What is best canoe
SHOP Talk: Choose the Right Canoe
hi I'm Andrew with alder Creek kayak
canoe let's talk about canoes so what
are the distinct advantages of a canoe
one is that they're deep they're wide
and stable and they're very very
versatile you can have a number of
different seating positions being able
to move your legs around they're easy to
get in and out of and they're great for
throwing dogs little kids and dropping
big old coolers in so let's look and
figure out what style of canoe might
work best for you a recreational style
canoe tends to be deeper wider and more
flat on the bottom which is really where
you get all your stability if you've got
little ones dogs and like to bring the
whole kitchen sink weekend warrior style
more recreational style canoe might be
great for you
something about 14 to 16 feet is general
we're going to see this even touching up
to 17 feet if you need to bring that
much stuff or have such an army of
people with yet as we move along there
other style of canoes in addition to the
recreational may be a sportsman style
let's check those out now a more
sporting style of canoe is going to be
noted by a couple of features
particularly an increased beam for an
additional stability if you need to
stand up and cast out of your boat high
capacity in case you're hunting out of
it and maybe even a square Stern for
mounting a motor onto now if you do
mount a motor to your boat you will have
to register it like a motor boat outside
the sport in canoes which can run
anywhere from twelve to seventeen
eight-teen feet for huge cargo carriers
we start getting to performance boats so
solo canoes as well as high-performance
touring boats so let's take a look at
some of those all so looking new
generally we'll have just a single seat
in the middle only for one person you
can also add certain things to this boat
if we're doing down river paddling such
as flotation in it and we'll see
different styles of seats through all of
these boats as well advantages of the
solo boat are if it's just me paddling
most of the time that's a great way to
go I can use a kayak paddle with two
blades or canoe paddle with a single
blade as well nothing wrong with that in
addition to solo boats
in the performance realm we've got some
others over here that can be tandem and
solo some votes might actually have
three seats something like this here and
the solo plus is designed to be a tandem
dangering boat or a versatile solo boat
now the great part about canoes is you
can always revamp the whole thing we can
take the seats and the cross members out
moving around and make this boat work
best for us but out of the stock package
there are some things to look for if you
think that you'd like to solo your boat
here are a couple things to keep an eye
out for one is going to be tumblehome to
the shape in the middle of the boat it
brings the gunnels or the lip around the
side of the boat closer to the paddler
keeps us from having to reach further
out over the boat it makes paddling a
lot more comfortable another thing to
look out for something like the aurora
is it you can sit in one seat facing the
back of the boat which brings me closer
to the center we know we see in the
movies a lot
somebody paddling with their phone
squirting out of the water by themselves
but a little bit of breeze and that'll
blow your boat all over the place we
really want to balance or trim these
boats out to be more even in the water
so if you think you might want to powell
solo again maybe with your dog or a
little one look for something that can
allow you to put yourself more towards
the middle of the boat other things
we'll see in performance boats they're
trying to get a little bit narrower
sleeker and therefore faster for touring
and really long-term camping I'm going
to look for something 17 feet and up in
terms of capacity and then to speed to
get me from point A to B if I'm just
going on for a day or two maybe we're at
staying at the campground and paddling
the local pond or lake 14 to 17 feet
generally we'll cover that ground
remember longer boats going to be faster
and generally be able to carry more
stuff so think about who and what you'd
like to bring if you'd like to bring
extra friends and adults make sure to
have them sit nice and low on the bottom
of the boat to lower the center of
gravity rather than sitting up top and
make you all really tippy think about
the space as well
well we could fit four adults in this
boat the two in the middle might be a
little cozy so check with your friends
and make sure that you like each other
just enough for that there are a lot of
different features that you'll see
throughout these canoes now some canoes
have a tractor style or bucket seat as
opposed to our standard webbing or bench
seat a lot of these tractor styles might
afford you the opportunity to even have
a trim adjustable seat this is great for
making more space for packing gear as
well as again keeping that boat even in
the water while we have that in the
front of the boat sometimes we'll see it
in the back more often we'll get in the
stern or the back of the boat is maybe
an adjustable foot brace with this year
I can drive with my legs using my core
and get a lot more drive and power out
of this boat whether again I'm paddling
solo or tandem we like to be as
efficient as possible just have enough
energy at the end of the day to still
enjoy ourselves in addition to different
seat types you might find different
options and materials of gunnels getting
that gonna slip around the outside of
the boat that really keeps us boat from
folding in on itself aluminum is very
popular requires no maintenance and has
a pretty clean sleek look to it if you
really are a sucker for aesthetics you
might look at something with wood
gunnels and if you're like me you're
okay with a small weight gain and doing
a little bit of maintenance each year on
this boat but boy it looks good so maybe
you still would like to solder your boat
is any canoe can be paddled solo if you
still have a thought behind the bow seat
or bucket seats and you can't sit up in
the front face in the back to center
yourself maybe something like a drop in
a seat but just do the trip for you
it just Nestle's right on the sides of
the gulls and again allows me to sit
closer to the center of the boat just
easier to paddle now with the bench
style seat like this whether it be
physically installed or a drop-in you
always have the option of even kneeling
in which case I might not like a nice
kneeling hat to take the pressure off my
knees the advantage here aside from
being able to move around a little bit
more its lowering myself further in the
boat making more contact with it as well
in case it's choppy to give me more
control so to add to the comfort and
versatility of our canoes we can add a
lot of different seat options and a seat
back is a great way to give yourself
some back support as well as a little
bit of cushion something like this is
great that you can even unclip it and
take it with you over to the beach there
are styles of this for both bench style
seats and the bucket or tractor seats so
take a look at what kind of canoe you're
looking for and decide what kind of
extra accessories are going to make your
day just a little bit better depending
on what kind of performance you want out
of your boat if you'd like to be more
maneuverable say if you're paddling down
river or in Swiftwater or if you'd like
it to track or go straight very well for
longer journeys look about look for how
much rocker that boat has rocker is up
sweep at the end of the boat to decide
how much of the boat stays in the water
now a boat with more rocker means less
boats in the water it makes it much more
maneuverable but with less rocker
minimal to no rocker locks in the ends
of the boat and helps that boat track
and be fast remember that your seats
your thoughts and your yokes all serve
individual purposes but they also
provide structure for your boat know
that you can move them replace them and
exchange them but remember to make sure
that you have enough structure to your
boat to support it as it moves through
the water same with your gunnels and
your end caps at the very end also
notice that these small things that look
like thoughts at the ends aren't carry
handles you'll also see some boats with
built-in float tanks some might be large
some might be very small and
pending on the material of your boat it
might have flotation built-in with it
any kind of composite boat fiberglass
kevlar and the carbon will have some
kind of flotation built into the boat
and remember if you have questions about
what boats right for you how to outfit
it and what we can do to make it more
comfortable
be sure to check in with us and alder
Creek kayak and canoe
