A Man from Utah

“It is hard to make the boat go as fast as you want to. The enemy of course, is resistance of the water, as you have to displace the amount of water equal to the weight of the men and equipment, but that very water is what supports you and that very enemy is your friend. So is life: the very problems you must overcome also support you and make you stronger in overcoming them.” ―  George Yeoman Pocock The First Plank from Adam Nelsen on Vimeo .

The weather this past week has not exactly been Canoe friendly, so....the focus has been on boat building! Many thanks to my wife and kids for lending helping hands and words of encouragement as things move along. Also wanted to thank my friends at Marketstar for their support and well wishes on this adventure. The details were announced in a corporate wide meeting last week and many have since reached out expressing their excitement and enthusiastic support. I am grateful to work for such an amazing company. Thank you all! #ourmarketstar   https://www.facebook.com/MarketStar/ The Strong Back with its station blocks installed This fun little contraption is a wood steamer. One simply boils water in the kettle, the steam fills the pipe and as the wood inside heats up it becomes very pliable and ready to shape. The Bow and Stern of a canoe are supported by bent wood pieces called stems. Here are the stems bent and clamped to the mold. The Station molds a

This past week was another big one. Videos below show our first long distance paddle, we did 22 miles from the north tip of Antelope Island to the north tip of Fremont Island and back. It was a great run and we learned a ton. We've got many more of these to go before the big day, but getting the first one under the belt feels great. The other big news, the canoe materials arrived!!! Now the real building begins!

This past week has again been an eventful one. Progress has been made in two major area which I'll outline below. Paddle Prep This past week has been a big one for paddle preparations. Putting in at both Willard bay and Pine-view reservoir, the paddle practice count now stands at 22 miles. The weather has not been very cooperative with a lot of wind and waves, but I figure prepping under these conditions probably is a good thing so we're ready for anything. The goal for paddle practice is to hit 600 miles before the actual event in August, so here's hoping that the weather brightens up a bit. This weekend will be the first endurance test on the Great Salt lake. Our route will take us from the northern tip of Antelope Island to the northern tip of  Fremont Island and back which will log another 20+ miles to our paddle count. It will be a good gauge of what it will take to set and keep rhythm and how to regulate calorie intakes to k

It has been an exciting and eventful past few days, and I'm excited to report on our progress. First off, the weather, fickle as it has been, finally opened up enough to allow for some paddle time. So I've been taking my kayak out to Willard Bay in the mornings tracking my speed, distance, stroke patterns and really just trying to get the old paddle muscles acclimated to a steady persistent rhythm.  My first morning out on the bay was gorgeous, and the fish were incredible. It was like some immense aquatic version of whack- a- mole, every where I looked fish were popping up, and just when one was heading back down another 15 were one their way up and out. It really was an incredible sight.   Time on the lake isn't the only development from the past week. I also officially began work on the Canoe that will take us on our voyage around the Great Salt Lake. While the canoe itself is not yet underway, the Strong Back which is the foundation upon which the canoe