Stone's North Woods Adventures (SNWA)

I'd be ok with that, at least in fall.

Other seasons up here, it would stand out.

I'm seeking one of those stealth kayak/canoes.

Like this one, only for color instead of radar, but it's kind of the same thing depending on where you are.

 

Wet sanding and a few rattle cans later...

 

Cool stuff, oddly I carry an Rb3 on a belt and a gransfors in my pack...nowhere as cool as your location. I just carry a heavy ruck for exercise and the Rb3 hides under my shirt in a custom sheath.

Why the kayak hybrid? Dislike for single blade paddle?

This is a good location you are in. As a desert rat I envy.

 

Great read and thanks for posting... Living in Texas is great but that sure is a nice area you're at!!

 

Thanks for reading/viewing guys.

Anrkst, can you help me parse that image just above? I'm not able to grasp what it is, exactly.

KMCM, it's interesting that in reality, I'm part desert rat myself. My doctoral studies were in NM focusing on desert biology/ecology. My dissertation work was done on a high desert (about 5000') wildlife refuge for pronghorn in central NM, 250,000 acres straddling the Rio Grande with beautiful desert mountains on either side. Here's a shot of my study plot with the Los Pinos Mts about 6 mi east. The plant is a yucca -- state flower of NM. I studied the dynamics between it and its only pollinator -- the yucca moth. That's a fascinating story in itself.



I camped, hiked and backpacked eagerly in Big Bend, TX, in NM (mountains and deserts), AZ (especially Superstition wilderness east of Phoenix), southern Utah canyons, and upper great basin sagebrush desert of eastern Oregon. I loved deserts, and thought I'd always live in one. Then love happened that brought me here, and I fell in love with the land, the geography, geology, ecology and culture. I love it here, and will never live anywhere else in the US. It's home now.

Re kayak v canoe, I've owned and paddled both. In my 20's, I owned a canoe that I used for fishing in local ponds and a bit of river travel. But you're right, I never warmed up to the single paddle. That j-stroke just never came natural to me. Here's a pick of it on my Jeep pick up that my dad and I built out of two junkers.



In my 50's, I lived a few steps from the very southern tip of Puget Sound near Olympia WA, so I bought a sea kayak -- an Eddyline Falcon 18 -- aka "death needle", because it had a 21" beam -- very narrow. The joke was, it goes very fast, but in open ocean, you'd better know how to roll it or you're going to be swimming a lot. Very good secondary stability. When I picked mine up at the factory north of Seattle, I walked into the store to find three very glum salespeople who told me that a man who bought one just like mine the day before had been found that morning in the harbor, upside down, drowned. He capsized, but forgot to leave his spray skirt pull handle outside, and didn't have a knife to cut himself out. It was a good lesson: I always triple checked my escape handle on the skirt.

I loved the kayak -- never had a minute's trouble with it and it paddled like a dream. The problem was gear storage, notably, I couldn't get my pack into it. Like most kayaks, it had only ports into fore and aft storage areas. I want my pack so that I can paddle to a remote base camp off road, then explore from there on foot. (I don't like sitting for too long.)

The Next is a hybrid between canoe and kayak. Open top -- so even large items like packs and coolers fit it (450 lb total capacity) but with a narrow beam, low seat in a kayak position, so uses a double paddle. Perfect for me.

Now all I need is $1000.

 

This looks like it will be, already is, a thread to watch. Nice job.

Question about the Old Town Next, does it have a deck available? As a recreational boat it looks interesting, but as we all look at stuff through a certain filter (I have a friend who evaluates every knife, first and foremost, as to it's suitability as a weapon, lol), most of my time in a canoe was camping and running light rapids, so from that standpoint, I wish it had a little more carrying capacity. That would probably mean a little more depth, width, and length. But since it is a newer design those parameters might be available as the design ages. I do like it and it looks like it would be good for a few days on the water.

One last observation: Nem's Blue-Green Army just doesn't have the same ring to it.

 

ATS, when I was first researching the Next last spring, I'm pretty sure I saw an image of a removable deck for it, but now I can't find it again. It could have been for one of their canoes, instead. In any case, I think it'd not be too hard to fashion something DIY.

Re bluegreen army -- LOL -- I'm still an orange fanatic (it's the Irish in me), but only for small stuff so I can find it more easily in the woods, not for large things like vehicle and boats.

PS: here's an extensive page devoted to the Next, in addition to the page I posted upstream. One can find all kinds of reviews and videos. Gets good reviews.

 

I lived in Artesia,NM for 12 years and Eherenberg,Az for 8, as well as Iraq for 5 months. Maine looks appealing for the summer!

I guided paddling trips on the Edisto River in SC for many years on the weekend. I always used a solo canoe. I also practiced freestyle paddling for a long time. The single blade is an art and very rewarding if studied. Kayaks are faster and easier to teach. My back gets stiff in a kayak.

