Why Debbie Canoes
Why do I canoe? It’s not because all of my non-boating friends repeatedly ask me “Did you go kayaking (or rafting) over the weekend?” Non-boaters just don’t seem to think that canoes are used in whitewater. I canoe because that is what I grew up doing and I love it. I’ve done some kayaking, rafting and packrafting but canoeing is my passion. Thank goodness I’ve met so many wonderful paddlers who have helped me learn and enjoy whitewater. I do get a little kick out of nudging my kayaking friends with the old saying “half the paddle, twice the skill!”. However, I admit my double-bladed friends have pulled me out of the river on occasion but I have carried some of their gear.
One of the primary differences between a kayak with a skirt or a self-bailing boat and a canoe is the latter’s ability to retain water. When we fill up with water, we resemble a submarine or a bathtub, depending on the quantity of water. Hey, I’ve even caught a fish using only my boat going through a rapid – no joke – this happened on the North Platte, Six Mile Gap run. I got to the bottom eddy and found I had a little, finned passenger!
I personally prefer to avoid filling with water as once that happens, maneuvering becomes VERY difficult. If there are more rocks and features to avoid downstream after filling up it can be quite unnerving. The other facet of filling with water is the time it takes to get into an eddy and empty the boat. Emptying a canoe affects all who we are paddling with as they must wait for us. If we are paddling a boat full of gear on a camping trip, the emptying of water can take even longer. Some of us use battery operated pumps which is a great help. However, I’ve had battery failure on longer, overnight trips in big water where the battery didn’t have the juice to last even past the first few days. The Main Salmon is where I experienced battery failure without a recharging capability. Now it was just a dead weight along for the ride.
All of this leads me to how a canoeist will read a river and determine a line through a rapid differently than a kayak or self-bailing inflatable. When a logical line leads us into a tongue that goes directly into a splashy feature, we must identify where and how we can cross the current to avoid the waves or holes that will fill our boat. I’m the first to tell you that I love wave trains and will go through them as often as I can but not at the detriment of affecting the group, when filling my boat is avoidable. A particular multi-day trip on the Main Salmon with gear loaded canoes brought this to a very conscious level.
Many of the biggest rapids on this run had waves or small holes that were unavoidable. However, there were many smaller rapids that could just as easily fill our canoes. Most of these started with a nice, green tongue or “V” at the top that brought you down to a wave train at the end. These tongues often started with rocks at the top on both sides requiring us to start out within the fast current of the green tongue. This current would often head toward one side of the river (rocks!) and curve into a wave train at the bottom. Reading these rapids on the run, identifying where to cut across the main tongue to avoid the inevitable wave train became the game. It took more thought and skill to maneuver across the speedy current and avoid the waves without hitting rocks, eddies or other obstacles. The successful, dry rides give quite a feeling of accomplishment. Canoeists should be comfortable doing this with empty boats before heading off for a camping trip and learning to maneuver a gear-ladened boat.
My recommendation for canoeists, or any boater for that matter, is to get to know the water better. It’s not just about going downstream. Talk with your paddling friends about different features and try varying your interaction with those features. Find a safe spot in your favorite river and practice. Approach eddies at varying angles and speeds. Peel out of eddies from different positions and speeds. Ferry forward and backward. Bring gear and load your boat and try these moves again. Take classes. And by all means, have fun!
Debbie Hinde
