V. CANOE RACING.
"The race is not always to the swift."
Paddling Races.
HE course for a paddling race is usually one mile; half a mile to turn, and back. The turn is the key note of the race; a moment lost or saved there may decide it in favor or against you. If there are several competitors and but one stake or flag at the turn, get to it first, even if you have to strain a point, for you then have dear way round the stake, and the others have to keep away from you when they turn. You thus get a good lead for the second half of the race. If the canoe has any keel, heeling her over on the bilge when turning often helps to get round in a shorter distance than is possible when she is turned on an even keel. Keep a true course from the starting line to the turning flag, since the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Know the rules governing the race by heart, to be prepared to do the right thing, no matter what turns up. A triangular course is better than a straight one with a full turn, as it makes a fairer race for all hands. Every man except the leader in a one-turn course is apt to lose time at the turn by trying to avoid fouling with the canoe ahead of him. A perfectly fair race with turn can only be had when there is a stake for each canoe to go round at the half-mile flag. Know the course and character of water from your own experience on it before you enter the race.
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The Racing Stroke.
It is well at the start to take a couple of short, quick strokes, to get way on the canoe before the regular mile stroke is dropped into. If a backboard is used, the work of paddling is made easier by moving forward at the dip for a while now and then to bring a new set of muscles into play. Some canoeists thus reach forward at every stroke; others never leave the backboard. When a high seat is used the backboard is dispensed with. Look to the foot-brace, and if you find in practice that your feet slip off of it, run a strap across over the toes to hold the foot firm.Paddling races are less likely to do harm than rowing or running races to the individual who has not properly trained himself, as most of the work results in tiring the muscles and not overexerting the lungs and heart, though these organs are called on to do their full share. It is foolhardy to enter any race requiring muscular action without careful training of the muscles brought into play. Constant paddling not only perfects the skill of the paddler, but also builds up his muscles to accomplish more work.
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Tricks.
In a long race, over two miles, it is well to follow behind the leader, to push him all the time and yet not have to set the pace yourself. He is where you can see him, and he cannot see you. The leader is apt to attempt too great a pace at the start to keep up all through a race. In a short race it is well to get the lead as soon as possible. Leading inspires confidence; following is discouraging and tends to result in loss of nerve.To do fast paddling requires study in the direction of making every pound tell, reducing the lost motion and wasting of power to the minimum. Watch the objective point and not the canoes, except out of the very corners of your eyes.
An upset race is a paddling race of about a quarter mile, the canoes all being turned completely over at a given signal, righted, and paddled across the finish line. The signal is given by the judge when he pleases, the paddlers not knowing when it is to be given. By upsetting the canoe some water is sure to get inboard. A light canoe is easier to paddle than when it has water in it. Therefore, at the starting signal, put in all your power and get just as near as possible to the finish line before the upset comes, in order that only a short distance will have to be traveled with a waterlogged canoe. At the signal, stand up and roll the canoe bottom side up, as you go into the water; then reach over and turn the canoe right side up as skillfully as you can, to get in the least water; crawl in over the side, and paddle over the line. As the canoe upsets be very careful not to lose the paddle; hold it in one hand, or attach it to a line fastened to your body in such a way that it will not hamper you in getting into the canoe again, or twist up as you go over and thus cause trouble. Turning the canoe over without shipping much water, and getting in her quickly from the water, are the two points to be practiced in preparing for an upset race. Everything but the paddle should be securely fastened in the canoe, in order that nothing can get out of place when the canoe is turned over, seat, footbrace, bottom-board, backboard, etc. No rudder is needed in such a race.
Canoe Gymnastics. CANOE tricks are very amusing often at regattas and helpful to the skipper in that acquiring them affords interest to the difficult work of getting perfect balance and a knowledge of what can be done in a canoe. Walking the decks (barefooted so as not to injure the planking) from end to end; turning round while standing on deck; sailing while standing or sitting on deck; walking out to and standing on the rudder head; crawling round a mast in the forward step, feet first, head first; standing on one's own head in the bottom, same on deck; paddling while standing on deck; turning the canoe completely over, remaining inside the while; upsetting the canoe so she floats on the deck, then diving under her and coming up inside, where the head can
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Comparative Tests.
get out of water in the well and a breath of air can be taken; getting on deck at any point from the water; turning a somersault from deck into the well; also one backward from the well overboard-these are a few of the tricks that have been done; many more will no doubt suggest themselves to the reader. An open Canadian canoe floating full of water can be shaken dry by an expert while he remains in the water; he then gets in over the end or side and paddles on naturally.Read the Association rules governing races; know them and what they mean, especially those referring to fouls. Did all canoeists who enter races know the rules thoroughly, much unnecessary talk and often slight "unpleasantnesses" would be avoided at regattas. The tendency to build sailing and paddling ''machines'' -- which would naturally be induced by their desire to win in the races -- is vigorously discouraged by the Association. The highest honors are to be won by the best combined sailing and paddling canoes-the Record prizes, the combined race, and many other minor events likewise.
