This year I plan to spend some time canoeing. My brother won many canoe races and I have raced in canoes a few times and there is something really wonderful about 2 people absolutely in sync with small bent shaft paddles. Here are a couple tips. When you first get in-especially if the other person is new to canoeing-the person in back should get down on knees with knees out wide to lower center of gravity and for better control. And the person in back really needs foot support such as drilling hole in side of canoe(resin for bracket is an alternative to drilling)to mount a footbrace of wood or aluminum conduit. www.jjcanoe.com had these and they work great to really increase speed. It is fun way to introduce little kids to water and of course the little kids should have pfd-preferably with a strap that goes under the crotch with shoulder straps so they can be pulled from the water without their pfd pulling off. Anyhow, how many of us kayakers have had to tell kids at the boat launch the back hatch is not for passengers. Room for only one. In a perfect world every town with a river would have scout canoes for summer rec with several kids in each canoe and leagues of adults in the evening with a 4 mile loop for adults. Canoes stored in boathouse near river with bathrooms. I got some good training at the canoe/kayak club in gannonoque,ont and they have world class athletes who started at age 10 and spent the summer at the local boathouse learning to paddle ridiculously tippy boats so they could beat me bad at local races in adirondacks. A racer from toronto had raced at that local club in gann and of course he started at age 10 and won olympic gold. It would be so neat if we started a local paddle club or partnered with boy and girl scouts and so many kids learned to have fun in the water. You hear of tragic scout trips led by people without much experience. At least they were available and willing. The local paddle store(wear on earth) has canoe for kids and hike trips for troubled kids.
you’re so right
Thanks for just stating it. you get me thinking, and I hope you get others thinking.
Zack
How right you are Dave.
Both my wife and I are hard core kayakers as well as canoers.
We race both a C-2 Comp cruiser and a Jensen 17 kevlar rec canoe, and just this year got a Penobscot 16 for down river WW racing.
Believe me after a season or so of learning to stay in synch at a 60 per minute stroke rate with a switch after about each five, you just get better and better.
We are at the point where we each know what to do for corrections without a word spoken.
I call the “hut” and she does the hard work on the turns.
On the foot brace, you forgot to mention that it is a absolute must for bracing to do turns.
Also you can get a removable, adjustable one for the bow paddler with a wedge that snugs into the front of the bow.
I think it will either make a marriage better or cause a divorce, and in our case it has the positive effect!
Cheers,
JackL
One of my dreams
for this summer is to get the core (read those with leadership qualities) of our churches (I’m a pastor)rather small youth group out for a 4 day trip thru our local wilderness lakes canoe system. It will be about 6 kids in tandem canoes, switching partners each day,with about 16 portages & small lakes. Should be a great team building experience.