Exchange use of other's wood canoe

[jenshenliu]

I am wondering if this idea would work. Eventhough I have almost a dozen canoes including w&c, stripper, and Kevlar, I go with one of the outfitters when I visit BW/Q area (constantly) and have to their plastic - because I can't fly a w&c from the west coast to where I want to paddle. So, the thought of exchange use other's canoe: you use mine when you are in town here in NW, and I use yours when I visit your area. Any taker out there?

I have attached several pictures taken from our recent canoe camping trip to Oregon just to entice you to the west.

 

[jenshenliu]

Here is the pictures from a camping trip to Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway in Oregon.

 

[Dan Lindberg]

Jens,

Nice stripper. And I like your seat droppers,
I made a pair just like that for my 1st stripper.

As for your suggestion, I've heard of folks loaning/using friends canoes when coming from out of state, but not the exchange thing.

As for the BW/Q, I am not strong enough to use my W/C on trips there. I used one on the last campout and about died on the portages, and we only had easy portages. Never again. The plan is to use the last stripper (mid 50's for weight) on future campouts.

And the rentals, why would you rent a plastic canoe when most outfitters carry glass or kevlar laminates, which are much lighter than the plastic.

Oh, another thing I've heard of is folks from out of state storing their BW/Q canoe someplace near, and picking it up after the flight in.

Dan

 

[jenshenliu]

Dan,

Like the ideas of loaning a canoe from a friend or storing a canoe close to the paddle place, but not sure they are feasible or practical for me since I only go to BW/Q area once a year. My 4 out of 5 trips there were solo and I used Kevlar (a kind of plastic just like we call our new 787 a/p - made of carbon fibers). My portages so far were all double: one trip was always canoe + a pack = ~ 70 lb, which is close to the weight of a w/c alone. I don't mind having some weight penalty in order to paddle a wooden canoe. But it is far away from home, going to outfitters for a non-wooden one seems to be the only choice - unless the exchange use idea works.

Anyway, any WCHA member who ventures out of state to the NW for vacation and wants to do some paddling is welcome to check out one or two from my fleet - totally free. Have to admit three Kevlar solo have been hung high in the ceiling for many years since their wooden counterparts joined the family. They need to be used.

Jen