I don’t think i need to say it, but I’m going to say it anyway: Things have been tough lately. Pretty much across the planet, things have been tough, and at Blackfly World Headquarters, it’s been no exception. But as we- hopefully- are close to getting back to ‘normal’ life, I just want to say […]
Wow, the past month or so has been really hectic; it’s been a whirlwind. The Mosquito Burrito finally got up and running, I had two river festivals, one of which I helped organize, and I had to get everything set, all the orders shipped out, and everything packed and ready to take a little summer […]
It’s mid June, which means here in New Hampshire, black fly season (the bugs, not the boats) has given way to mosquito season. It seems fitting then that the Mosquito Burrito is finally going into production, only about a month and a half after I’d anticipated. You would think that by now, I would have […]
I originally called this week’s post “Trickle-down” Boat design, but I’m not a fan of “Trickle-down” economics, and I’m hoping that I can show that what I’m talking about is more than a ‘trickle.’ So I’m going with “Downstream flow.” The basic premise is that a well designed boat for running hard whitewater will […]
I flew out to Colorado for Memorial Day Weekend for CKS Paddlefest in Buena Vista. We saw a lot of friends, ate good food, probably drank too much, ran the Ark, and got a day of pretty phenomenal late-season skiing in at A-basin. I kept everything well within my comfort zone, and it was an […]
Trade wars and tariffs have been in the news lately. Soybean farmers are facing losing foreign markets, Walmart says it’s going to raise prices because of it. I know you probably haven’t been lying awake at night, wondering how the current tariff fight has been effecting the whitewater canoe industry in the US. It might […]
I was on the road last week for Cheat Fest. This year marked 20 years since the first time I attended Cheat fest, and it remains one of my favorite events of the year. It’s remarkable to see the progress Friends of the Cheat has made in cleaning up and restoring the Cheat River watershed […]
Scissors cut paper. Paper covers Rock. Rock breaks plastic. One of my team paddlers broke a boat recently. There’s really unusual about that, it’s sort of part of what they do. They paddle more and harder than most people, so they’re good barometers of how durable the boats are. If there’s an issue with the […]
I haven’t kept a paddling log in a few years, but for whatever reason, I decided to this year. It’s a pretty basic list of what river I run on each day, and whether or not I jogged the shuttle. After I finish writing this, I’m heading to the river. Today will be my 30th […]
The season has ‘officially’ begun here at Blackfly World Headquarters. I know what some of you are going to say, “Where I live we paddle year round, the season never ends.” Yeah, so do I, but I’m not talking about the boating season, I’m talking about the event season. Most weekends from now until I-don’t-know-when, […]
