Be careful about transfering one's experince paddling a kayak with a
double bladed paddle to paddling a canoe with a double bladed paddle.
The canoe is not only wider and higher but there is no leg bracing.
Even if you use a longer paddle you can't put it vertically into the
water as you can in a kayak or as you can in a canoe using a single
baded paddle and by sitting over to one side. I've tried both and you
don't get the leverage in a canoe with a kayak paddle to steer very
well. There's more power going straight ahead from having the two
blades more continuously in the water, and working harder, than one
blade but that's about all you get from the kayak paddle in the canoe.
Unless you are in extreme conditions the kayak paddle would be okay. In
wind or waves I'd move more forward so the kayak paddle is pulling the
canoe instead of pushing it. You can steer better that way. The action
becomes more like a swimmer than a paddler. I used to swim a lot and
find that pretty comfortable.

Wm Watt wrote:
Be careful about transfering one's experince paddling a kayak with a
double bladed paddle to paddling a canoe with a double bladed paddle.
The canoe is not only wider and higher but there is no leg bracing.
Even if you use a longer paddle you can't put it vertically into the
water as you can in a kayak or as you can in a canoe using a single
baded paddle and by sitting over to one side. I've tried both and you
don't get the leverage in a canoe with a kayak paddle to steer very
well. There's more power going straight ahead from having the two
blades more continuously in the water, and working harder, than one
blade but that's about all you get from the kayak paddle in the canoe.
Unless you are in extreme conditions the kayak paddle would be okay. In
wind or waves I'd move more forward so the kayak paddle is pulling the
canoe instead of pushing it. You can steer better that way. The action
becomes more like a swimmer than a paddler. I used to swim a lot and
find that pretty comfortable.

I have no basis for evaluating these comments relative to a hard shell
kayak. I run both the Aire Lynx I and Lynx II inflatable kayak.
IK's
have notable differences. For the most part, there are no leg braces
and
the boats are relatively wide due to the presence of the main tubes and
one
does sit higher up - conditions more akin to a canoe.

Blakely

Wm Watt wrote:
Be careful about transfering one's experince paddling a kayak with a
double bladed paddle to paddling a canoe with a double bladed paddle.
The canoe is not only wider and higher but there is no leg bracing.
Even if you use a longer paddle you can't put it vertically into the
water as you can in a kayak or as you can in a canoe using a single
baded paddle and by sitting over to one side. I've tried both and you
don't get the leverage in a canoe with a kayak paddle to steer very
well. There's more power going straight ahead from having the two
blades more continuously in the water, and working harder, than one
blade but that's about all you get from the kayak paddle in the canoe.
Unless you are in extreme conditions the kayak paddle would be okay. In
wind or waves I'd move more forward so the kayak paddle is pulling the
canoe instead of pushing it. You can steer better that way. The action
becomes more like a swimmer than a paddler. I used to swim a lot and
find that pretty comfortable.

Sorry- I pushed post without adding my note!

Following up on William's comments-
If you all have fooled around solo in a canoe enough you will know that
weight placement is very important to steering, especially in wind
(less so in waves) . The relatively high sides of a canoe means that
the wind exerts a lot of side pressure on the canoe. If you sit in the
stern seat alone in a good wind, you will find that the bow swings
downwind really fast and it is is difficult to get the bow into the
wind. If you seat in the bow seat, the stern will oscillate but by
relatively gentle paddling, you can easily keep the bow into the wind.
If you are sitting in the bow seat facing the stern (which I always do)
you can easily change the dynamic by leaning forward on one knee (pad
recommended). In a really strong wind you might have to kneel on both
knees- this puts you in the middle of the canoe and you have good
control even in 20 knot winds.

A kayak has a much lower profile as has been pointed out but the weight
placement still holds true. Interesting notion of pulling v. pushing.
What we are really doing is moving the boat past the paddle and in
Outrigger paddling we try to stay away from a long stroke (that is
"pushing" the paddle toward the stern past the vertical or past the
hip.

Good stuff! Keep trying stuff out!

paddle hard!
Wm Watt wrote:
Be careful about transfering one's experince paddling a kayak with a
double bladed paddle to paddling a canoe with a double bladed paddle.
The canoe is not only wider and higher but there is no leg bracing.
Even if you use a longer paddle you can't put it vertically into the
water as you can in a kayak or as you can in a canoe using a single
baded paddle and by sitting over to one side. I've tried both and you
don't get the leverage in a canoe with a kayak paddle to steer very
well. There's more power going straight ahead from having the two
blades more continuously in the water, and working harder, than one
blade but that's about all you get from the kayak paddle in the canoe.
Unless you are in extreme conditions the kayak paddle would be okay. In
wind or waves I'd move more forward so the kayak paddle is pulling the
canoe instead of pushing it. You can steer better that way. The action
becomes more like a swimmer than a paddler. I used to swim a lot and
find that pretty comfortable.

"Monk Terry" wrote in message
oups.com...
Sorry- I pushed post without adding my note!

Following up on William's comments-
If you all have fooled around solo in a canoe enough you will know that
weight placement is very important to steering, especially in wind
(less so in waves) .

And jumping into the fray...

I know that the particular strokes I use with my canoe paddle have lots of
little variants that would be hard to replicate with a kayak blade. It could
be argued that they don't need to be replicated, that kayak paddles have
their own movements, but I can't imagine having the ablity to do such a
smooth 'abeam' or being able to push the boat through narrow places with a
kayak blade. In fact, the only place I can imagine a kayak paddle being even
a little competitive with a single blade is on open water, moving straight
ahead. And that is a very limited timeframe indeed.

I think thats the reason that the users of canoes for hundreds and hundreds
of years never used double-ended blades, although they were existant.

--riverman

Kathy D'Errico wrote in
rec.boats.paddle...

I have a 16 foot hybrid canoe that I can use solo or tandem. It
really takes a lot of work paddling solo and I was wondering if
a kayak paddle would work better for me? or what would better than
the traditional lightweight paddle?

I wouldn't get into my solo canoe, without one of each. If
you carry both, then you KNOW you've got the right one.