Canoe advice

First, I grew up canoeing many rivers in the Ozarks. I learned early and developed an ability to maneuver around where I needed to.

In my whole canoeing experience, I have only tipped the canoe perhaps 3 times which made me pretty happy with knowing what I am doing.

It has been many a days since I have been on a canoe, and a couple years ago, I was able to teach my two kids how to canoe and they are learning and doing well.

But, I used one canoe that I was in by myself. I think I know what happened, but I have been bothered since because I am unsure of what happened.

If I remember the canoe was at least 17' 8". I was the only one in the canoe, and I believe my first error was that I was in the stern.

I saw a picture and at least half of the canoe was out of the water and in the air. Not much, but enough you could see.

Well, it was a pond, no current, and no wind. I ended up throwing myself out of the canoe and tipping.

I have been struggling with this since because I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what I did. I handled everything the same way I have always done. Except I had no one in the front. I stayed center, not rocking. low (albeit I am taller), and kept as much of myself on level with the gun wall.

My question, if I am in a longer canoe like that, and I am in the back by myself, and that much of the canoe is out of the water, would that attribute to the instability of the canoe? I have used a few kayaks since and those are low and steady, but they are not as long as that canoe itself. But I have a couple of plans of kayaking a few rivers in a nearby area, and camping as I go down the river, but I don't want to pack and then not know what I did wrong.

If that length of a canoe is the problem, what would you suggest for a single rider for a length of a canoe? I have been doing some reading and it seems most would not go over 14'. Guess it shook me because I thought I knew what I was doing.

It was an Old Tyme (?) canoe. Thanks for the advice.

 

Old Towns are the best. Incredibly tough. Your issue was likely weight balance as you pointed out. On your test drive in the pond, you didn’t have your gear or your cooler full of food and beer with you. If you’re gonna go single in your canoe empty, slide up a little or take some ballast with you to even it out. Ok to kneel in the canoe floor for short runs to be in a good spot, or take an adjustable seat with you to add in.

 

@KNABORES , Thanks. After that, I hesitated on loading anything until I knew what I had done wrong LOL.

But I am glad to know that I am not off on having that bow up out of the water like that. And no, I didn't have anything other than myself and a paddle. My kids took the smaller canoe (they were small. Probably around 9 or 10), and so I gave them the smaller one to work on. I will say, I am very proud of them for how they handled it for sure!

Next time I go out, if I do get a longer one, I will slide forward. Someone also told me to turn the canoe around, sit in the bow and paddle that as though it was the stern since the bow seat is a little further centered than the bow. Haven't tried that one but it makes sense.

Old Times do seem really great. I used to use the old silver metal ones in MO, but this was so sleek.

 

https://oldtownwatercraft.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/blog/solo-canoeing-tips

 

They do mention sitting in the bow seat and facing to the stern (rear). The bow seat is more centered as you’ve described. Good hack and doesn’t require any additional ins.

 

Excellent article! Thank you for sharing.

Love the pictures as well.

ETA: Yes, I did see that, so I think I will try that next time. I might be able to get up to a 15 or 16'. I don't think I want to go too much bigger than that. I don't carry a lot of gear with me either.

If I do this, I will be borrowing a canoe, and carrying only a bed roll, perhaps a tarp, and my cooking gear. I want to travel light on this.

 

If you are solo'ing in your canoe, you've got a person's worth of weight to bring with you to help balance the canoe. So 150# of gear would be great to place in the middle and bow areas to balance out. Tent, clothes, cooking supplies and cooler with food and drinks. I used to sell Old Town canoes when I worked at a sporting goods store years ago. Been down the Buffalo many times on them. Great canoes.

 

Oh, and strap that shit down to the canoe, just in case!!

 

That would balance it for sure. Thank you for the advice. I have heard a lot of positives about those canoe's. I love kayaks but I don't think they can carry the gear for this kind of trip.

I have not been on that one. I have been at Jacks Fork, and Meremac Springs. I am sure there are a couple of others that I have forgotten but a lot of back water (at least it was back water at that time. Probably built up now).

 

Yes! I do anyway. Learned from back in the day when I lost a few things. That was the first and last time I went without tying things down! LOL. And Dry bags, or my own "dry bags".

 

The Buffalo is a beautiful float. Took my BILs fishing kayaks last time

 

That is!

I will be visiting your state for a couple of days. We are passing through but stopping at Crater of Diamonds state park.

It will be my first time being in the state. From everything I see, looks really nice.

Youtube would have everyone believe that it is the high speed chase capital of the US, LOL!

 

Love the buffalo

 

Crater of diamonds is a neat thing to get to do, but it's literally a dirt field. Go after it rains, that's when the "new" stones appear. They also plow the field periodically to stir it up. And we are definitely the high speed chase and pit maneuver capitol of the south if not the country. Do not attempt to evade the ASP.

 

Have not done upper it’s always to low, but middle and lower I’ve done many of times. On my bucket list is to float the whole thing camping gravel bars.

 

No, not planning any burnouts or high speed chase, LOL Besides. I don't think a Ram 2500 with an 8' bed and out of state license plates will evade well, ! Besides, if the ASP won't get me, my wife would kill me first, HA!

That is good advice on the CoD. I hope it does rain before we go, but we will be traveling through and only stopping for two nights so our widow is limited. My kids are excited about getting out there and digging. They are hoping to get something from it. I hope they do.

