Boat-Building and Boating

by Daniel Carter Beard

To Paddle a Canoe

No one can expect to learn to paddle a canoe from a book, however explicit the directions may be. There is only one way to learn to swim and that is by going into the water and trying it, and the only proper way to learn to paddle a canoe is to paddle one until you catch the knack.

In the ordinary canoe, to be found at the summer watering places, there are cane seats and they are always too high for safety. A top load on any sort of a boat is always dangerous, and every real canoeist seats his passengers on the bottom of the boat and kneels on the bottom himself while paddling. Of course, one's knees will feel more comfortable if there is some sort of a cushion under them, and a passenger will be less liable to get wet if he has a pneumatic cushion on which to sit. No expert canoeist paddles alternately first on the one side, and then on the other; on the contrary, he takes pride in his ability to keep his paddle continuously on either side that suits his convenience.

The Indians of the North Woods are probably the best paddlers, and from them we can take points in the art. It is from them we first learned the use of the canoe, for our open canvas canoes of to-day are practically modelled on the lines of the old birch-barks.

	From photographs takenespecially for this book byMr. F. K. Vreeland, CampFire Club of America.
	Fig. 102.	Fig. 102a.
Fig. 102.—Beginning of stroke. Paddle should not be reached farther forward than this. It is immersededgewise (not point first) with a slicing motion. Note the angle of paddle—rear face of bladeturned outward to avoid tendency of canoe to turn. Staff of paddle is 6 inches too short. Left handshould be lower. Fig. 102a.—A moment later. Right hand pushing forward, left hand swinging down. Left handshould be lower on full-sized paddle.
	Fig. 103.	Fig. 103a.
Fig. 103.—Putting the power of the body in the stroke by bending slightly forward. Left hand heldstationary from now on, to act as fulcrum. The power comes from the right arm and shoulders. Fig. 103a.—The final effort, full weight of the body on the paddle. The right arm and body aredoing the work, the left arm (which is weak at this point) acting as fulcrum. Note twist of the rightwrist to give blade the proper angle.
	Fig. 104.	Fig. 104a.
Fig. 104.—End of stroke. Arms relaxed and body straightening. Fig. 104a.—Beginning of recovery. Paddle slides out of water gently. Note that blade is perfectlyflat on the surface. No steering action is required. If the canoe tends to swerve it is because the strokewas not correct. Only a duffer steers with his paddle after the stroke is over. The left hand nowmoves forward, the right swinging out and back, moving paddle forward horizontally.
	Fig. 104b.	Fig. 104c.
Fig. 104b.—Turning to right. The latter part of a broad sweep outward, away from the canoe. Theblade is now being swept toward the canoe, the left hand pulling in, the right pushing out. Position ofright wrist shows that blade has the opposite slant to that shown in the straightaway stroke—i. e., thenear face of blade is turned inward. Blade leaves water with outer edge up. Wake of canoe showssharpness of turn. Fig. 104c.—Turning to left. The last motion of a stroke in which the paddle is swept close to thecanoe with the blade turned much farther outward than in the straightaway stroke. At end of strokeblade is given an outward sweep and leaves the water with the inner edge up. This is not a steering ordragging motion. It is a powerful sweep of the paddle. Note swirl in wake of canoe showing sharp turn.]

When you are standing upright and your paddle is in front of you with the blade upon the ground, the handle should reach to your eye-brows. (See Figs. [101], [102], [103], etc.)

Kneel with the paddle across the canoe and not farther forward than the knees. Then dip the blade edgewise (not point first) by raising the upper hand without bending the elbow. Swing the paddle back, keeping it close to the canoe, and give a little twist to the upper wrist to set the paddle at the proper angle shown in the photos. The exact angle depends upon the trim of the boat, the wind, etc., and must be such that the canoe does not swerve at any part of the stroke, but travels straight ahead. The lower arm acts mainly as a fulcrum and does not move back and forth more than a foot. The power comes from the upper arm and shoulder, and the body bends forward as the weight is thrown on the paddle. The stroke continues until the paddle slides out of the water endwise, flat on the surface. Then for recovery the blade is brought forward by a swing from the shoulder, not lifting it vertically, but swinging it horizontally with the blade parallel to the water and the upper hand low. When it reaches a point opposite the knee it is slid into the water again, edgewise, for another stroke. The motion is a more or less rotary one, like stirring cake, not a simple movement back and forth.

To Carry a Canoe