Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/638

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��Popular Science Monthly

��thwart 3 facing the bow. When the wind becomes heavy and almost all one's energy is required to keep the canoe on her course, crawl forward in front of thwart 2. This allows the stern to rise up and, by catching the force of the wind, to act as a weathervane, making the canoe tend to point into the wind of her own effort, releasing all of the paddler's strength for use in making progress forward.

I would not suggest that a canoeist should deliberately start out on a long hike against a heavy wind or with a quartering gale blowing, but weather conditions sometimes change without notice, and this scheme proves mighty help- ful when one does get caught.

With two aboard, use the

canoe bow first, sitting on.

either the seats or the floor

as desired, the heavier person

occupying the after position. ^_^

If weights are about equal, the better paddler should sit aft.

The bow seat is best for a woman when she is one of the crew, as she can paddle and rest, rest and paddle as she sees fit without inter- fering with the management.

In fairly rough water one can run directly ahead of rather high waves without discomfort, if careful not to let the canoe swing from her course and get into the trough. Surprisingly high waves may be run into bow first, if the speed of the canoe is checked enough to reduce plunging the bow under the white caps. A heavy beam wave is bad. It has a tendency to slap against the side and slop aboard. Therefore it is better to hug a windward shore when possible or, if in open water, to make a series of tacks, the same as if sailing, first quartering against and then from the waves.

What has been said in regard to speed reduction when meeting bow waves in open water is still more true when one is running rapids in streams or going through tide rips. In both these latter cases, the water itself and not the form

���Progressive positions of single blade paddle

��of the wave is what advances and, unless the canoe is allowed but just enough speed for steerage way, there will be a strong tendency for the bow to ship water.

In discussing the paddle, emphasis has been placed on the desirability of the separable double blade. There are times, however, when the canoeist will desire to separate it into singles, so a word regard- ing its handling will fit in here.

With two paddlers, each using a single, it is the part of the stern man to keep the course, which may easily be accomplished if both are able to match each other's stroke. Otherwise the rear paddler wastes effort in keeping up his end or retarding his stroke to match the bow paddler's.

With one paddler only, using the single blade, a peculiar stroke is necessary to maintain a straight course without shift- ing the blade from one side of the canoe to the other as shown.

The arrow shows the direction of the stroke while the dotted arrows indicate how the outside edge of the blade is turned as the stroke finishes.

For a little more than one-half the stroke, the blade remains at right angles to the canoe, then the outside edge is brought forward gradually swinging the blade into the last position shown, which swings the canoe in an opposite direction from which the commencement of the stroke points it

As will be seen, the first part of the stroke furnishes the power to send the canoe ahead, the latter portion is devoted to converting the swing of the canoe from, a left hand into a right hand direction, and has very little propelling power. As one becomes more expert, the entire stroke may be taken with just enough angle to the blade to offset the natural swing of the canoe away from the paddle, and one may make the canoe describe a circle, the center of which is on the side on which the paddle is used. The dia- gram illustrates the movements when the paddle is used on the right hand side of the canoe; when the paddle is used on the left side the turning of the blade is reversed.

Before closing this chapter on handling, I want to register a few emphatic "Don'ts." Don't step anywhere but in the center of the floor when entering or leaving the canoe. Don't rest part of your weight

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