DAMAGE CONTROL
- Cliff Jacobson
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
by Cliff Jacobson
When I was much younger, I made an annual trip down the Snake River in Minnesota. The upper Snake--beginning at the now practically defunct town of Woodland--is beautiful and remote. The upper section is characterized by thick woods and intermittent rapids. In the mix there are two low canyons, the first of which, is easily runnable--that is, if you can stay away from the wall on river right. The second canyon varies from Class III at high water to a long-haul rock garden when the water is low.
I remember one trip where the river was very low--menacing rocks loomed like daggers everywhere. There was no clean run. I didn't want to scratch my beautiful, new Kevlar canoe, so I portaged it around the obstacles. I was just putting-in at the end of the trail when I spied a young couple in a pristine wood-canvas canoe heading straight into the rocky mass I had just carried around. I watched in amazement, wondering how they could run a collector-grade wooden canoe through this barely navigable section.
Surprisingly, the paddlers got through with just a handful of scrapes. I winced at every one. At the bottom of the drop, I hailed them with "Hey, how can you guys treat such a gorgeous canoe that way--why didn't you just portage?"
The man smiled up at me and replied: "It's a canoe, man; Just hope I live long enough to wear it out!"
The couple disappeared around the bend, leaving me to contemplate their take. Ultimately, I came to appreciate and embrace it. After all, most canoes are infinitely repairable and a rocky rapid that can be run--even at the expense of incurring some cosmetic damage--usually trumps a sweaty portage.
Some years later my wife, Susie and I attended a FreeStyle canoeing clinic in Louisiana. We brought our heavily scarred solo canoes--a Bell Wildfire for me, a Flashfire for her. A long string of solo and tandem canoes dutifully sat belly up on the grass by the practice pond. They were beautiful boats--ultralight carbon-Kevlar, cedar-canvas and fiberglass/wood-strippers. All had mirror-polished hulls and gleaming woodwork and there wasn't a scratch on any of them. Except for my Wildfire and Susie's Flash, that is--they had a mass of scratches and gouges, the result of having run scores of rocky rivers.
Paddlers rolled their eyes when they saw our boats and asked how we could treat them so unkindly. I echoed the Snake River couple's philosophy. People just smiled and walked away.
Later, on the practice pond, I received some great instruction from top FreeStyle paddlers, Karen Knight and the late Tom MacKenzie. Though I was not able to duplicate their exotic FreeStyle moves, I did learn some simple tricks that have upped my canoeing fun.
The event ended with a day trip down a narrow, quick-flowing Florida river. There were no real rapids but there were downed trees, occasional rocks and sweepers. Ah ha! I was home at last, carving eddy turns and peel-outs, ferrying around obstacles, whooping and having a grand time. My new friends were not happy paddlers; they were constantly on alert, wary of damaging their expensive canoes. Suddenly, I was the star of the crowd and people marveled at my moves. But when I offered to teach them basic river canoeing procedures, they politely declined. The attitude was NO WAY will I ever take my canoe down another rocky river! Twittering around a quietwater pond, doing canoe-dance routines to pre-recorded music, was as adventurous as they wanted to get. They figured that if they kept with that philosophy, their pricey canoes would last forever!
Canoe a rocky, shallow river and you WILL ding your canoe. It's just part of the game. But the more capably you paddle, the fewer things you'll ram!
Unfortunately, the focus today is on equipment, not skills--i.e., buy something to solve your problem. Ground water (from rain) oozing into your tent? Buy a better tent! Can't make a cheery fire in foul weather? Bring liquid fuel and fire-starters. Confused when navigating big lakes? Program every turn into your GPS before you leave home. And if you have little to no paddling skill, avoid moving water. The scary alternative is to learn how to camp and canoe!
PS. Even the very best paddlers will scratch their canoes on rocky rivers. Stems (ends) at the waterline take the most beating. Repairs are easy. Simply fill the abraded area with marine grade epoxy, thickened (if necessary) with epoxy thickener or quarter-inch lengths of scissors-cut fiberglass. Deep damage may require one or two protective "bang-strips" of fiberglass. Cut "bang strips" on the bias (#1) so they'll wrap smoothly around the stem. Sand the hardened patch smooth then paint to match the hull. If you can't obtain a perfect color match, tape an angular line below the stem (#2) and paint that section a contrasting color.
(#2) Note masked paint line on the stem of my 19-year old Bell Yellowstone Kevlar-carbon solo canoe. The stems have been repaired more than a dozen times using this procedure. Looks like new, doesn't it?
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My flagship book, CANOEING WILD RIVERS, 5th Edition, contains a wealth of advice on how to safely canoe difficult rivers.
*My book CAMPING'S TOP SECRETS, 2022 revision, details practical camping tips and procedures that only the experts know. If you know just a few of these tricks, you'll be a hero to your friends!
*My teen book, JUSTIN CODY'S RACE TO SURVIVAL! mixes a fictional wilderness survival tale with practical outdoor tips everyone should know--a first for books of this type. Adults love it too! Now available as an audio book!
*My long out-of-print book, CANOEIST’S Q&A (available as an e-book) contains 25 true scenarios (plus FAQ's) that define the wilderness canoeing and camping experience--a great training tool for those who go beyond the beaten path - now available as an audio book under the new title PADDLER'S GUIDE: WHAT TO DO WHEN THINGS GO SOUR.
*CAMPSITE MEMORIES is long out-of-print. It is available as an e-book on my website.
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