Sailing Races. SAIL to win by skill in handling and judgment; not by tricks or special sailing appliances to the canoe, useless except for races. The nearer equal two canoes are the more interesting will be the race. In canoe sailing it is not the canoe that wins, it is the man. Canoes are such small boats that a slight difference in size does not necessarily give one an advantage over another. The skill of the skipper, trim, sail balance and perfectly working gear will overcome great differences in hull if they are not shared equally by two canoes. Fourteen-foot (30 inch beam) canoes have often beaten sixteen-footers of same beam. The wide canoes have likewise been beaten many times by those having two or three inches less beam to the same length. Canoes with no ballast have won races in which were heavy ballasted canoes carrying much more sail. Model is something, yes, a large factor; but a greater is the skill of the canoeist in sailing, and the care he bestows on his canoe and rig, his understanding of them, their possibilities and limitations.
A comparative test of the sailing qualities of two canoes and the skill of their owners can be made by instituting a series of, say, ten races over the same course, on different days. Five of the races to be sailed with the skippers in their own canoes, and five with each canoeist in the other's canoe. The sailor winning most races is pretty sure to be the better of the two-and the same applies to the canoe. By keeping a careful log of each canoe in every race, their relative qualities on the wind and with a free wind will also be settled. If you beat a canoe, and her owner intimates that it is on account of the superior qualities of your canoe, offer to exchange boats and-after you have had time to inspect his gear and trim, and make such modifications as your experience dictates -- arrange to race him. If you lose a race, find out why you lost it, what points you or
126 • 127
The Sit of a Sail.
your canoe are inferior in, and keep your mouth shut. It is of no interest to others to know why you lost, and any attempted explanation reflects on yourself -- not on the canoeist you are trying to take part of the credit from for winning. Know your canoe perfectly, how much sail she needs and can carry to advantage, how much ballast and where it should be placed. Know the course and every part of it, currents, depth of water, probable direction of wind, the character of the water likely to be encountered with any wind, the ranges for each buoy and their exact positions. Study your opponents' canoes and the manner in which they handle them. Get all the sailing rules by heart, and know how and when they are applied. Know the signals for getting ready and starting, and cross the line as few seconds after the gun is fired as it is possible to. The leading canoe's has the advantage, and therefore it is well to get the lead by a well-timed flying start.It is taken for granted that you have, shortly before the race, inspected every line, block, lashing, cleat, mast and sail, and know all to be in perfect condition and in good working order. Many a canoe has lost races simply by the parting of a line or a jam in the running rigging at a critical moment. Everything must go like clockwork; no hurry, no chance movements, everything systematic.
The best sailing races are sailed over triangular courses, giving each canoe an equal amount of running free, beam wind, and beating to windward, to test all their points. In point of time the windward leg of the triangle is the longest. A half minute gained running free will not make up for a minute lost on the wind. The best canoe, therefore, for windward work will usually win. Look to this matter and sacrifice a little on your free sailing perhaps for better windward work. Trim the canoe for close-hauled sailing, and get the best sails for this work, unless at great sacrifice on all other points.
Reefing, in point of time, is a most important matter. It often happens that the wind freshens or dies down during a race, and this must be provided for by the reef -- taking one in or shaking it out. Be able by perfected gear to do this with the minimum amount of lost time, and see to it by trial that the sit of the sail reefed is as perfect as that of the full sail. Have the spars sufficiently strong to keep rigid even under strong wind pressure, since any buckling on their part destroys flatness and the perfect sit of a sail. This is a point often neglected. Lighter spars can be carried on a roached sail than on one having a straight head and foot.
