"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...
I am signed up for a canoe course in May, and my local paddle shop has a
sale this week, so I am looking to upgrade my canoe setup. I have an
Old Town Camper Canoe, 16 foot, plastic, wide and with a flat bottom.

1. Floats are recommended for the canoe course. I measured my boat, 36
inches from the inside of the stern to the back of the rear seat, and 55
inches from the inside of the bow to the front of the front seat.
Available end floats seem to be around 30" or 40" long. I am tempted to
get the 30 inch float for the front, to avoid losing too much legroom
for the bow paddler, and 40" for the back, which would actually extend
under the rear seat. Does this seem reasonable? I am buying floats for
tandem paddling, but may ocasionally paddle it solo, and will probably
be solo for the class. I may get a center float later.


There really isn't any way around the hassle of rigging floatation for solo
and tandem. Mostly what you want it for is to make self-rescue possible, so
smaller nose and stern bags should work ok for both solo and tandem. If you
are going to do sustained big water, then you'll need the complete outfit.
And maybe rethink the choice of boat too.

2. How do I attach the float bags? I understand that one usually mounts
eyes to the gunnels, but these gunnels are plastic box sections,
....
Probably they're vinyl over aluminum extrusions. You can probably screw
into them with sheet metal screws. Some people drill through the shell just
below the gunnel and lace through there. Cheaper, lighter, easier to adapt
to changing bag configurations, less hassle, arguably more reliable. Don't
do the obvious thing and wrap around the gunnel. Lace fore and aft under
it.
....
3. I have a 60" paddle, a 54" paddle, and a 48" paddle, all ordinary
wood paddles. I am 5' 11" and usually sit in the stern. My local shop
does not carry paddles more than 60" long, except for heavy plastic raft
paddles. Is the 54" paddle too short for someone my size in the bow? I
have a book that claims stern paddles come to your eyes, bow to your
chin; by that standard I need to go 6 inches longer, bow and stern. The
48" paddle is the spare or for kids. I don't want to spend $75 on a
paddle. Should I get a longer paddle? If so, where can I order it?

Don't get a new paddle before the course. Try different lengths there. Get
advice from the instructor after she sees how you paddle. Get a cheap
paddle of the right length after that. Spend a lot of money for a good
paddle after you can tell the difference.

Hth,
Fred Klingener