Semantics pblanc. Thanks for the update.
Draw and cross draw is the common terminology among rec paddlers that do not race or compete.
The other thing you want your bow paddler to do is have vision and spot hazards before you do.
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Excuse me, maybe you mean Olympic type straight line race competition. As a long time successful bow paddler, I often use draws, cross draws. and duffek strokes in competition. How else to maneuver a long boat around races that include narrow very twisting winding streams and rivers, such as on the Adirondack 90 miler? Making quick decisions guiding the boat into faster water channels on the Yukon are critical to racing in that environment. Making both subtle and major corrections from the bow often requires the paddler to make such maneuvering strokes before the stern paddler even knows of the necessity to do so.
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And of course, the stern paddler has to know the subtle yet important “ego stroke…”
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For flatwater I want the bow paddler to be the motor. Lilly dippers need not apply. A good cadence, with short deep strokes. Endurance important. Someone who prefers paddling on their right so I can paddle more on my left.
For ww tripping someone that can listen and execute strokes. “Give me two draws, three forward stokes, drift, one back stroke”.
A really nuanced ww bow paddler spots rocks and then instinctively draws or prys to miss them. Once the bow clears the obstruction they understand the boat is a pivot so they then do the opposite stroke (draw or pry) to help the stern swing clear of the obstruction. They can set and adjust the ferry angle on downstream ferries. They are strong at backpaddling.
For big water the bow paddler times their strokes to pull through features, can plant a solid brace in/on features and understands “high siding”. Physicality helps- bailing, swimming, portaging often required but a large/heavy bow paddler makes the boat harder to pivot/spin and makes for a wetter ride.
In a raft someone who understands which side of the raft they are sitting on, left or right. Someone that can set the pace according to my voice intensity, “pick it up, pick it up, pick it up, forward on the left, back on the right, now all ahead, all ahead NOW!” Someone that picks themself up off the floor of the raft and is ready to resume paddling.
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Youkon paddler pretty much covered it in detail. He’s one of the more experienced long distance canoers on here.
I raced for a few years, probably 60% bow as the less experienced paddler (older guy in the stern) and 40% in the stern as the more experienced paddler (with a less experienced bow paddler of any age - 16-70). Here’s my list as a perspective from both seats. This assumed a tandem canoe. 3+ seats defer to yukon’s advice, but its all kinda the same.
In the bow
- You are the motor. Put the power down.
- You set the cadence (mostly). This is typically because you have the best view and can often tell when is a good time to put in a short sprint when in a pack. Know when to relax. Know when to go. When you hit the shallows you need to know when to Pop it.
- You’re the lookout. If something is immediately in front of the boat the stern paddler cannot see it. (logs, debris, rocks, sand bars, etc)
- Steering assistance, especially when in a pack. When you’re in a pack it is sooooo nice to have a bowman who knows when to put in 1 strong draw or push to keep the boat parallel with the pack. Steering from the rear alone while in a pack is much harder if you do not have help from the bow. The main 4 things a bowman needs to know is a strong draw, push, static post, and cross bow.
- Balance synergy with your sternman. In 3x27 racing boats p[articularly, you need to lean to turn. Synergy with your partner means you’re leaning in sync, the right amount, and not freaking out that one of you is going too far and over correcting. A good team can keep the gunwale on the waterline on a buoy turn.
- Related to balance, #6 is a good brace. When stuff gets hairy or you lean a liiiiitle too much around a turn, having a partner with a solid and fast brace will keep you upright and is an asset instead of liability (read that as anyone who cannot brace well is a liability in less than ideal conditions)
- Able to feel the cadence or commands of the stern paddler without instruction. After you paddle a long time with a partner, you learn to read their intentions. Go fast, slow down, wait, spring, pop, ride the wave, cut to the inside, etc. A good bowman can feel when the sternman picks up the pace or makes a sudden correction. A good bowman is aware of the feel of the boat, line, cadence, etc and makes the necessary adjustments without a verbal command from the sternman.
- A equal level of desire to get somewhere. Want to make your partner hate you? (bow or stern) Lilly dip when they want to go fast or vise versa. An equal speed desire makes for a harmonious team
That’s my list 
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You didn’t give enough details for a specialized answer. So this is generic.
In a regular C-2 the bow paddler is the engine and the count( ten strokes per side, hip is to get ready, ho is to switch.
After that it depends on the details, how technical is the river, are you going fast or slow, how long is the boat, and so on.
