|
Kent Canoes | Home |
Contact Us | Site
Map
|
Open
canoeing for beginners:
For a
free pdf download of this article, click here 
This file is 1.5mb and may take a while to download if you don't have
broadband |
|
Introduction:
Opening
canoeing, (often called 'Canadian canoeing'), has become much more
popular in the UK over recent years. It is an ideal activity for anyone
who wants to get on the water in a really manageable boat with friends
or family. Open canoes
offer some distinct advantages over kayaks. They are generally more
stable than kayaks and have a much greater carrying capacity. Many open
canoes can take two or three adults or two adults and two children with
ease.
Many
canoeists also use them for extended camping trips on rivers. Canoes
have a completely open deck so there is no fear of entrapment should you
accidentally capsize. They
are very comfortable to paddle all day because you can change your
sitting position, or even stand up and have a stretch if you wish! Like
kayaks, they can be transported on a normal car roof rack. If the weight
of the boat is critical, choose a canoe made from Royalex which is
extremely light, and will be much easier to load onto the car roof than
canoes made of other materials |
Click on picture(s)
for large image
Text and photos - copyright of Kent Canoes
|
|
Learning to canoe:
We would always recommend that you book on to a course to learn the
basic principles of open canoeing in a safe, structured and fun
environment. This article covers the basics of open canoeing at BCU 1
Star level, and is designed as background information to the courses we
run. |
|
Lifting, carrying and launching a
canoe.
Canoes are not necessarily heavy but they are bulky, so good lifting
technique is as important as even when handling them. Good
lifting technique is simply about using a few basic principles. There
are a couple of words we can use to jog our memory every-time we are
about to lift something:
SAFE:
S Stop – before lifting,
stop and: -
A Assess the situation and: -
F Formulate a plan of how to
safely lift the equipment – discuss this with your paddling partner
E Execute that plan
Another
word that is a useful check before we lift something is:
LITE:
L Load -
look at the load
I Individual
Can the individual(s) safety lift the equipment?
T Task
Is this a reasonable task?
E Environment
Is the environment safe. (i.e. go round slippery banks rather that
over them if necessary).
The
following principles are also very helpful when thinking about lifting:
Wherever possible:
1. Always share the load.
2. Keep the spine in line
3. Slide and glide rather than lift if possible
4. Make sure the load is properly balanced.
Always
work on the basic that we only have one back so protect it!!
Lifting
the canoe from the ground on to a car roof rack with two people
·
With a straight back, kneel down at each end of the canoe, and
lift the boat up to waist height.
·
From this position, turn the boat upside-down
·
Keeping a straight back, lift the boat to a height just above
the roof rack
·
Place one side of the canoe on to the roof rack and slide the
boat on |
|
|
|
|
|
Click
on picture(s) for large image
Text and photos - copyright of Kent Canoes |
Lifting
the boat off the roof of the car
* Repeat the above in reverse
order |
Launching
the canoe – two people
*
Carry the boat to the waters edge
*
At the water's edge, lift the boat up from the centre, one person
on each side.
*
Holding on to the 5m line attached to the end to the boat, lower
one end into the water
*
Working together, 'feed' your hands up the gunwales, and then
gently drop the other end of the boat into the water.
*
Don’t forget to hang onto the end of the line.
*
Bring the boat along side the bank, and with one person holding
it steady, the stern paddler should get in and sit
down. Remember to apply equal pressure on each side of the canoe
whilst getting in.
*
Stern paddler holds the canoe steady whilst the bow paddler gets
in. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Click
on picture(s) for large image
Text and photos - copyright of Kent Canoes |
Tandem
forward paddling:
When two people paddle an open canoe there is often a tendency for the
boat to veer off towards the bow paddler’s side. To understand good forward paddling technique it is important
to understand both good individual stroke work and the relationship
between what each paddler does.
Principles
of good individual forward paddling technique.
