Archive for the 'Canoeing Tips' Category

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How to Paddle a Canoe - The Sweep Stroke

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on July 18, 2008
in Canoe How To, Canoeing Tips and how to paddle
. 0 Comments

 The Sweep Stroke
by Red Rock Store

This is the stroke I’m going to cal l# 2.5 with #1 being the J Stroke and #2 being the Draw Stroke.

This stroke is more helpful to the stern paddler if the bow paddler actually knows how to sweep right or sweep left. Critical to this stroke is the hand placement, namely how far you slide the paddle out for leverage and the depth of the paddle blade.

This stroke was impossible to photograph with my digital camera, but at least I can describe and show what it’s supposed to look like.

The end result of a Sweep Stroke is to push the bow away from the paddle and pull the stern towards the paddle. As you’ll see in the Sweep Stroke Paddling Instruction Pictures, I would be causing the stern of the canoe to be dragged towards the paddle.

As a stern paddler in a fierce wind, I would request a sweep left or sweep right from my bow paddler to force the bow the direction that I wanted to go. Also, in conjunction with my bow paddler who is sweeping on the the right, I would do a hard J Stroke on the left at the stern. This would cause the canoe to turn to the left quickly and with good power.

Because the Sweep Stroke only dunks half the paddle blade at an angle in the water and more or less “sweeps” with a large arc (accompanied by splashing sounds of water getting shoved out of the way of the paddle as it skims on top), the bow paddler may need to perform several fast sweeps. This is possible to do because the paddle is not deep in the water like with a regular stroke.

Learn the rest of the details and view the pictures on How to Paddle a Canoe - The Sweep Stroke

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How to Paddle a Canoe - The J-Stroke

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on July 10, 2008
in Canoe How To and Canoeing Tips
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With all the “How to paddle a Canoe” books out there, I’ve decided that they really don’t hit the spot when it comes down to teaching somebody how to handle a canoe on flat water(AKA lake, pond, slow moving river).

We don’t want to learn how to paddle in whitewater, not in screaming rivers or 5 foot waves, just on a lake - basic paddling techniques to allow one to go from point A to B in a straight line.

You can’t find this easily in any books or at least I can’t. Most paddling books have so much extra info including advanced techniques (cross bow rudder, post and draw, blah, blah blah) that I think the gentle reader walks away from all that worthless learning a bit dazed and confused.

So, this is my attempt to illustrate the TWO basic strokes that make a canoe go -

  1. a J Stroke and

  2. a Draw Stoke.

There are lots of variations on these two strokes that tend to be explained ad nauseum in most canoe books, but I think everybody makes them a lot harder that they really are. Oh, and yes, I know there are several folks out there who have their own personal interpretation of the J-Stroke and they do all sorts of goofy things that ARE NOT the J-Stroke.

For a proper, efficient and smooth J-Stroke, the top hand on the palm grip of the paddle ALWAYS ends in thumb-down position at end of the stroke - not thumb up, not thumb sideways, or any other derivation of the thumb. It’s thumb-down and push out with bottom arm, nothing else.

Avoid the goofy variations your buddy developed in Nam, stick to the basics and remember this one simple fact: the canoe is steered from one side at a time by either pushing the stern to the right (J-Stroke) or pulling the stern to the left (Draw Stroke) and vice versa on the other side.

Get all the details about How to Paddle a Canoe - The J-Stroke
by Red Rock Store

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How to get into a Canoe

Published
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on June 15, 2008
in Bell Canoes, Canoe How To, Canoeing Tips, Fletcher Canoes, Novacraft, Sawyer Canoes, Souris River, Wenonah and kevlar canoes
. 0 Comments

How to get into a Canoe
by Red Rock Wilderness StoreWith a Souris River Canoe, you really don’t have
to get your feet wet - EVER!

Please Note: This loading technique will work well for all canoes. However, while Souris River Canoes, along with royalex, polyethylene, and aluminum canoes, can handle this sort of entry repeatedly, we do not recommend it for Wenonahs, Bells, Mad River, Sawyer, Novacraft and other brands of cloth-layup, vinylester or polyester resin canoes. Canoes with made this resin tend to require more delicate handling than epoxy resin canoes especially when they get older because vinylester resin gets brittle with age. Repeatedly sitting on these canoes may adversely affect their bows and sterns. Due to their more fragile nature, you may want to check with the manufacturer to see if the canoe is strong enough to accept this means of entry instead of the usual “wet-foot” technique currently used on vinylester resin hulls. We wouldn’t want you break something. For the rest of you epoxy/kevlar canoe owners, get in and go!

