canoe buying 101

8/3/2019 Canoe Buying 101

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Canoe Buying 101

© 2011 Swift Canoe & Kayak, Scott Way, John Winters. This document is not to be printed, distributed, sold for prot, or used in any

capacity outside the Scribd document database without the expressed written consent of Swift Canoe & Kayak and/or Scott Way and/or John Winters




capacity outside the Scribd document database without the expressed written consent of Swift Canoe & Kayak and/or Scott Way and/or John Winters.

Your rst step is to organize your priorities. Are you a casual canoeist with no illusions about your abilities or are you serious about paddling? Do have a long range goal of extended expeditions or will you be content with short range paddles in calm waters? Are you cautious or daring? Will paddle for relaxation or thrills?

With your goals dened you are ready to ll out your personal canoe buying questionnaire. This exercise is entirely for your benet, so it’s best tobrutally honest. Deceiving yourself now will only increase the likelihood that you’ll end up with a boat that’s not right for you. You must also do tBEFORE you look at boats! Keeping your head in the presence of beautiful boats isn’t easy.

Your Personal Priority List1. What is your current skill level? (1 if you have never paddled, 10 if you have forgotten more about paddling than most people will ever know)

2. What do you expect your skill level to be two years from now? (1 if you’ll only ever paddle a few times a year, `10 if you expect to live andbreathe for paddling) .

3. Where will you paddle most of the time? (meaning about 80% of your paddling or more) Will it be the ocean, atwater lakes, whitewater rive(class III-V), or around the cottage?

4. What is the typical weight load you expect your canoe to carry? (Body Weight + Gear)

5. Arrange the following from most to least importance to you:

Aesthetics 1.

Controllability 2.

Durability 3.

Maintenance 4.

Price 5.

Tripping Worthiness 6.

Eciency 7.

Stability 8.

Weight 9.

Other Requirements 10.

I have deliberately left “Comfort” out of the priority list. Your safety and enjoyment are a function of your mood and your mood is a function of hohappy your body is after several hours of paddling. Why a particular seat suits one person and not another, or why one boat feels stable to some shaky to others is impossible to adequately rationalize. No matter how appealing a boat is, if it doesn’t feel good, look elsewhere. The importancof comfort is non-negotiable.

CommentsQuestions #1 & 2

Most rst-time canoe buyers have a pre-conceived notion of what they “need” before they start looking. That’s perfectlyunderstandable, but you come to the experts to get expert advice. Keep your mind open to helpful suggestion, but be war y of the “hard sell.” Behonest about what your abilities are now, and where you’d like them to be in the future. Generally speaking, if you lack condence in your abilitimore stable user friendly canoe is best. If the boat seems “shaky” to you, or if you’re not condent that you’ll be willing or able to develop the sknecessary to increase your comfortability, then keep searching. Don’t buy something because someone told you “need” some particular feature(sbuy it because it suits you.Yes, some gurus of the sport insist that everyone learn to paddle in a high-per formance boat. “How else will you develop proper skills?” This is vaup to a point, but assumes that everyone wants to be an expert when most people are content with some good safe fun. Fast learners or the alreskilled can move right into a high-performance boat. The point is to t the boat to your abilities and not vice versa.




capacity outside the Scribd document database without the expressed written consent of Swift Canoe & Kayak and/or Scott Way and/or John Winters

Question #3

This is qualitative and quantitative. It is possible to paddle extensively in large open lakes and never meet anything more than a gentlerolling swell. On the other hand, there are small bodies of water that can rattle even the most hardened tripper’s nerves. Know where you’re going t

paddle and know what your future boat can handle. Larger bodies of water carry larger risks; snapping winds, breaking/capping waves, unexpectedrapids/whitewater, and rapidly changing weather are only the most obvious of what can turn a pleasant paddle into a trip worth forgetting. Yourcanoe should be able to handle the worst you are likely to experience, but remember that no boat can save you from bad judgment. Be honest abouwhere you intend to paddle, and be aware of the capabilities of your future boat.

Use something called the “80/20 rule.” This means catering your purchase towards the paddling you expect to do 80% of the time. If you’re an experpaddler of all types you’d need a whitewater canoe for river tripping, a atwater tripping canoe for backcountry camping, and a “cottage” canoe forleisurely tours with no gear, but very few people have that kind of budget. Cater your search towards the boat that will satisfy the greatest proportioof your needs. There is no perfect boat.

Question #4

Do not become overly preoccupied by weight capacity gures. What you want is the best combination of speed, eciency, and payload

(or weight capacity) that suits your needs. Longer doesn’t necessarily meaner higher payload, just the same as longer doesn’t always mean faster. Tare important things to consider like asymmetrical vs. symmetrical design, hull shape, width, and depth. Length certainly plays a role in the availabpayload of a canoe, but it isn’t the only factor. Make sure you understand the concepts above before deciding what length you want. For example,asymmetrical designs typically per form better when they’re loaded up with gear, whereas symmetrical designs aren’t so weight dependent. Bothhave their pros and cons, and you should understand the dierences before you decide on what length (and shape) of boat you need.

Question #5AestheticsThere is no law that says that a canoe must be ugly in order to be inexpensive, durable, safe, or perform well. Canoeing is an aestheticexperience and you should never have to explain that the canoe on your truck is not a bathroom xture. On the other hand, if it stirs yoursoul, don’t brush it aside. The bottom line is aesthetics are only part of the puzzle. Craftsmanship is an indicator of quality, so keep that inmind if you nd yourself looking at an ugly canoe with an appealing price tag.

