Song of the Paddle Book

Contents

Introduction

1. Playing the Song

- Travelling solo

- Travelling with a group

- Family canoe camping

- Guided trips

2. Campsites

3. Tents

- Roughing it

- Light tents for hiking and canoeing

- Campfire tent

- Pitching the Campfire tent

- Making a Campfire tent

- Mini Campfire tent

- Tarps

- Open Campfire tent in winter

- Closed Campfire tent in winter

- Knots and ropes

4. Camp Fires, Fireplaces and Stoves

- Camp fires

- Collecting firewood

- Starting the fire

- Controlling the smoke

- Fireplaces

- Environmental fireplaces

- Wood stoves

- Camp stoves

- Types of stoves

- Camp tools

5. Cooking in the Wild

- Types of food

- Group trip menu

- Paul's cooking tips

- Recipe ideas

- Snacks and treats

- Estimating food quantities

- Food box or wanigan

- Cooking methods

6. Boots to Bags

- Clothing

- Hats

- Footwear

- Gloves and mitts

- Knee pads

- Clothes checklist

- Sleeping bags

- Sleeping mats

7. Favorite Canoe Journeys

- Hood River expedition

- Mountain River expedition

- Journey pastimes

8. On the Move

- Canoe packs

- Waterproofing systems

- Jars and barrels

- Camera cases

- Preparing your canoe

- Getting to the put-in point

- Equipment checklist

- Navigation

- Contour lines - river

- Contour lines - lakeshore

- Compass

- Setting the compass and plotting a course

9. Staying alive and well

- Canoe safety

- Personal flotation devices

- Spray covers

- PFD for your canoe

- Rescue techniques

- Canoe emergency repairs

- Emergency gear

- Coping with bugs and bears

- First aid

10. Canoes for Wilderness Tripping

- Canoe design characteristics

- Materials for tripping canoes

- Canoe dimensions

- Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

- Paddles

- Catamarans and trimarans

11. Paddling and Portaging Skills

- Flat water

- Steering strokes

- Turning strokes

- Sideslip strokes

- Pivot strokes

- Backpaddling

- Canoeing rivers

- Descending on a river with a current

- Back ferry

- Crossing a current to reach the other side - front ferry

- Paddle brace

- Currents

- Reading moving water

- Upstream and downstream Vs

- Haystacks and rollers

- Unaligned Vs

- Weight differences and staying right-side up

- Portaging

- Portaging the canoe

- Alternatives to portaging

- Hod dog canoeing

- Other tricky maneuvers

Afterword

Reading list

Conservation and Canoe Organizations

Index

Acknowledgments