When passing an opponent, go to windward of him if you can. Do not try to retard him by getting directly to windward of him, though, and thus taking the wind out of his sails. It is allowable to do this, but there is less satisfaction in beating a man when you have hampered him in his sailing. For this reason do not blanket the canoe ahead of you running free -- that is, steering directly behind him and Covering his sails with your own, and taking the wind from them till you get up to him, when you must steer out.
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Turning Buoys.
Blanketing is not against the rules, but it is jockeying, and jockeying is demoralizing in canoeing, just as it is in horse racing. Sail a fair, even, generous race, and have the satisfaction when you finish of knowing that you won fairly, if you have made no errors, or of having lost honorably by some error in judgment you can correct the next time. Train judgment down so it will not make errors. There is great pleasure to be derived from knowing that you have been able to sail a long race without a single fluke, error or miscalculation, even if you lose. If you do lose in such a case, some one else must have a better sailing canoe than your own, in which case there is only one thing to do -- build.Little difficulty is experienced in keeping out of the way of other canoes when there are few competitors in a race, but at the Association meets, where twenty or thirty canoes enter and start in a single event, often great trouble is experienced in keeping clear of other craft-especially in light winds -- and avoiding fouls. Keep as clear of the fleet as possible to avoid being penned in by canoes on both sides and thus getting badly blanketed and prevented from shaking them off. Sail slightly off the course, if necessary, to keep clear of a bunch of slower craft than your own. Steer neatly round all buoys, going as close to them as you dare without running any risk of fouling. Touching a buoy disqualifies a canoe. Rounding a buoy necessitates changing the course and therefore retrimming the sails. Do this with the utmost dispatch. As you approach a buoy and just before reaching it, trim the mizzen for the new tack; then steer round, and at the same time trim the mainsail so not an ounce of wind pressure is lost on it during the turn. If you are running free to a buoy (centerboard up) round which you have to jibe and at once start to windward, steer well clear of the buoy, jibe the mizzen over before reaching it, and trim down for close-hauled work (drop the board); then jibe the mainsail over just as you get even with the buoy, turning the canoe round quickly so as not to go one foot beyond the flag and consequently to leeward, trim in and shoot off on the windward tack. If sailing to windward, and you have to tack round a buoy, give yourself room enough to clear it should the canoe miss stays or hang long enough to make leeway. When the turn is complicated by the presence of other canoes, judgment alone can dictate the best course to pursue to get round with least chances of fouls and lost time. Take no chances in such cases, unless at the very end of a race where everything depends on risking something. Rule XV., ACA (see Yearbook), says the leading canoe has the right of way, and any canoe overtaking it must get out of its way, except at the turning buoy, when the following canoe is not clear of the leader -- that is, so close that it cannot steer on either side of the leader -- in which case room must be given by either canoe to the other that is in danger of fouling the buoy. The second canoe, to be entitled to recognition from the leader,
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Canoe Handling • Fouls and Tides.
must have established an overlap before the leader has actually changed his helm for rounding. It is a very nice question to decide just when a canoe does establish an overlap on another, especially by the leader, as he is looking ahead and the approaching canoe may be hidden behind his mizzen. It is therefore well for the following canoe not to try to get too fine a point in this matter, and thus provoke discussion and trouble in case of a foul. If the second canoe clearly has the right of way, and the leader is not likely to recognize it, the skipper should request the leader to give him room, and thus notify him that it is expected.The rule that canoes sailing free must get out of the way of those on the wind should be always borne in mind. A canoe sailing free can easily shift her course in either direction to clear a canoe approaching on the wind. Not so the canoe close-hauled. She could either bear away, in which case she loses ground greatly, or luff up, and therefore come to a standstill. The canoe sailing free but changes her course slightly and loses no headway. This rule is logical, therefore.
If two canoes approach each other on opposite tacks, the canoe on the port tack must give way, the canoe on the starboard tack keeping directly on her course. This is an arbitrary rule instituted to avoid trouble and misunderstanding. There is no reason why a canoe should give way on one tack more than on another, except that, for the sake of a general understanding, the port tack has been decided on. When on the port tack, therefore, keep a sharp lookout under your boom for approaching canoes on the other tack, and do not try to run across their bows, unless well ahead, so all chance of a foul is avoided. If you are on the starboard tack, and a canoe on the port tack, through ignorance on the part of her skipper, is likely to run you down if you keep on, then luff and come about; do not cause a foul by keeping on, he will be ruled out of the race in any event, and if you get about and avoid him you sustain no damage and probably will lose no time. In general, keep to the right.