ControllabilityThis includes both tracking and maneuverability. The balance between the two depends upon how and where you paddle. Exceptionalmaneuverability is less important in open than in conned waters. Only a test paddle will tell you if a canoe is suitable, but be sure to testboth loaded and unloaded. How a boat feels changes dramatically with increasing load (especially asymmetrical designs). A common deamongst rst-time canoe buyers is a keel. While a keel will help with tracking, it will not help with maneuverability. Keels help you track a straight line, but they make turning more dicult. Furthermore, a well-designed canoe without a keel can track straighter AND turn betthan one with a keel, so be open to dierent designs.

DurabilityDurability is extremely important if you intend to go into the wilderness where any accident with your boat could mean serious danger. Eif you’re just cruising around your local lake or cottage where the consequences are negligible, the material of your boat is always factorworth considering. If you intend to paddle serious whitewater, Royalex is the preferred choice because of its sturdy construction and resistto impact. On the downside, Royalex boats are heavy so they’re burdensome for portaging. If you’re a wilderness tripper who needs thelightest boat possible for portaging, Kevlar or carbon is the more desirable choice. But keep in mind that, generally speaking, the lighter tboat is the more expensive it is, so your budget will inuence the material you choose. Find the best possible combination of weight, matand price that suits your paddling needs.





MaintenanceThis isn’t a big deal with most canoes unless you buy something exotic. Modern canoes are relatively maintenance free in thatre-nishing the wood components every couple years and the occasional wash is likely all you have to do. However, keep in mind thatdierent materials require dierent care. Composite materials can be aected by UV exposure and need to be treated accordingly, soconsider where you’ll store them. Oddly enough, most damage occurs when loading or storing so a good roof rack and storage racks area wise investment.

PriceSet a range but be exible. Adhering slavishly to a price limit is often false economy and a few extra dollars might buy a signicantlybetter canoe that is better suited to your needs. A quality canoe is a li fetime investment if you treat it properly, so spending more nowand treating it well should save you from having to buy again in a few years.

Tripping worthiness

This is not a trivial matter. Canoes are vessels for exploring isolated places in nature, but obviously not all canoes are the same. If you’rea serious wilderness tripper (or want to become one) your boat must be procient in dangerous waters (large open lakes, fast rivers, etc),responsive enough to get you around dangerous obstructions, fast enough to cover the requisite distance between locations, light enougto portage, and stable enough to keep you upright even when you’re tired. Having the proper canoe to get you through hazardoustripping conditions can be the dierence between a great trip and your last trip.

EciencyDo not confuse eciency with speed. Racing canoes are fast but are ecient only when paddled hard. Don’t expect to cruise at 8 mphunless you have the muscles and skills. Your search is for the fastest boat at your normal stroke rate. Increasing length (and theimportant “length” is the waterline, not the overall length) increases the top speed potential. However, because of the increased wettedsurface of longer canoes, length decreases eciency at lower speeds.

StabilityStability is a highly subjective and personal matter. Canoe “X” may be “stable” for one paddler but like balancing on a trapeze for you. Minyou, it doesn’t take long to become accustomed to a boat, but that doesn’t mean you should have to. There are those who sneer at thenotion of stable canoes, but don’t let them inuence you. There are plenty of stable boats that are just as responsive as thetippy ‘super boats’.

WeightWeight is an often underappreciated and misunderstood facet of canoe buying (and canoe paddling!). If you intend to go backcountrycamping you can expect lengthy portages (not to mention all the gear you have to carry too). A few pounds here or there can make ahuge dierence in how much you enjoy your paddling time. There’s also a myth that lighter boats are more likely to get pushed around bywind or waves, but this simply isn’t true. In dicult conditions a heavy unloaded boat won’t fare any better than a lightweight boat that’properly loaded. What matters is how the boat sits in the water (i.e., its waterline), how it responds to the weight placed in it (i.e., its

payload and trim characteristics), and how the hull design displaces water as it moves along (i.e., its displacement).

Other RequirementsIf it’s important to you, then put it down.

Now, examine your list. Adjust it as needed and you are ready to look at canoes.



Swift Canoe & Kayak2394 Highway 11 North, Gravenhurst, Ontario P1P 1R1 705.687.3710

1.800.661.1429 www.swiftcanoe.com



The rst rule is to stick to your priorities and stick to your list. Ask the salesperson how each canoe ts your criteria, not theirs or someone else’s. To

what skill level is it best suited? What load is it designed to carry? Accept no compromise on what is important to you.

You will always regret giving up something you value for a passing whim. For items of middling impor tance, some compromise is acceptable. Forinstance, if weight is low on your priority list, a Royalex or berglass boat may be perfectly acceptable even though something lighter will be mucheasier to portage. Those items at the bottom of your list can be ignored if all the other requirements are met.

A test paddle is always a good idea, but this is your rst canoe and you may not know what makes or breaks a boat. There are several routes. Youcan take professionally run paddling lessons, join a canoe club, or paddle with friends in rented boats. This is where experts and friends come in.They have been the same route, already made some of the mistakes, and might even know a rst class salesperson that can help you out.

You are now ready to begin your search for a canoe. Good luck and have fun!

canoe buying 101

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