Canoeing 101

When people decide to try out a new sport, beginners are advised to take classes to learn everything there is to know about the game. The same goes with canoeing since safety is important and will enable the person to appreciate this outdoor leisure activity.

Most classes are offered near water resorts situated by the lake or river. An instructor will do the briefing on land before anyone is allowed to sit inside the boat.

Canoeing involves the use of the muscles in the upper body more than anything else since paddling will be the only way to get it to move. It would be a good idea to learn the proper stretching exercises to be able to loosen up tightened muscles.

The person has to remember that even the more experienced canoeing enthusiasts get tired. The only way to perform better next time is by doing it regularly in order to build up one's endurance.

A checklist is given so that the person is able to inspect the condition of the canoe. If everything is fine then it can be boarded.

There is a proper way of sitting in a canoe. The buttocks must be firmly flat on the seat and there shouldn't be that much movement to prevent it from capsizing. The lower back will hurt after a period of time so it is best to stretch from time to time or get something that will act as a cushion.

The next lesson will be how to hold a paddle. You should always have a firm grip to be able to make the canoe go in a certain direction. There are those who do it the wrong way and end up going in circles.

The good part about all this is the instructor is seated at the back of the canoe to check up on you. This is much better than fending for oneself against the current.

After learning the basics of canoeing, you will be able to do this solo or bring some friends along. It would be a good idea to read up on the subject because the conditions experienced are different from the river to the ocean.

Those who are tired of renting may eventually be happy buying one from the store so it can be properly taken care of and used whenever there is time.

Canoe Your Way To An Unforgettable Experience

Canoeing is one of the best ways to spend some of your free time. This perhaps is one of the few wonderful activities that you can enjoy by yourself or with friends and family. Another thing is that canoeing is so versatile in charm and experience that the young and old alike can enjoy it. These are some of the many fantastic reasons why canoeing should be part of any getaway agenda.

The experience that canoeing brings is always new and unique whether you are a beginner or pro. You can never have enough of this amazing sport. You won't run out of new places to visit and try canoeing because you can choose to course through well planned tourist destinations or cruise gently down stream off the beaten path.

To further enhance your canoeing experience you can also take advantage of pre arranged themed trips or create and organize your own expeditions. Some canoeing outfitters have wonderful canoeing agendas that one can take advantage of. These themed canoeing tours are a wonderful way to get even more out of the already remarkable experience of just charting your way through water paths framed by spectacular views.

If you look and ask around, you will find that there are unique canoeing tours designed for special interests groups and you can opt to try some if not all of these brilliant expeditions. For instance if you are looking to find other individuals who share your passion for adventure and the outdoors, you can join special trips that cater to singles.

If food is your passion, glide downstream with a renowned chef who will bring you and the rest of the group through an awe inspiring journey of sights combined with gastronomical feasts.

However, you don't have to enjoy the scenery solely during the daytime. Take advantage of canoeing tours for stargazing. This type of trip is truly romantic as you and the rest of the group witness numerous falling stars from a canopy of heavenly bodies above and around you as reflected on the water surface. This cosmic experience is one that shouldn't be missed.

Whatever your needs or fancy, there is sure to be an extraordinary canoeing trip designed specifically for you that's yours for the taking. So get out there and enjoy the sights, sounds and company that canoeing has to offer.

Martial Arts Of Canoeing

Believe it or not, the practice of paddling a canoe has been linked to one of China's age old martial arts: Tai Chi. Concepts behind the gentle flowing martial arts can be applied to the way canoeists put their paddle into the water and how they tackle the surface to produce fluid, efficient strokes.

Not that I'm saying that people should learn Tai Chi before they start to learn the basics of canoeing. It's just that, some practitioners of the martial arts as well as the water sport have found out that studying the two totally separate activities have, surprisingly, deep connections with each other and complements each other.

Tai Chi exercises have been found to be an effective means of developing muscles and practicing movements essential for paddling a canoe. But like I mentioned earlier, you don't need to learn the martial arts to learn the skills involved in canoeing.

Regardless, there are a couple of things that you need to learn when paddling a canoe.

Keep your center of gravity as low as possible. In canoeing, the right posture will bring better results. The stability of our body will flow down to the canoe. When you want to use power strokes, it is best that you keep your arms and hands in front of the shoulder plane. Keep the front of the shoulders and your arms and hands aligned together to prevent injuries to your shoulders.

If you want to move faster it is essential that you maintain the stability of the boat. If you go rushing in, all you will produce is big splashes and less movement. To move faster in a canoe, avoid major side-to-side movements of the boat and bobbing the boat's bow and stern. Keep it calm. You'll find that moving calmly over the water results in a better speed.

Handling a canoe can be very tricky and at times quite difficult. Take for instance turning the canoe. The best possible way to turn a canoe in a direction is by executing sweep strokes. An effective sweep stroke involves having a horizontal paddle with the actual sweep starting at 90 degrees out. You then pull back all the way to stern if you're turning at the stern. Going to as much as 180 degrees to make a sweep is already counterproductive.

There are other techniques when you use the paddle, either you complement your canoeing skills by learning Tai Chi or practice with just that, it doesn't really matter. As long you're dedicated in learning the basics and practicing the correct form all the type, being an excellent canoeist is just around the water bend.

Canoe Safety

During the times that we are in the mood for a little boating at summer camp there was always one tool for transportation that almost never let us down. We are very much familiar with it because of all the time we tried to earn that scout badge for rowing it the best.

This little banana shaped contraption has also saved countless lives in and out of the river when there were emergencies. What am I talking about? I'm talking about the canoe or the kayak. Whatever you call it you can say that it has come a long way.

