Poling the flats
Is a common method to cover the miles down here in south Florida. Not just for poling up a rapid.
What the heck
kind of response is that KomminSense, you egomaniac? The freekin guy was asking a simple question, give the guy a break you boob!!!
Question lacks depth
Look, it was a stupid question. I’m not saying the guy/gal was stupid for asking it, just a stupid moment, that’s all. Get over it. Maybe I was a little harsh. Sorry. But it should be obvious to anyone who has paddled that you have to specify the conditions and hold many things constant to ask the question in this way.
In flat water, with no wind, and no current, in conditions where you can reach the bottom, it should be obvious to any experienced canoeist that poling is the most efficient. No losses stirring up the fluid. Direct connection with mother earth. Next is probably J stroke. Paddle for ten minutes in the early morning on a calm lake in a nice canoe and you will know in your soul that the subtle finish of the J stroke is aesthetically satisfying enough to substitute for perfect efficiency until the day you die.
Does anybody out there see what I mean? No? How about a metaphor then to clear things up?
What’s the most efficient way to communicate an idea through writing? An email, a poem, an essay, a short story, a novella or a novel?
See what I mean? The question lacks depth.
Poling.
All right, I see your point. Guilty of stupidness myself I guess.
I don’t think you have a point. We all
put our feet in our mouths now and then, and this was your turn. Get over it.
Poling
Yeah, you’re right about poling. I’m stupid too. But I didn’t presume, I inferred.
Common…
– Last Updated: May-04-09 1:08 AM EST –
There are two common ways to solo a tandem that I know of. First is to kneel in the bilge with the boat well heeled. This shortens the water-line, vastly increased maneuverability and gives better access to the water/a better stroke. I believe this is one of the common positions a freestyle canoer would use. This position is unsuitable for use on windy days though, as the boat will weathervane quite easily with so much of the hull out of the water. Its a great position for tooling around coves and lake shorelines though. I can get a 16 ft. aluminum Grumman tandem to soundly outmaneuver an 11 ft. rec. kayak this way.
Second, you can paddle the canoe "backwards" sitting in the bow seat facing the stern. This gets you closer to the center of the boat. This is a better position for paddling with wind, but still not perfect. Gear or a collapsible water jug can be moved around to improve or adjust the trim, however. This only works well with a canoe that has a symmetrical hull. Asymmetrical hulls paddled in reverse can be "squirrely".
Really, you're confusing strokes and paddling technique with seating position and paddle type; there's large crossover between the three. For example, you can J-stroke in just about any seating position (though it might morph into a C-stroke), you can J-stroke with just about any paddle, though it's ugly with a bent shaft and as I understand, Canadian style could mean heeled over or the type of stroke, depending who you're talking to.
Just buy and read Bill Mason's "Path of the Paddle" and 95% of your questions will be answered.
Phreon.
BTW, if you're going to use a double blade (blasphemy), why not just resign yourself to kayaking? You'll need a huge double bladed paddle to solo a (generally wide) tandem unless you don't mind gallons of water dripping into the bilge.
like i said
– Last Updated: May-04-09 12:01 PM EST –
you want to talk about depth of a question, novels and e-mails and act like your some fancy expert with two dollar college words and all?
let's paddle canoes and see if you have the experience to back up your sassy mouth.
i have several thousand miles in my background in all types of canoes and situations.
bottom line tough guy: put up or shut up!
optimal efficency
"what is the most efficient way you can move a tandem when paddling solo?"
“heeling the boat over canadian style with the bent shaft, i was moving along at 2 mph at a comfortable cruise. using the same paddle, although it felt short, i could hit-and-switch at level trim and do 2.5 mph at cruising speed. Standing up I could cruise at 3.5 to 4 mph and topped out at 5.6 mph. Standing up is harder work, but it’s much faster when moving from spot to spot. I think those speeds will be consistent for me for a 10-mile trip.”
I second the poster who said the best answer depends on your definition of “efficiency”. I’ll go further and guess that a big part of that definition is what feels “right” to you - you obviously don’t mind getting some exercise, so I suspect that most “finesse” styles are out. Even if we proved to you that canadian style at 2 MPH resulted in the greatest distance travelled for minimum effort, I doubt you’d be happy doing that all day.
You seem to like standing and you seem to be able to generate some good speed at it. Obviously you are putting your whole body into it, and you like doing that. Thus, I’m tempted to answer that standing is most efficent for you. However, no matter how good you are at it, standing is bound to lose you some efficency because it is unstable and you have to expend some energy (or potential energy) to guard against falling. Also, it puts you a little bit too far away from the water, making it hard to dig deep for a firm bite on the water, even with a 7-foot paddle. Now, on a barge you might make back these inefficiencies by being able to take a step or two into each stroke, thus using your leg strength, but in the canoe you are trapped in place by the boat size.
Therefore, I think the best answer for you is the style that I happen to like best:
- kneeling on a thick pad
- free of the seats, positioned in the center for optimal trim (get a cooler of proper height to tie in place to sit on when you want to lolly-gag)
- long, long (9+ foot) double-bladed paddle (get a custom-made Onno and ask for strength reinforcement - mine is 90-inches for a 5-8 guy in a solo, so you could easily handle 12-18 inches longer, being 6-2 and paddling a tandem)
- use long, powerful strokes and put your whole body into each one - move around on the pad, reach way forward to plant and put your thighs and torso into pushing forward the back hand through the stroke
Thanks
very good answer.
I’m really just trying to find out what other people do, how they move a tandem solo.
That way I can concentrate on what I think may work for me. So instead of adopting every style, etc on earth, I can focus on a few proven methods.
Thanks again for all the detail
chad
propelling a tandem
Not being a poler, I didn’t even think about poling when you asked the question. But I have certainly seen good polers propel a canoe through shallow waters at a speed I could never have matched with any type of paddle. But that wouldn’t work as well for crossing a deep lake (I know a pole can be used like a paddle).
I have never paddled standing, but I can imagine the leverage you could generate with a long paddle that way. There is a significant improvement in leverage when one goes from sitting to kneeling, at least for me. But standing would have to take a big toll on efficiency in any type of headwind.
Paddling with the boat heeled and both knees in the onside bilge (Canadian style) can be very graceful and nearly effortless. But if you are after maximum speed it diminishes the waterline length of the boat and thus sacrifices potential maximum speed.
I guess the answer is what feels best under the circumstances.