*
Swivel on the seat towards the side of the boat you paddle on
*
Twist your body from the waist and push your “on side”
shoulder (the
one on
you paddle side), forward
*
Hold your top hand on top of the paddle vertically above your
lower hand.
*
Pull the paddle back through the water by untwisting your body.
*
Recover the paddle by slicing it out as it passes the seat.
Things
to note:
1.
The paddle should be vertical throughout the power phase of the
stroke
2.
The paddle should follow the centre line of the boat and not the
gunwale
|
Click on picture(s)
for large image
Text and photos - copyright of Kent Canoes
|
Principles
of good tandem forward paddling technique:
*
Both paddlers should paddle in perfect time with each other so
the bow paddler needs to sets the paddling rate
*
The bow paddler must develop a feel for what is happening at the
stern of the boat because the stern paddler often
has to apply a
combined power and steering stroke to keep the boat straight.
*
Good communication is
important; if the stern paddler needs
the bow paddler to slow down they need to say so!
*
The stern paddler cannot see right in front of the boat
(bow
paddlers don’t unfortunately come with windows) so the
bow paddler needs to let the stern
paddler know if anything is
right in front of the boat.
*
The stern paddler needs to let the bow paddler know if they need
help steering the boat
*
There is only one Captain in the boat and that is the stern
paddler!
*
Swapping positions helps each paddler to understand better what
effect their paddling has on one another. |
Click on picture(s)
for large image
Text and photos - copyright of Kent Canoes
|
Steering
the canoe on the move: - two paddlers
Because the stern paddler has more leverage than the bow paddler when
paddling forwards, there is a natural tendency for the boat to veer off
towards the bow paddler’s side. To correct this, the stern paddler
must learn to combine a steering stroke with each power stroke. There
are two ways of doing this, by using a stern rudder or a J stroke. Here
we are going to concentrate on the stern rudder.
* The stern paddler
should do a normal power stroke followed by: -
* Place the
paddle blade in the water just behind the hips.
* The blade edge
should be pointing vertically upwards and the
paddle shaft should be parallel with the centre
line of the canoe
* Either pulled
or pushed the paddle towards or away from the
canoe to adjust the steering
Things to note:
Usually you will be pushing away from the boat to correct the steering
when forward paddling
If it helps you can support the paddle shaft against the edge of the
canoe.
The paddle blade should be completely under water. |
Click on picture(s)
for large image
Text and photos - copyright of Kent Canoes
|
Stopping
the canoe – two people:
To stop the boat moving forwards it’s simply a matter of paddling
backwards.
*
From a good forward paddling position, twist your body round and
place the paddle blade in the water level with
your hips
*
Push the blade forward in the water by untwisting your body.
*
Keep the paddle vertical and your top hand immediately above your
bottom hand (Picture 18)
*
To recover the blade slice it out at the end of the stroke.
Things
to note:
Make sure the boat is travelling at normal speed before practising this.
It is often easier to only use most of the blade area
Using shorter strokes in quick succession works well.
The boat should be travelling in the opposite direction within two boat
lengths at BCU 1 Star level. |
Turning
the canoe on the spot – two people
We can do this by what is known as a “sweep stroke”. It is called a
sweep stroke because, instead of following the centre line of the boat,
it sweeps out on an arc.
The bow paddler places the paddle at the front of the canoe and
“sweeps” the paddle through a 90 degree arc and recovers the paddle
level with the hips
The stern paddler places the paddle at the back of the canoe and using
the back of the paddle, (i.e. the non drive face), simultaneously
“sweeps” the paddle through a 90 degree arc and recovers the paddle
level with the hips
The boat can then be spun round on the spot by apply several strokes
with the stern paddler following the timing of the bow paddler.
Things to note.
The paddle shaft can be as near horizontal as possible whilst still
keeping the whole blade area in the water
Twist and untwist the body whilst performing this stroke
Don’t sweep the paddle round more than 90 degrees since this just end
up moving the boat backwards and forwards at the same time which is just
a waste of energy!