18 ft. boats turn differently than 16 ft. boats. OC-6’s are a whole other world.
A part of the bow paddler’s work lies in the view, don’t run into things. Another is dependent on the current, you have to pull the now away from the inner corner of a turn, the slack current will pull you into that corner.
There is a lot more, but i have to wonder about following the bubbles first. Bubbles float along the current, they are never where they started, so they are misleading to start with. With only 100 miles on the water, I think you need to ;earn currents and tell tales most.
Of course I am biased, but in those times when drafting or wake riding will help you along, the bow paddler gauges and adjusts his power input and makes directional corrections that the stern cannot possibly accomplish. Inches of location position when in the wake matter and make all the difference in holding position or dropping back and losing the energy saving ease advantage. No matter if in the port or starboard wake or the direct stern wake of a leading boat, power force adjustment strokes and slight draws or instantaneous briefest touches of onside or offside bow rudders are often necessary to keep within the sweet spot behind a leading boat resulting in reduced energy output to maintain speed and position with a lead boat. Depending on a well controlled (not fishtailing) lead boat’s wake characteristics, a 2 inch stern to bow separation is not uncommon (you never want to make actual contact). Saving energy by drafting for a time can make all the difference in an eventual race passing sprint to pull away from a worn out or mentally discouraged opponent.
On the size of streams I’m paddling, the bubbles are the telltales. They show the flow. They avoid the eddys and upwellings. This is flatwater with intermittent ww1-2.
Non-competition setting. Just recreational canoeing. Tight enough turns that if you’re in their wake you could T-bone them.
I’ve got to jump in here. I was coming on here to learn how to paddle in a kneeling position during the winter, in a dry suit, while still keeping my feet warm. However, I got distracted by this headline and said, “Hey, that sounds familiar, that sounds like my friend that I just paddled with this weekend” and lo and behold, it was. This is a good question, because I, the stern paddler in this scenario, have also been thrown into a bow paddling situation two years ago and deemed myself incompetent.
My experience is moderate. I’ve paddled up to class 3 as a stern paddler on the Ontonagon River. I’ve done a lot of 5-7 day flatwater trips in BWCWA, the UP of Michigan and in swamps in the south (FL, GA, SC). Last year, we took two canoes on Lake Superior from Hatties Cove to Michipicoten, Ontario over the course of 9 days. Big trips, but I still don’t consider myself an expert. Good in the stern, but not an expert paddler and I would like to hear some advice on this as well. Flexibility is important, such as this example of two stern paddlers being in the same boat, while my regular bow paddler takes a spin in the solo boat.
For context, we were paddling the Pine River in Michigan. As a paddler, I like to hug the mid-river, to slightly inshore line. Not racing, just enjoying a chill paddle with lots of sightseeing.
For recreational paddlers, who aren’t racing, but who want to be competent, fairly skilled, what do you want from you bow paddler? I do think this is a great question. On flat water, my wife says “I’m the motor, I switch sides when I need to and you adjust.” I get that. But stern paddlers on rivers tend to want to steer from the bow when put in that position and I’d love to hear a discussion on that.
Thanks, Tundrawalker, for bringing this up. Because if our roles had been switched, I would have been asking the same.
Equipaje
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Yes, the terminology can be confusing. The canoe stroke I call a Duffek has been called many things including bow draw, static draw, stationary draw, running bow draw, bow cut, running bow cut, turning high brace, post, plant, bow rudder, and I’m sure a few others I have forgotten.
Milo Duffek got the idea for the bow turning stroke that bears his name from watching draws done by native canoe paddlers and he used the technique first in C1 slalom racing, with a single bladed paddle. He was a C1 slalom racer before he adopted the stroke to kayak racing with a double bladed paddle.
So you can say that the Duffek was a canoe stroke before it ever became a kayak stroke.
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There are things that the bow paddler can do better or more easily, and things that the stern paddler can do better or more easily.
The general course on flat water or easy moving water is somewhat more easily maintained by the stern paddler looking down the whole length of the canoe like an archer looking down the shaft of a drawn arrow. Turns, as opposed to quick cuts, are generally more easily initiated from the stern without slowing the momentum as much. The angle of a forward ferry (upstream ferry) is much more easily controlled from the stern. Likewise, the angle when front surfing a wave is more easily controlled from the stern. When paddling “sit and switch”, or “Minnesota switch” style the stern paddler typically calls the “huts” because they can better judge the exact heading of the canoe. And when paddling traditional style, the stern paddler needs to maintain heading using some type of correction (J stroke, Canadian, pitch stroke, river J, etc) because their paddle blade is farther from the pivot point of the canoe than the bow paddler’s, and many bow turning strokes also result in a loss of forward momentum.
