Paddling Your Own Canoe
by
Stillman Taylor
PART I—
Kinds of Canoes
The charm of the birchen canoe has long been sung in verse and prose, and while the bark that the Indian used has been supplanted by a more perfect type of modern manufacture, the popularity of this, the most graceful of water craft, has increased with years, until today we find the canoe the choice of thousands of recreation seekers who paddle about in park lakes and quiet streams, or spend their vacations in cruising down rivers and other attractive waterways—sometimes within the environs of towns and villages, and again dipping paddles in the wilderness streams of the far north. True, the modern canoe is a distinct product of the twentieth century, and while it is so largely used at summer resorts, it nevertheless retains all the good points of the old, while embodying numerous improvements which fit it even better for wilderness travel than the Indian model after which it was patterned. The noteworthy increase in the number of canoeists in the past dozen years is good evidence that this natty craft is fast coming into its own, and as more and more outdoor men and women understand its possibilities and limitations and become proficient in handling it, the long-rooted fear and distrust with which the uninformed public regard the canoe, will pass away. As a matter of fact, accidents ever follow in the wake of ignorance and carelessness, and while there are very few expert gunners injured by firearms, and still fewer experienced canoeists drowned, there are numerous sad accidents constantly occurring to the reckless and foolhardy, who do not know how to handle a weapon, nor understand the first thing about paddling a canoe. Let us consider then, the practical side of the subject, the choice of a suitable canoe and the knack of handling it in a safe and efficient manner.
If one would experience in full measure the many-sided charm of paddling, he should get a good canoe. Unlike other and heavier water craft, the canoe is a lightly balanced and responsive conveyance, which may be cranky and dangerous, or safe and stable, according to the model, the skill of the builder, and the dexterity of the paddler. There are canoes and canoes, of varying models and sizes, and constructed of many materials, and while all may serve as a means of getting about in the water, the paddling qualities include numerous little idiosyncrasies which serve to differentiate canoes as well as men. In fact, this light and graceful craft may be properly viewed as the highest type of boat building, since it must be fashioned strong but light; it must be steady when going light; capable of carrying comparatively heavy loads; draw little water, and it must be honestly constructed of good material to stand up under the hard usage which every canoe is subjected to, whether used for summer paddling, or upon long hunting and shooting trips.
Three types of canoes are in common use by experienced canoeists, the birch-bark, the all-wood, and the canvas-covered cedar canoe. The birch-bark, by reason of its rougher workmanship, is slow under the paddle, is easily injured, and it grows heavier and more difficult to handle every time it is used. The all-wood canoe is most expensive to buy, and though swift under the paddle, is too easily injured and too difficult to repair for rough and ready use. The cedar-planked canoe which is covered with filled and painted canvas is for many reasons the best all-around craft-attractive enough for park use, and stout enough for use in rapid water and for cruising in northern lakes and rivers.
How to Select a Birch-Bark Canoe
The Indian-made birch-bark canoe costs about $1 a foot and is fashioned of birch bark over an ash, or spruce, frame. The bark is not nailed to the frame, but is sewed together with boiled spruce, or tamarack, roots, split to a suitable size. To give the proper shape to the canoe a double row of stakes are firmly planted in the ground and the spruce frame is sprung between them. The bark is put on inside out, and the work of sewing together is done while the bark is fresh, or immediately after it is stripped from the tree. The seams are afterward made water-tight by smearing well with spruce gum, which hardens quickly and makes a fairly good joint. The Indian model is a good one so far as the freeboard, width of beam, and flaring stems are concerned, but the curved bottom makes it extremely cranky and dangerous for the novice to handle. Be sure to see that the birch-bark canoe is fashioned with a flat, straight bottom, which makes the craft steadier and less inclined to veer about under the stroke of the paddle. In an expert’s hands the round bottom will be found a decided advantage, making it faster to paddle and more easily turned and steered in swift and rough water. Many prefer the three-piece bottom, but the bottom made of a single piece of bark is stronger and less likely to open up and leak. All birch canoes will warp and twist somewhat, and it is practically impossible to find one that is straight and true. The birch-bark canoe has many limitations and not a few weaknesses, but if one has the good luck to find a good one, and treats it fairly, it will prove a safe and dry craft for many hundreds of miles’ travel. Of course, one must carry a kettle of pitch for making repairs, and be content to travel somewhat slower than with modern canoes, but this may not be a disadvantage. Birch canoes have no seats, as the Indian kneels when paddling, but a low thwart, or seat, is easy to put in at the bow and stern, if one prefers the white man’s paddling position.
All-Wood or Peterborough Canoe
This type of craft is much used in Canada along the St. Lawrence River, and to a much less extent by American sportsmen, owing to its higher cost, and its tendency to break and cause a leak. Of course, the all-wood canoe is a good craft, but everything considered, there can be no question in the minds of canoeists who are acquainted with all types of canoes, that the all-cedar or basswood craft is less dependable than the canvas-covered cedar canoe. The Peterborough type—so called from a Canadian city of this name where many wood canoes are made—with its relatively low ends and straight sides with but little sheer and tumble home, is the model commonly used by practically all manufacturers of the all-wood canoe. While a boat of this kind can be, and often is, used in rough-water lake paddling as well as in wilderness travel, the all-wood canoe is better suited for club use, and in the wider and more quiet-flowing streams and lakes.
The Best All-Around Craft, for Two Men and a Reasonable Amount of Camp Duffle, Is a Canvas-Covered Cedar Canoe, 16 Feet Long, 32-Inch Beam, and 12 Inches Amidships, Weighing About 60 Pounds