In the Adirondack three day 90 mile race, the majority of the first boats in each day are 4 and 8 person canoes.
No kidding, I would like to see that.
In terms of learning, I like checking out folks who paddle differently than I do. That doesnāt mean I go all in on a new style but I have to at least check it out. When Iām on Facebook with paddling groups thereās a lot of advice given that essentially is "this is how I do it so this is what is best for you to do- be it buying a boat or where to paddle. Sometimes they donāt really consider what the poster is trying to do. On the other hand, Iāve met some nice people from Facebook paddle groups and generally find that people want to share their local knowledge about different paddling places. It is advantageous to have shuttle partners on rivers or on ww have partners who can assist with swimmers.
I feel like it all works out. One of the key reasons I feel like it works out for me is because I chose environments that are well within my skill set or physical capabilities.
I didnāt always do that when I was young but I had physicality and mental toughness back then and that made up for the shortcomings of my āwide openā methodology.
I do a fair amount of āpick upā boating. Meeting random folks at a put in or campground and then paddling with them. I keep the whitewater class IIl or lower and on open water Iām frequently close to shore or in protected areas.
Have I met and boated with some nuts? You bet and would I do it again? Sure. Some folks consider me a nut for trolling the campgrounds with an extra ducky and asking, āhey do you want to boat the river today?ā
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Years ago, there were more sea kayakers at the launch. Now not so many.
It needs training wheels.
Well I say we get @Topherās āCopiousā and his crew, add @Craig_S , @szihn , @Jyak and @PaddleDog52 and take the thing.
You need to find a group with an outrigger canoe. The hull design is more like a catamaran than a displacement hull, so with a good crew that can stay syncorized, speeds can hit between 5-8 mph.
I had to go back to the race results and in the 10 mile race the outrigger canoe finished the 10 mile race in 1 hr 31min and 6 sec. 5th overall and just behind the 4 surfskis. (roughly 6 mph.)
I didnāt think you could push a canoe that fast but damn thatās impressive.
He was faster than I was at 10 miles than I was in 3.
When I was in Hawaii (Oahu) I wanted to try an outrigger. For some it was a social experience with multipersons in one boat but a surprising number of folks with small single person high end (carbon fiber) outriggers. My paddling was limited to a couple of different sit on tops.
I just want to know how you dislocated your shoulder putting lawn furniture together for your brother with a 4ā allen wrench.
A multi-paddler outrigger canoes essentially is a social activity. I was fortunate enough to acvpmpany a team assigned on two week temporary duty in Tampa, FL. A coworker on permanent assignment to nearby US Central Command was in a club that had several fiberglass outrigger canoes. Two of us accepted an offer to flesh out a crew (about 5 paddlers and one on a tiller, I believe).
Because paddlers are close togethers, every other position paddled an opposite side. As explained, the fastest speeds are attained if everyone paddles the same cadence and in unison, the boat will surged forward. The crew focusing on the rythem will easily overtake the other boats.
Instructions on how to do that seemed faulty. Rather than everone following a lead in front, we were told to pair with the front paddler on the same side. Consequently, each pair went out of phase, rather than the entire crew managing the same stroke rate. The only solution was to paddle the same stroke rate, or not at all, to avoid clashing paddles.
The strategy depends on the matched output potential of the crew and the distance being paddled. If you donāt know your aerobic/anerobic threshhold, youāll paddle hard for a few seconds then shut down. You canāt cheat your body and distrupt the Co2/oxygen exchange, because your body dumps enzymes to curb over exertion. Eventually, youāll pass out. Invariably with a novice crew. everybody will go out of phase, and that disrupts the cadence.
The same thing happens with overpowering a single seat kayak, but without a GPS or a graph charting the speed, the paddler never sees the wild speed fluctuations. My wild guess at the power loss by fluctuating in that manner is for every .5 mph over the sustainable avg speed, it takes twice as long at .5 mph under the avg speed to recover. Everybody is surely different, but that is what happens to me.