The bow paddler is in a much better position to see many downstream features or obstacles, especially those close to the bow of the boat, and is therefore in a better position to react to them quickly. The bow paddler can also markedly tighten the radius of a turn, into a narrow eddy say, by using an appropriate stroke. If it is necessary to run the boat through a narrow slot or chute, the bow paddler can make last split-second adjustments in alignment of the bow that the stern paddler is not in a position to make. By using a complementary stroke to what the stern paddler is using, the bow paddler can help a long canoe pivot in place, say by executing a lateral draw while the stern executes a lateral draw on the opposite side, or by executing a back stroke or reverse sweep while the stern executes a forward stroke or sweep on the opposite side. This can be useful for turning the boat in a tight spot. In order to move the canoe directly abeam also usually requires the bow paddler’s input. Whenever the boat is traveling backwards or more slowly than the current, the bow paddler is in a better position to steer. So on a back ferry (or a back surf if they are really good) it is the bow paddler that sets and controls the angle.
So who gets to be “captain”. Whenever possible the general course or line through a rapid should be agreed upon in advance. This might happen while the tandem team scouts a rapid, either from shore or from the boat after catching an eddy. Other times a brief conversation suffices, such as “See the big rock up ahead? Lets go to the left of it.” But if an obstacle like a dead head stump or rock comes up suddenly right in front of the boat, the bow paddler must react instantly and the stern needs to follow the bow’s lead, as has been described by others. Having one paddler trying to go to one side of an obstacle and the other the opposite is no bueno, but it does happen.
Paddling bow in a whitewater canoe can be a little spooky because the bow paddler can’t see what the stern paddler is doing. And the canoe is usually narrower at the bow station allowing for less knee spread so even when kneeling the bow paddler often feels a little less stable. If the stern paddler suddenly heels the canoe, in order to set up for an eddy turn say, it can come as a surprise to the bow paddler if the intention is unannounced. Controlling the boat angle on a back ferry or while “setting” into an eddy is really tricky because the bow paddler usually has to look back over their shoulder down the length of the boat to properly control the angle.
But if you are paddling in my boat I get to be the captain whether I am in the front or the back. Because it’s my boat.
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Knowing left from right is a good start.
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A couple of years ago I met the guy who runs the fish hatchery on the East Fork of the Carson River near home. He was a paddlehead from PA and we talked about running a canoe from the fish hatchery to town. We used his old beater aluminum canoe. I paddled the bow and had a wonderful time in some technical whitewater. He was one of the most experienced paddlers I have ever run a river with. We actually did not need to talk much at all. We ran everything clean except for running into some willows on the outside of a turn after the hard stuff.
We had to make four carries around diversion dams which explains why the run has never been popular. But it was one of the best days of paddling of my whole life which started in summer camp in 1960. I learned more about paddling in the bow than any other trip. If you have spent your life paddling in the stern, make sure you paddle in the bow sometimes.
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If a person likes to paddle a lot, doesn’t go “on strike” if it rains or gets a little chilly, likes to camp, isn’t likely to need emergency medical attention, can swim, and has a sense of humor, I figure all the rest will fall into place by and by. No hurries.
Before I got my first solo I spent plenty of years soloing tandems. Still do it if I have a load to carry or want extra buoyancy for big waves. I can get by with or without a bow paddler, though in a headwind it is nice to have ballast up front. Its even better still if they can provide some extra horsepower.
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Actually, I’d prefer to be the bow paddler - paddles more like a solo and (at least in moving water) does as much to control the boat as the stern. Also gets you closer to the action…
Exactly! My voyageur in five finger rapids, YT:
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like I said before, willingness to bail is also desired. Judging by your surf, bailing required. Usually though the water puddles up closer to one individual or another so that determines who does the bailing.
I’ve certainly done my share of bailing from the bow. But note the mandatory spray cover installed up to and around each paddler in my photos above. That keeps virtually all of the water out when plowing through the large standing waves in the brief stretch of Five Finger Rapids on the Yukon. Otherwise the river is relatively calm and we remove the cover, except that when it gets cold at “night”, it is nice to have body warmth retained around our legs under cover.