Intro to Canoe Paddling

Written by: Dave Gantz

The joy of paddling a canoe on water was instilled in me at a young age. In fact, some of my first memories involve fishing and paddling with my dad. We would spend evenings, weekends, vacations, and ultimately weeklong remote backcountry trips, navigating across lakes and down rivers in a canoe controlled by nothing other than our own power and skill with a paddle. In fact, I would argue that paddling may be one of the most fulfilling and rewarding physical outdoor activities out there; one that builds awe and appreciation of nature and self.

But of course, I’m not the first person to enjoy paddling. In fact, humans have been paddling in canoes for thousands of years. Native peoples throughout the Americas hand-built canoes from local trees to be used for transportation, hunting and gathering, communicating and trading with partners, and more. Generally speaking, canoes were made from the bark of birch trees or from hollowed out logs.

The advent of steam powered ships, trains, and other mechanical transportation eliminated the need for canoes, but the desire to use canoes purely for recreation remained. As it should! Even in today’s abrasive, busy, and loud world, a paddler can quietly explore and observe large, expansive natural spaces with minimal disturbance to local species and habitats. A paddler can also quickly buzz through steep, narrow canyons that may otherwise be inaccessible to humans.

On one hand, the perceived simplicity of the activity is a major draw for so many of us, like Huck Finn hopping on a raft and floating down the mighty Mississippi; while on the other hand, water is inherently risky and so requires respect. Navigating a vessel on water must be met with skill, knowledge, and focus. So how do you get started?

Let’s start on the shoreline of a lake with the absolute minimum gear needed for a quick float on flat water: 

1. One boat.

2. One lifejacket, aka personal flotation device (PFD) with whistle.

3. One paddle.

4. And a positive mental attitude.

   
   

Today, we’ll limit our focus to canoeing with a single blade paddle: 

1. First step, put on the pfd. 

2. Second step, put the boat in the water. 

3. Third step, get in the boat. 

   
   

The third step, entering and exiting your boat, can be the most challenging part of your whole trip. In the paddling world, this is known as “putting-in” and “taking-out” your canoe. It is a skill best mastered with old shoes and clothes on a warm sunny day. Best practice is to have a friend hold and stabilize your canoe for you while you enter and exit. For a shoreline put-in, you’ll want the canoe perpendicular to the shore with the bow of the boat out in the water. Have your friend sit on the top of the gunwhales/aka gunnels/aka side railings on the stern of the canoe, which is just barely offshore. 

For a dock put-in, have your friend sit low on the dock and reach out across the canoe, so each hand is on each side rail or gunwhale. Once stabilized, the paddler can step into the boat slowly, yet confidently. The goal is to keep your center of gravity as low as possible, step into the middle of the boat, and grab both gunwhales of the boat to keep it stabilized. Stay in this low crouch position with both hands on the rails until you reach your position in the canoe, then simply have a seat!

Once you’re sitting comfortably in the boat, you’re ready to grab your paddle and go! If you are in a tandem aka two-person canoe, the person in the bow (front) seat is usually in charge of watching out for obstacles in front of the boat while also acting as the muscle or engine of the boat. Similar to riding a tandem bicycle, when sitting up front in a canoe, your job is to provide consistent, rhythmic power to pull your vessel along. Think less skill, more grunt. 

Meanwhile the person in the stern (back) of the boat, or a solo paddler sitting in the middle of the canoe, powers the boat forward and also steers the boat. The stern or solo paddler should have both skill and grunt force. But have no fear, even if you’re a solo paddler or find yourself in the stern of a tandem canoe; there are surprisingly only a few essential paddle stroke skills to know. The five most important are: Forward Paddle, Back Paddle, Draw, Pry, and J-stroke. 

The forward paddle is used most often – this is the stroke that moves your boat forward. With one hand gripping the top of the paddle shaft and the other hand holding the paddle just above the blade, reach the paddle forward along the side of the canoe, dip it into the water so the shaft is vertical and the blade is perpendicular to your canoe, then pull the paddle back towards the stern (back) of the canoe. At the end of your stroke, lift the paddle out of the water and repeat. Now you should be gliding forward on the water!

The back paddle is used if you’re in a tight spot and need to back straight out, say for instance you’re in a stream that is too narrow to turn the canoe around. For this stroke, try to reverse the steps of the forward paddle stroke.

Draw and pry strokes are easy and effective ways to move the canoe laterally, or side-to-side, either towards your paddle or away from your paddle. These strokes are fun, easy, and often used by the bow paddler to help the canoe avoid rocks and other obstacles in the water. 

A draw stroke simply draws the boat toward your paddle. This is a great technique to use when you want to pull the canoe up to the side of a dock or navigate quickly around a rock or log in the water. For instance, if you want the boat to go left, you simply reach your paddle out over the left side of the canoe. Be sure the blade is parallel to the canoe, then pull or draw the canoe towards your paddle. With this, you want to visualize the paddle staying still and the canoe moving. 

A pry stroke is similar, but the opposite of a draw stroke. This stroke helps you push the canoe away from your paddle. In this example, you’re again paddling on the left side of the canoe, but you’re trying to turn quickly and laterally to the right. Place the paddle in the water just beside the left side of the canoe with the blade parallel to the canoe and the shaft against the gunwhale. Then use the gunwhale as a fulcrum point and use leverage to push the paddle away from your canoe, which should now be turning to the right.

After you float, drift, and paddle around for a bit in a canoe, you’ll hopefully be having a great time, but you may also notice that it can be tough to keep the boat moving in a straight line. Most folks either end up paddling around in a circle or constantly switching their paddle from the left to the right and back to the left side of the canoe only to end up zigzagging across the water. 

This isn’t a problem at first or for a short, fun paddle on calm water, but as you grow a desire to become a better paddler and go out in more difficult conditions, you’ll want to learn the J-Stroke. For efficiency's sake, the J-stroke is the most important paddle stroke on a canoe. It is used by solo paddlers and stern paddlers. This stroke helps to keep your boat moving in a straight line while keeping your forward momentum. To complete this stroke, you complete a forward stroke yet at the end of the stroke create a J-motion by rotating your grip hand (and the paddle) so your thumb faces downwards as you pry the stern of the boat back on the desired trajectory line. One doesn’t have to know or use the J-stroke...but it sure makes the experience much more enjoyable. 

Now that you’re more familiar with canoeing, it’s time to get out there and try it out! 

This July, Centred Outdoors is teaming up with Stone Valley Recreation Area to offer two interpretive, easy-going paddles around Lake Perez, including history of land use with observation and identification of local flora and fauna. Jason Erdman, Associate Director of Campus Recreation at PSU, will provide some dryland skills instruction and then reinforce with on-water instruction throughout the events. Stay tuned for more information!