Why can't I keep my Disco 158 in a straight line when paddling from the bow seat with the boat turned around? Everytime i try the boat is all over the place! I don't have any problems using a J from the stern when i'm solo paddling, but being just that extra bit forward makes it nearly impossible for me. help?
Beats me
my 158 is straight as an arrow from the front seat or the back seat solo. I do, however put about 50lbs in the bow to keep the nose down if I paddle from the rear seat about 30 if paddle from the front.
Could it be you have a little too much power on the back end of your J stroke? The boat is wider when you are paddling from the front and you could be pushing against the hull a little.
Inverted Disco
In a normal Tandem, kneeling against the back of the bow seat is a fuine way to trim the hull a little better, UNLESS, the hull is differentially rockered or asymmetrical.
Having been designed by the shipping depertment, Discos aren’t differentially rockered or asymmetrical.
They are, however, pretty wide. May be your stance is at sucj a wide spot in the hull you are not able to keep your paddle shaft vertical. Aow angle stroke is a sweep, and so, would take a hellish amount of J correction.
Solo from Bow Seat
Try shifting your weignt to heel the boat [significantly] toward the side you are paddling on. This will place your paddle closer to the hydrodynamic centerline of the boat giving you less turning moment. Secondly the side of the boat, by running deeper in the water than with the boat flat will act as a keel allowing you to track better.
Another issue you do not mention is what is if there was a cross wind. I’ll never forget staying ashore at Moosehead Lake in ME, because leaving the bay we were in, the wind would just turn us around. We were eating lunch and saw a Sunfish sailboat capsize and the sailor did not right it. My dad and I figured out that by both of us getting ahead of the center thwart we could place enough power forward to keep it from turning downwind.
I’ve paddled solo more than once since then kneeling just forward of the center thwart when in a heavy [should have stayed on shore] cross wind.
By the way, we got to the boat and got the young woman [40 years ago she was perceived as an OLD woman to me, as I was a teenager] aboard our canoe without misshap and brought her and her boat to shore, Asking her why she didn’t right the boat and sail on she replied “This was my first time sailing, but my dad is in the Navy so I thought I had it in my blood.”
Solo from Bow Seat
Try shifting your weignt to heel the boat [significantly] toward the side you are paddling on. This will place your paddle closer to the hydrodynamic centerline of the boat giving you less turning moment. Secondly the side of the boat, by running deeper in the water than with the boat flat will act as a keel allowing you to track better.
Another issue you do not mention is what is if there was a cross wind. I’ll never forget staying ashore at Moosehead Lake in ME, because leaving the bay we were in, the wind would just turn us around. We were eating lunch and saw a Sunfish sailboat capsize and the sailor did not right it. My dad and I figured out that by both of us getting ahead of the center thwart we could place enough power forward to keep it from turning downwind.
I’ve paddled solo more than once since then kneeling just forward of the center thwart when in a heavy [should have stayed on shore] cross wind.
By the way, we got to the boat and got the young woman [40 years ago she was perceived as an OLD woman to me, as I was a teenager] aboard our canoe without misshap and brought her and her boat to shore, Asking her why she didn’t right the boat and sail on she replied “This was my first time sailing, but my dad is in the Navy so I thought I had it in my blood.”
heeling
is what i ended up trying to do, i didn’t have any great success and the wind was up so the water was really way to big to be in an open boat in the first place. (my problems started way before the wind, that in itself was a three hour- near-panic-first-time-i’ve-ever-been-really-afraid in a boat!) but i’m guessing with practice i could make it work. CEwilson made a great point about my angle being off and paddling more of a sweep, that makes total sense now. All that being said, is there any real advantage/disadvantage from just soloing from the stern of the boat or closer to the middle?
There’s only one way to approach
soloing a canoe, and that is to get situated close to the middle of the boat. In any other position, the hull is not fully and properly engaged with the water and is less efficient.
Next, you have to seriously master the c-stroke. If you can’t get the boat to go straight while paddling on one side, your stroke is wrong.
The advice of others to try heeling the boat to your paddling side is OK, but not essential. I tend to heel when paddling on my “off” side; maybe that reflects my having less paddle skill on that side. There are some boats, such as our Bluewater Chippewa, that are very resistant to heeling, and others like our Mad River Synergy that heel easily, but where heeling does not make a speck of difference. If you are where you belong in the boat and have the stroke mechanics down, the boat will run straight.
can you get a photo?
Try to get someone to take a photo of you in the disco as you solo. I bet you’re too stern heavy (well, bow-as-stern heavy). Have you tried putting some weight at the other end?
Of course he’s stern heavy. The first
step is to get a kneeling thwart or a pedestal seat where the boat will trim just a tiny smidge bow high when kneeling, and dead level when sitting with the legs out front. After that, one can shove gear fore or aft to adjust trim for wind.
Trim , ballast and heel
The reason you want to be close to the center is to trim the boat fore and aft. With no current I believe you want to be slightly bow heavy paddling into the wind or slightly stern heavy paddling away from the wind.
In a boat like your Disco or my Explorer you need to be awfully long of torso and arms to get a good stroke in from the center of the boat.
Ballast, whether its camping gear or jugs of water can help you get good trim and still be near the end of the boat where you can get a good stroke. This also has the advantage of putting more of your hull in the water and less in the wind. The disadvantage is that you are moving extra weight.
Canadian style, where you kneel in the chine close to your paddle, lets you get a good stroke without reaching but limits you to paddling on one side of the boat. I use a sixpack cooler as a movable saddle. It’s reasonably comfortable and the beer tastes great on a hot day! I’m not sure how heeling helps with the wind but I’ve had good luck when I’ve tried it. My Explorer tends to turn towards the heel so I’m not using as much correction as I would paddling flat.
Good Luck,
Tommy
I don’t even pretend to be a purest.
OK, I’ll be the one to say it. I’m sure others have thought it and decided not to post.
Get a double bladed paddle and go.
CB
thoughts …
I’ve only had trouble with my old 158 soloing backwards from the bow seat when the wind was blowing stronger than my ability to counteract it with my paddle.
Even then, one only needs to move forward and drop to the knees to balance the boat.
—
As to the double-bladed kayak paddle idea you will have trouble finding one long enough to work effectively, and even if you do you are going to fill your lap with water.
I was thinking it was possibly
... (probably?) the wind as well.
Put a well behaved dog in front.
Double blades
I’ve got a Mohawk double bladed canoe paddle that’s about 274 cm (9’) I think.
I got it to drive the empty Explorer in the wind and it does work reasonably well. It’s also good for stand up paddling using one blade as a t-grip.
It does drip on me though I don’t find that to be a problem. I do prefer using a single blade though and rarely carry the double these days.
If you do a search on double bladed canoe paddles you should find reference to other manufacturers who make the longer doubles.
Tommy
great advice
thanks all around guys, looks like i really just need to work on C-stroke, trim and the like. thanks as always for the help!
Bill Mason’s Path Of The Paddle
or Becky Mason’s Classic Solo Canoeing DVD’s be highly recommended viewin’.
FE