Paddling
How to use the paddle and a flat-bottomed rowboat.
Some expert canoeists strongly advise kneeling in the bottom of the canoe while paddling, for at least part of the time, but the usual method is to sit on the seats provided at bow and stern, or sit on the bottom. The kneeling paddler has her canoe in better control, and becomes more one with it than one who sits. In shooting rapids and in rough weather kneeling is the safest when one knows how to paddle in that position. It is a good thing to learn both methods.
When you paddle close one hand firmly on the end of the paddle and the other around the handle a short distance above the blade. Then, keeping your body steady, dip your paddle into the water slightly in front of you and sweep it backward and downward toward the stern, keeping it close to the canoe. You face the bow in a canoe, remember, and reach forward for your stroke. At the finish of a stroke turn the paddle edgewise and slide it out of the water. For the next stroke bring the blade forward, swinging it horizontally with the blade parallel to the water, and slide it edgewise into the water again in front of you. [Fig. 34] shows the beginning of a stroke, [Fig. 35] while the stroke is in progress, and [Fig. 36] the ending. During the stroke bring your upper hand forward across your face or breast, and with the lower draw the blade through the water.
It is well to begin as bow paddler, for your duty there, in smooth water, is to watch for obstructions such as hidden rocks and submerged logs or snags, while the paddler at the stern must steer the canoe and keep it in a straight course.
At the beginning learn to paddle as well from one side as from the other. To be able to change sides is very restful and sometimes a quick change will prevent an accident. Like many other things, the knack of paddling will come with experience and will then require no more thought than keeping your balance on a bicycle and steering it.
Loading a Canoe
A top-heavy canoe is decidedly dangerous, that is why it is safest to sit or kneel on the bottom, and in loading your camp stuff bear the fact well in mind. Pack the load as low in the canoe as possible with the heaviest things at the bottom, but use common sense and do not put things that should be kept dry underneath where any water that is shipped will settle and soak them. Think again and put cooking utensils and lunch provender where you can reach them without unloading the canoe. The packing should be done in such a way as to cause the canoe to tip neither at one end or at the other, and certainly not to one side.