I apologize for the newbie question, but…
I want to get into canoeing and hopefully drag my wife with me. Are there any good books, dvd’s, or vhs tapes that anyone would recommend to a beginner?
Recommend a cart rather than dragging.
Path Of The Paddle
– Last Updated: Dec-31-07 2:24 PM EST –
De book an' de DVD fer one. Ah'll be back wit a few more suggestions. An' see if yer kin join a paddle club which be a wonderful source of information.
Fat Elmo
Haw! Haw! Guff! Sputter!
Good one G.
FE
OMG
take the wife with you to a paddling lesson. Learn from someome else.
Believe me she doesn’t want to learn from you. Most likely you have heard enough from each other…and this isnt personal!
Unless you are reading those books or watching those vids together?
Learning together as a team mskes it more likely you will be looking for a tandem boat. Two solos are more expensive. Or one solo and one vacation for your wife…
You could also “portage” around
a wife or significant other.
Justine Curgenven
"This Is The Lake"
haha…
well, so far, she thinks she will enjoy it.
I have found a local club here in Pensacola, but haven’t seen anything about instruction. I guess I could email someone from the club. I have some experience paddling from growing up on a small lake/pond. My neighbors had an old grumman canoe that I paddled a few times.
I was just wondering if there was any good learning material to read/watch until the weather warms up a bit.
another newbie question…
Another suggestion for instruction would be to attend a canoe symposium where the emphasis is on instruction. This spring (1st weekend in April) is La Lou Canoe. It is near New Orleans. La Lou is a blast. Lots of fun people, great food and world class instruction. Several of the regulars on this forum will be there instructing, demonstrating or just plain hanging out. You and your wife couldn’t do better and at a bargain price to boot. The website for the event is www.laloucanoe.com. Check it out. There is an email link to the event sponser on the web site.
Marc Ornstein
Dogpaddle Canoe Works
canoecopia 2008
Take her to Canoecopia in Madison Wisconsin. Its the second or third weekend in March. Check out their site canoecopia.com. This is a huge canoe/kayak show. There are classes to take, vendors to see, and lots of free samples. This is also a good time to get some good canoeing books. You can talk to many vendors and get good information about canoeing.
Another option is just to rent a canoe at a park. Take your wife out for an hour or so, or go to the state park and take a canoe out for half a day. A slow river half day trip is nice to introduce a person to canoeing.
One more option is to go to demo days at REI if you have one close.
The books I have on canoeing are more for the bwca. If thats the case then any book by Cliff Jacobson will be a good choice.
Good Luck.
Books and videos
It’s really not that complicated. Learning together is the key, so you two speak the same canoe language. We just finished a book “Paddle Your Own Canoe”. It took us a while to figure out what onside and offside are for a tandem canoe. Videos would be better. http://www.whitewatervideo.com/BillMason.htm