Canoes

When you need a canoe there are many options. Many of these options are available on line with shipping options. Others will be right around the corner at a retailer specializing in small paddle craft. Finding the right one can take some trial and error. However, finding the right one goes a long ways towards many happy and successful paddling adventures.

Type of Canoes

Material

Canoes are made out of several different materials and each one has its cost and benefits. Wooden canoes have a classic appeal but usually come at a higher cost in dollars and in weight. While they are beautiful, they are not for everyone. Another common material is aluminum. These too are heavy compared to materials such as Royalex. A newer material in the mix but a very nice material both for durability and weight as it comes in much lighter than some of the other similar material. Fiberglas has been around for a long time and shares the ability for self repair that Royalex has which is a benefit for the handy paddler. It too is a heavier material than Royalex. Kevlar is a popular choice among those really interested in weight as these are the lightest material commonly used.

Advances in plastics have given us a whole new set of inflatable crafts. These give the paddler the ruggedness of a raft, in a boat that has a bit more handling than a standard raft. The down side of these is possibility of air loss and the set up time and the reliance on your pump as even the strongest lungs would tire trying to blown these crafts up to sufficient psi.

Hull Shapes

In addition to the material used to make the canoe, there are different hull configurations that make boats more suited to particular water conditions, loads, and number of passengers. The various manufactures of canoes also have made attempts to provide you with choices based on loads, water types and conditions you want to paddle and explore. Here is list of some canoe manufactures and links to their sites. They have examples of hull configurations and more completely list materials. Also the same canoe will commonly come in several different materials.

Learn to Paddle

States don't require a paddling license and so the general public can just hop in and start paddling. And since it doesn't take much instruction to get out on calm water like a local lake and one can be moving along easily and quickly. However, if the winds pick up or you have unsteady persons in the boat, you might get into a pickle quickly. Learning the basic is a very good first step to avoiding dangerous situations. The basic can also get you into more and more locations that open up increasingly wild adventures. Here are some ideas and resources to learn to paddle as well as basic strokes used in paddling.

Outfit Your Canoe

Once you make the selection of a type of boat you'll need to add some extras to it to give you the best paddling experience. Learn more here.

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