The outrigger canoe experience was awesone, but the only way for me to enjoy it socially is to be on a crew of paddlers who can maintain a forced cadence without shutting down. A crew served boat must have a matched team.
If you ever have a chance to crew an outrigger canoe, take it.
For those of us who live inland a similar experience can be had. There are , I think they call themselves, āliving historyā gatherings - to distinguish themselves from āreenacatorsā who reenact , for example, specific Revolutionary or Civil War engagements. Anyhow, they are buckskin type groups who do circuits where they display fur, cooking, costuming etc. and offer the chance to try your hand at tomahawk throwing or, whatās of greatest interest to us, a chance to crew a (fiberglass) replica voyageur canoe.
A friend and I happened upon one such gathering while returning from one of our Ozark gatherings with Pnetters ChuckIL and Silverwave. As I recall we had a bowman, sternsman and eight paddlers. It was cozy but a bit too brief to really call it a social thing. It was a bunch of complete strangers who were too enguaged with trying to stay coordinated to converse at all.
But after getting on the water they set up a 40 stroke/min cadence, as apparently was the cadence often used in the fur trade days. It is amazing how fast we got up to a decent speed - though we didnāt do much distance or have GPS timing or anything. Never got anywhere near an aerobic/anerobic threshold, at least not for me. It felt like a being on moderately sized power boat just before it goes on-step. We threw a considerable wake compared to the solo and tandem canoes weāre used to.
If you get a chance to visit any of these gatherings and/or take part in such a demo, take it. Its a good time.
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How big were the Voyager Canoes?
Not sure - this was over ten years ago. I think about 28ā and wide. We sat two abreast. That would make it a āNorth Canoeā
The great lakes fur trade canoes (Canot du Maitre or Montreal canoes they were called , if memory serves) went up to 36ā though and some could carry sail. If memory serves Viking longboats (with oars) were in the 40ā area - and Haida dugouts of the Pacific Northwest were in similar size range too. Thereās not a lot of difference between what it takes for oceanic paddling and L. Superior paddling.
There was a Pnetter, John Paradise, who came to a couple Ozark 'vous who took part in a reenactment of the Great Lakes run from Montreal to Grand Portage (near the town of Grand Maris MN). They did it all in costume and slept under the boats at city parks along the route and were greeted at the towns they stopped at with gunfire salutes. Unlike the voyageurs they took two years to do it.
If youāre interested, there is a two volume set of books that I recently became aware of, āBirchbark Canoes of the Fur Tradeā by Timothy J. Kent that can give you everything anyone could want to know about these boats, Iād think. I have a borrowed copy before me now.
If you ever find yourself in the area of Grand Maris (at the start of the Gunflint Trail entrance to the BWCA) there is a reconstructed village at the site of the Grand Portage that is worth the visit. The trail itself, the ~9 mile portage across which the furs of western Canada traveled, is there to be hiked. You can still see the trench that hundreds of years of moccisined feet can wear in a trail.
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That is what I wanted to know, how big were the fur trading canoes, I saw the pictures snd they looked huge. I saw a documentary on how and why the Vikings built their ships and they had images of the preserved Viking Ship at their Museum, just absolutely magnificent.
Edit: I did not see the last paragraphā¦that would be interesting.
Amazing how they figured out how to use the material at hand and how fortunate we are with so many durable options.
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Didnāt dislocate the shoulder but torqued out an elbow. I still have numbness in two fingers, the pain went from the elbow to the fingertips. Now just the fingertips tingle, been 7 months.
Sorry to hearā¦ Recovery is sooo much slower as we age.
The Olsen quotes come the closest to explaining my passion for paddling and the joys of moving upon the water under your own power as Iāve ever encountered. Thanks for sharing!
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You were carrying on so I figured you dislocated your shoulder or something. But then again, how did a 4ā Allen Wrench incapacitate you?