Hello, I recently purchased a 17ft Michicraft. Being a novice I didn’t notice the bow thwart right beside the bow seat making it impossible or really uncomfortable to paddle the boat from the bow position solo.
Has anybody else delt with this issue? and how did you deal with it? Thanks for any helpful suggestions.
Here is a link to a pic
http://www.meyersboat.com/#/michicraft/photos/T-17/#4
You can move the thwart, but the real
issue is that paddling sitting facing the stern, from the bow seat, is not very effective.
It leaves you reaching way out over the fattest part of the boat, those Michicraft sponsons.
I always set up a solo position where I’m just back of the center thwart. That way, when I reach forward, I’m reaching out over a narrowing segment of the hull. By the time I take the catch and apply power, the blade is buried where the sides of the boat don’t interfere, and the shaft can skim neatly right along the hull.
Setting yourself up in the center of the boat is also best for trim. A hull works best when trimmed level. At least the designers thought it would.
same here
I do my tandems the same as g2d. It’s a pretty simple installation and, as he said, is a much better option than paddling from the bow seat.
However, if you are committed to using the bow seat, you can install a thwart closer to the center and remove the one behind the bow seat.
…My bad, ditto with g2d…
…
Looking at the first page of the
Michicraft catalog from the link shows the effect of sitting as you described. The canoe is the 15’ model, and the front 2’ of the canoe is above the waterline. If a wind picks up, there’s no telling what might happen.
I used to have that same model, and liked it for recreation, although I wished that I had the 17’ model.
For lake use, sitting on a box seat just behind the center thwart works, as already mentioned.
You can also use a kayak paddle. Ahem.
Good luck, and enjoy your canoe!