Clothes for Canoeing
In canoeing I have found it convenient to dress as I would in a shell boat, but I generally have had a sweater and a pair of long trousers stowed away, ready to be pulled on over my rowing-clothes when I landed. Once, when I neglected to put these extra clothes aboard, I was storm-bound up Long Island Sound, and, leaving my boat, I took the train home, but I did not enjoy my trip, for the bare legs and arms and knit cap attracted more attention than is pleasant for a modest man.
Do not wear laced shoes in a canoe, for experience has taught boating-men that about the most inconvenient articles of clothing to wear in the water are laced shoes. While swimming your feet are of absolutely no use if incased in this style of foot-gear, and all the work must be done with the arms. But if you have old slippers, they may be kicked off, and then you are dressed practically in a bathing-suit, and can swim with comfort and ease.
Possibly these precautions may suggest the idea that a ducking is not at all an improbable accident, and it must be confessed that the boy who thinks he can learn to handle small boats without an occasional unlooked-for swim is liable to discover his mistake before he has become master of his craft.