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Canoeing Digest |
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Also: Know your
way around a canoe, canoe terms and selection tips |
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How
to Paddle a Canoe, Paddling Techniques |
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New Feature!
How to Paddle a
Canoe,
Paddling Techniques by:
Ozark River Company
You can contact Ozark River Company at
417-778-2400. Their website is www.Ozarkcanoe.com
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Submit your Canoe Story or Piece today! -> |
iOutdoorSportsStory
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By; Ozark River Company
Do you want to get better at handling your canoe? We get asked repeatedly in our store to help with
canoe techniques.
We felt that a page was now in order on the subject. Here are some
pointers on the subject.
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J Stroke - (from the back of the canoe)
This is a canoe paddling technique that will allow you to keep the
paddle on one side of the boat, and steering the boat with the way you
finish your stroke. Start by reaching forward and pulling
water. From there, about half way through your paddling stroke,
twist the paddle and finish the stroke by pushing away from the stern
or rear of the canoe. When you paddle from the right hand, you
will pull the boat to the left. by pushing away from the stern
of the boat, it will correct the boat direction and keep it going
straight. The stroke looks like a J, thus called a j
stroke. Play with the push out pressure, and you will see that
you can pick your direction with the final effort in your canoe
paddling stroke.
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Reverse J Stroke - This works the same
as above, but you will be wanting to exaggerate your turn above the
standard right side, left turn effort. Through the stroke, do
the same as above, but start by pulling water with your paddle stroke
leaving a little room between paddle and boat. As you go through
your paddle stroke, twist the paddle and pull water under the stern as
you complete the stroke. This will make a turn to the opposite
side that you are paddling from, example right handed stroke on the
right side of the boat, and desiring to turn left.
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Rapid slide - Maneuvering a rapid bend
is easy once you figure out how to do that power slide around the
rapid bend. Pick your boat angle first. You will see that
you are sideways to the current, but as you start to paddle forward,
you will head that direction to that side of the current. As the
current of the river pushes you towards the outside of the bend, accelerate
through the rapid bend and slide around that corner you are going
through. If your angle is too tight, you will spin out in the
inside of the bend. If your angle is not tight enough, you will
"hit the outside" of the bend. If you let off the
paddle pressure or "gas", you will hit the outside of the
bend also, so pick your angle, accelerate with your paddle strokes as
you slide around the bend, holding that right angle to get you
properly around that river rapid bend. If you make it safely
around that rapid bend but spin out at the end, make sure you
straighten out your angle soon enough to follow that wave train right
on out of the river rapid bend. You are safe where you spin out,
so you did 99 percent of the maneuver correctly, but gets frustrating
having to back the boat out to restart back down the river. If
you straighten the boat out early enough through this exercise, you
will follow that wave train right on out of the river rapid bend, and
head right on down like a real pro.
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Rudder steer your canoe - I once
paddled with a Cajun in a pirogue, a very flat and low profile canoe
with what appeared to me knowing how boat geometry effects the way the
boat handles, to have no tracking whatsoever. The
technique that was used that I have used ever since is the paddle
never left the water. After the last paddle stroke of a set, he
would grip the gunwale, (pronounced gunnel) or the side of the boat
with the paddle shaft braced to that point. Then as he steered
the boat with a push or pull of the handle against the side of the
boat, the flat and short pirogue would steer with any flex and
twist. This technique will stop that boat from wandering a lot,
especially if you have a canoe with rocker or curve from front to
back.
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Draw stroke, will pull the boat towards
the direction you are paddling water from. If done from the
front and back of the boat in a tandem or two person situation, you
will pull water directly towards the boat with the paddle, and as each
person does this you can pull yourself to shore.
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Learn to ferry your boat. Park
your boat on a shore where the current is easy, with the front of the
boat pointing upstream. Then as you angle your boat, pretend
your boat is like a wind sail, and the river water is now wind.
Angle the boat slightly, and with lower side paddle strokes, control
your angle carefully as you cross that stream in that current.
If it wants to push you out and down stream you have too much angle,
straighten your angle to the water, then gently correct your angle to
get across that stream with the speed and control you desire.
Faster water requires slight angles, and slower water requires greater
angles to the current. Do this in easy and slow rapids first,
and get the hang of it. This exercise will teach you about the
dynamics of the water more than any other paddling exercise we
know. Then when you are sitting by the current at the beach and
your boat keeps wanting to get pushed, remember your angle and you can
now see what the boat is wanting to do just because of your angle to
the water.
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Hooking eddys on the river. When
you come down through a rapid you will see on the inside of the stream
a water line, where the fast water meets the slow water in the
eddy. These pools on the inside of rapid bends are called eddy
lines, or eddy pools. When you point and cross that eddy line,
lean into your curve like you are on a bicycle, ready to do a
corner. Lean with your hips, keeping your head over the the
center of the boat as much as possible. Also keep your focus up,
so you are balancing your head and shoulders to the horizon as you
cross the line. Throw your hips into the outside of that curve
you are about to do, as when you cross that eddy line, it will want to
throw you out. Swing through that eddy line with a little hip
action, and lean in towards the inside of your curve. This takes
practice, and you run the risk of a spill. Do this where it is
safe to practice, on an easy eddy, so you can get the feel for the
technique. The same goes for reentering the current from the
eddy. Again you are crossing the eddy line, and you will want to
lean into the curves slightly. Play around in eddys, as that
again will give you the feel for the dynamics of the river, and
hopefully give you more skills as this is practiced in easy places, so
you have more control in the tougher situations, and are not caught by
surprise as the currents want to push you around.
-
For the case of this short canoe
paddling technique piece, the last thing to really remember is,
"do not lean upstream! I have seen many times cases on the
river whereby a pair of paddlers in a canoe will come up to an obstacle
sideways, and they will lean upstream to avoid hitting the obstacle
with their bodies. This is not where the threat is. The
threat is behind them, the water coming at them! It is indeed
counter intuitive. If you come upon a large rock sideways for
example, remember to lean towards the rock and away from the water
coming at you, from behind you. Drop to the knees locking
yourself in the boat and lowering your center of gravity. When
you come upon the large rock and hit it, grab the rock, and push your
way around the rock either forward or backward, and let the water
carry you around that rock. You also would want to lift the high
side of the canoe a little, the side where the water is coming at you,
and the boat will surf or attempt to surf that water, as you slide it
around the rock. Keep your head up, keep your center of balance,
as you do this maneuver. This is not a recommended situation,
but can get you out of a bad one.
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Remember, rocker for rivers, no rocker
for lakes. This is a boat selection tip when you want to buy
your boat. Rocker is the curve from front to back, bow to
stern. If the boat has rocker, it will wander more, but read
through this again and you will see the control technique for your
canoe that you will want to use. If the boat has no rocker, then
the current will push your boat ends around more, and make it more
difficult to ferry, more difficult to go through eddy lines, more
difficult to do rapid slides, as a rockered boat will respond better
with these techniques employed. Learn what a throw bag is, learn
how to use them, practice the use of them, and wear your life jacket
or PFD every time! You might have confidence and think you do
not need one, then need to help your paddling partner. Most of
all, be careful out there!
ORC
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reading our Digest, checking back for contributing stories as they appear, and most of all, be careful out there!
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