"Peter Clinch" wrote in message
...
David Kemper wrote:

A Canadian canoe is much slower especially paddled solo.

Yes, but this is only a problem if you're in a degree of hurry
inappropriate to an open boat! OP might be, but might not...

Well yes but then you have to consider that the effort required to move
a craft with greater drag and more windage is going to limit the
distance the OP can go for a given amount of energy. That is to say
before he gets too tired.

Canadians are ideal for a pair of
paddlers who want to cart a lot of cargo but aren't in any hurry.

It's a lot easier to paddle a Canadian 2 up from a technical skill
point
of view, as well as just the extra motive power side. Solo open boat
needs a bit of practice with a good J stroke, and you can't just get
in
and go to the same extent you can with 2 paddlers or a kayak. But
with
a bit of practice solo open canoe does go places. Personally I find
the
requirement of a bit more skill to work it is a nice thing (as long
as
I don't get past what my own skills can deal with, of course!), but I
can see how people would just view it as making life difficult.

I like paddling Canadians solo and 2 up but it is more effort. I passed
my placid water level 2 coach in both canoes and kayaks, so have the
basic skills up to 3 star in both types of craft.


I find my knees get sore paddling Canadian canoes.

In flat water you can just sit on the seats. Where I come down off
the
seats for rough stuff I actually find it's my ankles that suffer
rather
than my knees, but the boats I use have been lined with Karrimat by
their owner. Overall, especially on flat water, I find the
possibility
of more than one seating position makes the open boat more comfortable
than a kayak over a good stretch of time.

My ankles also suffer. I prefer kneeling to sitting as I find I can
control the canoe better and move faster. Speed is always the goal when
you belong to the racing community. Even when there is no real need!

Your experience with glass fibre boats must be radically different
from
mine then. You do find ancient wrecked GF boats but ancient plastic
boats are often also rather beaten up

And I've seen GRP hulks that were basically porus /completely/
restored
to seagoing quality with a suitable dose of TLC. TSKC has an
anasacuta
which was basically a write-off hulk but was rescued, made waterproof
again, had a skeg added and a rear oval hatch in place of the old
round
one. None of that would have been easily possible with an old plastic
wreck.

Totally agree here. GRP (I normally say glass fibre but really mean
composite which can include kevlar and carbon as well) is normally a
lot lighter than plastic too.

This bit makes sense assuming a base paddling speed as low as 4KPH.
Faster speeds are normal in GF touring and racing kayaks. I'm
considered
slow and manage an average of 4-5 MPH and can paddle quite a bit
faster
for short distances such as when overtaking canal boats. Sprinting
past
to get through a bridge before the canal boat gets there and blocks
the
hole is a fairly frequent occurance as is encountering another canal
boat coming in the opposite direction. I try to avoid becoming the
filling in a boat sandwich. I can't paddle for 6 hours though. I'm
sure
I could build up to it but haven't any desire to.

I'm going slower, but /can/ paddle for 6 hours: sea touring this may
well be necessary. But from a touring perspective I'd say the where
and
the whereabouts are probably more important to the paddler than the
how
far and how fast, which are clearly uppermost in a marathon paddler's
mind for good reason. I'd sooner dander down the river in a canoe,
but
clearly tastes vary.

It is a very good thing tastes do vary, or we would find the bits of
water we use getting very crowded. I've tried various canoeing
disiplines but find marathon suits me best. I still dabble in other
boats including canoes. I sail and I drive power boats sometimes. I
paddle in the swimming pool too. When I want a change.

David Kemper
Not a fan of overcrowding.