The strokes can be reversed so the bow paddler sweeps from the hips to
the front of the boat and the stern paddler sweeps from the hips to the
stern of the boat. |
 |
 |
 |
Click
on picture(s) for large image
Text and photos - copyright of Kent Canoes |
Reversing
the canoe – two people:
* Twist your body
round and place the paddle blade in the
water level with your hips
* Push the
blade forward in the water by untwisting your
body.
* Keep
the paddle vertical and your top hand immediately above
your bottom hand
*
To recover the blade slice it out at the end of the stroke.
* Look over
your shoulders to check where the boat is going.
Things to note:
When reversing, the stern and bow paddlers’ roles are “reversed”
and it is the bow paddler’s responsibility to keep the boat straight.
The bow paddler can then adjust the steering by using a “reverse J
stroke” |
Picture to follow! |
Reverse
J stroke
* Do
a normal reverse stroke and then follow through by:
* Push the
blade forward in the water and keep the blade
fully submerged
* At the
same time, roll your top hand over so your thumb is
pointing downwards and your hand is
touching or almost
touching your shoulder
* Steer the boat
by levering off the edge and moving your top
hand away from or towards the edge of the
boat.
* Lean
forward if needed. |
Click on picture(s)
for large image
Text and photos - copyright of Kent Canoes
|
Trimming
the canoe:
This sounds complicated but in fact it’s very simple. All it means is
that the bow should be slightly raised above the water line when
paddling forwards and the stern should be raised slightly above the
water line when paddling backwards. So how do we achieve this?
Well unlike a kayak we can move or weight forward on the seat or
if necessary kneel in front of the seat to achieve this. We can also
move any gear we have in the canoe back forwards or backwards to achieve
the right trim.
Things
to note:
Because of their size, open canoes are effected by wind more than kayaks
it is good idea to trim for wind conditions as well. We do this by
moving weight forward if we are paddling into a head wind, and moving
weight back if the wind is behind us. |
Standing
Exercises:
Taking it in turns to stand up in the canoe and paddle it whilst standing
up develops confidence and demonstrates just how stable these boats are. |
Moving
the boat sideways – two people:
At this level the easiest way of moving the boat sideways is for both
paddlers to do a “draw stroke” on the same side.
*
Twist round on the seat to face the side of the canoe.
*
Place the paddle in the water at right angles to the canoe.
Make
sure that the drive face of the blade is facing
towards you.
Your top arm
should be almost straight and the blade
submerged.
*
Keeping the top hand in the same position, pull the
blade
in towards the boat.
*
Recover the blade by rolling your top wrist away from you
through 90 degrees, (letting the paddle shaft rotate
through your bottom hand), and slicing the paddle back
to where you started the stroke.
*
Rotate your wrist again and apply another stroke.
Things to note.
Don’t rush this stroke, technique is much more important than speed or
power here.
Keep in time with the other paddler.
The paddles should always be pulled in at right angles to the canoe.
If the bow or stern starts swinging round, just adjust the power you are
putting into the stroke accordingly. |
Click on picture(s)
for large image
Text and photos - copyright of Kent Canoes
|
And
that’s it for the BCU One Star award apart from some theory work,
which we discuss, on the course. It may look a little daunting, but it
is our aim to cover all the above and get you through the BCU open Canoe
1 Star test at the end of the day if you wish. These notes are designed
to give you a feel for what is covered and are a useful handout at the
end of the course.
Don't forget - ENJOY your time learning to open canoe - as this is what
open canoeing is all about!
HAPPY PADDLING
Grant Scamell BCU Level 5 Coach
|
|
|
Open Canoeing For Beginners was compiled and edited by
Grant Scamell & Estelle Roud of Kent Canoes 2006
For
a free pdf download of this article, click here
This file is 1.5mb and may take a while to download if you don't have
broadband |
Kent Canoes | Home |
Contact Us | Site
Map
|