 

I owned a Perception HD1 for a short time. It always wanted to turn turtle on me and I never put in enough time to get so I could keep it from capsizing. I did enjoy the Blue Hole Sunburst. Not as much rocker and easier for a sometime weekend paddler to keep upright and thus enjoy it.

 

I looked over that Next page. Good stuff. As to the orange, I like orange as well, but I tend towards the burnt orange. A guy at our church had a motorcycle that was a metallic burnt orange that was absolutely beautiful in the sun.

I think I would like the Next better if it was a little deeper. I have never paddled sitting so near the bottom of the boat and have liked sitting higher, but had the most fun kneeling using a saddle setup. When I didn't have a formed, commercial version, I would lash a short log of about 4 inch to 5 inch diameter between two thwarts right over the keel and straddle that. When paddling empty I would take a 5 gallon bucket of water (covered, of course) and tie it to the center thwart forward of the middle to lower the center of gravity and add a lot of stability.

 

I still have a Bell Black Magic and a Bell Wildfire both in Carbon fiber. I used a bent Zaveral paddle on the Magic. One could haul a load at a good clip as it is 16' with another 21" beam and no rocker.
I have a rubber Royolex version of the Wildfire as well as an Old Town Penobscot 16.

I prefer lake canoes but often use a straight paddle with a C or inwaterC(Indian stroke).

They hang in my brothers old chicken house. I have not paddle much in years.

 

Just so you all know ... I won't be around tonight (Sat, 2/18) much.

I have an important presentation tomorrow afternoon, first of several to potential clients that can help me fund purchase of various things (see sig line for the short list). I've been working on the slide show for months, accelerating over the last few days (interspersed with developing these images and videos, which will also be shared with friends, colleagues, clients and students elsewhere). Tonight is sort of like the evening before defending your senior thesis, or something. Gotta dial this one in sharply. Not even drinking any alcohol (ok, ok, maybe one G&T after work before bed).

I'll check back in briefly before then, but won't respond substantively until Sunday evening.

Y'all don't get to0 crazy in here.
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Oh, wait ... Saturday night, ESEE forum. Never mind.

 

Most of my hiking has been in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. The wife and I did tons of hiking when we were younger. I'll be 58 next month and I've got crappy knees from well being rough growing up. Used to run around 30 miles a week but now I'm doing my running on a treadmill Maybe three miles a day now. I still go back to Big Bend often and really enjoy it but shorter hiking now. I love this section and I enjoy seeing the country by living it through these types of threads. Pretty damn cool

 

That myfriend, is a dirt dauber nest. They lay their eggs in these, bringing the clay and water drop by drop. Where ever you are these tell you the true color of the soil you are on. So, using 2 shades of tan and 1 dark brown I "duplicated" the color onto the Lemongrass Nex. The original color is close to the young stalks of river cane that is part of our Eco-system here. Touch ups with various shades of Browns and greens as needed to cover scratches (using grass/weeds as a stencil) just adds to the invisibility effect.

 

10:15 pm, Saturday night. Taking a quick break from work. Making excellent progress on the slide show. Really happy with it. Going to go back through it quickly one more time before sleep, then again in the morning before show time.

Thought I'd just check in here for a minute for some relief. Good to see people hanging out.

TangoDelta (TD), I just noticed you're new to our forum -- at least under that name. Welcome! Delighted to have brought you in with this thread. Just speak to the mods about yearly dues involving sheep, and all will be fine.

Anrkst, yes, I recognize it now. Probably should have earlier given my BS in entomology, and one of my specialties was hymenoptera (wasps, hornets, bees, ants and their kin), but I just missed the context. I get it. Thanks.

OK, back to work for another hour, then sleep. Presentation starts at noon.
I'll be back Sunday evening.

Y'all keep the camp fire burning.
[This one was ~ 10 mi north of Skowhegan (Maine), circa January, 2014.]

 

^^^^ Look carefully in the smoke on the right side of the flames^^^^
Does anyone else see a face? Complete with bushy eyebrows, big Roman nose and full beard. Stone I do believe those Vikings you are so fond of are keeping an eye on you!

 

Very good stuff here Stone. Thanks for posting .

 

no i see a SNUFFALUGALESS

 

Looks like Bigfoot to me!!

 

As someone who freely admits a genuine sadness at your original "disappearance",
I have to say that I am really enjoying this "kick-ass" version of Nem (Nem 2.0?), packing a pistol, lusting after shotguns, it is a differing focus/philosophy of EDC and personal defence to what I recall.

So I ponder what has made these changes in the interim period of absence? what have you been up to? Tell us, if you are comfortable, is there a story surrounding the making of Stone?