Sweetwater Fishing Forums
Special Interest => Kayak & Canoe Chat => Topic started by: maverick76 on November 21, 2010, 03:09:20 PM
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Well after an arduous search for a skinny water paddle craft I finally made the leap into an 8ft Canoe :thumbsup Its not the flash Yak that I dreamt of but I reckon the kids will have blast paddling around in the shallows and looks big enough for me to throw some extras at it for fishing etc. And for a couple of hundred dollars it wont cause too many waves with the minister for finance :walkplank
Colin
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Congrats mate you will love it! just done a similar thing purchasing a small yak and am addicted to looking for small water paradise
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That'll get you out there Colin. I'd suggest you invest in a double ended paddle though. It'll be a lot easier to handle on your own.
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Thanks guys!!
Aussiebasser: Will a standard kayak paddle suffice in that situation? I have some ideas on modifying one if they dont.
Thanks
Colin
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As long as it's long enough to comfortably paddle with. With a short canoe, it will zig-zag all over the place with a single paddle. My first canoe was a 6' long alloy job when I was a kid. Man could that thing burn your bum on a hot day when you jumped in with speedos on. Caught a lot of reddies in the Hume Weir out of it though.
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a proper kayak paddle would be the go my yak is on its way and ive just gone for a fibreglass over an allaminium shaft the difference when paddleing to me is quiet noticeable.
Steve
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Thanks again Folks :youbeauty
Below is a bad representation of the plan I have to modify a double ended Yak paddle. My theory being the the height of the sides may see the paddle hit the side of the canoe when paddling. I may just be over-engineering a problem that doesn't exist I know but it got me thinking which is never a bad thing.
Regards
Colin
P.S. No piccasso picture nor any engineering specifications were harmed during the making of this drawing maybe a little mortified though. My appologies go out to any engineers or artists that may be offended by the poor attempt at drawing
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Sorry dont think your design will work. it will just twist in your hands!
Standard kayak paddle will do you. Just put her more vertical on the stroke if its a bit short or the gunnels high enough to annoy. A small cushion on the seat would help, (by lifting you up a bit) just be a little more unstable
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Binder,
Cheers for that mate, definately no need to appologise though. I appreciate the feedback and as I said I am probably just over engineering a problem that doesn't exist :-\ Thanks again will just be happy to access a few puddles I have found recently that have not been accesible from the bank.........here fishy fishy ;D
Regards and Thanks
Colin
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OK!
Took the Canoe (named WRIGGLER) on her maiden voyage today :thumbsup However choosing the windiest day of the year to take your very first canoe adventure is not something I would reccomend to anyone wanting to stay dry :thumbdown. After a bit of uncertainty and finding my balance in the shallows I managed to put the Wriggler broadside to the wind hence becoming a floating kite ;D Lost my balance and half filled the thing with water a couple of times hahaha and then let discrestion be the better part of valour and beached her on a little gravel patch in the middle of the stream.
Not wanting to miss an opportunity to have a flick I managed to hook a solid bass (well atleast it fought like one) off a bank on a spinnerbait. Certainly looked good for the young fellas fishing from the bank however in all my excitement I forgot to set the hook properly and managed to drop the fish mid fight :'( Ohh well thats fishing!!!
All in all it was an interesting experience and I learnt some valuable lessons. I had the relevant safety gear and packed ultra light so as not to lose anything, but think a few sessions without gear just acclimatising to the canoe will be in order before adding fishing to the agenda.
It was however refreshing to see a couple of young guys out enjoying the outdoors and managed to answer some of their questions and threw em a couple of soft plastics to try out aswell :thumbsup I even let them in on a few spots to try!! Hope they dont show too many people ;)
Even amongst the not so pleasant aspects of the day I still have this burning desire to go back now and try again well atleast when the wind dies down a bit anyway. I think I may just have added another addiction to the growing list and am looking forward to the next adventure.
