The Newsletter of the USCA FreeStyle Canoe Group
Welcome to The Cross-Post! Watch for articles about the many Canoe Events that we host each year, as well as notes regarding upcoming events, and articles of interest for canoeists of all levels!
Have an article or pictures to submit? Review an event, canoe, paddle, or other equipment? Have ideas for articles, but not sure how to put it together? Newsletter Ideas & Material are always welcome! Send it to Paul Klonowski (pklonowski@comcast.net)
Click these links to view articles:
Seat Location… Daniel Begin offers information on placement of the seat in a solo canoe…
FreeStyle Fashion Column… Molly Gurien’s article about specialized clothing for FreeStyle!
Paddle Mechanics… Marc Ornstein explains just exactly why your paddle makes your boat behave as it does…
Using Sideslips… See Tim Burris’ article about using sideslips to initiate maneuvers!
Revelation… Read Robert Patch’s review of Pine Barrens 2023!
Midwest Canoe Symposium 2023 Review… Read Robert and Sheila Hanford’s review of the 2023 Midwest Canoe Symposium!
Adirondack Canoe Symposium 2023 Review… Read about Larry & Judi Forsyth’s experience at ACS 2023!
Wisconsin Canoe Symposium, 2023 Review… Charles Burchill offers his perspective on the Wisconsin Canoe Symposium!
Western Pennsylvania Solo Canoe Rendezvous… Tim Burris shares his thoughts about his first ever Rendezvous!
FreeStyle… A New Season! Bruce Kemp offers a sneak peek at the 2023 Events!
Buying a FreeStyle Canoe… Marc Ornstein has advice for buying a canoe, for various applications of FreeStyle Paddling
Silent Paddling… Marc Ornstein’s take on “Quiet(!)” water paddling…
The Solo Mystique… Here’s an interesting discussion of solo canoeing, from the late great canoeist Mike Galt.
Performance Paddles… Read Roy Ivey’s description of the evolution of high-performance paddles for FreeStyle Canoeing!
Midwest Canoe Symposium 2022… Read Sam Dunning’s review of MCS 2022, which was his introduction to solo canoeing, as well as FreeStyle!
Adirondack Canoe Symposium 2022… Read about Michael Howard’s experience at the Adirondack Canoe Symposium
Tom MacKenzie Tribute… Read Jim Mandle’s tribute to Tom Mackenzie, which he prepared for the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association’s Annual this year.
Sizing a Canoe Paddle… This one’s too long; This one’s too short; This one is just right. by Marc Ornstein
Wisconsin Canoe Symposium, 2022… See what Charles Burchill had to say about his 2nd visit it our Wisconsin event!
Western Pennsylvania Solo Canoe Rendezvous! We’re getting ready for the Rendezvous this year… take a look at what’s happening there!
Conclude For The Catch… Marc Ornstein’s reflections on smooth transitions from the conclusion of a maneuver, to the next stroke…
When You Paddle A Canoe… Roy Ivey’s reflections on canoeing…
Finishing School… Sarah Reinke’s reflections on her experience at the Adirondack Symposium…
Healing The Heel... Marc Ornstein’s article about heeling the canoe!
Pine Barrens Functional FreeStyle Workshop review… Jandy Hanna wrote a nice review of our Pine Barrens 2021 event!
Kneeling Part 2… Tim Burris continues his series on kneeling in a canoe
Kneeling In Comfort… Tim Burris shares some tips about kneeling in a canoe… Part 1 of a 3-part series!
In-Water Recoveries… You’ve read articles in which we talk about In-Water Recoveries… but why are they so important, and how do you you do these? The answers are here!
Western Pennsylvania Solo Canoe Rendezvous… It actually happened in 2021! Read about it here!
Full Speed Astern Part 3 The final installment of Marc’s series, exploring paddling backwards!
Full Speed Astern Part 2 of a series looking in detail at paddling backwards!
Full Speed Astern…Part 1 of a series looking in detail at paddling backwards!
Play To Practice… Practice To Play… Marc Ornstein addresses a couple of questions that have been posed…
Solo Sideslips… An article describing how to make sideslips work in a solo canoe!
So Just How Functional Is FreeStyle? Paul Klonowski’s answer is… YES, VERY!
Jaded… The J-stroke reconsidered… Marc Ornstein takes another look at the J-Stroke…
Let’s Get Things Straight... Marc Ornstein discusses the importance of a good forward stroke, and how to do it…
We Actually Pulled It Off!!! In this year of event cancellations, read about the one FreeStyle event that happened!
Initiating a Turn Marc Ornstein discusses the importance of properly initiating turns… ALL turns…
A Modified J-Stroke? Paul Klonowski suggests a slightly different, and less strenuous, approach to the classic thumb-down correction…
Using Music To Unleash Your Skills… A committee of instructors teamed up to help explain the benefits of practicing paddling skills to music… Besides, it’s just plain fun!
Slow And Steady… Marc Ornstein discusses the merits of slowing down when learning FreeStyle Canoe Techniques…
What’s In A Name? Charles Burchill reflects on the similarities and differences in Canadian Style and FreeStyle Canoeing!
Heeling vs Carving… In this article, I’ll discuss the direction of the heel – that is to say, either toward or away from the turn direction – and why that makes a difference.
