I think it must have a god with a sense of humour.
Interesting, that actually may be an explanation. On the Green River, Missouri, Colorado, even the San Juan, The normal is, dead calm and as quiet as lack of sound can make it. You can hear a mouse scurrying off through the grass 50 yards away across the river, if a cow looks up as you float by you can hear the water drops from its mouth hitting the water. So quiet just before sunrise. But, about noon, maybe before, the winds pick up and they are going upstream. And compass direction often has nothing to do with wind direction. Bowknot Bend on the Green, almost a complete circle 8 miles long, and the wind will be on your nose through 320 degrees of travel. How do it know?
The best defense, and it even is written into Lewis and Clark diaries, Travel early, get off the river early.
An additional physics question. Many times, 20 plus times, the canoe plus river water speed, on a GPS has maxed at 18 ,plus a little, mph. !8.2, 18.3, 18.5, but never, not once, higher. Never an 18.6 or above. The situation is fairly normal. Entering the next rapid from the pond above, you head for the tongue, Now if the tongue is steep enough, long enough the canoe planes out on top of the water, what a sleigh ride it is. The boat does not steer when pulling forward, absolutely locks straight ahead. You turn only by back paddling, jinking, (we hope) to miss rocks or holes. You back paddle HARD to get directional control. But, why the top speed of 18.3? GPS is recording boat speed plus water speed. What physics is the limit? Hull speed, plus water speed, maybe something to do with wave speed? (waves move at about 9mph in fresh water.)
Maximum hull speed is the limiting element. The equation to calculate maximum hull speed is 1.34 X Square root of waterline length.
Ya know, it occurs to me that a wind generated wave moves at 9mph in fresh water, and the hull speed of my 20’ canoe is about 6 knots, 7 mph (Generous) That says that the water is moving at a max of 11+ mph. No matter the fall of the rapid. Brings up a couple of things. One is ‘wave train’. Large rapids get the water bouncing and it forms a wave train. Is the wave train simply the visible display of water exceeding its 9mph wave formation speed? And up on plane,for a canoe that means stepping into the sailboat realm of broaching. Which might be the explanation for the no turning, or difficult to turn, character.
Yes, once you go down the sailboat rabbit hole of hull speed, lots of sailboat engineering 101 comes into play.
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I have found avg speed to be pretty accurate,time moving, and elapsed time ok. Max speed very inaccurate. I assume the gps is glitching out, losing and regaining signal or even an inaccurate reading and thus the weird max speeds. Distance is good, for gradient i just use two elevation readings, as it seems to fluctuate as well and be inaccurate. I’m using a garmin handheld etrex 22x.
All of my GPS have been Garmin 10’s both the old and new versions I have found the max speed recorder to be very accurate. Thousands of hours with one hanging around my neck, both sailing and canoeing. It COULD be part of the equation. I like your suggestion that it could be (and is) part of the equation.
I will now have to learn about the use of a canoe. Why? Because I have a dog, Olaf, that’s 1 year old and I want to go on some trips with him and all my kayaks are not well suited for such trips.
So my friend Randy just sold me a brand new Old Town 14 foot canoe that he can’t use because of a back injury. He just about gave it to me at $250. So I will be taking Olaf on some trips soon.
He’s only 1 year old now and is excitable but a lot of fun and he is my constant shadow. I have live vests for both my old dog who is now so old he don’t want to go much and a dog that is abut the same size as Olaf, (Ronith) who died just before last Christmas. So Olaf has inherited Ronith’s vest. Olaf is about 40 pounds and is a 3 way cross of Yellow Lab, Catahoula and Australian Shepard.
I have only paddle a canoe 2 times in my life and those were 47 years ago. They were on Lake Tahoe in fairly large waves and I liked it, but the 2 people that were with me got off the water when the waves got high, and it was their canoe I was in, so I had to follow. In those 2 days I probably got about 12 hours total time in a canoe. I never felt as if I was going to capsize but I had a lot of trouble trying to get the canoe to go where I wanted it to go in wind. In light wind I was fine but after the speed of the wind got to about 15 MPH or maybe 18 MPH I was feeling like a water bug with a missing leg.
So I think I’ll have a challenge when I pick up the Old Town from Randy. It’s about 14 feet and green. ( WOW! A lot of info there.)
Randy got it new at Sportsman’s Warehouse about 17 years ago, and took it to a lake outside Reno but the park was doing some clean-up around the boat launch and had it closed so he didn’t get to try it out that day. He told me he intended to try the next week and for some reason he was never able to get back and shortly after that he was injured. 3 surgery’s later he’s decided to not try it, so he told me I could have it for $250. I thought that was a give-away and I sent him the money. It’s hung from the ceiling of his garage for all the time from then until now and never been on the water. Here is what it is;
So------- experienced canoers, please chime in and give advice.
Books you’d recommend?
My idea is for camp-outs and fun paddles with my dog. I have become a fanatical kayaker, so if I am not taking a dog along I doubt I’ll use it much. Randy’s brother Art told me to try a kayak paddle instead of the canoe paddle for what I am going to do. He’s been a canoer for 40 years and knows a lot about it, but didn’t explain why a kayak paddle would be a better tool for my use.
Ideas?
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Lab-Catahoula-Aussie, wow! No shortage of energy there!
