting my 70s and putting on weight I had to find methods that worked for me. Some more ideas have been sent to me so I will at some point at another one I like. Best wishes and thanks.

Thank you. Glad it is of help

Thank you for your kind comments. Much appreciated.

You are most welcome

Indeed. Other than the last one.

That is kind of you. Very much appreciated

The kneeling thwart is designed to make it easier but it doesn’t stop the ankle problem. A lot of it is in getting used to it. I have been expeditioning on the River Spey the last five days and maybe kneeling 2 hours at time. The ankles and legs take a little time to work again after that. It was easier when I was younger but at 72 I find the recovery longer.

Thank you so much. Very kind

I think you and I are in complete agreement. Going down to the dark room is not good

You are most welcome

Many thanks Luke. The problem was that was early in the trip and David had never paddled water like that before. With all the easier rapids later on I encouraged him to make his own decisions and then we would discuss them at the end of the rapid. He made great progress on the later rapids he gained in competence and confidence. He is a great bloke and I enjoyed his company on the trip.

There is still 15' of canoe in the water so it can maintain a track. However without the leeboard then it cannot making effective progress into the wind.. I do have a couple of leeboard so perhaps I need to do a video with these in use. It is a very simple rig I am using so I am really happy with progress either on a broad reach or downwind. It suits the style of travel I do.

Yep I saw Tung oil on the builders merchant's shelf the other day. Will have to have a real think about it.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Ye, have a good think... given it's about the price of good Malt by volume!

@@grahamrowe6278 I might stick to Danish Oil.

Yep absolutely on the plan and contingency. Thanks you for commenting it is appreciated.

Glad you enjoyed them. Yep story number 3 is the one and it nearly was the last one. PS I love tandem canoeing. Rather like I alway watch the pairs figure skating. At its best it is a dance with your partner and the water.

Wow! I am not surprised you don’t want to go again. I am very used to swimming in white water. I used to be a trainer for safety and rescue so spent a good bit of time practicing and training others. The first two swims were easy, in the video, the last one was not. I was lucky to survive. But being under a raft while getting battered by the river bed is not good. That would have intimidated me. Wow

The key is always allowing extra time. Thanks

He is on his knees, hard to see from the angle of the camera, but keeps pushing higher rather than sink into it hence, 'Keep your bum down'. Thanks for your kind comments.

You are most welcome. Thank you.

Thank you kindly. Glad you are still finding this stuff useful. Keep well.

Good to hear from you Joe. Yep both the first and last swim I could have done better on a second attempt but...... One of the philosophies behind my paddling is to get it right first time. I think that may come from my kayaking days when I was running class 4 and 5 regularly. Some of that you just had to get right first time, scouting, planning and visualisation played a big part. To this say in making moves I like and work hard to get them right first time. But mistakes happen and these swims are the result. Yep on communication. That is why I love paddling with my wife, Lina, at our best in a boat we make it dance. We can preplan but even on the run we work in tune. Anyway keep well my friend and good to hear from you.

Thank you. Appreciated

Thank you. Yep the last one is a hard one. Glad you found the lessons useful

In or on the water.

It so depends on the situation. But it should be doing something

It will be interesting

ABC Absolutely! That was the mistake. Trouble was we couldn’t see the aim point from above as the rapid was so steep.

Absolutely right - and that was my aim. But the water was exceptionally fast and we couldn’t see the wave from above nor was there any mark we could use on the water. By the time I realised I was too far right, I couldn’t get the angle to attack the wave. Yep your analysis is spot on.

yep to an extent. David, early on, had a habit of raising his bum from the seat and becoming less stable. So I needed him to keep his weight low and on his knees. But a great effort on his part.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe - okay, that makes more sense; it is a little difficult to get all the way down in the bow. However, what a great trip!

@@kingmichaelthelastwarrior one of the best

They were not an option from the outfitter. On some of the bigger stuff I have done outfitters have had spraydecks available or as standard. Mind most of the stuff on the Porcupine was pool drop so a swamping was not of any consequence as long as you kept straight. Yep hindsight is good if we use it to shape the future decisions 😁

Me too!! There was a brief while when I didn't think I was going to reach air in time. That thought on my BA was very real: and it was while I was still underwater.

The swamped canoe with most of the boat underwater could have avoided that fate had the gear been secured tightly to to bottom of the hull. The gear appears to be tied but floating. Gear is almost always lighter than the equivalent volume of water.

@@davidedwards2764agreed. Yep a tighter tie down would have been good.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe Yow…Indeed, there’s such a unique and clear quality to the realizations we have when too long underwater….

Glad you enjoyed it. Yep Billy is a great canoe dog. Many thanks.

I would love to hear the details of your outrigger and how you use it in canoe. In my book I show one such method but the way I did it did not convince me. In sea kayak I never took a swim in all my year and I did some pretty extreme stuff. My roll was very good and could be relied on. I did practise self rescue and used reentry and roll. I taught that but also I carried a paddle float and practised with that and taught its use. Cold Water: yep a minute of cold shock followed by a window of ten minutes to sort yourself out before your dexterity goes. I have done a lot of practice in cold conditions. Note the video was shot in the wind and cold. Yes I admit that this method is slow but for me it is reliable which is what I wanted however I have now seen another method which is much faster and still reliable. I will be trying that and filming it in due course. But a bit thank you for taking the time to post a detailed response and I hope other people find it useful. Discussions and debate are so useful for all of us. Best wishes

in the country of Wales which is part of the United Kingdom. I live about 16 km from it. More specifically it is about 5km from the town of LLangollen.

@@RayGoodwinCanoe thank you 🇹🇷🇵🇸

Yep white spirt is good. Now considering a series of relaxing talks to go to sleep to. 😆

Hi Stuart, good to hear from you. I do like the HF bag, the Weasel being one of my favourites, but with the modifications you detailed. Yep re safety: I always dread the first Bank Holiday here in the Uk. If it is a hot one we see lots of novices out on Llyn Tegid (Bala) in an assortment of craft but in shorts, T-shirts and no PDFs but the water is still winter cold. The issue of cold shock is so real. I think the only reason we don't normally have fatalities is that there are a good number of working professionals out there including safety boats (for their own work). Anyway keep well.

oh no I missed that in the edit! Ah well 😅 😂 🤣

@@RayGoodwinCanoe 😍

Glad you liked it!