Let’s Go !

By CLIFF JACOBSON Illustrations by RON FINGER

magine what it would be like to go back in time and see Minnesota the way it was 200 Iyears ago. Th ere would be no paved roads, no cars, no radios or TVs. No big shopping malls or apartment buildings. But you might get a close-up look at deer, black bears, coyotes, foxes, and great blue herons. Well, you don’t have to pretend, if you have a . A canoe trip down a Minnesota river is like stepping back in time. Trees along shore hide most homes and businesses. Everything looks natural, just like it did centuries ago. can go where powerboats can’t. Th ey can travel along shallow streams and swampy backwaters. Th ey can glide through the big blue lakes of Minnesota’s famous Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Skilled canoeists can safely windy lakes and powerful rapids too. I’ve even paddled my canoe on the ocean. 42 Minnesota Conservation Volunteer May–June 2004 43 you put down your paddle and lie back in the canoe, just to watch the puffy clouds float by A Day and feel the wind in your hair. Around the bend you spot a on the River dappled fawn standing ankle-deep in water near shore. The deer freezes ou and your dad rent a Your dad’s friend will drive the car and looks straight at you. Suddenly, 17-foot-long canoe. To- to the “take-out”—the place where it turns and dashes into the forest. Ygether you tie it upside you want to end your trip—so you A dozen bends later, you stop for down to the top of your car, then won’t have to paddle back upstream. lunch on a sandbar. You swim and drive to a river. When you get there, You’ll be floating with the current all fish. Then you nap on the sand, bask- your dad unties the canoe and car- the way. Dad says the river has some ing like a turtle in the sun. After- ries it to the water. You bring the small rapids, or riffles. So get ready ward, you pick up your trash and put picnic lunch and canoeing gear— for fun. it into the canoe. Then you and your three (an extra in case one The first few minutes you paddle dad drift down to the take-out point breaks), two PFDs (life jackets), and hard, and the canoe zooms along. It and your awaiting car. a waterproof pack that contains rain feels good to stretch your muscles. It has been a great day. Just you suits, sweaters, and change of clothes Then, as the day warms up, you slow two, the cool green river, and the (in case you tip over). to an easy, all-day pace. Occasionally, magic of your canoe.

44 Minnesota Conservation Volunteer May–June 2004 45 Canoeing Basics Choose a paddle. nyone can paddle a canoe, but not everyone can paddle one well. For a good fit, find a paddle Training and practice will make you a pro. that comes 1 to 2 inches be- low your chin when you are A To look good the fi rst time you step into a canoe, follow these rules: standing next to it. Wear your life jacket. Not wearing a life jacket—or wearing one that is unfastened— is dangerous.

Gunwale shaft Deck Thwart

Seat

Stern (rear) Bow (front) blade

Hull Hold the paddle right. Float the boat. Center your weight. Wrap your upper hand over the Be sure the canoe is completely To board the canoe, put one top grip. Place your lower hand floating before you climb into it. hand on each gunwale, crouch about a foot above the point Do not climb into or sit in any down, and step in. Keep your where the blade meets the shaft. canoe that is on land, unless it is weight in the center of the “Choking” the paddle close to the completely supported by soft sand canoe. If you step off to one blade makes you work harder. or grass. Even then, you should side, you might overturn, or ask permission. capsize, the canoe.

46 Minnesota Conservation Volunteer May–June 2004 47 How to Paddle Draw. Keep experimenting. Reach out to xpert canoeists use a lot of diff erent paddle strokes. You might wonder the side and scoop water toward the how you could learn all of them, let alone remember them. Fact is, canoe. The canoe will move toward Ethere are only about 12 canoe strokes. Th ere appear to be more because your hand. experts oft en “reverse” and combine strokes. Figuring out the strokes is like Pry. learning math: Once you know how to use small numbers, you can move on Now, push your hand away from the to bigger ones. canoe. The canoe will move away You’ll learn fast and avoid confusion from your hand. if you practice by using one hand as a paddle and observe how the canoe reacts. If you change the direction of your Climb aboard. stroke, or the angle of your hand, the Set the canoe in 6 to 12 inches of calm canoe will move diff erently. You’ll water. You’ll need some cushioned discover that you can make the canoe pads for your knees. Be sure to wear go in any direction you want with just your life jacket. An adult—who is one hand—and without a partner. also wearing a life jacket—must be Once you get the hang of hand standing by. , move on to a real paddle. Climb into the canoe alone and kneel A canoe paddle is simply a powerful just behind the center thwart (yoke). The thwart should nearly touch extension of your hand. your chest. Forward paddle. The Hut. The Minnesota on opposite sides of the canoe. Now, scoot to one side of the canoe. Switch (sometimes called the hut When the canoe begins to turn Put your hand (the one nearest the stroke) is one of the fi rst strokes off course, the stern person (the side of the canoe) in the water and dog you’ll want to learn. It is very pow- person in back) calls “Hut!” and paddle forward. Notice that the canoe erful and effi cient. It is the best you both change paddling sides goes forward and slowly turns away stroke to use when you are racing at the same time. (Switch hand from your hand. Keep dog paddling or canoeing into a headwind. positions too, so the opposite one until the canoe goes around in a circle. Procedure: You and your is at the top of the paddle.) This partner paddle forward together corrects the course of the canoe.

Back paddle. Now, reverse your hand and paddle backwards.

