Kayak or Canoe

External Since: Jun 24, 2003 Posts: 49

Wilko wrote:
> Ed Edelenbos wrote:
  >>When you have tried a car with 2 people steering, do you use 2 > steering wheels, or sit on each others lap?
  >>
  >>Or 2 people steering a boat, are there 2 tillers?
>
>
> I think that you're missing the point I was trying to make.
>

Nah... I get it. I just go "over the top" once in a while.

> My point is that some people just don't make good tandem partners, no
> matter how succesful their love-based relationship is, how well they
> seem to coordinate and communicate. The friction and frustration caused
> by trying to paddle together is something else than what most people
> experience in their everyday relationships.
>
> I'm not some newbie who doesn't have a clue what tandem boating is. I've
> run quite a bunch of class IV rivers in my TopoDuo, both with other
> experienced paddlers but also with newbies or less experienced paddlers.
> On top of that I've lent my tandem kayak to others, and paddled with
> tandem boaters a couple of times. The differences I ran into between the
> way tandem teams behave were staggering.

A big difference here is that we aren't talking class-anything rivers.
What was described was leisure putting around on mostly flat water.
Sometimes on our tandem (similar flatwater paddling), one of us will
just hold the paddle and let the other do all the paddling. I'll admit
my wife likes the workout and I like the boatride... guess who holds
the paddle more?

>
> Some people get into a fight, others seem to have been made to work
> together in their boat. Besides the communication and cooperation skills
> needed, people also have to adjust mentally to not being in control all
> on their own (often the case with boaters who normally only paddle their
> own boat alone), and overcoming their (irrational) fear of (partially)
> depending on someone else.
>
>

Agreed. The thing that ticks me off is the immediate "not going to
work" or "don't ever do that, you'll end up divorced" posts. My wife
and I (and many couples we know) do flatwater paddling in tandems and
have a great time and it often reinforces the relationship... it
teaches that we can depend on eachother. It also teaches the importance
of communication and trust.

Ed

External Since: Jun 26, 2003 Posts: 35

Paul Stivers wrote:

>- Canoes don’t track very well, are tippy (unless you kneel on the
>floor), are heavy, and don’t paddle into the wind very well. (I do have
>experience with canoes and can attest to all this.)
>
>
>
>
A well-trimmed & properly paddled canoe will track very well in all but
the heaviest conditons. I can attest and will provide
companionship/tutoring in these matters. It all depends on proper choice
of hull profile & experience of paddler. I do white water standing and
flat water kneeling. Or vice-versa, depending on conditons, load,
destination, etc. Tippiness of canoes is usually a function of hull
profile first & paddler technique second. Tracking, either w/ wind or
current, is generally a matter of experience/technique. A canoe is a
learning process, and a joy to employ once one becomes symbiotic with
it. Be assured the learning curve is quite steep for a very shsort while
, then a gradual climb as one discovers more and more what oneself and
the canoe - considered as a unit only - are capable of.

Yours in the north Maine woods,
Pete Hilton aka The Ent

--
The universe is largely unexplored.
NPR News item