you guys are hilarious
and weird.
you put the gear, uh, in the canoe. since i’m sitting in the “back”, i put the gear in the “front”, which trims the boat. then i slide over to one side so that my strokes are close to the boat and close to my body, which heels the boat over somewhat. with gear it’s a natural, unexaggerated lean, no gunwhale in the water, it’s an ergonomic adjustment, not a maneuvering enhancement for a canoe ballet session. the heeling angle is offset by the weight of the gear so it’s stable and easy to maintain. you sit how you like and according to your comfort and the conditions; usually at least one knee down, and switching as needed is most comfortable, braced and allows for a long reach and powerful strokes. if you hit a stretch of rapids, you level the boat, trim the load if needed, and assume a wide kneel stance and do what you need to as you negotiate the set. i slip my knees under the thigh straps mounted for aggressive boat control in moving water and go. when back to calm water, shift to a more comfortable, long haul position, close to the side of the boat, heeled to whatever degree you like, you know, cause it’s a canoe not a kayak and you can sit how you like, where you like, as comfort and performance dictates.
there was a guy named Bill Mason who made these movies where he’s filmed paddling solo like this on long trips, the films can be purchased or loaned in many places from the library. i’m sure if you took a canoe tripping course this would all be covered and practiced.
a bit of historical perspective…
First, my post was merely to point out that Omer Stringer did not invent “Canadian Style” paddling, but did popularize a variation of it known as Omering or Style Paddling. This is what you are seeing in the videos. The tandem canoe is empty and heeled over to the gunnel. If one examines the evolution of this style the reasons become apparent. The Voyagers were paddling large freight canoes which were too wide for center stationing so moved over to one side. When actually working with a loaded canoe, during forward travel, the heel was probably minimal, but increased when maneuvering. The sharper the turn, the greater the heel. Omer Stringer was a guide and he and others, after making camp would play around in the empty hulls. He named specific maneuvers and started linking them together into a paddling routine, kind of like dancing. It was fun but also a great way to learn very precise control. Since he did one maneuver after another and the canoe was empty, it was only practical that the standing heel was employed, but this was not standard practice when paddling a fully loaded hull over long distances. In those times the heel varied according to need.
A disciple, who taught Omering in the U.S. was Sue Plankis, a former assisstant of Omer Stringer. Sue who was also a early Freestyle instructor could make a large tandem canoe do absolutely anything she wanted in a very efficient and graceful way. I saw her do an amazing routine once on a very windy day and after I marveled that was even possible, she responded that one just need to know how to compensate for the breeze. After witnessing a 90 lb. lady do this in such an effortless way, I knew that in paddling, technique truly was everything.
Since the loaded canoes were loaded
I would guess the solo paddler sat backward on the bow seat as now.
They were truly packed.
The quandry was with the empty canoe and thats where CS shines. Omer got tired of making a dummy load with rocks.
The purpose of CS is to have control over forward and rearward of the pivot point and to have proper trim in an empty boat. Also to be able to paddle ANY canoe solo( including those you cannot do off side strokes on). This can be an important safety concern.
Even with a load in my solo boat I use it for trips for a change of position. If you have something like a Pal it works really well with a load.
What some of you dont seem to get is that heel is adjustable.
I heard 'round the fire once that
Omer developed a method of shaping his body in the canoe that would actually pull him upwind without paddling.
Has anyone else ever heard of this or know anything about it?
???
Lesseee Omer was about 90 lbs and his canoe about 90 lbs?
Sail?
Magnets?
Scotch?
Well then …
....... if what I have seen in the videos and pictures , showing the "empty" canoe doing those technical manuvering (dance) steps , and calling it Canadian style paddling .... that makes sense to me because it was apparently a method developed for paddling an "empty" freight canoe .
I could understand a very large and wide canoe used to haul lots of cargo being paddled this way to make it more effecient when "empty" ..
Not understanding any of the history behind Canadian style paddling , and only ever seeing the videos and pics. , I had the impression the canoe would "always" be heeled over to gunnel with the paddler kneeling in the chine curve , loaded or empty , no matter what the water condition was ... this was puzzling me .
To heel a canoe is one thing , but to lay it down to the gunnel and keep it that way is intirely another , hence I guess CS paddling an empty freighter between ports of pickup and deposite .
I admire the image of the traders , packers and voyagers hauling supplys and cargo in a canoe .. many people most surely depended on these "canoe" loads of supplys in those days .. so it seems these canoes when loaded w/cargo would have been paddled much the same way it's done today , in general flat on it's bottom and "not" heeled to the gunnel ..
railing a canoe
shortens its waterline and makes it more maneuverable.
