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Monday, May 7, 2012

Keeping a Canoe Straight


Went out for a spin in our new canoe, an 18 foot long Jensen, kevlar, crazy fast!

... well at least it would be if someone who knew what they were doing was paddling it.  We were all over the place, had a tough time keeping it straight. 

It wasn't so much that it would turn quickly on us, but rather than no matter which side we paddled on we would pull the same way.  Supposedly the person at the back has the "mechanical advantage", so when they paddle on the left, the canoe should go right and vice versa.  That wasn't happening, either because I'm not strong enough or something with techique.

After looking at a few sites on paddling technique, it became quickly apparent that it's us.

This is from Hemlock Pete's page (used without permission but I'm giving him a plug so hopefully in the spirit of straight paddling everywhere he'll be OK with it!  Visit his page for many more tips!).

We were doing it the INCORRECT way, or at the very least we weren't consistently doing it the CORRECT way.  This means the boat was being pulled in weird directions and the forward thrust alone couldn't overcome it.

Hopefully next time the canoe goes straight as an arrow!

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