Your profile…
In your profile you have noted that you kayak on the ocean/sea, and you canoe whitewater, but you are seeking understanding about the difference between a kayak, and a canoe?
Everyone I know who ocean kayaks, or canoes whitewater has a pretty fair understanding of the difference between the 2 craft.
I fail to understand how someone has progressed to the skill level you have alledegedly attained (in canoes & kayaks), without having any knowledge of the craft they use in those pursuits.
Perhaps you could clarify, or not; your option of course.
BOB
If I have this right., next steps…
I take it that your profile lists the type of paddling you’d like to do, not what you are actually doing? In that case the first thing you need to decide on which boat is pick an environment to start - WW canoeing, WW kayaking, ocean surfing, sea kayaking, or paddling quiet lakes and rivers. The last of these is the only place where you are likely to be told that either a canoe or a kayak will work. In any of the other three you need a more specifically designed and outfitted boat.
If you plan on tripping, that is camping overnight and have gear requirements, that also affects the boat choice though not as much as the choice of environment.
So, can you pick a direction among these for where you’ll be starting?
I strongly disagree.
We are a bunch of smart asses, period. Don’t expect much else here. There are many here with great skills and talents for paddling. But mostly our skills revolve around smart ass remarks, demeaning quips, mildly amusing associations of ideas not normally cojoined. We find we crack ourselves up mostly and occassionally will entertain each other when we are not rabidly mocking or attacking each others intelligence or position on subject A or B.
But great question. I am glad you joined us. You’ll get the hang of it soon.
The main difference however is this, eonac or kayak. Notice that canoe spelled backwards is difficult to pronounce and may have several pronounciations depending on your country of origin. But kayak spelled backwards, sounds the same. I hope this helps.
That…
eonac, or kayak; that was mildly amusing…
I am not prepared to attempt to offer the definitive definition of the differences between canoes & kayaks. I think there is a book in that subject, and it may have already been written; perhaps on several occasions.
If the original poster could “pare down” their subject a little, or be a little more specific about the information they are seeking, I would certainly attempt a serious response. I know a little bit about canoes(key word is little); nada on sea kayaks.
BOB
We still dont know about you
Where do you want to do your paddling in the immediate future?
If its the ocean, lets talk kayak.
If your paddling is involving as much walking as paddling lets talk canoe. If you will need to get to your stuff quickly and not in four foot seas, lets talk canoe.
I like both though my age makes me partial to canoe.
Otherwise the herd is going to remain out of control and you will continue to get gored.
dm2273
just for giggles try to post a question on a car buffs forum asking them what’s the difference between a car and a truck.
Trust me, you will get a similar response from most of the posters.
And while I am at it, should I ask the American Football Association what’s the difference between Football and Basketball…
Get my drift?
Gnarlydog
Curious you wouldn’t happen to be
"Diesel" Dave by any chance ???
Cheers,
jackL
Britspeak
This is a beautiful thread: nuggets of actual information in a mess of witty self-amusement (for lack of a better acceptable term). As usual one person actually tries to help the OP (as usual it’s Celia) while the rest tickle each other under the table. I’m laughing out loud.
My suggestion: let’s be nice to defenders of the mother tongue. British paddlers have done astounding things and British composite boats have set the standard. It’s true the tradition isn’t native to the British Isles; it’s true Brits know little and care less about linguistic fine points of terminology. But it isn’t easy to watch an empire evaporate, to be suddenly first in little more than a language you no longer dominate. USA partisans should be not proud today; the same situation is waiting for them tomorrow. So let’s indulge and enjoy idiosyncratic regional vocabulary while it exists. It’s a fleeting phenomenon. If you don’t believe me, look up Valley Canoe Products, venerable and beloved British boatbuilders, inventors (by their reckoning) of composite seaworthy kayaks. The quintessential British canoe manufacturer no longer uses the term.
It’s quite simple…
– Last Updated: Aug-28-08 9:44 PM EST –
Canoes are the choice craft of skilled men and women who appreciate beauty and grace. Kayaks are paddled by unfortunate schlubs who just couldn't figure out how to go straight with a single blade.
What a silly question!
Phreon
I object, I think
…what’s a schlub? If that’s German for "Gentleman and Scholar then I’ll delete this.