Some hullls need to be pushed maximally (like an OT OTCA),. others are maneuverable with a few inches of freeboard.
It all depends on the shape of the side of the canoe…
BTW its way easier to paddle a tandem boat solo straight with CS …heeled a little, because heeling brings the pivot point (under you) more to the side. The reason canoes dont want to go straight is because your forward stroke is like a sidewheel steamboat. The farther from the pivot point the more the boat will turn.
CS you can actually (if you can get way under the boat) paddle a straight line with no corrective stroke.
The rest of its just fun. Its far cheaper to play with a canoe than a horse.
kanulife, your “c-1”… What is it?
Those of us with mainly whitewater history know a “c-1” as a decked canoe, and even those used for downriver racing are not paddled with a 10 degree bentshaft.
Marathon canoe
it’s a savage river flatwater canoe.
Savage River Diller makes
a poor choice for Canadian Style…
I tried one of them…it takes a little getting used to to NOT heel it and (keep going). For this upright is good.
Thanks, I suspected as much.
That kind of “c-1” really needs a serious bent shaft.
As for “Canadian” style, I’ve been trying to paddle my whitewater boats with more of a heel, but it hasn’t conferred any particular advantage.
kinda like trying to paddle a
teacup on its side?
In a stiff wind
is about the only time I use a Canadian stroke with my solos (I don’t paddle solo with my tandems). And make that “solo” (singular) because I only use it with the boat that has lots of rocker. It’s a “last resort” stroke for me, when I’m close to losing control. It’s a difficult stroke: difficult to execute, and just plain physically taxing - at least for me. I would be better at it if I practiced it more, but [insert all the usual excuses here].
Elbow paddle
"Count me in the group who loathe the bent shaft design"
Well, yes and no. I’ve paddled a canoe off and on (mostly off) for almost 60 years, and I was highly skeptical about the elbow thing (the shaft isn’t really “bent”) when the riff-raff, like me, were first encouraged to get them. I resisted for a long time: the mechanical advantages claimed (I’m an engineer) just didn’t make sense.
Finally, I got a 15 oz, 10 degree offset carbon model. I haven’t exactly “come to Jesus,” but I really think the elbow paddle is easier to use and more efficient on flatwater where not much maneuvering is involved. But in circumstances where lots of quick, intricate strokes are required, the elbow is not the way to go.
Heeling a straight keeled boat
sometimes works quite well.
I have used CS with several large Wenonahs.
It depends on the shape of the side…whether the stems will clear the water.
No corrective strokes?
I don’t understand that! If the Canadian isn’t “corrective,” then I can’t imagine what is.
Also, I’ve always considered “get[ting] way under the boat” as a corrective maneuver. (I call it “scooping.”) I’m very fond of doing this when my old joints cooperate.
It works pretty well with a roundish
boat like my MR Synergy, but with a flatter, chinier, wider boat like my new Millbrook, it’t hard to see a benefit, unless the boat needs to be leaned away from side currents or waves for a bit. Both boats are narrow, and so with my height and reach, there is just less advantage to heeling to get the paddle shaft more nearly in line with my body.
corrective strokes
Canadian Style involves correction strokes to be sure. Having said that, however if one could get the paddle blade completely under the hull so that it defines a course perpendicular to and following the centerline, the result would be forward propulsion without yaw and thus be a power stroke without correction necessary. This is very theoretical since very few can sustain that style of forward propulsion.
Certainly true, and
I wasn’t suggesting that I (or anyone) could or should get the paddle blade directly under the boat. It’s a matter of degree – maybe that’s the wrong word. If I can get my grip hand 2 or 3 inches outboard of my shaft hand, I will have moved the blade slightly closer to the centerline. And if I can do that without losing paddling form, I will have reduced (but not eliminated) the amount of correction need. As Prof. Einstein would say, it’s all relative. 
so true…
I agree, all is relative. That stroke which starts perpendicular to and continues along the CL exist in theory only or at best can be executed once but not in sequence. Every forward taken in a paddled craft requires some element of correction. Some folks claim to have a forward with no correction but fact is that’s virtually impossible. Often they are correcting in the beginning, before the power phase or during recovery and since their correction is atypical claim that none exists. Expert paddlers have a forward that is very minimal and in such short duration it can be hard to detect. Others correct throughout the entire stroke and so appear to have no correction, but it’s always in there somewhere.