I bought an aluminum 17 foot, 74 lbs Sea Nymph canoe in the mid 1970’s.  I banged around on a couple of local lakes that were 300 to 600 acres in size, using a Feather brand paddle. My technique / stroke was lousy.  That winter I saw a fishing show on TV that featured two guys I had never heard of, Glen Lau and Bob Cary.  They were fishing Basswood Falls and in a place called the BWCA and Quetico.  I bought a copy of Bob’s book “The Big Wilderness Canoe Manual” and scheduled a trip that summer.  All of my early canoeing and camping knowledge came from that one book without a human being involved to help me separate fact from fiction.  I bought a #4 Duluth pack and did everything within my ability to pack it like Bob’s pen and ink drawing showed in the book.  Only about half of my gear would fit and looked nothing like the sketch.  The trip did take place with my Sea Nymph canoe, a pocket full of youthful enthusiasm and a brain empty of any real knowledge of what the hell I was doing.  Swore I would never return, and then promptly planned the next trip while driving home.  I still have the canoe and paddle, the #4 has been on every trip since, my technique is still poor and I still pull Bob’s book out and read a bit while thanking him for the introduction to the area that I look forward to visiting as often as I can.

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