Canoeing in Swift Water 



(Continued) 



II. HOW TO OUTFIT AND HANDLE YOUR 

 CRAFT WHEN YOU WANT TO FISH THE 

 RAPIDS 



IT has been suggested that I give more information 

 about using the paddle in swift water. This sug- 

 gestion is somewhat ambiguous, owing to the fact 

 that in any water running more than two or three 

 miles per hour a paddle is really impracticable, unless 

 there is absolutely no other way to get a canoe along. 

 I do not mean by this that a quarter, or even half a mile, 

 of comparatively smooth water, with perhaps a four- 

 mile current, cannot be negotiated by a couple of strong 

 paddlers, headed upstream ; but at that they would have 

 a strenuous job ahead of them. 



Obviously a canoe's headway in smooth water is 

 limited by the strength and skill of the paddlers. 



The limit of the practical working speed in still water 

 for a canoe with two men is only about three or four 

 miles per hour; consequently, when a canoe is headed 

 into a current running that fast, the paddlers have got 

 to speed up, with a consequent extra drain upon their 

 physical resources. 



A current running as fast as six or seven miles an hour 

 can be negotiated by one man with a pole and loaded 

 canoe without as much effort to the operator as would 

 be demanded in paddling against a four-mile current 



154 



