AFTER my short run on the river I decided that it was probably a good idea to get some sense of what would happen if I accidentally capsized. If you turn the sound on you can hear me taking a moment to speak with the Lord during my first attempt here.
Honestly, the number on thing that freaks me out about canoeing is the self rescue situation. What happens if I capsize a mile from shore in the middle of an ice cold lake? Obviously immersion gear is a must if water temps are really cold, but you still have to have a reliable strategy for getting back in the boat and paddling to shore, possibly in rough and windy conditions.
For my pack Canoes I have developed a flotation strategy and self rescue system that works well IF you take the time to actually practice it, but full-size Canoes are still a mystery to me so I spent an afternoon with different gear loads and different size float bags, practicing solo reentry.
I’m sure that my technique is going to continue to improve a lot so there’s no reason to discuss that yet but what was really interesting to me was to see the huge differences in ease of re-entry and paddle-ability with different float bags and different loads.
With the 42 inch long NRS bags in each end, the canoe sat low in the water so it was easier to climb into but I immediately capsized in the opposite direction. It was actually fairly stable once I got situated but paddling it was almost impossible.
With a 57 inch bag in the front and a 42 inch bag in the rear (what you see here) I was able to get back in on my first try but the canoe was sluggish to paddle and very tippy.
With the same float bags but also a 60 L dry bag loaded with 40 pounds of gear behind me, this gave me the easiest reentry and best stability. The paddling was also sluggish but doable.
With 57 inch bags in both ends the canoe floated nice and high, but that also made it harder to get on top of. Paddling was also sluggish but doable.
So lots of interesting information here but as always the real question is can you do it when you’re exhausted in 40° water 20 mph winds and 2 foot chop. I’ll have to try that next.
___
This post was originally featured on our Instagram feed.
See the original post and discussion here.
