"v-man" wrote in message
om...
I was think of trying some canoeing with a few friends. I like hiking,
camping and the outdoors. I've never canoed before and cannot swim.
Will a life jacket be good enough for a person who can't swim? I was
think of starting off in a lake and gradually moving to small rivers.
Any advice on getting started?

thanks

Other than the advice you have given yourself [wear a PFD (personal
floatation device = life jacket), starting off in a lake, and gradually move
to rivers (I'd suggest moving to large, slow-moving rivers rather than small
ones)], I could only add to spend as much time as possible in a canoe, and
not to get too caught up in the safety over-conscious. What I mean is, folks
might suggest first taking a class, getting first aid training, practicing
rescues, takins swimming lessons, getting boned up on hypothermia prevention
and how to unwrap a canoe, etc. All that stuff is excellent, but it will
come in time and preoccupation with it will decrease your in-boat time,
which is most important.

For starters, put on a PFD, get in a canoe, launch it on a lake and paddle
around until you get the balance (several days of a few hours each will do
it). If you dump, relax and tow the boat to shore. In fact, being a
nonswimmer, wade out with the PFD on first to see how it works. You can
trust it, IF you get a good one. Then, after a few days in a lake, start
playing around with some slow moving water. Having someone show you some
basic turns and braces will help a lot once you have the feel of your
boat, which you can get on your own if needed. Boats are pretty stable,
once you get the feel of them, so you should be able to get some good
onriver time in. Don't hurry yourself, let your skills develop.

Riverman's Zen of paddling breaks it down into these three Zen levels:

Zen Level 1: The boat itself and the paddling strokes are your obstacles.
You cannot make the boat go where you want it to, you feel uncomfortable
trying to balance. Your focus is seldom outside your own skin, or possibly
outside the boundaries of the boat. 'Fooling around' on fla****er can get
you through this level, if you do not have someone to help you. Taking a
class is an excellent way to get time to learn the boat, but you can also
learn tremendous amounts on your own. Over time, notice how your eyes move
from the paddle ("how do I hold this thing??") to the boat ("Why won't it
turn left??") and eventually to the scenery. Once that happens, you are
at....

Zen Level 2: The water itself is the the obstacle. You can balance and
paddle a boat just fine, but figuring out where to go and how to negotiate
turns, rocks, eddys, the wind, etc is the problem. Your focus is seldom, if
ever, inside the boat. You focus on the water and make the boat
move....except you don't always know where to go. This is the level where a
class and some paddling buddies will tighten up your Zen Level 1 skills, as
well as get you the most out of Zen Level 2.

Zen Level 3: The boat is part of your body, and the river is merely 'there'.
You have no obstacles, and paddling is a freeing and relazing experience.
This is the level where it gets into stratospheric levels of fun, and gets
tremendously addicting. You will run a small rapid while thinking about
dinner. You will be mindlessly paddling across a lake, and suddenly be at
your destination. This is the good paddling level: get there.

--riverman
Zen master.