Well I have rabbled on enough now feel free to laugh I can take it and I will be more than receptive to any thoughts anybody has on making the next trip a little smoother. As stated about I will be investing in a kayak paddle ASAP!! I guess its just like riding a bike you just gotta keep at it, if anyone has some training wheels though I will gladly buy em ;D
Thanks
Colin
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Wondering if you would manage a double ended paddle with the width/height of the canoe??? While it doesn't look huge it might become very uncomfortable after a while using a double, though I spose being a canoe you should be able to sit a lot higher than in a kayak.
If you wanna just use a single blade paddle Google "j stroke in canoeing". You can also try heeling the canoe over to one side. Some are designed to track (go straight) better when leaned over like that. If you're not planning paddling far it won't really matter. Wind is always gonna be an issue with a canoe, more so than most kayaks.
There are double bend shaft paddles but they are bent in the other direction to the way you drew it.
There's lotsa web stuff that'll give you some ideas about paddling a canoe easily.
Don't try and go too fast.
cheers John.
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JohnV,
Thanks for your info :thumbsup In the brief time I had paddling yesterday I felt that a kayak paddle would be good. Given the tippy nature of this little canoe it would help centralise my weight to the middle (my uneducated opinion only) any lean left or right saw me close to splash down ;D I did test the kayak paddle theory with the single paddle and seemed ok. At this stage I wont be doing a million miles in it just some short trips in some small waterways around home. I will certainly source out some of that info available on the internet and combine that with a heap more time practising. I feel that sometime down the track I will invest in a good Yak but am starting up a new business so it has my $$ tied up at the moment so I took the opportunity when this one came up at $200.00.
:thanks
Colin
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Colin, couldn't remember till now where I'd seen this bit of video. Found it eventually.
Now, after you've watched it, I'm expecting you to be able to do all this stuff within a few days. C:-)
Seriously these guys are the bomb. But it shows you what is possible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4RJAeP7pDI&feature=related
Now you have NO excuses.
cheers John
Edit: dunno why it speeds up here an there, it never used to do. Might just be my pooter though.
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That's pretty awesome John.
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for the DE paddle and width of boat...try sitting in the canoe and mime paddling with a length of of pine moulding or conduit and find the most comfortable length that allows clearance on the gunwhales and keeps your hands as low as possible. measure the distance from the centre of your body to the end of the stick and double it. This is the length of paddle shaft you need that will ensure the blades are in the wet stuff.
Brad
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Thanks again Everybody!! :yourock
John: Not sure I wont be happy to just keep it somewhat dry inside the canoe I guess finding the best way to do that is up to me ;D Those people in the video clearly have something I dont (talent/balance) hahahaha but I am keen to give the heeled paddling style a go and will endeavour to post some photos of the results. The windy part of the video was very accurate as that was exactly the conditions I faced the day I went out!!
Brad: Took your advice and did some dry paddling with some pine and something around the 6.5 ft mark is going to be the go. Thanks again for that it certainly took some of the guess work out of it for me.
So if the wind is down tomorrow morning (Sunday) I will be off to master this art and begin work on adding some creature comforts and storage options to the canoe!!
Thanks again everyone I certainly appreciate it!!
Regards
Colin
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I am keen to give the heeled paddling style a go and will endeavour to post some photos
A video might be more entertaining (for us anyways) I firmly believe that anyone that paddles a kayak/canoe is silly NOT to tip it over in various controlled conditions. Warm, clean water, if possible, no fishing gear to worry about. Most people would fall out/off their boat because they "thought" they were going to! Secondary stability is a wonderful thing IF you know its there and what to do with it.
If you actually learn when these things are about to happen you will know what you can and cannot do about it. While you're in the water you get the opportunity to figure out what you can do about that.
It scares the hell out of me that so many people buy a yak fill it with gear and head offshore :walkplank
I know you'll probly spend most of your time in creeks, rivers and possibly lakes. Things can go pear shaped anywhere, anytime. Being armed with the knowledge of what to do about it is the least we should be doing.
Cheers John.