 

Yeah, it looks very nice. That would be a good trip. Wanted to canoe the whole Missouri River from start to finish. Not sure that will be possible though.

 

I've floated most of it. Upper, middle and lower. Trips out of Ponca, St. Joe, Tyler's bend etc. Camped at Buffalo point several times. It's all beautiful for sure.

 

Using the bow seat and facing the stern, when solo, isn’t a hack, it’s established practice. Staying in the stern seat and trying to compensate by loading up the bow really makes steering less efficient. When I had a canoe rental business in Arizona I ran the Verde from the headwaters to Bartlett reservoir. Depending on the flow rate and time of year it would vary from a few class 3 rapids to a virtual continuous class 5 run. Also, there is a big difference between white water canoes and lake canoes. The white water canoes have no keel, but are fairly flat bottomed so you can spin in place to navigate through boulders and slide over rocks. Lake canoes have a keel or ridge that helps you hold a line while paddling against a little side wind. I hope this helps

 

It does help. Thank you. I knew the keel difference but I guess, in my own way, never considered how to paddle the canoe singularly. I always had a friend and other stuff like coolers with sandwiches and water with me, so I never had an issue. This was probably one of the very rare times I was by myself. So it threw me a little and caused me to question myself.

But, my kids did amazing! My son has a kayak trip here this weekend and will be floating a nearby river for 8 hours or so. I am proud of him to do that!

 

I loved teaching my boys about canoeing and taking them through the wilderness areas on 3 day trips. Something I suggest you teach them, is how to get into a canoe without capsizing out in the middle of a lake. And how to get into a capsized canoe and keep it upright so you can bail it out. If you’re not sure, it’s simple, just climb in over the end, not the edge. It’s not easy but you can do it with a little practice

 

Thank you! Great advice. I will check what he has learned. I know that part of his work in Trail Life was learning how to do that and we purposefully had them work through the whole thing. I don't know if he had to go in the side or not, so I will ask. Thank you for the advice.

 

There are various hull designs that are intended for different applications.
The Tumble Home while tippy has better maneuverability.
While it tips more it wont flip if you know how to use it.
You need to do some research on canoe hull designs and what type of water you intend to run.
Some are more stable they're used in flat water while others are intended for White Water.

 

Thank you for this info. I did know the rafts are different for white water but that is a very minor thing I will face. I usually have some just quick rapids where there are river bends, but not much else. If I know I am doing some real white water, then I will rent or get the right one.

The one you mentioned, I am not sure I have ever heard of it, but will look it up.

I guess it just shook me a little because I had always thought I had things planned and laid out so when I found myself in the water, it shook me a little.

It isn't that I have never tipped, but I think I only tipped about three times max before this one but those were because of where I was canoeing. Hitting a bend in fast current, and swinging wide because it pushed me against the river side left where there were some submerged trees, that got me on one.

Another the Meremac in one area narrowed, and the current after the rain was pretty heavy. I went through and what I didn't see was the rock that portruding just under the surface. Hit that on the side as I was leaning to sink my paddle so I could try and swing tight. I ended up in the water. My friend in his kayak was caught up in the tree that washed down river and the current trapped him against it. He could still get his head out of the water but he would have been stuck had I not been able to help him. That was a tough day. Fun but tough.

The worst part here, because unlike those, there was no current. No wind, nothing. Flat water on a pond. So I couldn't figure if I lost my touch or what happened. Have been mulling it over for the last couple of years trying to work it out before jumping back into a canoe. Have done several Kayak trips since then though. That is fun.

 

Oh....I lived on the South Llano river and rented cabins canoes and kayaks.
Personally?
I prefer kayaks,they're more maneuverable and work better in White Water.
I also prefer the sit on top kayaks over the sit inside kayaks.
If you plan on doing Big rapids the sit inside is going to be the better option.
There's a Kayak called The Ride that both the Wife and I prefer.
It's a sit on top with plenty of space for gear inside the front storage and on the open space behind the seat.
It'll handle some pretty rough rapids and it's pretty stable.
I can stand up in it to fish as long as the water isnt too crazy.

 

The Tumble Home is in reference to the hull design not a name brand.
If you're going to just be doing some light paddling I dont recommend it.

 

I have done both, and yes, Kayaks are more maneuervable for sure. And I find they are a little more steady in some cases, for example white water. The sit on top are also what I have used. That way I can get on and off as I am going down the river a little quicker than being inside.

The benefit I see with canoes is the amount of gear and weight it can possibly carry. I don't know of any kayak that can hold that weight either. But then again, I never really looked, so that may just be my very, very narrow observation.

 

Ah! Ok. Sorry. Didn't know that. Thanks for sharing. I was getting ready to start searching, LOL!

 

The sit insides will bake your legs here in Texas!!
The Ride Kayak can pretty much do it all.
I've taken them miles offshore in the Gulf to go fishing.
As far as I'm concerned they're the best all around Kayaks out there.
They have knee straps you can slide your knees under for rough water and you can just straighten your legs a bit and your knees will come right out of them.
The Ride also has adjustable,for the lack of a better term, foot pegs.
They'll help you stay in the Yak,you just push on the foot pegs and it'll push you back into the seat so you wont fall off.

 

Pic of The Ride.
I thought the Wife and I's were a bit longer.
I'll go out to the garage and measure one in a bit.
This one doesnt appear to have the knee straps either.
I'm sure they're an option though.