Hell's Half Mile Book Review

Reading this group of short stories i realized how much living on a river changes people. More to the point i just never thought about it/realized it. River life is quirky, rough, and painfully beautiful. This lifestyle draws a huge variety of people to it.

Hell's Half Mile will not answer any profound questions about life but the stories within open a window to a world that lies just below the put-in, a little around the bend.

Minocqua Boat Show!

If you follow this blog you will know that i recently found myself in the Midwest. Aside from taking pictures of dead squires i also had the opportunity to visit a boat show in the small town of Minocqua Wisconsin.  

I did meet some river folks that who had a Rapid Robert built from Roger Fletcher's fine book. But i was here to look at retro boats of a different breed, the ones i have always wondered about but never seen up close.

First impressions were strange i love wooden boats but these were unique to my experience. I'm going to start with my pick for best in show.

This boat built by the Peterborough canoe Co. was amazeballs. Beautiful and functional without all the unnecessary trappings that sometimes grow with to many coats of varnish.

The steam bent ribs and simple furnishings really let the boat shape speak for itself.

The twin outboards were fairly sweet as well.

The one lone sail boat of the show was a very well put together lapstrake boat. 

The attention to detail is a testament to the care the builder put in.

I will leave you with a set of photos from the show that i think capture what was going on there.

I would love to build one of these some day. I love the chrome and polish.

Travelin' on.

There hasn't been a lot of boat building going on in my orbit lately. Its not that i haven't been thinking about it (its never far from my mind) just that there's been a whole fun-house worth of other things keeping me from getting back into the shop (one being the lack of a shop or even garage). So i have been building houses and filling my time with other distractions like this one here.

This Dagger Crossfire was built in 1992 twenty two years ago back when i was first stepping into the sport of river running. So when this brand new, never been paddled, not a frekin' scratch on it beauty appeared in town i simply had to have it.

But before i could put it on the water i discovered that i had become an uncle so it was off to the great upper Midwest for a visit and some shenanigans. So with one last cup of coffee from my beloved Cafe Regis and it was off to the airport!

Flying out,

I am always childishly excited about flying. Thinking about it we haven't been flying for that long at all. 1903 was the first powered human flight. 111 years ago is not that long, and now i am zipping along at 40,000ft sipping coffee.

Anyhow here are some fun photos i snapped along the way.
Enjoy.

Half Way to Half Way, Book Review

As you may know my literary diet consists mainly of books involving rivers or esoteric tombs that don't really hold the interest of most people. This book is one of the former. I am always on the lookout for books to take on the water, you never know when you might want a quick story to sooth the jitters or to entertain around the camp fire. Halfway to Halfway delivers, from comedy to tragedy. There's even a ghost story in there.

If your looking for more river stories you can find them right here.