If any part of your canoe or person touches another canoe or buoy it constitutes a foul. Be careful at all times to avoid fouls; look ahead, behind and all around, and know well beforehand what is likely to happen, and provide for it.
If the course is affected by tides, study how the current can help you, and take every advantage you can get of it. Light winds on regatta day may result in the honors being carried off by the man best acquainted with the tides, even though he be not the best sailor present. Calculate, when tacking, to get the tide to carry you to windward, if it is possible to so arrange it. Sometimes it will carry you to windward on one tack and to leeward on the other; hold on to the windward tack, then, as long as you can without getting too far off the course. When beating it is well not to get too far away from the true course-though you do happen to be getting well to windward, almost to the point, perhaps, from
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Right of Way at the Buoy.
which you can lay a course round the buoy (without a tack) -- for a sudden shift of the wind may leave you clear down to leeward. As an example, suppose that you are at one buoy and the next one is dead to windward. You start off on the starboard tack, and after sailing for a time you bring the finishing buoy off directly at a right angle to the keel of the canoe. At this point you are as near to it as you can get on this tack. If you keep on the same tack you are getting further away from the buoy all the time, but more to windward. You will soon reach a point at which if you come about you can clear the buoy on the port tack, unless the wind shifts. Now, if you had come about at the right angle point or a trifle beyond it, you would all the time have been getting nearer the finishing buoy, but you would have had to make another tack to get round it. If your canoe does not come about easily, and loses time and headway when she does come about, it is perhaps best to do all the windward work in two tacks. But if you do not lose much by coming about, you will run less risk of getting left way off nowhere if a shift of wind occurs by making several tacks, for you have been getting nearer the buoy all the time.The rules governing rounding a buoy should be clearly understood, practically as well as theoretically, for herein lies the most fertile cause of fouls, errors and annoyances. Knowing a rule or custom theoretically is very different from knowing it practically. Theoretical knowledge is apt to be imperfect and improperly applied. Practical experience of the workings of rules leaves a picture on the mind which will lead you to do the right thing in a similar case a second time more from instinct than from elaborate thought and a working out of the problem just at the moment when things are complicated and your thoughts all afield with a dozen things to do. A peculiar case in point, and one generally misunderstood, occurs when two canoes close-hauled are approaching a buoy on opposite tacks. Suppose the canoe on the starboard tack to be able to make the buoy and turn it by falling off from the wind just as she is rounding it. Suppose the canoe on the port tack to be a little ahead, but obliged to tack to get round the buoy, it being necessary by the sailing directions to leave the buoy on the port hand (keeping the port side of the canoe toward the buoy in rounding). The port tack canoe is far enough ahead to come about just at the buoy and get off on the starboard tack, rounding the buoy at the same time without detaining the starboard tack canoe. The starboard tack canoe certainly has the right of way round the buoy, and should not be detained an instant. The port tack canoe, therefore, has no right to cross her bow and come about directly in front of her, if by so doing she detains in the least the starboard tack canoe. She does this at her own risk, and if overtaken at the turn by the starboard tack canoe she should be ruled out. If she can cross the bow of the starboard tack canoe, come about before reaching the buoy and get headway on before an overlap is established, then she has the right of way, since she is on the starboard tack and leading, but not otherwise.
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The Spinnaker.
The windward canoe has a right to lay a course dictated by the best judgment of her skipper, and if kept to, no leeward canoe approaching him has the right to make him change it to avoid a foul, though in the judgment of the leeward skipper the windward man is not sailing a good course. The lee canoe must get out of the way unless he gets the lead. The windward canoe cannot, however, change his course and bear away, though at all times he has a right to luff. The lee canoe, if leading, has no right to come about directly in front of a windward canoe, closely following him without giving due notice of his intention, as hew could thus cause a foul at almost any moment with a good breeze blowing, by not giving the windward canoe room to either come about or bear away clear of him.By constant practice learn just what angle you can count on for your canoe in windward work; how much leeway she makes, so you can calculate to a dot just how far you must go on your last tack to clear a buoy. Allowing too much may result in a serious loss of time; while an underestimate of her capabilities results in an extra tack, perhaps two, and still greater loss of time. Figure to be just a little on the safe side always, to allow for a slight shift of wind or extra leeway from current or other cause. Keep clear of the shore, bluffs especially, and out in the open water, where the wind is steady and more constantly from exactly the same quarter. Keep well out of the lee of other canoes also, or you may meet a fellow who delights in blanketing you.
