TomT wrote on Feb 15^th, 2020 at 3:49pm:

portage dog wrote on Feb 14th, 2020 at 10:05pm:     Jimbo and Wally13 did take on some water in that big ol' Souris River (and it IS big) on day 1, but that Magic stayed bone dry...just sayin'!  Then again, maybe it wasn't the canoe, rather the load!  :D pd I think I have a solution for Mike and Jimbo's "Barge"  :D   (You need to Login or Register

Not sure how I missed this post & thread from way-back-when but I did.

TomT, please be advised that I have previously OWNED one of those stabilizer kits AND the rowing kit that came with it!  Bought it at Spring Creek, too.

You know the stabilizers/outriggers worked great on the water BUT, I'm telling you, they were a real pain-in-the-ass to portage while still attached to the canoe!  My other issue with them... well, with the whole "rowing rig", was that I was ALWAYS ROWING BACKWARDS!  There is DEFINITELY something to be said for "forward vision."  While this device might work OK in a canal or a wind-less day, it truly sucks on big water with big wind when you can't gauge the wave that's rolling at you.  I felt like I was surfing those monster rollers on the north end of Kauai during their "big wave" season!  It's not that I was in danger of capsizing. It was more the "bath of surprise" thing going on, smashing into those waves.  It takes some getting used to!

Anyway, those outriggers were quite the experience.  I paddled that way for a couple years, in fact.  Then, I decided that "canoeing" was not meant to be done that way.

Thanks for the tip.  Been there, done that!  Just another footnote/blip in a long list of misadventures in the wilderness.

Jimbo   8-)