@KJR said:
…My J strokes were kinda butchered on my favored side and non existent on the right side. I didn’t feel we could make that much headway even in parts of the lake where we were sheltered from the wind. The wife isn’t a strong person and found I was over powering her at times. I found the top of my legs near the hip were starting to ache and would’ve like to have had the optional foot support. … We both agreed this first experience wasn’t as much fun as we had hoped.
On shore while the boat was not bad to lift with both of us at each end I don’t think we could lift it up onto our Ram 2500. I don’t think I could lift it up to my shoulders using the yoke without doing something to my back. With my Ram 2500 so tall it would be difficult for me to get the boat up on a rack as the Yakima rack on the camper shell is about 7 foot.
The Aurora has 1 1/2" rocker so maybe that was part of the issue along with our paddling techniques… 200lbs of me at the stern and 140lbs of wife in the bow. I’m wondering what a boat like a Solo Plus or Escapade with minimal rocker would be like to paddle in the same conditions. I don’t think if the wind had be stronger we would be able to handle the canoe.
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So after this experience we have decide to hold off on a canoe purchase. We would really like to test paddle a canoe like the Solo Plus or Escapade but probably won’t happen. Too much money to spend on such an uncertainty.
Too bad it didn’t work out better for you, and it is true that some people are just happier in kayaks, so you won’t be alone if you never get a canoe.
As to the wind and paddling skill, I would offer encouragement because it takes a good year to become proficient at the J-stroke, and that’s when giving yourself plenty of opportunities to practice and having a mindset of thinking carefully about what you are doing. Most people simply never “get it” at all unless they are fairly serious about wanting to. There’s nothing wrong with it if you don’t feel up to that, but in the end, wind becomes much less of an issue once basic control strokes are developed, and that’s why no has ever set foot in a canoe for the first time and done a good job paddling in wind. Also, you don’t have to be particularly strong to handle a canoe well in wind. You just need to be efficient, which of course only comes with practice.
A foot brace helps a lot with overall comfort when sitting, and to a lot of people, nothing even comes close to kneeling. I paddle a lot, but if I had to do so while sitting on a plain seat in an unmodified boat, I probably wouldn’t spent nearly as much time in canoes.
Boats with minimal rocker tend to hold their heading better in wind, but they are also harder to get back onto a proper heading once the wind has started to have its way. Ultimately, I don’t think the effect of rocker on a boat’s handling in wind is really much different than what’s otherwise the case. Either way, it’s a matter of learning to control the boat. One style of boat simply reacts more quickly than the other, but both ultimately will react to your intentions.
For loading, if you can’t get the canoe onto your shoulders without help, I’d try the two-person method I described earlier in this thread, where the two people lift the boat from opposite sides of center instead of from each end. With hands only being waist-high, you can get tilt the boat to get one end up onto a very high vehicle, as long as there’s a place to slide it once you get it that far, and that sliding feature can be customized into the rack in some way or accomplished with a rubber-backed rug on the vehicle itself.
It’s too bad you don’t have more opportunities for test-paddling. I can certainly understand being both discouraged and cautious at this point.