When sailing a long race, a mile or more to each leg of the triangular course, it is well to carry a spinnaker. The spinnaker is an extra sail which can be easily set on the mainmast for running down the wind and boomed out on the opposite side to the mainsail. It is usually triangular in shape, with a boom along its base or foot. The pointed head of the sail is run up to the very top of the mast by an extra halyard. There must be a sheet on the boom, of course, to trim the sail properly. This sail is a great help often in light winds, especially if the wind and tide are opposed to each other, making the running free occupy some considerable time. The extra surface thus spread does good work. A spinnaker is a useless appliance for a short course; the time occupied in setting it and getting it in may more than compensate for its advantages. The paddle may be used in a very light wind to keep the boom in position. In a stiff breeze the spinnaker halyard can be carried aft to the skipper's seat in the canoe, fastened to a cleat, and thus serve as a backstay to help support the mast with the greatly augmented weight upon it.
The sailing rules may perhaps seem unnecessarily long, or complicated, at the first blush. They are, however, nothing more than the usual rules that govern all sailing races, but modified to apply to canoes, and changed where experience has shown it to be necessary.
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Simplicity and Complexity.
After having entered a race or two -- even if with your friend and canoeing companion only -- you will likely see the reason for having rules, and just such rules as the Association has. It is not necessary to have a complicated rig; a measured course, and all the rules at the fingers' ends to enjoy racing. Get up a scrub match with some other fellow in the club-or in the same town, if you do not live where there is a club. A couple of races may teach more than a month of ordinary sailing about, as to the handling of the canoe.The new devices that appear and many of the fittings that have come into almost universal use are the result of racing, and the desire on the part of canoeists to get the best and most perfect gear therefor. Have no fear that racing may become the prime object of canoeing. A canoeist who cares for racing only is a sorry fellow and not likely long to remain a canoeist; too many forces are working against him. Canoeing is just beginning to make itself seriously felt as a manly sport in the United States, and its field is such a large one that racing can never expect to occupy more than a small corner lot.
In England canoeing has suffered in popular favor by reason of a few men building special racing canoes with most perfect gear and quietly sweeping the field at every opportunity. Many have been discouraged from it by the idea of its being a most complicated and intricate science to master, as it is when looked at through a modern Pearl or Nautilus canoe. In this country, with its endless water ways of great variety of character, canoeing takes on too many pleasing and simple forms to be neglected from the fear of too great complexity.
If the reader of these pages carries away with him the idea that canoeing is too much for him to master, then the object for which the book was written will not have been accomplished-namely, the giving an idea of what the canoe is, in how many ways it can afford pleasure and profit, how simple and again how complex it may be made, according to the whim of the party interested.
The simpler canoes and limited uses to which they are put need but little explanation to make them clear, and therefore this part of the subject does not occupy as much space as the description of the managing of more complex varieties and their gears. The majority of the present canoe owners want to know something more about sailing-if they do not already: feel that they know it all. It is not because the larger canoes and sailing are more important or should be taken up to the exclusion of paddling and cruising that they are described at some length, but because it takes more space to illustrate their points.
The handling of a canoe on a cruise is simple in theory. Decision and judgment are needed to cruise successfully, and these qualities can be acquired by experience in great measure. The numerous accounts of cruises available to every reader will give good ideas of the obstacles likely to be met with and the methods employed to make cruising pleasurable and healthful. The best methods of camping out can
138 • 139
Dress.
also be got at from cruising records and such excellent works as "Woodcraft." Every well-organized canoeist should know something about camping out, and especially cooking. MacGregor, in his records of the Rob Roy, gives lists of the things he carries with him on a cruise, as do most canoeing authors who have written up accounts of their voyages. Your cargo for cruising depends very largely upon the country you are cruising through and the climate; the distance between supply stations, and whether the canoe is likely to be portaged or not.
