We’re still out here, and thank you for using the term “canoer”.
I know the term is probably incorrect in the strictist linguistic sense, and I’ve been lambasted for using it, but. to me anyhow, the suffix ist implies a certain air of elitism. There are violinists and fiddlers, artists and crafters.
There certainly are canoeists like Verlen Kruger or Kaz or Bill Mason, but I’m a canoer as are most folks who paddle canoes. We’re better than some, not so good as others - and all paddlers of all stripes have some days that are better than others. ( I’d be a bit skeptical of anyone who claims to be a kayakist no matter how bombproof their rolls are.)
In the early days of the Pnet Ozark Rendezvous there were about equal numbers of kayaks and canoes in attendance. These days almost everyone there is a canoer. Many are former or intermittent kayakers.
When I go north to the BWCA I see very few kayaks on cars or on the water, but I see far more kayaks most other places.
There are many notable exceptions, but most folks I’ve encountered who are into multiday tripping are canoers. For a good number of folks it appears to me that camping is “what its all about” for them and canoes are a good way of facilitating that; artful paddling is a secondary concern. Just a general observation…
The tripping kayakers I’ve encountered are mostly coastal or Great Lakes trippers - and kayaks certainly have a lot to recommend them on really big cold waters and in strong winds. They make good sense for such applications. As it happens, I don’t personally encounter those situations often and its inconvenient for me to seek them out. So I canoe.
We canoers are still out there as we have been throughout North American history, and we always will be. One just has to know where to look. These days it usually isn’t on top of passing cars, though.
Well, I would like to say my word choice was strategic, but it is actually just because I am a redneck from east Texas and tend to talk like it. Your description of the multiday tripping canoer is exactly where I land. I was a camper before I ever canoed, and would not consider myself a great paddler. However, I love the camping experiences that canoeing provides.
I like the distinction raised about “canoeist” versus “canoer”. We say kayaker, but I have never heard “kayakist”.
To take it a few steps further, would a non-professional dentist be a “denter”? And would a violinist, be a “violiner”? And a narcissist, a “narcisser”?
I do enjoy canoeing, both tandem and solo. I have been canoeing much longer than sea kayaking since I started as a young teen. Many good memories with a canoe involved. I probably use my canoe more often than my kayak because I live inland and enjoy canoeing rivers. Although I do use my kayak on the big lakes and will be camping from my sea kayak on a lake next week if things go as planned.
However, I feel much more connected to the water in my sea kayak, The speed I can maintain with it for long stretches of time is a plus when you don’t have a river moving you to help. How it handles rough water, and the wind is another plus. Again, I just chose the boat that does what I need in a given situation and love it for what it can do.
I feel using different paddles and boats adds to my pleasure. I even row a sailboat when the wind fails.
That is a good brew. The name translates as Cursed and the picture is from the Quebecoise legend of la chasse-galerie, voyageurs or lumberjacks who make a deal with the devil to fly home to their girlfriends. It’s like a Belgian abbey but darker and more complex. It gives me a warm buzz, so the symbology is fitting.
This is how I feel even though I don’t own a kayak, but I do use a paddleboard, and I love to row. Sometimes, I even find myself rowing my little sailboat when I could be sailing. I’d love to have a good pulling boat, but not in the cards, or should I say pocketbook.
There are lots of open boaters around here, but sometimes it doesn’t feel like it. I did a couple of whitewater trips up in NH yesterday - 21 kayaks and 1 canoe (me) on the Sugar River in the morning, 8 kayaks and 1 canoe (me) on Croyden Brook in the afternoon. We are definitely outnumbered.
I looked into a very well established Paddling Club in my area that has been around since 1972,thinking I could find a used kayak. It turns out virtually every single veteran paddler in the club was a canoeist for various reasons, packability, comfort, aesthetics, more graceful, subtle. I thought the efficiency of a kayak would be very appealing to them, but that was not the case.
Sure you want to paddle Lake Michigan?
My point is I like to use the different boats for what they are designed for. I wouldn’t use a sea kayak on that river. A canoe is easier to portage over or around down timber. It would be like trying to surf one of your canoes in ocean surf. Many years ago when much younger I tried just that! Have you ever tried to handle a flooded canoe in the surf? As I said I love to paddle both boats for where their strong points shine.
Many moons ago, I sailed my 18’ Grumman canoe on Long Island Sound (with no added flotation). The wind was light and I was an immortal teenager, but I called it quits after less than hour. Even my less than fully developed frontal lobe realized that recovery would have been impossible. I never did it again.
Busting the Delaware Water Gap at every opportunity? Now that’s a different story!
they grew up jumping in Hawaii with their friends.