But before you indulge into this tempting sport, make sure that you pay attention to one thing that matters mostsafety. Safety is one of the most important things to remember in any aspect of life. We never know when we will get in an accident.

And the most number of fatal accidents actually happen inside the house, but it still doesn't discount the possibility of getting into one in our everyday affairs. Being in the wilderness, we should take extra precaution because there may be no one to help you when you get into a bind.

When on a trip, especially one that involves activities that are especially dangerous, we should always be aware of our own movements, surroundings, and other people. When on a canoe trip be reminded that safety always comes first.

Safety is actually the most important part and the most important consideration of planning any trip. You can't have a enjoyable time when there is someone that is injured. The leader of the trip and other organizers should always be ready for emergencies of any kind, be it on land or water.

The group should know where the stream is heading in relation to the surrounding towns, locations of the nearest telephones and the site for medical assistance that is most accessible to them. And most importantly, the group should know the stream itself, it wouldn't hurt if the group knew the stream exactly and every hazard that it presents.

When the day of the trip comes, one of the organizers or the leader of the canoeists himself needs to check the stream level and the strength of the current. They should also check the local weather report to know what kind of weather they will be expecting.

They should also take their time in discussing safety techniques and the appearance of potential hazards with all canoeists being present so everyone will know exactly how to react when the danger presents itself to the group. Safety techniques are simple and basic, but it is quite important especially to larger groups where they tend to act individually when faced with danger.

Some of the safety reminders that a canoeist should know:

- Never go to the stream and try to canoe alone, this is because there is no one to inform the local authorities of your condition just in case you get into trouble.

- Stay away from streams that are flooded and have unpredictable current strengths, these streams are too dangerous even for Olympians.

- Always wear a life jacket when out in the stream, it can literally save your life.

And A One, Two, Three, Stroke!

Paddling a canoe can be easy but it takes constant practice to be good at it. If you're navigating flat waters, you might actually find it quite easy and fun since you're mostly going forward and backwards. The only thing that you need to worry about are aching arm muscles the next day. But when waves, wind and rapids come into play, then your knowledge of paddles strokes will come in very handy.

There are varying paddles strokes and each one is used for specific situations. The right stroke allows the canoe to move through the water in the direction you want it and in a safe manner as well. Basic strokes are often times combined together or are adjusted depending on the canoe paddler. The idea is to be able to handle a canoe as smooth and as efficient, effective, and skillful as possible.

The easiest stroke is the cruising stroke or forward stroke. This is used by the bowman to guide the canoe in a straight direction without turning. To do this stroke, you simply put the paddle blade forward along the side of the canoe, dip it into the water, and draw it back. You need to keep the paddle straight when you draw it back. The same thing is employed for the left paddle blade.

For steering or turning, you will need to master the J-stroke. It is named that way since when done on the port side, the paddler seems to be making a letter J on the water. The stroke starts off like a standard stroke but at the end, the paddle is rotated and pushed away from the canoe. Commonly used by bowmen to maneuver the canoe in reverse while backpaddling or backferrying in white water.

On the other hand, a Superior stroke which is also known as the goon or rudder stroke is used in the stern of the canoe. The stroke uses the other side of the power surface of the paddle to steer the canoe. A small pry is evident at the end of the stroke. This stroke is preferred in rough water and is normally used in white water canoeing.

Another stroke is the pry stroke, which can be used on either side of the canoe. With the pry stroke, the paddle is inserted vertically in the water. Make sure that the power face is outward, and the shaft braced against the gunwale. Then you perform a gentle prying motion to make the canoe move the opposite direction of the paddling side.

It would be best to take lessons from the experts to learn these canoe strokes. Other strokes that you need to master are the push-away stroke, the running pry, the draw stroke, the scull and the reverse scull, the cross-draw stroke, and the sweep.

A Peek Into Various Forms Of Canoeing

Back in the old days canoeing was invented to meet the basic needs of early people for transportation across rivers, streams, marshes and along other waterways. Back then canoeing was the primary and almost only means for long-distance traveling at one part of history all-throughout the entirety of the Amazon Basin, Polynesia and North America among other places where the exact history of canoeing is still undefined and unrecorded.

As a mode of transportation, canoes have almost been extinct and their place taken over by motorboats, airplanes, trains and roads. And with the increasing number of cars in the world there is almost little need for man powered canoes and kayaks, although they still remain as one of the most popular recreational sports and watercrafts in the world.

This much is true due to the existence of a the canoe-based and kayaking like sports that actually uses canoes and kayaks as the main tool for competition. Some of the most famous forms of kayaking and canoe based sports would be water races with man powered boats. There are many forms of water racing that is based on canoeing. Here are some of them:

1. Sprint. This is probably one of the oldest disciplines of canoeing, sprint is also known as canoe racing and as the name suggests it involves several individuals on canoes that have the same goal, and that is to finish the race the fastest.

It is relatively easy when it comes to the requirements and the needs of the sport but the real need lies on the skill and the hard work that is exerted when paddling the canoe.

2. Slalom. Many people consider this as one of the hardest competitions in canoeing because the slalom competition pits each competitor in a grueling descent to the riverbed. This usually happens in white water rapids.
After the opening bell, all of the competitors flush out of the gates and down the rapids of the white water course. They weave the boats through gates placed along the white water line. The fastest time down the course and through the most number of gates wins.

3. Marathon. This refers to a long distance race done mostly in flat water or in the open sea. Flat-water courses are usually on lakes and in marshes and are relatively easy because of the minimal obstacles that you have to tackle. Open sea courses are more demanding and more dangerous because anything could happen.

Though most marathon canoe races are done during the calmer dispositions of the sea, you can never know what really lies ahead. Open watercourses are also more grueling because of the changing tides. Canoe marathons can be considered the world's toughest boat race.