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Some helpful hints when choosing a canoe Canoes are designed for a wide variety of uses from the recreational paddler to the racing enthusiast. The lines or shape of the craft, construction material, length and weight are all important in choosing the canoe that's best for you. The kind of canoe you choose really depends on the philosophy you have toward canoeing in general. The main concern of most paddlers today is cost and durability of the canoe. These are definitely legitimate concerns however performance and aesthetics can be very important as well. Canoe Form and Function Lines of the canoe Length and width Construction material Birch bark Cedar strip Cedar canvas Wood strip epoxy Aluminum Fiberglas Kevlar ABS (Royalex) Polyethylene Canoe Form and Function Lines of the canoe The lines of the craft really mean the overall shape of the canoe. To a large degree the shape will determine how the canoe handles in the water. A narrow canoe will cut through the water faster than a wide beam canoe, while a canoe with a straight flat bottom will add speed to your paddling. The ability to turn depends on the amount of rocker exhibited by the canoe. Rocker is the amount of curvature along the keel line of the canoe from one end to the other. Canoes with a lot of rocker are very manoeuvrable in fast water however they track poorly on flat water. The bottom shape of the canoe as viewed end-on will determine both stability and speed of the craft. A canoe with a flat bottom while being the most stable on flatwater will be somewhat sluggish to paddle. Faster canoes are rounded on the bottom but as I can attest to myself, are quite tippy. It takes a lot of experience in the best racing canoes to overcome a very realistic fear of taking an unwanted swim. The shapes of the sides of the canoe will determine ease of paddling and seaworthiness of the boat. Canoes with a lot of recurve to the sides are most efficient as the paddle can be brought closer to the keel line. The recurved sides, or 'tumblehome' can be a disadvantage in rough water as water can be deflected into the canoe. Flared sides on a canoe act to deflect water from craft. However, paddling with flared sides is not as efficient and a canoe flared through the center section can be difficult to paddle solo. Straight sided canoes offer a feeling of predictability as the boat is leaned over. They offer more secondary stability, (the stability of the boat as it leaves a level position), than a craft with tumblehome. A canoe with flared sides has the best secondary stability.A combination of these qualities along the canoes length can be used for different reasons. Top Length and width The length of the canoe in general will determine the speed of the craft. Generally, the longer the canoe, the faster it will go. However, the speed of the canoe will also depend on the weight and the lines of the canoe. Canoe length will also determine the carrying capacity and handling of the canoe. In general shorter canoes will turn more easily than shorter canoes. Wider canoes are more stable than a narrow ones however, again speed is sacrificed for stability and turning ease. A wider canoe will have more carrying capacity which is a feature that must be considered if the canoe is intended for tripping. Canoe width and shape are intricately linked. The stability of the canoe is determined by the shape of waterline width of the canoe as it sits in calm water. Top Construction material Construction material of the canoe will determine a great many features of the craft and will be a major consideration when choosing the right boat. Weight, durability, speed, aesthetics and cost are all determined by the material used. Every material has both its advantages and disadvantages, so in the end the choice is largely dependent on the intended use of the canoe and the amount of money one is willing to shell out. Top Birch - bark While it is still possible to buy this most traditional of canoes, the birch-bark canoe is really a craft that only a died in the wool canoe fanatic would own. Although extremely aesthetic, they are expensive and not nearly as durable as the canoes constructed of more modern materials. Although very beautiful, not the most practical. Top Cedar-strip Next to the birch-bark canoe, the cedar-strip is probably the most pleasing to traditionalist. Made entirely of wood, the cedar-strip canoe is constructed of a rib frame covered with thin strips of cedar. As the birch-bark, these craft are beautiful yet expensive. A nice feature of the cedar strip is that when injured they are relatively easy to repair. As opposed to the wood canvas canoe, the cedar-strip canoe maintains the traditional look of wood. An outer coat of varnish or polyurethane provides a sealant and protectant for these elegant craft. Aesthetic in all aspects, these canoes built at the hands of skilled craftsmen are expensive and not something you would attempt to navigate down a rock-strewn waterway. Top Cedar-canvas Made famous by the Chestnut and Peterborough Canoe Companies, the cedar-canvas canoe is still hand-crafted by a small number of manufacturers. The Chestnut 'prospector' was the canoe of choice by the late Bill Mason. Although frightfully expensive, the wood-canvas canoe has a long-standing tradition in Canada. Built of beautiful lines, the cedar-canvas canoe is a pleasure to paddle. Although not as durable as the modern synthetics, they are easily repaired if damaged. They are more durable than they look. The cedar-canvas canoe, pleasing to the eye, performs well in the water but somewhat expensive. Top Wood-strip epoxy The cedar-strip epoxy canoes are similar to a cedar-strip without the ribs. Made over a form, the strips of cedar are nailed and glued into place. The nails are removed and the entire canoe is covered with fiberglas cloth and polyester or epoxy resin. The result is a light, beautiful craft, and much stronger than most people think. These canoes are moderately expensive