An Outdoor View: The little red boat

Like the Kenai Peninsula, the place where I was born and raised in Western Washington is a place where people either own a boat or wish they did. My father, who wasn’t far removed from the Vikings, always owned a boat. Having caught the boat bug from him, I’ve always loved boats.

In the 1960s, I was without a boat in my life, but I’d developed a powerful yearning for one. One spring day in 1968, a work-buddy, Lyle Pehlke, said he was thinking about building a “Can-Yak.” It was half-canoe, half-kayak, he said, and would be great on the rivers and lakes of Interior Alaska. The next thing I knew, he and I were boatbuilders.

I was 30, and Lyle was younger. Neither of us knew much about woodwork, and we had few tools. I had a variable speed drill and a circular-blade saw, but after I saw all the curves and angles that had to be cut, I bought a good saber saw. Between us, we had enough tools.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

We were pleasantly surprised to find everything we needed in Fairbanks, all the fasteners, and even the ¾-inch mahogany and the ¼-inch marine plywood. With the coming summer urging us on, we went to work.

My house became a boatyard. We worked on the boats in every spare moment, and finished them in less than a month. Lyle’s was yellow; mine, red. They didn’t look homemade. Gleaming in their new paint and varnish, they looked racy.

I gave my Can-Yak a trial run in a local pond. It felt stable, like a good kayak should. Its canoe-like keel made it easy to keep on a straight course. Plywood decking over the bow and stern gave it a rainproof storage area.

The first real test came in May of 1968, when Lyle and I paddled our boats down one of Alaska’s largest rivers, accompanying the participants of the first Great Tanana River Raft Classic. On this 65-mile float from Fairbanks to Nenana, our boats performed beautifully, and we felt safe and comfortable in them.

We made plans to float the Upper Chatanika River, where we’d camp on sandbars and fish on the 30-mile float to the takeout. Someone warned us to watch out for a big logjam and sweepers. Other than that, the float would be duck soup, we were assured.

The clear, cold waters of the Upper Chatanika are perfect for floating and fishing. We ate grayling for dinner. Sipping from a cup of grog beside the campfire that first night, we agreed that building these boats had been the act of geniuses.

The next morning, we’re paddling along on the gentle, sparkling river in warm sunshine, and all is well with the world. Lyle is downstream from me a ways, in the lead. I look away from him for a moment. When I look back, he’s gone.

I can’t see where he went. I notice that the current is faster. The bow of my boat drops a foot. I see that I’m at the top of a long, fast rapid. I’m picking up speed. Now I see Lyle. He’s 50 yards ahead of me, going around a wide bend to the right. Now I see a log jam, high as a house, blocking the whole river. We’re headed right for it. If we get pulled under that, we’re dead.

Desperate to stop the plunge toward the logjam, we paddle toward the steep bank on our left. We grab for a hold on something — anything. I grab a tree root, and finally stop a few feet upstream from Lyle. My heart is pounding. The current is roaring past. A root the size of my little finger is saving my life.

“Whose idea was this?” I yell to Lyle.

“I don’t know, but you got any ideas for how we get out of this?” he says.

Our best chance is to try to pull ourselves and our boats out, right where we are, we decide. First, we tie the upstream end of our boats to tree roots. Then, standing up in our boats, and aided by terror-induced adrenaline, we claw our way up the steep bank. From there, it’s a simple matter of pulling 90 pounds of boat and gear eight feet vertically from the river, and a couple-hundred yards through the woods to the slough we should’ve taken, but didn’t.

After that the float went as planned. We’d learned what our boats would do, and we liked what we’d learned. We’d also acquired a new respect for floating wild rivers in remote areas.

I loved that little boat, but didn’t keep it long. Using it to float the Upper Chatanika and the Upper Chena made me hungry for a boat that I could take apart and put in an airplane, so I could float some truly remote rivers. I ended up with a Klepper “single” kayak, which took me on many adventures. But those are stories for another time.

The Can-Yak? I sold it to a friend in Fairbanks. I ran into him a few years later, and he said he had really enjoyed it, but had sold it to someone else. I hope that little red boat is still making someone, somewhere, happy.

For Can-Yak plans: www.boatdesigns.com/products.asp?dept=65

Les Palmer can be reached at les.palmer@rocketmail.com.

More in Life

"Octopus" is an acrylic painting by new co-op member Heather Mann on display at Ptarmigan Arts in Homer, Alaska. Photo provided by Ptarmigan Arts
July First Friday in Homer

Homer’s galleries and public art spaces celebrate with new and ongoing exhibits.

Frank Rowley and his youngest child, Raymond, stand in knee-deep snow in front of the protective fence around the main substation for Mountain View Light & Power in Anchorage in 1948 or ’49. This photo was taken a year or two before Rowley moved to Kenai to begin supplying electrical power to the central peninsula. (Photo courtesy of the Rowley Family)
Let there be light: The electrifying Frank Rowley — Part 2

In July 1946, the soft-spoken Rowley was involved in an incident that for several consecutive days made the front page of the Anchorage Daily Times.

This nostalgic sauce is so shockingly simple, you’ll never buy a bottle again. Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion
America’s favorite culinary representative

The original recipe for ranch dressing was invented and perfected in Alaska, out in the bush in 1949.

Graphics show the nine finalists in three age groups for the Soldotna “I Voted” sticker design contest. (Provided by City of Soldotna)
Soldotna announces finalists for ‘I Voted’ sticker contest

Public voting will be open until July 20 to determine the winners.

Homer’s Cosmic Creature Club performs at the 2024 Concert on the Lawn at Karen Hornaday Park. (Emilie Springer/Homer News file)
July events to provide entertainment and fun on lower Kenai Peninsula

Events include the Highland Games, Concert on the Lawn, local art camps and the Ninilchik Rodeo.

Nick Varney
Unhinged Alaska: Flashback dreams and the cold sweats

When summer arrives, every personage in the known cosmos suddenly seems to remember that they have kindred living in Alaska.

”Thread of Light” is an acrylic painting done this year by Dan Coe on display through June at the Art Shop Gallery in Homer, Alaska. Photo by Christina Whiting
Fine art in invented spaces

Anchor Point artist showcases his skills with exhibit of acrylic paintings.

A variety of peony blooms grow vibrantly on Pioneer Avenue on Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
6th annual Peony Celebration begins July 1

The festival will run in Homer through Aug. 17.

File
Minister’s Message: Freedom is not what you think

If freedom isn’t what we first think it is, what is it?

This is the Kenai Power complex. The long side of the plant faces the Frank Rowley home, seen here at the right side of the photograph. (Photo courtesy of the Rowley Family)
Let there be light: The electrifying Frank Rowley — Part 1

Frank Rowley made one of the most important steps toward modernization in the history of Kenai.

This cake stacks colored crepes for a brilliant rainbow breakfast. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Crepes of a different color

This rainbow cake celebrates Pride with layers of colored crepes.