You should get a ton of info from the canoe crowd here, most of whom have way more experience than I, but here are two thoughts:
- OT has a collection of "canoeing tips, including Solo Canoeing Tips and Tips for Paddling with a Dog. Most of the content tilts toward those of us with less experience, but there is some good info, not just OT marketing hype.
- Using a kayak paddle makes some sense to me, esp. as you’re already a student of double blade technique. However, it’s a wide boat at 43", so depending on what’s in your paddle collection now, you may want to try a longer one. Aqua Bound (and others, I’m sure) offer lengths up to 260 cm.
https://oldtownwatercraft.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/blog/canoeing-tips
Thanks BuffaloAlice. That link is helpful and fun to go through.
And the long paddle is not a problem for me (I think. ---- I hope!!) because I make wood paddles now and then, and I have several at 8 feet and two at 9 feet long.
That should do the job!
Given the width and shape of the canoe I think I would kneel behind the center seat. with the dog in front of it. You might consider facing the stern so you could sit in the bow seat or kneel behind the center seat but be closer to the center of the canoe than sitting in the stern seat. However, the stern seat provides a narrower paddling station. The center seat is an option too, but you would need to add a counter ballast to the dog for trim. Experiment and decide what works for you. My widest canoe is a tandem at 36". My solo is considered wide at 30".
I haven’t paddled a canoe as wide as the Rouge River, but in my MRC tandem which is 36" wide I will shift to one side and heel the boat so I can more easily keep a vertical single blade stroke. However, that might not be wise with a dog that moves around. I personally prefer a single blade in a canoe, but in high winds a double blade can help. I have used a double blade and they do need to be long as the canoe being open will allow the drippage to build up in the boat.
Maybe a pad for the dog and let it know it is its place and to stay there. I smile as I type that. Good luck! Your dog will probably love it! Maggie would jump in my canoe as soon as I put it down off the car ready to go before it was in the water.
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We had our dog start out facing the paddler because he would whine to be with the kayak (usually me)
Eventually he would ride the other way. He seems to know not to rock the boat and we make him wait to be commanded in or out. He does sit in the kayak on the beach when he senses we are ready to leave.
You will have a blast 
One of the reasons we like to paddle is to get to amazing private beaches where he can romp around off leash.
I love doing things with a dog, it adds a whole nother dimension.
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The guy at the shop (Lite Venture) just came back from a 100 mile camping trip up the river through villages:
We thought it looked fun
forest fires emit huge amounts of CO2 and few people seem to consider them as major sources of air pollution. Having a campfire is nothing in comparison and is not “an environmental sin.” Removing dead woody debris and burning it decreases the chances of a forest fire.
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There is a lot to talk about here. Near perfect canoe for you and your dog. A bit short, but I like the width.
First, in a canoe and wind, get off the water. Wind pushes the light end of the canoe around, with a possible also large influence of the solo paddlers body sitting up in the wind.
Look for balance, trim, front to rear. If you are nose into the wind, you want the bow slightly heavier. If the wind is behind you, you want the stern heavier. You do have a mobile ballast, the 40 pound dog.
Guiding a canoe. Longer canoes are easier to keep moving straight. EVERY paddle stroke will push the bow in the opposite direction. So you learn the J-stroke (thumb down), or the Gooney stroke (thumb up). or the Canadian (a mostly in the water return with the blade angled) Or switch paddling (paddle one to 5 strokes on the right, and then one to 5 strokes on the left) The number of strokes , it depends, how long is the canoe, how fast is it moving, is the river bending right or left.
There are techniques to use the wind. If the the wind is pushing the bow off, paddle only on the one side, allow the wind to keep your course straight. And then zig zag, jibe, to where you want to go. Tricksy getting that balance but the first time you do it successfully, you’ll know.
Canoes are morning time boats. There is no wind most mornings. Get up early, on the water early, and set up camp by noon .
Kayak paddle for a short boat may be perfect.
Mostly, mostly, always wear a proper PFD, all loads and gear are tied to the canoe. ONLY leave those things untied that you want to lose. AND always smile, grin, chuckle, no matter what, or we are gonna make you go back and do it again. PFD and smile.
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I am planning a kayak/ canoe trip in GA with some friends and am looking for some info. This will be my first kayak camping trip, but I kayak quite a bit. nothing over a class III really. I live in the Atlanta area and kayak the Chattahoochee quite a bit. The only thing is I don’t know where i could pull over and camp for the night. I am willing to experience other rivers for this trip that are nearby. If I knew of a solid area that I could camp, then I could build a trip around it. Is there anyone here familiar with the Georgia area and have any info to share?
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There is nothing to be guilty about. If we don’t use up some of downed wood and thin forests we get forest fires which are the real disaster. Wild fire releases all of the carbon at once. Your little campfire hardly matters.
Class III? Look at some guide books. Are you river kayakers? Have you ever tried to put an overnight outfit in a kayak and paddle whitewater? You need a raft to haul your gear.
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Yes mainly river Kayaking. I have done I and II’s with gear. Thanks for the tip because i am a complete noob. I have a one person old town canoe that i paddle like a kayak and it holds tons of gear. I know i have to outfit it for rough water, that’s why all tips are helpful. I watch tons of videos on river camping but you can learn only so much from videos.
If you are a newbie, forget about Class III rapids with loaded boats. Kayaks or canoes.
A canoe can haul around 600 pounds maybe a little more. For a group of kayakers one canoe will not be able to carry enough gear. Then it pisses off the canoeist because he is paddling a submarine for other people. You really need a support raft.
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