“Lining” and Other Solo Canoeing Tricks

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Mark Zeiger

Even after we acquired a set of single kayaks (see We Need to Get Out More!), our Coleman Ram X Scanoe, a flat-sterned freighting canoe is still the most often-used boat on our “homestead”.

We acquired it soon after we moved to Juneau in 1992 when we bought it used. We’ve used it extensively for a variety of purposes. Although it’s easier to move with two people, especially heavily loaded with gear, we use it solo much of the time. We employ a couple of different tricks that make single-handing much easier. Continue reading →

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Grasping Those Transitional Straws

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Mark Zeiger

I’ve been meditating on transitions lately.

As we prepared for Aly to leave the “homestead” to return to college, I grasped at straws, looking for the positive aspects of her departure, and for “the next event” to distract me from dwelling on the loss of our daughter’s presence.

The straws are few and far between. Economy offers one of the few bright spots in the equation. We’re low on water, so one less person to bathe, one less person’s dishes to wash, eases our water use. One less person reduces all resource use slightly—hardly, I would say, enough to counterbalance having her here—but straws are there to be grasped, no? (see Homestead 2.0).

A better strategy to distract a dad desperately missing his daughter is a new project. It just so happens that the day after Aly left, the Tier II Subsistence Moose Hunt began. Continue reading →

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