From Duckworks... One tough old coot

And maybe not all there

http://www.nfb.ca/film/nahanni/

 

Maybe what I'd call tenacious, reminds me of both of my grandfathers... still got one of them & turning 93 on the 19th, going for his drivers licence(yearly) next week.
Jeff.

 

Great link. I'd say what the old boy was doing beat H*** out of sitting around watching TV and waiting to die... gave him something to do, and probably added years to his life.

I spent every second I could admiring his main boat, which was obviously an offspring of old logging bateaus. I also admired his secondary boat. That's pretty hardcore when you portage a motor, fuel and lumber past a set of falls, and build a new boat.

But I have to wonder: if he had done it eight times before, you'd think he would've stashed a boat for future years.

 

What grit the old guy had! His boats were good too.

 

some of those old timers were tough. odd how he thought it was faster to haul up lumber and hand tools to build another boat rather than just a few days dragging his existing boat up past the falls, just needs some wheels. His construction methods are rather crude, but effective.

I also wondered where is earlier boats went, seems a simple thing to just stash it well above high water for the next trip. Unless of course he lost them down the falls after a capsize, perhaps a good reason to leave a boat at the base of the falls. Even so, would it not have been more efficient to build two boats before he leaves? A larger boat to haul his gear to the base of the falls, and a lighter one to portage up river of the falls. He could tow it behind with gear in it. He has to haul the lumber anyway, might as well haul it as a finished boat.

Maybe it was just part of the script to make it look like difficult thing to get into the remote country.

 

I wonder if a winch and a couple hundred feet of rope wouldn't have saved him a lot of carrying.

 

Here's a short biographical sketch of Albert Faille, the old guy in the film. Interesting man....

http://zenithcity.com/lost-duluthian-albert-faille-3/

That portage he made to get around the falls was a mile long, according to the article.

 

At 73 I hope to be able to go like that down a waterfall, never mind up one !

You must remember in the old days time went much slower, hence days passed a lot slower. You could build a boat in a day or two because there was enough time. In today's times you'd have to pre-order two boats and wait months for a whole rigged workshop to complete them. The advantage would be the second boat you can get delivered at the top of the waterfall

Mmmm, no life jacket and no spare prop... In today's times he wouldn't get out of town or get arrested by water police for none compliance "for his own safety" even though you have a much better chance to die in a car accident than to drown, but maybe drowning is worse. Maybe that is why so few people do things and try things in today's times.

 

Over-regulation quenches the spirit of adventurism.