Addendum:  I’ve run into a bunch of people (”experts” and “expert” outfitters both)  who’ve commented on the photos below, saying that the Boundary Waters rarely has such a nice smooth beach on which to land a canoe.  No kidding - I could have paddled over to Moose Lake to find a rockier portage but I kinda figured that most readers could “pretend” there are rocks alongside the canoe in the pictures.  The maneuver remains the same whether there is a rough portage or not.  What has happened to the abstract thinkers of the world today and how do some of these “experts” rate the self-proclaimed title?  Sheesh!

Visit Red Rock Store for a great series of pictures:

How to get into a Canoe without getting your feet wet!

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BWCA Canoe Rentals

Published
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on June 3, 2008
in Canoe How To, Canoe Rentals and Canoeing Tips
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For your next BWCA canoe trip, why not rent a GREAT kevlar canoe?

Sure, your can rent a one of those “kevlar” canoes from any outfitter in the Ely area and the Gunflint Trail region as well. If you are prefer stability, control, and durability in your canoe make sure you request a Souris River Quetico 17 specifically.

Be certain that if there are two of you and you want a good, lightweight, stable canoe that you designate the model which is a Quetico 17.

(Some outfitters still use the Souris River Wilderness 18 which is a good canoe compared to other-brand kevlars, but not a real stable-feeling hull when you don’t have a load in it.)

If you simply reserve a Souris River, you may get the wrong hull - remember that the hull’s shape is what determines stability, not the construction material, or the brand name or anything else.

  • If there are 3 of you going, be sure to request a Souris River Quetico 18.5 three-seater.  

  • You absolutely won’t choose wrong with any Souris River Quetico hull.

  • If you are going solo and want to fish, ask for Q-16 Solo model.

  • If you are more solo-experienced and interested primarily in paddling, ask for the Souris River Tranquility Solo.

If you think you absolutely must have a Wenonah or other brand-specific kevlar canoe because your buddy rented one last year, here are some rental concerns to consider:

To reserve your Souris River Canoe call us at 1-800-280-1078

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How to Paddle a Canoe - The Draw Stroke

Published
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on May 23, 2008
in Canoe How To and Canoeing Tips
. 0 Comments

The Draw Stroke
by Red Rock Wilderness Store

Ok, this is the other main canoe stroke that you absolutely need to know.

It is, for all intents and purposes, the exact opposite as the J Stroke. The J stroke pushes the back of the canoe away from the paddle and the Draw Stroke pulls the canoe to the paddle.

Using the two strokes together allows you to stay on the same side of the canoe and change the canoe’s course of direction without switching sides on the canoe after every two strokes.

 We do this because switching all the time has “pilgrim” written all over it. Sure, everybody has to start somewhere, but, if after 25 years, you are still making the canoe go forward by paddling willy-nilly (see definition), I’m sorry but you STILL don’t know how to paddle.

And, yelling at your poor wife in the bow about how “she isn’t a very good paddler” is just plain wrong.

The guy/gal in the back of the canoe is the person entirely in charge of where the canoe is going, period.

All responsibility for the direction of the canoe is with the person in the back.

Take more online canoeing lessons - How to Paddle a Canoe - The Draw Stroke -  from the expert at Red Rock Store!

“Execute it exactly like I’m doing it in the pictures.”

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How to Lift a Canoe

Published
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admin
on April 30, 2008
in Canoe How To, Canoeing Tips, Old Town and Souris River
. 1 Comment

Proper Canoe Lifting Technique

The key to properly lifting your canoe is multi-faceted but easy. All you need to do is handle a canoe that reflects your ability to lift it and practise on the front lawn or some other grassy surface. If you are a body-builder, lifting an 85 lb. Old Town Tupperware Special will require exactly the same steps as those needed by a 98 lb. weakling to shoulder a 37 lb. Souris River Carbon Tec Quetico 16.

In any case, the term “no pain - no gain” does not have to apply to canoe lifting. Generally, avoiding pain through proper movement & a little bit of planning, is the preferred method.

Every step you need to lift a canoe is pictured here by Red Rock Store Proper Canoe Lifting Technique.

Review them and realize that proper lifting involves more pausing & planning than grunting. When you are lifting your canoe, follow the photos (steps) and plan where your feet, hip, arms, thumbs, and head should be to get that canoe up on your shoulders.

How to Lift a Canoe

How to Carry a Canoe

How to Unpack a Canoe, and many more helpful canoeing articles at www.redrockstore.com

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