Keeping your paddle vertical

A short overview of the key points that impact canoe control as influenced by how vertical you can hold the paddle. This short video is an introduction to the basic principles, not a comprehensive overview of all that's involved. The techniques shown here are based on the style of paddling that originated with the natives of the area of Canada now knows as Ontario and were developed over countless generations of paddlers and builders of birch bark canoes.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• canoeing
• paddling
• Canadian Style
• instruction

[kanuhed]

Cargo doesn't change much and in some ways makes it easier. The closer you can get to the gunnel the easier it is to be efficient and a load helps balance weight of the paddler. The load can be shifted a bit offside and that lets you get closer to the side of the canoe. Straight line paddling is easy but a load impacts ability to turn. Hope that helps.

[watermixtube]

How does one carry cargo using the Canadian style? Presumably you can't heel the boat as dramatically when it's loaded down. Does one simply have to resort to less efficient strokes?