you are unusually prescient!
Writing for the masses
ā Last Updated: Sep-07-12 12:54 PM EST ā
I remember reading a primer on canoe paddling in a Wenonah catalog several years ago. I don't recall the actual name of the write-up, but it was clearly intended to be "instructions" for canoe paddling. There was nothing in there about J-strokes, pries or draws, let alone different sculling variations or placement and application of the numerous control strokes available. The write-up simply stated that the way to control direction in a canoe is to switch paddling sides as needed. Does this mean Wenonah "doesn't get it", and has no interest in catering to skilled paddlers? Hardly. I think they realize that anyone with enough interest to progress to higher skill levels will do so, and that it isn't their job to make it happen. REI has no obligation to teach techniques that won't be used by entry-level paddlers either. The ones who want to learn to be good paddlers will do so, and the ones who don't want to, don't need to.
Letās stop with the "hidden shit"
If people want to discuss tracking, thatās fine.
There are no hidden anything in my posts,
I donāt disguise anything or conceal anything.
What the reader reads - is and always will be -
- directly related to the brain of the reader.
I donāt want any tracking
I like a loose boat that turns like crazy. You can learn to paddle most anything in a straight line, but you canāt teach a hard-tracking boat to turn (without edging it over).
Interests develop and changeā¦
ā¦and so does perception. A beginner may perceive that he needs a better tracking boat or a better turning boat. But he really doesnāt know what he needs until he gets enough time on the water to know where he wants to go and what it will take to get there.
For many of us, that means multiple boats. A skilled paddler may track straight as an arrow with a Prospector on a lake - until the wind comes up. Then, youāll find him wishing for a boat that tracks better in the wind. A skilled paddler may have no trouble making a Prism turn on demand - but thereās a reason why you donāt see any of them being used in technical whitewater.
I agree. Loose is what i like too.
While it is true that any boat can turn, the effort required can be monumental and the pace of the turn can be glacial.
Starting forums
ā Last Updated: Sep-08-12 12:40 AM EST ā
Ever notice how slushpaddler NEVER has the balls
to "start a forum discussion" but always attacks
other posters on the forums....
Good reason for more than one boat
The boat that is most fun in surf is not nearly as much fun on a day with a distance goal of 18 miles.
Some newer paddlers remain in the go-straight-fast mode because it is about fitness for them. Others (like me) end up enjoying a more meandering approach to getting on the water.
It seems that regardless of goals in paddling, there is always one more boat youād like to haveā¦ 
agility versus straight ahead efficiency
I share the sentiments expressed by others in preference of more nimble boats in general.
But for paddling lots of miles on flat water, you really donāt need to make quick or sharp turns. As a very general rule boats that track well tend to paddle more efficiently in a straight line. They tend to be longer, narrower, and less rockered and often draw less water which can be helpful in the shallows. They require less constant attention to directional control.
Tracking and the single blade, plus sex
This topic seems fairly open ended so I will use it as an excuse to rant, once again, on what I believe to be the most important thing for new flatwater single bladers to be taught, to learn, to practice and to muscle memorize:
How to paddle rock solid straight from one side in any conditions.
How to paddle straight from one side using correction techniques at the paddle entry, during the pull, at the exit and during the recovery.
How to blend all these recovery techniques intuitively and unconsciously.
How to paddle straight this way on one side in any reasonable wind and wave condition.
Then, to learn to do all this on the other side.
After you have reached this level of single-side paddle ambidexterity, you can then move on to the much less sophisticated Minnesota switch technique if you prefer it for speed and efficiency.
You can even then take up the double paddle, which requires absolutely none of the above paddle technique sophistications in order to make a hull go straight.
If canoe newcomers arenāt taught or donāt otherwise learn rock solid, single-sided paddling technique ā the overwhelmingly most important thing on flatwater ā 95% of them will give up on canoes and move on to double blade hulls instead. They will quit at the light petting stage because they fumble with blouse buttons, and hence they never get close to the most intense paddling ecstasy: sex with the single blade.
Once you can single blade rock solid straight on one side in all conditions, you can then concentrate on less important things such as sophisticated turning techniques.
As to ātrackingā, it has always been a confusing word that blurs the concepts of speed, efficiency and turnability. I prefer to say some hulls are more turnable than others, which I think is what most people really mean, but which is a completely separate subject from single blade going-straight technique.
āHow to blend all theseā¦
ā¦recovery techniques intuitively and unconsciously.ā
I agree completely. That was when I started to really enjoy paddling - when I didnāt have to concentrate on the mechanics and could concentrate on my surroundings.
Itās all about pressures on the blade
When paddling you are not moving the blade, except for some small slippage. You are applying pressure to the water with your paddle blade from different directions and at different angles, and you eventually learn how different paddle pressures move the boat.
In turn, waves and wind will report pressure changes to you through the paddle blade. You learn immediately to recognize and even anticipate how those pressures will affect boat movement, such as throwing it off course. In further turn, it eventually becomes instinctive as to what counter-pressure to put on the paddle, at what direction and angle and pitch, to counteract the pressures coming from the wind and waves so as to keep you on course.
As pblancās instructor from the 1940ās correctly said, going straight is nothing more than instinctively and instantly (and even preemptively) applying a counter-turning pressure force onto your blade to counteract the natural turning force of a forward paddle stroke. A good paddler can thus go straight in a turnable hull, but there comes a point where the hull is so naturally turnable that even perfect technique results in too much correction effort and forward velocity efficiency loss.
Everything Iāve been writing about has been in the context of flatwater.
But the same level of paddle pressure application becomes instinctive in the swirling currents and boils of whitewater, too, where in addition to going straight, it is mandatory to understand and be able to execute many turns and heeling maneuvers.
Paddling is a learned skill
ā Last Updated: Sep-08-12 2:32 PM EST ā
I DON'T believe anyone can paddle well without instruction.
There is a true grace and beauty when one has practiced
boat handling skills properly and taken time to learn.
http://youtu.be/Ofq_nl366VM?t=1m31s
Itās not about the boat, after all!
Itās about the paddler, and their technique.
A paddler with good set of skill can make any boat go straight or turn.
And depending on the need and preference of the paddler, heāll choose a boat that favors going straight or going in circles.
Itās about both.
āA paddler with good set of skill can make any boat go straight or turn.ā
As Glenn alluded to - itās just about how much effort one is willing to live with for one or the other.
I read all that and missed the sex part.
Foreplay