I spent some time yesterday figuring out how to carry a handy 32" trolling rod in my canoe so the canoe will be perfectly balanced with all the other 15 lbs of secured stuff that rides with the boat on portages. The rod is a heavy action ice fishing rod with a high capacity ultra light open faced spinning reel. It will be much handier to grab than the regular fishing rods during the traveling part of the day. In case you are wondering, I hate loose gear on portages. Thought some of you may have an interest. Pictures are at:
http://community.webshots.com/album/563816070SSPzfI?vhost=community
Will be heading into Quetico in about 2 weeks.
Nice
– Last Updated: Jun-21-08 3:47 AM EST –
I noticed that you do not have a large backpack or did I miss it? Is that a Quetico 17 Le Tigre Kevlar or 16? I assume that you will not paddle it backwards for better weight distribution?
Jensen Huron 18
– Last Updated: Jun-21-08 7:54 AM EST –
My comments on each picture are the tiny print below the pictures and are easy to miss. The canoe is a discontinued performance model manufactured by Souris River in standard kevlar layup; their Jensen Huron 18 that was discontinued in 2000. And the weight distribution is set up for tandem paddling and is trimmed. This is a very fast no rocker canoe that does best with a level trim. There are 2 photos with the gear packs in the bays; front bay with the 60l food barrel and rear bay with Granite Gears large Superior One portage pack.
Nice
– Last Updated: Jun-22-08 7:40 PM EST –
It's good to put a face with a name and was good meeting you this weekend. Hopefully, my presentation didn't bore you too much. :)
The way Ilena and I strap our rods into the canoes is by using velcro straps. We took two pieces of double sided velcro and sewed them together, center to center, at right angles to each other. One strap goes around a thwart; the other around the pole.
Nice to meet you
– Last Updated: Jun-23-08 9:52 AM EST –
Your presentation was just fine and I did pick up a thing or three about digital photograghy. Actually it was timely for me since I think there may be a DSLR in household's near future. This was the first time I attended the Grand Marais wooden boat show and both my wife and I enjoyed it.
Many years ago I used shoestrings to lash fishing rods into canoes for portaging. The rods were very secure but the method was miserably slow. I switched to Velcro strips about 1980 but was never quite satisfied with the tightness holding the rod. Chances were good that the rod would pivot in the holder when I'd put the canoe on my shoulders (and maybe my Velcro stripes weren't wide enough or something). I was always concerned that the bail on the reel would get dinged and bent when it would pivot down. So about 15 years ago I started playing with bungee cord and cord holders and found a quick and very secure method of lashing in fishing rods (and anything else you want to lash to canoe thwarts). In the last few years someone is marketing a similar bungee lash that I have seen for sale in Ely and Duluth.
Me too
– Last Updated: Jun-30-08 10:37 AM EST –
Except for a few last minute purchases (bread and ?), I've got the food ready for this trip. In the last several months, I've worked out the menu with input from the other 5 trippers, calculated amounts needed, inventoried existing camping food, purchased and dehydrated food as needed and repackaged everything securely. I've tried to keep up records but I still need to create a food file with amounts and costs so we can readily determine the per person costs once the trip is over. Here's a pic of what it looks like. Only the frozen swiss steak and black bean burgers and corn for first night's supper aren't there. And of course the fish we'll catch and have for dinners--as many dinners as we can. mmmm
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2531827700058669248onPnBH
Three days from tonight we'll be gathered and packing in prep for next morning's departure.
Some Pictures of our trip
I’ve uploaded some photos of our Quetico trip to Webshots. The link is:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2267804210079678560wuKfVf?vhost=outdoors
My comments on each photo are in the small print below each photo. Hope you enjoy them.
Suzanette Campsite
Hey! Duluth Moose, I was checking out your photos and we stayed at the same campsite on June 25 & 26th on Suzanette
Suzanette campsite
I’ve camped on the lake before at that same site and think its the best one on the lake when you need space for more than 2 tents. Did you have enough time to head across the bay from the campsite to the cliff on the northwest? There is a message jar cairn there and a great view.
You guys got me wanting to take a trip
north. between your photos and the post on bwca.com. The Quetico looks like a wonderful place to spend a week or two. Rick
Suzanette Campsite
We did check out that cliff top campsite. We also were considering camping there…It was too exposed, especially with the storms we had blowing through.