48 May–June 2004 49 Kinds of Canoes and Canoeing Touring canoes. These range from fast lake cruisers to husky but slow “trippers” that can carry heavy loads through big rapids. If you want an all- round canoe, a touring canoe is the way to go.

CLIFF JACOBSON Whitewater canoes. Your aunt is an experienced whitewater (rapids) paddler. She plans to take you after you have mastered the basic canoeing strokes. You have learned your strokes and are ready. It’s late May, and the water is cold, so you take precautions. You wear fleece clothing and a waterproof paddling suit to protect you from chilling if you capsize. Your life jacket and helmet are specially designed for running rapids. All set and away you go. You are paddling bow in a CLIFF JACOBSON 15-foot Royalex whitewater canoe. As your aunt instructed you, you yell out when you see rocks. Ahead you see foot-high dancing waves, called horse tails, that Racing canoes. Race time on the Rum River. Sixty canoes are mark the start of a deep, safe rapid. Your heart thumps. lined up, eager to go. You admire the sleek 181/2 foot racing canoe You have never seen such big waves. nearby, which is much faster than your aluminum canoe. No matter: The canoe rides the rapid like a bucking bronco. First, You’re paddling in the “aluminum” class and other aluminum canoes are the bow buries into a wave and you get soaked from your only competition. spray, then the boat leaps toward the sky. The gun fires, and you and your Up and down, like a roller coaster. But unlike a mom take off. You stroke hard carnival ride, you and your aunt are in control. What a with your paddle. After about five rush! strokes, your mom calls, “Hut!”— the signal for you two to switch paddle sides. Five more strokes Freestyle canoes. This is like figure skating in a canoe that and you Hut! again. Soon, you are weighs barely 30 pounds. Freestyle canoes can be spun like a top. They neck and neck with the leading feel tippy until you get used to them. Some small Freestyle canoes are

aluminum canoe in your class. You the perfect size for kids. CLIFF JACOBSON zoom past the finish line, winning by a yard. Proudly, you accept the trophy and $30. “We’re eating out tonight,” booms Mom. “And maybe next year, we’ll get a real racing canoe.” BRUCE ADELSMAN

50 Minnesota Conservation Volunteer May–June 2004 5 Light, Fast, Tough, or Stable American Canoe Association: www.acanet.org Minnesota Canoe Association: www.canoe-.org ome canoes are aluminum. rock-steady on the water might capsize Northwest Canoe Company, St. Paul: www.northwestcanoe.com Others are plastic (Royalex if you lean out too far. Better to choose online Sand polyethylene), Kevlar, a round-bottomed canoe that feels fi ber glass, or wood. Some canoes tippy at fi rst but “fi rms up” as you lean. are infl atable. Some fold to fi t into Although a keel (a fi nlike piece on Learn More a car trunk. Each kind of canoe has the bottom of the boat) will help keep innesota has more than rental Minnesota” on a computer advantages and disadvantages. a canoe on course, it can catch on 10,000 lakes, and you can search engine. Shape is more important than rocks and capsize the canoe. Good Mcanoe on any one. Min- Always try a canoe before you buy material, because shape determines canoes don’t have keels. Th ey rely on nesota is also blessed with thousands it. Stores such as Midwest Mountain- how the canoe moves. No single canoe good design to stay on course. of miles of rivers and streams. Th e eering, REI, and Hoigaard’s bring design can do everything well. For First, choose a canoe shape that Boundary Waters off ers 1 million canoes to city lakes for potential example, long, skinny canoes go fast, meets your needs. Th en, consider acres of canoeing wilderness. For buyers to try. but they don’t turn well. Th ey’re good how the canoe is built. For example, more than 100 lake and river trips, For information on popular canoe for lake travel. Short, stubby canoes if you want a fast, lightweight canoe check out Paddling Minnesota, by routes, rentals, and more, contact the are easy to handle but slow. Th ey’re for cruising big lakes in the Bounda- Greg Breining. DNR Information Center, listed on good for rivers. ry Waters, Kevlar and carbon-fi ber page 61. A fl at-bottomed canoe that feels materials (composites) are the way Get a canoe to go. But they are expensive and Some state parks, county or city Study the strokes Cliff Jacobson, Hastings, is a canoe- easily damaged by rocks. Royalex, parks, and nature centers rent You might want to join the Minne- ing and camping guide with 50 years poly ethylene, and old-fashioned canoes. To fi nd a canoe-rental store sota Canoe Association and attend of paddling experience. He teaches aluminum are much cheaper, heavier, near you, or close to the place you its free paddling clinics (see Online, and writes about outdoor skills. and more durable. want to canoe, just type in “canoe above). Or pick up a book: Basic Essentials Canoeing, by Cliff Jacobson, is small Are cooler than canoes? and easy to read. Fieldbook, from No. They’re just different. the Boy Scouts of America, has a The Inuits (Eskimos) invented canoeing chapter that teaches basic kayaks for ocean travel; Ameri- can Indians developed canoes strokes. Paddle Your Own Canoe, by for use on small lakes and riv- Gary and Joanie McGuffi n, includes ers, like the ones in Minnesota. beautiful pictures and illustrations. Canoes can hold more gear If you’ve read this far, you have than kayaks can, and they are the canoeing bug. So, begin bugging easier to (carry). You your parents or a grown-up friend might say that canoes are like pickup trucks, while kayaks are to take you canoeing. When they see like sports cars. how much fun canoeing is, they’ll be hooked too. nV

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