A Pitch for Heeling, Part 2… Marc’s continuation of de-mystifying heel and pitch…
A Pitch For Heeling, Part 1.… Let’s de-mystify why people are heeling their canoes…
My Canoe Story, by Charles Burchill… Canadian Style Instructor Charles Burchill sent this story in for publication… We hope you enjoy it as much as we have!
Real-World FreeStyle... Read Marc Ornstein’s Article about surreptitiously promoting Functional FreeStyle Technique…
Pine Barrens 2019 Review... See what first-time attendee Keith Attenborough had to say about his Pine Barrens Workshop experience! Ed. note: He enjoyed it… a lot!
Midwest Canoe Symposium, 2019 Review Read John and Barb Kersey’s review of the 2019 MCS… its 20th year!
Adirondack Canoe Symposium 2019 Review Read about Maura McNamara’s experiences at the 2019 Adirondack Canoe symposium! “I have attended the Adirondack Canoe Symposium at Paul Smith’s College twice…”
Wisconsin Canoe Symposium 2019 review Read Charles Burchill’s review of the 2019 Wisconsin Canoe Symposium!
Why Rendezvous? Read Rick Duncan’s review of his first visit to the Western Pennsylvania Solo Cane Rendezvous!
Get a Grip!!! Marc Ornstein offers his view on “How tight should I hold my paddle?”
ROAD TRIP!!! Canoe-related stuff to do when Old Man Winter starts to get you down…
What’s coming up in 2019? This article gives you an overview of events for 2019, and what to expect at each event.
Little Pink Pond Manon Paquet writes of using FreeStyle Techniques while on a special photography mission… “Having the freestyle paddling skills learned over the years made this trip not only possible but also very enjoyable.”
The Voyage of the Green Argosy..… Sheila Levie’s review of the 2018 Pine Barrens FUNctional FreeStyle Canoe Workshop… “You swapped my boat for one that behaves…”
Paddling Batteries Recharged! A review of MCS 2018… After 40 years of paddling, mostly on rivers in the same canoe, it was time for an old paddler to add spice to paddling life…
My Reflections on ACS – 2018 I decided to devote 2018 to improve my paddling skills. Among the motivations was…
Go With The Flow… Upstream! I know, this seems like a contradiction in terms, but I assure you, it is not. Read on. I’ll explain …
Persistence of Muscle Memory… A review of the 2018 Wisconsin Canoe Symposium
Getting introduced to FreeStyle After many years of paddling…
Exhibition? Competition? What’s the difference?
Old Dog, New Tricks Pine Barrens, “Creekin” Freestyle: Like many others, I was introduced to paddling when I was quite young, on canoe trips at Summer Camp…
Midwest Canoe Symposium 2017 “It’s been all summer coming, Canoeing at its best. But now the wait is over, Cause you’re finally at Midwest.”
Wisconsin Canoe Symposium Review I’m relatively new to freestyle canoeing and have to admit I’m hooked. It provides all of the relaxing, enjoyable elements of flat water paddling and adds an exciting technical challenge.
Western Pennsylvania Solo Canoe Rendezvous 2017 The first event on the 2017 FreeStyle schedule is the Western Pennsylvania Solo Canoe Rendezvous, coming up on the first full weekend of June. It will take place at our usual home …
Pine Barrens An Unexpected Wilderness. So there you are, sittin’ with several of your paddling pals contemplating where you might go for a few days’ canoeing expedition. “Hey, y’all, I know…” one of them calls out, “…let’s go to New Jersey.” Probably not a place that leaps immediately to your mind as a likely paddling destination, am I right? Well, perhaps you should reconsider…
ELEGANT My introduction to FreeStyle was some fifteen years ago. Ever since, I’ve struggled with describing it to those unfamiliar with the sport. I’ve explained how we teach about and focus on the combined physics of the boat, body and blade; about effectiveness and efficiency.
Promotional Work It’s a job for all of us. If we want to see FreeStyle grow or for that matter continue, we all need to play a role in promoting it.
Review: Midwest Canoe Symposium, 2016 The seventeenth (WOW!) annual Midwest Canoe Symposium was held the weekend of September 9-11 this year, and it was an event not to be missed, on several counts…
Review: Wisconsin Canoe Symposium, 2016 Another great rendition of the Wisconsin Canoe Symposium was held June 16 – 19, 2016, again at Pine Lake Camp in Westfield, Wisconsin. Classes were offered from Beginner to FreeStyle Exhibition levels, including the ever-popular Creekin’ FreeStyle session; all were enjoyed by the participants!
Random Tandem Thoughts Speaking as one who still feels relatively new to the performance end of FreeStyle, and still has lots to learn, here’s some things I think I think about tandem FreeStyle. So far, anyway. These remarks are directed towards “newer” tandem FreeStylers, or those who might be thinking of giving Tandem FreeStyle a try.
Why Freestyle? I/we were usually first attracted to FS through seeing some Interpretive FreeStyle performance/routine paddling somewhere – on YouTube, or perhaps live at a FreeStyle exhibition at a paddling event of some kind. As a single-blade paddler, there’s a big WOW factor when you first see it.