Adventures - Small Boats Magazine

The put-in on Lobster Stream is just upstream of its confluence with the West Branch of the Penobscot River. We were all excited, a tad anxious, and already tired following the long journey from home. The 2-mile paddle up to Lobster Lake is, strictly speaking, upstream but in practice it’s an easy flat water trip. TINTIN, in the foreground, carries gear for a family of four.

September 2015

Investing in Memories

Canoe camping in northern Maine

Donnie and Erin Mullen were seasoned wilderness travelers, trained at Outward Bound and hardened by long forays into remote regions, but how would they hold up on a northern Maine’s canoe trip that required carrying toys and diapers?

August 2015

Made in Vermont

The journey of a dory from logging to launching

Charles Johnson’s adventure begins with harvesting trees that have grown in the woodlands in his home state of Vermont, and in the years that follow, he gathers both wood and wisdom from friends who help him on his way to launching NONA BELLE.

OBADIAH and SLIP JIG arrive at the canoe dock in Ewell.

July 2015

American Venice

Chesapeake Bay's Smith Island

Five boats set sail for Smith Island: two Joel White Marsh Cats, an Iain Oughtred Sooty Tern, a Howard Haven 12 ½, and a John Welsford Navigator, all hand-made, mostly owner built. Heading due west, they follow smudges of the island that come and go and when in doubt, aim for buoys, lights, and day markers.

June 2015

A San Juan Islands Solo

At home away from home

I’ve cruised small boats thousands of miles and in some miserable conditions, but I never had a Scarlett O’Hara moment—“As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again.” I was slow to catch on, and the adventures that predictably made me hungry, cold, wet, tired only gradually lost their appeal. With each new boat I built for cruising, I incrementally eliminated sources of discomfort and displeasure.

Near the village of Sassegnies, France, the Sambre meanders through farmlands and forests. The lock here was closed and we had to portage around it.

May 2015

In Stevenson’s Wake

The Rivers and Canals of Belgium and France

Two aspects of Robert Louis Stevenson’s book touched me immediately: first, the course, which I found wonderful and even exotic despite its geographic proximity to my home in Bordeaux; and, second, its vagabond spirit, which struck me as reawakening an ethic of leaving much to chance, a dance with luck, relying on unplanned encounters and unfolding episodes.

With the wind blowing out of the east, the sheetless two-meter sail provided little help. For Wally, still sporting his Los Humungos attire, and Rod lightweight canoe paddles are the best choice for the long haul in the kayak.

April 2015

The 2015 Everglades Challenge

A race that wasn't

After rescuing a dozen WaterTribers in distress, the Coast Guard canceled the race and requested that racers proceed to Cape Haze Marina and make arrangements to be picked up. I felt bad for him. He’d paid the entry fee, took time off from work, and traveled to Florida, only to have the race canceled. We pulled into Cape Haze Marina about 8:30 p.m. and over dinner decided to continue to Key Largo.

ZEPHYR's shallow draft allowed her to explore water too thin for most boats.

March 2015

Two Nights on ZEPHYR

A Spring Solo Cruise in a Garvey Box

Only when you've devoted over two decades to kayaks is a boat shy of 12' a step up to posh accommodations. Harvey Golden, a long-time kayaker, built Chapelle's smallest garvey as his first camp-cruiser and thoroughly enjoyed his shakedown cruise, even though he spent his days and nights in a cockpit not much bigger than a bathtub.

With summer rains and high water levels drowning the beaches at many of the official crown land campsites, the ability to live comfortably at anchor—or nosed into a reed bed—was a big advantage.

February 2015

Lake Nipigon

Sailing solo in the Ontario wilderness

The morning on Lake Nipigon brought cool air, clear skies, and a few faint wisps of cloud to color the sunrise. I unzipped the tent and saw a line of fresh moose tracks between me and the water’s edge, barely three feet from my front door. So much for thinking of myself as a light sleeper.

Greg Hatten races his PORTOLA down the tongue, hitting his line in Soap Rapid. Eleven miles below launch, this second major rapid has a 17' drop and gave the rowers a feel for the river and their newly built boats.

January 2015

Dories in the Canyon

Honoring the boats and the men who saved the Grand Canyon

In the early 1960s Martin Litton came to the McKenzie River in Oregon to write a story. The wooden drift boats he saw there would change his profession, his life, and river running on the Colorado River forever.

A bend in the river surrounded by farmland and forests provided me a place to camp. With little current and minor tides in the Mutlnomah Channel I could leave MAC overnight only slightly aground. A line from her bow to my wrist as I slept was all I needed to assure me that she'd not leave without me.

December 2014

Rowing the Columbia

Seeking serenity on a busy river

At Cathedral Park in Portland, Oregon, the Willamette River was flowing gently, leaving barely discernible eddies around submerged pilings a few yards from the beach. Skamakowa was 75 miles downstream and I had five days to get there relying on the current and a pair of oars. As I swung into the Willamette's current under the long shadow of St. Johns Bridge, I pulled hard to get away from diesel and car exhaust, ski boats, and boom boxes, and headed to the other side of the river.

I arrived at the finish smiling at the sight of my three girls waiting for me. It was the first time I’d seen them since the race started. One of the great gifts of the EC is a fresh perspective on what truly matters.

November 2014

The 2014 Everglades Challenge

A solo sail-and-oar adventure race

The Everglades Challenge begins at Florida’s Fort Desoto State Park in Tampa Bay and runs roughly 300 miles south to the Sunset Cove Hotel in Key Largo. How boats get there is up to their crews as long as they sign in at each of the three checkpoints along the way within the allotted deadlines. The boats are all small because each solo racer or team of two must drag their boats from the high-water mark to the water’s edge without assistance. The race is unsupported; you’re on your own.

October 2014

Standing up to the Big Muddy

2,300 miles on a paddleboard

I secured my gear on deck. With my quick-dry pants rolled up and water shoes tied tight, I set a foot on the board, planted my paddle on deck for balance, and pulled my other foot out of the icy water and splashed it down on the deck pad. The water ahead was streaked with white. When a cowboy lingering outside the motel the night before said, “You know there are rapids on that river?” I’d brushed him off. Now I was fighting the urge to kneel on the board for balance.

September 2014

The Mining Ruins of Juneau, Alaska

A family adventure under sail and oar

There are so many things to see and explore in Southeast Alaska that can only be accessed by a small boat. In 2008, my wife, Leni, and I wanted to make sure that our girls—Gracie, then three, and Isabel, then one—didn't miss out on those things for lack of a way to get to them. That’s when we decided to build SPARROW, a Caledonia Yawl, which we launched in 2009. None of us really were sailors back then, but, lucky for us, the Caledonia yawl is a very forgiving boat.