G22 



Popular Science Monthly 



thwart 3 facing the bow. When the 

 wind becomes heavy and almost all one's 

 energy is required to keep the canoe on 

 her course, crawl forward in front of 

 thwart 2. This allows the stern to rise 

 up and, by catching the force of the wind, 

 to act as a weathervane, making the 

 canoe tend to point into the wind of her 

 own effort, releasing all of the paddler's 

 strength for use in making progress 

 forward. 



I would not suggest that a canoeist 

 should deliberately start out on a long 

 hike against a heavy wind or with a 

 quartering gale blowing, but weather 

 conditions sometimes change 

 without notice, and this 

 scheme proves mighty help- 

 ful when one does get caught. 



With two aboard, use the 



canoe bow first, sitting on . 



either the seats or the floor 



as desired, the heavier person 



occupying the after position. ^_^ 



If weights are about equal, 

 the better paddler should sit 

 aft. 



The bow seat is best for a 

 woman when she is one of 

 the crew, as she can paddle 

 and rest, rest and paddle as 

 she sees fit without inter- 

 fering with the management. 



In fairly rough water one 

 can run directly ahead of 

 rather high waves without 

 discomfort, if careful not to 

 let the canoe swing from her 

 course and get into the 

 trough. Surprisingly high 

 waves may be run into bow 

 first, if the speed of the canoe 

 is checked enough to reduce 

 plunging the bow under the white caps. 

 A heavy beam wave is bad. It has a 

 tendency to slap against the side and slop 

 aboard. Therefore it is better to hug a 

 windward shore when possible or, if in 

 open water, to make a series of tacks, the 

 same as if sailing, first quartering against 

 and then from the waves. 



What has been said in regard to speed 

 reduction when meeting bow waves in 

 open water is still more true when one is 

 running rapids in streams or going 

 through tide rips. In both these latter 

 cases, the water itself and not the form 



Progressive 

 positions of 

 single blade 

 paddle 



of the wave is what advances and, unless 

 the canoe is allowed but just enough speed 

 for steerage way, there will be a strong 

 tendency for the bow to ship water. 



In discussing the paddle, emphasis has 

 been placed on the desirability of the 

 separable double blade. There are times, 

 however, when the canoeist will desire to 

 separate it into singles, so a word regard- 

 ing its handling will fit in here. 



With two paddlers, each using a single, 

 it is the part of the stern man to keep the 

 course, which may easily be accomplished 

 if both are able to match each other's 

 stroke. Otherwise the rear paddler wastes 

 effort in keeping up his end or retarding 

 his stroke to match the bow paddler's. 



With one paddler only, using the single 

 blade, a peculiar stroke is necessary to 

 maintain a straight course without shift- 

 ing the blade from one side of the canoe 

 to the other as shown. 



The arrow shows the direction of the 

 stroke while the dotted arrows indicate 

 how the outside edge of the blade is 

 turned as the stroke finishes. 



For a little more than one-half the 

 stroke, the blade remains at right angles 

 to the canoe, then the outside edge is 

 brought forward gradually swinging the 

 blade into the last position shown, which 

 swings the canoe in an opposite direction 

 from which the commencement of the 

 stroke points it 



As will be seen, the first part of the 

 stroke furnishes the power to send the 

 canoe ahead, the latter portion is devoted 

 to converting the swing of the canoe from, 

 a left hand into a right hand direction, 

 and has very little propelling power. As 

 one becomes more expert, the entire 

 stroke may be taken with just enough 

 angle to the blade to offset the natural 

 swing of the canoe away from the paddle, 

 and one may make the canoe describe a 

 circle, the center of which is on the side 

 on which the paddle is used. The dia- 

 gram illustrates the movements when the 

 paddle is used on the right hand side of 

 the canoe; when the paddle is used on the 

 left side the turning of the blade is 

 reversed. 



Before closing this chapter on handling, 

 I want to register a few emphatic "Don'ts." 

 Don't step anywhere but in the center of 

 the floor when entering or leaving the 

 canoe. Don't rest part of your weight 