Paddlin’ on
G_K
Definition
– Last Updated: Aug-28-08 9:49 PM EST –
NOUN: Slang A person regarded as clumsy or unattractive.
ETYMOLOGY: Yiddish, from Polish zhób, trough, blockhead.
;)
Phreon
with an appropriately
silly answer.
Show of hands: who here went to kayaks because they tired of constant, sometimes futile corrections in a canoe? Who found resting easy in a kayak, windblown and wavewashed, far from shore, a revelation? Who noticed being warm and dry in a kayak while spray freezes on deck?
Canoes are graceful and beautiful. Canoeists are beautiful and skillful. Practically divine. But smart canoeists, no matter how skillful, switch to decked boats and low CoG under certain conditions.
Does anyone know of traditional kayaks in warm water? Aren’t they exclusively associated with deadly-cold open water? In fact, weren’t they almost exclusively used for hunting modest game in that water? Didn’t moving goods and people, even hunting whales, call for open umiaks paddled by (several) single-blades instead of enclosed kayaks? I’d call a kayak a special-purpose boat, but that special purpose, covering water quickly in adverse conditions, is mighty attractive today recreationally.
Ain’t you never heard…
– Last Updated: Aug-28-08 9:59 PM EST –
...of a canoe with a spray cover?
These days, the only real difference between a canoe and kayak is weather you kneel using a single blade or sit on your butt using a double.. To wit, a kayak outfitted with a saddle becomes a C1 (decked canoe)
(btw, I own as many kayaks as canoes, but the latter are more graceful. Follow where you heart leads)
What a fun topic!
Phreon
Phreon
These days, the only real difference between a canoe and kayak is WEATHER you kneel using a single blade or sit on your butt using a double.
Not sure whether I should debate you as to which boat to use in bad weather or not. Whether you are right or wrong, I prefer to use my kayak in bad weather. How about you?
try reading the profile again
Experience Level: Beginner
Location: sw fl
Gender: Male
Activities:
* Canoeing - Lakes
* Canoeing - Slow Rivers
* Canoeing - Whitewater
* Kayaking - Ocean / Sea
Favorite Paddling Spot:
Comments:
Share public profile with others: Yes
----------------------------------------------------
the first line says it all - i am a beginner.
the “activities” section doesn’t say “proficient in”. (this is vague and gives a lot of wiggle room for interpretation.)
and then the part where it says favorite paddling spot is blank. that tells you something.
come on, dont get on here trying to shoot me down if i am asking for advice and a piece of your experience.
Can I get a rec kayak with
…a western saddle. I wanna be a “Kayak Cowboy”.
…YAHOO…
Paddlin’ on
G_K
ok…
thanks guys, i appreciate your comments (even the smartasses…) i’ve started to narrow the choices down a bit.
i knew when i hit that submit button that i was going to get some hell; i’ve seen it before with other message boards. but i had to because i looked around and didn’t see the answers i was looking for.
in all those posts there was a lot of good info and i you guys for that.
and if i am going to try to get a thread going for 200+ posts, i will come up with something better than this…hahah
The Knees
In the beginning, young females and males invented everything we do in modern watercraft on logs in the Tigris river.
Since then,we’ve diverged. Those with pretty knees have been satisfied with the open canoe.
Those with “challenged” knees have found it useful to cover those ugly puppies with a deck to improve their dating options.
And yeah, when the lee shore is France, maybe a deck makes sense.
Bravo JCamry98, master typo detector!
– Last Updated: Aug-28-08 11:50 PM EST –
You get a gold star!
Sometimes my brain gets ahead of my fingers; do you ever have that problem? Hmm...
I'm sorry if you were unable to comprehend my post because of a typo. Isle bee moore care fool next thyme.
Phreon
It’s easy to tell the difference
when a big wind starts kicking up or a storm on the horizon. The guys flailing their single (sometimes double) bladed paddles are the canoers.
On a camping trip, they are the ones you see everyone carrying their coolers and chair to for transport.
Generally an open boat with no deck is a canoe. A boat with interior storage (inside the hull) is a kayak. As with most things, every boat doesn’t fit into the neat little categories we would like them to.
jim