What to think about when buying a canoe or kayak
And how to choose what’s best for you
BY LARRY SHOWLER
Choosing the “perfect canoe for
you” shouldn’t be complicated and technical but rather fun, exciting, and educational. Here’s an intro. Canoe Length: Given two canoes of equal width, a longer canoe will have greater speed, increased capacity, and will track (go straight) better. Short canoes in the 15-foot range although slower, are more manoeuvrable, lighter, less expensive, easier to transport, and are wonderful for day use and short overnight trips. Large canoes 17- to 18-foot range are used for extended excursions, or for large families due to their increased capacity. The most popular Canadian canoe length is 16 to 16½ feet. This midsize length offers both recreational paddlers and trippers a good compromise of speed, manoeuvrability, capacity, weight and price.
Canoe width: The primary func-
tion of width is stability. The wider the canoe the more stable it is. Nar- row canoes tend to be less stable but more efficient as their hulls push less water. Most tandem Canadian canoes are 33 to 36 inches wide with 36 being the norm, while most solo canoes will average 28 to 33 inches. Canoe depth: Is measured at the
centreline from the gunnel to the bottom of the boat. It is important to have a canoe with sufficient depth for carrying capacity and safety. A deeper canoe will deflect spray and waves better, but may be
www.ottawaoutdoors.ca
Saturday, May 29, 2010
All Day
Mooney’s Bay Park
Come to the PaddleFest for an opportunity to learn how to paddle, pick up new skills, and test out different boats. This one day family event has something for all ages and skill levels. There will be plenty of demo canoes and kayaks from our exhibitors as well - so come test drive a few!
For more details, visit
mec.ca/ottawa
more susceptible to cross winds. A depth of 13 to 14 inches is common in quality recreational and good tripping canoes. Whitewater canoes may be as deep as 16 inches. Shorter day tripping canoes and solo canoes may be as shallow as 12 inches. Canoe symmetry: This is
the overall shape of the canoe from front to back. The hull of a symmetrical, traditional canoe
has identically shaped halves with the widest point at the centre. Symmetrical canoes manoeuvre quicker and provide more predictable behaviour in whitewater conditions, or paddling narrow rivers and streams. An asymmetrical, modern canoe has a longer streamlined bow with the widest point a foot or so behind centre. Asymmetrical canoes tend
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