Kayak or canoe?

[le Metis]

Originally Posted by Dennis1022

I have always used a canoe, but I did buy a kayak couple years ago and used several times but it wsn't my cup of tea. Also if you had shoulder operation a kayak isn't the a good idea. Plenty of wear & tear on the rotor as the canoe you only pull not like the kayak you pedal! So if you are going to buy a kayak buy one with wide open cock pit so if you flip over easier to get out. Now as for the canoe don't buy any canoe that don't have a keel. The keel gives you balance on the canoe, I can stand and fish and even paddle but this comes with experience. So another thing to look at is weight transporting your canoe or kayak from water to water and to your vehichle. There is so many factors envolved to much to talk about in 1 forum it is your decision. Mine is a canoe, but that is me!

In canoeing, if you are only pulling the paddle, you're not using all the upperbody muscles for power, and control. The better method is to push with the dry hand while pulling with the wet hand. Additionally, the dry hand should go no higher then the shoulder to save wear and tear on the rotator cup. Additionally, one should consider the type of paddle, for myself I've found that the all wood beaver tails, and deep water otter tail designs are much easier on the body which allows for long days at the paddle with less fatigue. Nor do they cavitate, which makes for smoother Canadian, or J strokes....
As for keels, those are great for flatwater, but can be a problem on rivers with rocky whitewater sections. They also tend to "plow" when poling upstream, being slow and ungraceful when moving from eddy to eddy....

[ChadTower]

You should also be doing a lot of the work with your core. Lean forward as you pull back and you're paddling as much with your core as you are with your arms/shoulders. There are times in wind and current that there is just no way you can get through arm paddling no matter how big your arms happen to be.

[Dennis1022]

Well I'm going to buy another canoe and it is going to be a SportsPal / Radisson Canoe 12' 34Lbs and has foam attached to the sides. This is alum. ultra lite weight and don't sink will swamp but not sink. They hold value and hard to fin used ones. If you want to check out some canoes check them out.

[BCBabe]

It depends on where I'll be paddling.

I prefer kayaks for the sea, and canoes for lakes. I've found it too easy to get swamped in a canoe while in seawater, and just don't bother anymore, kayaks are the more practical beast for the areas I get into, and I LIKE the spray-skirt, which goes a very long way to keeping one warm and dry.