42
votes
Accepted
How efficient is travel by canoe?
The canoe has three huge advantages:
it works in the absence of paths or trails
it can carry enormous loads
adding paddlers to it makes it go faster
The first is probably the most important. I've ...
- 12.7k
34
votes
Accepted
How to avoid getting wet when exiting a canoe onto shore?
Getting out is not the hard part. It is getting in and going again without getting wet.
To get out:
If the beach is large enough come in sideways, lean away from shore to as you beach. when the ...
- 30.4k
29
votes
What is the best practice to secure a 17ft open canoe to the roof of a vehicle?
I have to contend with 100km+ winds with my 17.5ft canoe, so I've tried pretty much every method of attaching a canoe to a roof you can conceive, and the one that works the best is this one:
It's ...
- 53.7k
29
votes
Accepted
In the US is it legal to travel on any river/creek my canoe will navigate?
All waters no, some places like National Parks require permits, see Dinosaur Monument and Canyonlands.
It also differs state by state, in some states the water belongs to the public but not the stream ...
- 69.4k
27
votes
What is the difference between a Canoe and a Kayak?
The general answer is: A canoe is a boat designed or refitted to be paddled with a one sided paddle, usually while sitting on either a raised bench or one or both of your knees. A kayak is a boat ...
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24
votes
Accepted
What is the best practice to secure a 17ft open canoe to the roof of a vehicle?
More canoes are destroyed by flying off a car than are wrapped around rocks. (Western Canoe Company factoid)
Best is if you have roof racks.
A: Secure mid point of the canoe to the back of the roof.
...
23
votes
In the US is it legal to travel on any river/creek my canoe will navigate?
Don't violate Zebra Mussel restrictions!!!
There are lots of lakes in Minnesota, and many of them are connected by streams. Its is great to paddle between them in a canoe, you can go tens of miles ...
- 411
18
votes
Accepted
How do you get back in canoe, by yourself?
There isn't only one method, there are a few. Partially the choice depends on which canoe you have (big and wide, very stable or tippy, or a small solo) and if its calm water or not. What you can do ...
- 3,280
16
votes
Accepted
Can I use a Canoe Paddle with a Kayak?
Yes, but you might want to use a short paddle.
While the difference between a canoe and a kayak in practice is only the seat, and people do swap out kayak seats for canoe saddles in playboats, you'll ...
- 8,097
16
votes
Accepted
How would one person control two canoes?
Lash them together in parallel with spars such that there's a wide enough gap down the middle that you can paddle in the centre.
As you say, you're not going to be making tight turns, but you are in ...
- 8,097
15
votes
In the US is it legal to travel on any river/creek my canoe will navigate?
No.
Water use, like everything else in the US, is a patchwork of Federal, State, and Local regulations plus quasi-legal muscle. Multiple overlapping laws and agencies can apply at each level. Here's ...
- 431
14
votes
Can you notice a waterfall in time to get off the river?
It's always risky to be on a river that you have no information about.
Apart from waterfalls there could be other dangers such as rapids, rocks under the surface, whirlpools/undercurrents, artificial ...
- 13.3k
13
votes
Accepted
Getting into canoeing - UK
It will depend on whereabouts along the Thames you live but there are many canoe and kayak clubs and water-based outdoor recreation centres around. It is possible to get into it without any training ...
- 4,114
13
votes
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How do choices in design of a paddle-craft influence its handling characteristics?
Ay-yi-yi! This is a very broad question, a true answer to which would probably require a PhD in hydrodynamics or years of relevant engineering expertise. Note that the interplay between these design ...
- 4,252
13
votes
Accepted
Why aren't aluminum canoes more popular/prevalent?
I've owned both. I've also used CPVC and Royalex canoes on trips.
Aluminum is noisy. You don't have to tell people that you hit a rock. They will hear, even over the roar. It's cold. If you ...
13
votes
Accepted
Can I sleep in my canoe with it adrift on a commonly used lake?
For the specific question of drifting on the Great Lakes, doing so is effectively suicide.
First, there's the matter of traffic. The Great Lakes are a major shipping lane, with upwards of a hundred ...
- 2,998
13
votes
Accepted
Pack rafts vs Canoe
Pack rafts were designed originally for the Brooks Range in Alaska as a way to run remote creeks that were otherwise impractical or impossible to get boats to. They weren't originally designed for ...
- 4,073
13
votes
Accepted
Canoe yoke orientation: Point towards front or back?
You want to walk with the front of the boat pointing the direction you're walking. Otherwise you would paddle into a portage, and pick up the canoe -- only to find yourself facing the opposite way to ...
- 12.7k
12
votes
What is the best practice to secure a 17ft open canoe to the roof of a vehicle?
Position the canoe centered between your cross bars. You can use foam padding (e.g. pool noodle) between the crossbars and gunwales if you want to protect your gunwales. With stout cordage using a ...
- 1,847
12
votes
How to avoid getting wet when exiting a canoe onto shore?
Aside from waders, there's not much you can do to guarantee your feet will stay dry. No matter how high your waterproofing goes it won't help when you fall on your side from a rock shifting under foot ...
- 121
12
votes
How efficient is travel by canoe?
The most efficient boat design is fairly straightforward. Rowing is more efficient than paddling, because anchoring the oar to the hull allows oars to be longer than paddles and longer levers are more ...
- 576
11
votes
Accepted
Can you notice a waterfall in time to get off the river?
No. Not reliably. But you only need to be wrong once.
Depending on how abrupt the drop is, you may only see a horizon line, with no white caps from rapids below. If there is enough wind to put ...
10
votes
Accepted
I can't get floating in my canoe again, now what?
Your priorities are:
not drowning
having a boat and paddle you can get yourself home with
your stuff
Your boat must contain (and to know it will contain these post-flip, they should be attached to ...
- 12.7k
10
votes
Accepted
Canoeing in a thunderstorm
Your chances of getting hit by lightning while on the water are actually higher then if you are on the beach. (unless you are fishing)
Fishing contributed to almost half - 46% - of the water-related ...
- 30.4k
10
votes
Accepted
How much flotation does a canoe need?
In most situations you should be prepared for a dunking, so you could hang around in the water and bail without getting too cold. Of course, if you're in danger (e.g. from hitting rocks) get yourself ...
- 26.7k
10
votes
If you are canoeing on a lake when whitecaps start happening, what is the best direction to get off the lake?
I was always taught that it is best when possible to "three quarter" the waves, whether your intended direction of travel is up or down wind -- either way this avoids most splashing, and the boat will ...
- 795
9
votes
Why aren't aluminum canoes more popular/prevalent?
Everything is made out of plastic these days, isn't it?
From My Own Experience as a Sea Kayak and Canoe Guide in British Columbia
In the water, the material that a boat is made of doesn't really ...
- 675
9
votes
Alligator free Mangrove or Cypress swamps in the US?
Taking a literal definition of US and not restricting the answer to the continental US, there is a mangrove swap on Heeia in HI and the list of reptiles in HI does not include crocodiles or alligators....
- 10.7k
9
votes
Accepted
What are the pros and cons of plastic and aluminium vs wood vs composite paddles for canoeing?
Wooden paddles are heavier but have a very nice feel to them, they can be expensive.
The flex in plastic blades can mean you lose power and the blades can flutter under heavy load. Aluminium paddle ...
- 8,097
8
votes
How much flotation does a canoe need?
Short answer: As much as you want/have room for, evenly distributed in the bow and stern, but the minimum is only how much is necessary to prevent your boat from sinking.
As far as getting back in ...
- 53.7k
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