Dress. KNICKERBOCKERS are now much worn for walking and bicycling tours, and are very convenient and comfortable for canoeing. Slippers or very light shoes should be worn when in the canoe, so as not to injure the light planking when moving about. Canvas slippers with rubber soles have proved serviceable; though perhaps a good broad-soled leather shoe, with low heels, or none at all, cannot be improved upon. The flannel shirt is so universally worn for all kinds of outings that perhaps it is unnecessary to mention it. Use woolen garments next the skin, not cotton; they are more comfortable and safe, when you are likely to get wet at any time, and it is impossible to be constantly changing one's clothing. When cruising, always carry one complete extra set of clothing, so that you can put on dry things when it is necessary. A suit of oilskins such as sailors wear are useful for rainy weather cruising and for rough water rapid running. They occupy some room when not in use, and for this reason are frequently omitted from the canoeist's list. The long cruisers are about equally divided as to their usefulness. A soft hat is desirable, made as light as possible. A sort of helmet hat without stiffening is quite popular. It should be ventilated by a false rim around the head, allowing a free circulation of air, or by holes in the sides or top. Black is warmer than any other color. A light colored hat soon gets soiled. A neutral color is best. The soft hammock hats now made, gray in color, are very good for ordinary wear. They are perhaps as good as any for both canoe and shore wear. Two hats are unnecessary.
Most of the canoe clubs have designed and the members now wear a club uniform on all state occasions, at regattas, the annual and local meets, etc. It is desirable that the uniform should be quiet enough in color and design to be worn on shore, even away from the canoe. The Norfolk jacket, knickerbockers, dark stockings and low shoes make up the dress now pretty widely considered the most available, with any quiet, neat hat that may be chosen.
The End of the Rope. MR. C.H. FARNHAM is a veteran cruising canoeist, the inventor of many devices for economizing space and giving comfort, and one who has made a special study of every part of the canoe and her cargo from a cruising point of view.
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Canoe Handling.
The following extract is from a short magazine article by him, giving the history of his canoe Allegro -- the original Alden-Everson Shadow, in which he cruised every summer for six years before he parted with her for a canoe better meeting his educated requirements and one that he designed and superintended the building of himself.
"* * * The keel and sternpost were soon cut off to make the Allegro manageable on the rapids, and she was henceforth steered with the paddle. These paddles have increased gradually in length from seven feet to eleven -- the one now used."During two or three years she served as a bed; but a small muslin tent, oiled, now gives me more comfortable quarters during her cruises, lasting from three to five months each. The clothes, provisions, photographic apparatus, etc., have always been carried in oiled-canvas bags.
"The cushion-mattress-life preserver has been described in the Canoeist, also the down bed, shaped, when buttoned up, like a bag, and the telescoping apron. These three articles are the only parts of the kit that give me perfect satisfaction.
"Experience leads me more and more to seek lightness, compactness and simplicity in everything connected with canoeing; but the necessity of safety and comfort also increases.
"When you travel all of every summer, your living must be made comfortable and be enjoyable; and when you make and break Camp, 'carry,' and handle over and over your entire outfit, every article is weighed over and over again, and many are found wanting on the next cruise. I have thus reached a pretty satisfactory understanding with my outfit.
"But the sail, keel (the Allegro is built with a flat keel, and has a deep adjustable keel which is held in place by screws through the keelson), rudder, and such appurtenances are still the most annoying features of my cruise. These bulky and heavy articles irritate me; their weight and the drag of the keel and rudder retard the boat very perceptibly, and they fail to give any help on very many days of a cruise, even in large waters. I am generally more lighthearted when free from their burden. But, on the other hand, they do give great enjoyment, and even increase the ability of the canoe to escape in a storm.
"I find but one satisfactory solution -- to follow the charming inland routes, where, on lakes, rivers and rapids, you have all needed variety of scenery and activity, where you enjoy a compact outfit and a light, easygoing canoe, and where you are perfectly satisfied with the paddle alone."
Some of us like the keel and sail, and prefer the open waters of the bay and sound to the "charming inland routes." Thus it is that
"Talents differ,
All is well and wisely put.
If I cannot carry canoes on my back,
Neither can you sail the Dot.""Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," so saith the seer. Had he been a canoeist he might truly have said that it is the price of safety in a canoe. Perhaps the slight flavor of risk attendant on canoeing is an added charm. The Saxon race has always had the reputation of enjoying sports with some slight danger in them. This factor is no greater in canoeing than in rowing, bicycling and yachting, and therefore should deter no one who can swim. Foolhardy trips and exploits are possible of course; but moderate canoeing done intelligently is so nearly free from risk that it may well be considered one of the safest, as it is one of the most enjoyable sports yet devised by the fertile brain of man. Try it!
THE [ROPES] END.
© 2000 Craig O'Donnell
May not be reproduced without my permission.
