Sit. Rep. #58: On the Rocks

1-  Please find this Youtube video:   Bill Mason’s Path of the Paddle – White Water This video runs about an hour – it 2 combined 30 min shows.  I have taken lots of notes from this video.  He uses a few different terms:  Listen for these:  Hay Stack waves,  Roller Coaster,  Ledge,  Chute,  Ferry,  … Read more

Sit. Rep. #57: Inflammable Air

1- H2O, water, Probably the most recognized chemical symbol in the universe.  It only takes 3 atoms to make this molecule…  2 Hydrogens (H) and 1 Oxygen (O).      Here is where things get really interesting.  The Oxygen (O) atom, in the water molecule, steals some — oops let me back up a step … Read more

Sit. Rep. #56: Black Swans & H2O

1- You may have heard the term “Black Swan” in the news.  A black swan event or just black swan means an unpredictable event.  It is an event beyond what is normally expected.  It is outside of the normal day-to-day routine.  This event is hard to predict and therefore causes instability.      It is … Read more

Sit. Rep. #55: Got to wear shades…

This is the double nickel Sit. Rep. 1- Some of my favorite music:  Handel’s Messiah – The Hallelujah Chorus.  Beethoven’s Fifth and Ninth ( IV Movement – Ode To Joy ) Symphonies.  J. S. Bach Brandenberg Concertos ( #3 & #5 esp.).  Copeland’s Hoe Down & Fanfare For The Common Man, Count Basie’s “Straight ahead” … Read more

Sit. Rep. #54: Designs have their Pluses & Minuses

Down a water hole we go: 1-  Every continent has many miles of navigable waterways.  And each design of a canoe is made for that particular waterway.  As each river has it’s own personality so does every canoe design.  The different designs are Inuit kayak,  Dogrib,  Malecite,  Montagnais,  Slave,   Ojibwa,  Algonquian, Interior Salish, Umiak of … Read more

Sit. Rep. #51: Sign Posts in the Water

1- As we prepare for the canoe trips we must learn to read the river signs.  So – first – new words:    Eddy: The swirling of water (horizontal to stream surface) just downstream of an obstacle that causes the current to flow backward (upstream) to fill the void behind the obstacle.  You can get … Read more