The Double Blade Is Often Useful When Paddling Single-Handed on a Broad Reach of Wind-Swept Water
On a long canoe trip where much rapid water must be run, a “setting pole” should be reckoned a necessity. The pole may be a stout sapling, 10 ft. long, cut by the stream side, but an iron shoe, or spike, about 3 in. long, with an iron band or ferrule, should be carried in the kit, the iron spike being simply driven in the end of the green pole. The pole may be used to good advantage when running down shallow rapids, the man in the bow kneeling and using his paddle to help steer while his partner stands in the stern and wields the pole. When traveling up shallow and swift streams, the setting pole is absolutely necessary, and while at first it is an awkward implement to handle, a little practice will enable the canoeist to pole his craft with very little more effort than is required to paddle it. The use of the pole necessitates a standing position, but this is neither risky nor difficult for any canoeist who understands the knack of balancing a canoe, and none but an experienced canoeist has any business in swift, white water. The setting pole is gripped with the left hand near the top, with the right hand held stationary about 2 ft. lower, and as the canoe travels past the pole, firmly planted on the river bottom, the poler leans forward and makes use of his weight and strength to give a quick push. The pole is again shoved forward as quickly as possible, that the craft may lose as little headway as possible, and a new grip secured for the next push. After a little experience with the pole, the canoeist will find it an easy matter to swing his craft across the current and avoid rocks and other obstructions as easily as when paddling. When contemplating a long trip up a stream where the water is heavy and the current swift, the use of two poles will make the work easier. Both persons should pole from the same side, the man in the bow doing the steering while the stern man adds his straight-ahead push to force the canoe upstream.
Shifting the Paddle from One Side of the Canoe to The Other
The Track Line
The average wilderness stream of the North has enough “tight” places which judgment tells the traveler to avoid by making a detour by land rather than risk a capsize and a possible loss of the outfit. To “tote” the outfit overland means more or less hard work, and as every canoeist will avoid portaging if there is a fair chance of getting the canoe through a bad stretch of water, the tracking line will come in handy very often. The usual ring in the bow of the canoe is far too flimsy for hauling the loaded craft, and sufficient length of stout rope should be carried along to pass through the painter eye, and then carried aft and half-hitched to the first and second thwarts. One man can pull the canoe up a swift stream by walking along the bank while his partner takes up the opposite side and steers the craft away from rocks by using a stern line. With a heavily loaded canoe in very swift and shallow water, both men must often wade, and a tump line rigged up as a breast or shoulder strap will make it easier work for the man at the bow line.
Paddling a Canoe Single-Handed
The open, or Canadian-model, canoe is, of course, handled more easily and with better speed with two paddlers but there are occasions when the canoe is used single-handed. When out for a few hours’ paddle, the canoeist usually balances the craft by sitting on the bow seat—or kneels on the bottom with his back against the bow-seat brace—and using the stern for the bow. This brings the paddler’s weight nearer the center and keeps the canoe better balanced than when paddling from the stern with the bow high in the air. However, when the canoe is loaded, many canoeists stow their camp duffle forward and paddle from the stern, the weight of the outfit keeping the craft on an even keel. This answers well enough for smooth-water going, but when the water is rough, or a stretch of rapids is run single-handed, the stern position is by no means a good one since the craft is more difficult to control, and much more strength is required to drive it forward. The Indian manner of paddling a canoe alone is the only correct one, for he always sits amidships—kneeling in the center—and if a load is carried, it is placed in front and back of him so that the craft is balanced on an even keel. Consequently the canoe draws less water and can be paddled faster with the same effort, while the paddler has the craft under perfect control. But the experienced line paddler does not kneel in the center, he moves out until his body is close to the gunwale. This makes the craft heel at a decided angle, it is true, but this position makes for better speed because it enables the paddle to be held almost vertical, and the more nearly perpendicular the paddle is swung the more efficient will be the stroke.
In using the double blade, the paddler dips first on one side, then on the other, and to make the blades travel through the air with the least resistance, it is customary to set them at right angles to each other. The motion is really a push and pull, the shaft of the paddle being rotated in the hands so that the blade will enter the water with the full breadth facing the canoeist. Rubber cups, to catch the drip as the paddle rises in the air when making the stroke, are sometimes used by novices, but these are unnecessary if the paddles are set at right angles, and the paddler will bend his wrist a trifle to throw the drip ahead and to one side. At the beginning, the novice will very likely throw a little water in the canoe, but a little practice will soon master the knack.