but not as costly as the cedar-strip or wood-canvas canoe. The advantage of this canoe is the light weight, they are moderately durable and they are nice to look at. Expense and lack of durability may be a factor in not choosing the wood-strip epoxy design. These canoes are very rigid so they don't bend and flow with the contours of the water as a more flexible craft does. Many floodwater races have been won in these canoes due to their light weight and rigidity. Top Aluminum Aluminum canoes are easy to manufacture, a feature that has allowed these canoes to find their place in the market at a relatively low cost. The half shells of the canoe are heated before being riveted together making the aluminium about 35% stronger than the original sheets. The aluminium canoe was pioneered by Grumman and responsible for the advent of canoeing as a whitewater sport. Aluminium canoes are noisy to paddle, each and every bump reverberating off the hull which can interfere with the intent of enjoying the sights and sounds of nature. they are heavy making them the last choice of things to carry on a portage and they do not slide over rocks easily. For the connoisseur, they have little aesthetic appeal. On the plus side, the aluminium canoe is relatively low cost, safe in terms of stability and will last forever, but not without its share of dents and scratches. Top Fiberglas The fiberglas canoe is a product of World War II research. These canoes emerged at a time when there was a resurgence in an interest in the outdoors. Recreation oriented families could enjoy a canoe at a low cost relative to most other makes of canoes. Fiberglas construction can take a variety of forms leading to many different qualities of canoe in terms of weight, strength and durability. The two most common methods of construction are "chopper gun" and "hand lay-up". In the less expensive chopper-gun, a mixture of short glass fibbers and resin are sprayed into a meld. The result is a heavy, cheap and fragile canoe. The worst canoes are built this way. The tell-tale is the matrix of chopped fibbers inside the hull. In hand lay-up construction the fiberglas cloth is laid into the meld by hand and saturated with resin and then squeezed dry. The cloth gridwork can be seen on the inside walls of the boat. Many good fiberglas and Kevlar canoes are built this way. What fiberglas canoes lose n aesthetics, lightweight and strength, they make up for in their low cost. The fiberglas canoe caters to the weekend recreational canoeist or fisherman. The standard fiberglas doesn't perform exceptionally well in the water and can be a burden to portage. Top Kevlar Pound for pound, Kevlar is five times as strong as steel. The Kevlar canoe is lighter and stronger than a canoe made from any other widely used material. A quality 16 1/2 foot Kevlar weighs about 45 pounds, as opposed to about 72 pounds for one made of ABS or aluminium. Kevlar is a golden-yellow fiber developed by Dupont in the late 1960's to replace steel cord used in aircraft tires. A similar technique is used to make Kevlar canoes as fiberglas. However, Kevlar is much more difficult to work with and more expensive than fiberglas. The result is a canoe that is two to three times more expensive than fiberglas. The great advantage to be enjoyed in a Kevlar canoe is the lightweight and durability. Top ABS (Royalex) ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) is a modern plastic used in a sandwich method of construction to make canoes. It was first offered to the canoe industry by the Uniroyal tire company, hence the name Royalex. Royalex is a thermoplastic laminate with an approximate half inch thickness plastic foam core. The inner foam core in sandwiched between two to three layers of ABS plastic and covered with a final layer of vinyl. The ABS canoe is unusually durable, rigid and reasonably light. These slippery canoes slide over rocks that would stop an Aluminium in its tracks. An ABS canoe wrapped around a rock will bounce back to its original shape with merely a few wrinkles.Although extremely impact resistant, ABS can only withstand limited abrasion. Continual dragging over sharp rocks will reduce the outer vinyl skin to a series of deep cuts. The ABA canoe is the favourite of whitewater daredevils. Top Polyethylene The polyethylene canoe was made famous by the Coleman company when they found that by adding ribs, struts, and an inner keel of aluminium this bleach-jug material could be strengthened enough to paddle. Polyethylene is tough, resists impact and has a memory so the canoe will bounce back to its original shape when distorted. The Old Town company has found a way to make the material extremely rigid by sandwiching two layers of crosslinked polyethylene foam between a three-eights thickness of expanded polyethylene foam. This revolutionary canoe has been crushed against a wall with a truck in reverse and bounced back to its original shape. Polyethylene is more flexible than ABA therefore easier to handle in shallow water and rock gardens. No single canoe has everything you could want. Aesthetics may be sacrificed for durability, durability and speed may be sacrificed for low cost. Before making a purchase, decide what you really want. If you are inflicted with an eye for beauty, the more traditional designs are for you. If you are looking for a craft to take your family to the lake in a couple of times a year, then the low cost fiberglas or aluminium canoe will be practical. Although no canoe has everything, according to the late Bill Mason, canoeing guru extraordinare, a canoe molded from a Chestnut prospector in Kevlar trimmed with wood gunwales and thwarts comes the closest. Although Kevlar and Royalex are the most advance materials now, they are not likely the last word in canoe materials. Plastics have been developed that are lighter and stronger than Kevlar too difficult and expensive to work with. undoubtedly, in time a new miracle material will emerge in the bid to make a lighter, stronger and faster canoe. Top