who only canoes here rather than kayak?

I was canoe only, until
my wife, in a fit of generosity, got me a rec kayak. It is fine for messing around in^_^.

MK

I do
- only canoes, that is. I own an old whitewater kayak that I learned to roll in (kind of - my roll is something short of bombproof) but it is uncomfortable for me to sit in and can carry almost nothing in the way of camping equipment. I’ve never really used it for even a day trip.



Nothing against kayaks, of course. Some of my best friends…etc. And there are days and places where they’re just the ticket. Cold, windy days on big water, for example. If I lived on or nearer to the Great Lakes, the ocean, in Iceland, I’d probably prefer kayaks. But I don’t.

I have only canoes
but I do use a double blade sometimes. Not in FreeStyle of course.



What is my Mad River Monarch?..its a sea canoe.

My RapidFire designed to be double bladed …is a pack canoe.



Did you ask the question you meant to ask?

I don’t only use canoes.
I also use rowboats.



But I’ve been in a kayak a few times. Once time, it was to see if I could learn to roll (I did manage to do a few rolls but I never tried it again because even the biggest boat of the 20 or so that the class provided was too small to accommodate the length of my legs - had bruises on my thighs for a week), once to teach a kayaker how to do eddy turns, and once on a river that was low and scratchy so I felt more like using a borrowed plastic kayak than my own canoe.

A lack of flexibility in my hamstrings
Means that I only kneel and canoe rather than sit and kayak.

Miss that Caribou!

I only canoe…
when I am in the canoe.



Jack L

Was Canoe Only …
… until I moved back to the coast, where kayaks make much more sense.

Proof, Andy, Proof
We have been photographically informed that you have a noun-canoe, but there is as yet no Zapruder evidence that you verb-canoe it.



Me - I canoed all my life until the anomalous 1996-2004 period, during which I bought three sea kayaks and paddled them almost to the exclusion of canoes. This period is now known as the “My Lost Years”, “My Dopey Middle-Age Paddling Crisis” or “How to be Unhappy and Mediocre with a Double Blade”. Since that historical hiccup, I have been exclusively open canoe.



I do want to give credit to Jeff Jones of Western Mountaineering in San Jose, CA, for teaching me how to whitewater kayak in the Sierra Nevadas back in 1980, and then selling me a Mad River Explorer, so I could run rivers in a more sensible and challenging hull.

Why? You tryin’ to recommend
a better cologne? Man, that stuff has been a chick magnet for me ever since I saw the commercial below, way back in the 70’s. (I don’t often trip P.net’s Advice forum–But I recommend this stuff for every guy!)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktlyhfLIdK4


Canoes only
I have tried kayaks a couple times but can’t see any advantage to them at all over canoes. I spend nearly all my time in solo canoes and use them about 5 days per week. Most years I paddle 300 to 500 miles between ice out in the spring and freeze up in early winter. I use my solos for duck and goose hunting, fishing, bird and wildlife watching, working out and just cruising.



A light solo canoe is easier for me to load and unload off my truck, exit and enter in the water, and just plain more comfortable. I can lay my fishing gear or bird ID books out in front of me in a dry box and move around to keep my joints more flexible. I also like sitting up higher to see what is in the water in the way of fish and plants. On a recent canoe trip with some kayakers where the water was very skinny I seemed to be able to pick the routes where I scraped less than the kayaks and I think this because I was sitting higher.



I just turned 70 and purchased a new Swift Osprey carbon fusion solo canoe that weighs 26 1/2 pounds. I hope to be able to paddle this craft foe many years to come. I also have a Wenonah prism, 2 Sawyer DY Specials and a Sawyer Kevlar Cruiser canoe.

Canoe +
I only canoe, although my next boat will be an Epic V10, 12 or 14.



Here’s why; Single blade is more fun, double blade is faster.

Canoes Only
Tried kayaks and did both and had a nice decked canoe (Mad River Monarch) for a few years. But a severed femoral artery in 2004 led to some nerve damage in my leg. Can’t sit more than 20-30 minutes without numbness. Canoes afford me the flexibility to kneel and move about easily to thwart the numbness.

Canoe only
although my youngest son had a kayak and I would (probably) let my daughter marry a kayaker.





Of course since I don’t have a daughter I don’t have to worry…

50 years…

– Last Updated: Jul-04-13 10:02 PM EST –

I've canoed about 50 years.

In that time I have owned probably 50 canoes, and 1 kayak. It mostly sat on a rack in a garage & gathered dust.

I hated it.
Makes my back hurt.
Not enough room to move around, and change positions.
I'm not into traveling light, and stuffing multiple bags into limited space is a pita I can live without.
I like having a cooler & all that a big one can carry. I like having extra space in a canoe; I equate traveling light with suffering needlessly.
You want to travel light; go for it.
When it's time for me to bail out of a canoe; I want out fast. Can't get out of kayak fast; my legs are too long.
Don't care about rolling, and don't like skirt covered cockpit.
A one bladed paddle is all I need to go where I want to go.
I'm not racing anyone; I have no need to go fast.
If I was into going fast; there are a lot of kayaks I could outrun in some canoes I own.

I don't really care what others want to paddle; that's their option.

BOB

never been in a kayak …

– Last Updated: Jul-04-13 10:16 PM EST –

...... so I don't know if there's anything I'd like about them . I have considered many things I don't think I'd like about them though .

Thought I was in a kayak once , but then I woke up ... good thing too because I was having a great deal of trouble and kept falling over in rough water ... I had a bomb proof roll but I don't think constant rolling is how one is suppose to kayak :-)

I've always enjoyed being in the canoe ...

What’s a kayak?

Me! Me!
Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me! Me!





FE

me
never been in a kayak

your County

– Last Updated: Jul-05-13 10:13 AM EST –

hey! are you familiar with Tim Littlefield? He's a TV star on Discovery Channel......OK really only a byline....but as I watch, seems to be a legend...

Sat in kayaks twice …
… and that was experience enough. I like being able to see my feet.