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A canoe for 2

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Aug 5, 2011
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Location
Western NY between Buffalo and Rochester
Well I see no one has posted in the "Tandem" section yet, so here goes.
I can see a solo canoe in my future, but I sure have had fun with our old aluminum tandem.

There is something special about moving across the water as half of a 2 person "engine". We live in such an independent, solitary world. It is a joy to work together, truly dependent and directly affected by another's efforts. A tandem canoe will not do what you wish unless there is a connection, a unison between the bow and stern paddlers. Often there are no particular words spoken, just a natural adjusting to the energy , rhythms, and decisions of the other paddler.

I guess I never appreciated this as our goal was always to get to the campsite. Certainly the journey was a big part of the enjoyment as I look back on some of our canoe trips. A while back, we took some kids canoeing and taught them to paddle...what a great time, but it made me really appreciate the skills and bond that my son and I have developed over the years. Another learning moment happened when my son and I switched seats on Little Tupper Lake. When he was small it made sense for me to be in the stern. But now that he is 4 inches taller and 40 pounds heavier than me, we decided to switch. What a mess. It was then that I realized the skills we had developed from our different leverage points in the canoe. We switched back.

So that's why I'll always appreciate a good tandem canoe and my bow paddler.
Scott
 
Re: A canoe for 2

My wife and I were well matched with her in the bow. As we were coming off Cazenovia lake one day 20 years ago a man came up to us and commented on how well synchronized we were.

Good memories.
 
Growing up I was the bow paddler for the tandem pair of my father and I. This was in an old grumman aluminum. We had many trips in that canoe. One benefit of tandem is the fishing. One person can take a break from casting and quietly paddle the other in/out of coves.

Now I have a few boats, both solo and tandem. Unfortunately my wife has no desire to go tripping, just day paddle in her kayak. Not having a tripping partner, my tandem trips are few and far between. I'd like to do more.
 
Growing up I was the bow paddler for the tandem pair of my father and I. This was in an old grumman aluminum. We had many trips in that canoe. One benefit of tandem is the fishing. One person can take a break from casting and quietly paddle the other in/out of coves.

Now I have a few boats, both solo and tandem. Unfortunately my wife has no desire to go tripping, just day paddle in her kayak. Not having a tripping partner, my tandem trips are few and far between. I'd like to do more.

I started soloing because my wife wasn't willing to camp anymore. It's a small world.
 
Tandem and solo..each have their positives and negatives.

Husband and I did a tandem trip in Sept/Oct. We know we need a bit of time to ourselves at some point during the day so camping where there was hiking was the ticket.

Then I dragged the boat home and omg, a solo in Missouri..(dear..the river just popped up in front of me) on the Current. It was with a group but being a group of soloists we had choices during the day (18 miles of paddling each day) to be sociable or aloof. We needed vehicles for shuttles and this is where a group is handy.


Hubby and I did a paired solo in January for ten days. The campsites were usually small and limited "getaway space" so with solo boats and a tandem tent ( it was the wrong tent again..two in a small for two tent..really a solo) we could paddle apart and have thinking time.

Now I am hankering for more solo. We have a group going to South Carolina and Florida in ten days for a week of North Florida Rivers (none with development) and then a real solo albeit short in the Everglades.(five days).

Discovering Florida paddling..and that there IS wild Florida paddling has been a joy.

Back to tandem. Back in 1991 the two of us had a heck of a time following an old portage trail. The lake that was on the map (the most recent update was in 1927)was gone..went to bog..the last time the trail had been used was fifty years ago and most of the blazed trees gone.(Its usual in northern Canada to follow axe blazed trees..some date back to Voyageur times). Without two to do the work of discovery and bushwhacking I would have sat down and died.
 
MDB (My Darling Bride) and I had paddled tandem for more than 30 years when I made the "mistake" of buying a kayak for her...Long story short, I was forced to build a solo boat for myself, but that's another story.
Anyway, MDB and I were paddling across Kunjamuck Bay in one of my skinny strippers, and moving along fairly well, due to the benefit of the hull and our years of coordinated practice. As we overtook a couple of burly guys ( read: big arms ) in a Bruisewater canoe, also known as a Coleman, the stern paddler yelled at his partner "Paddle, you SOB, you're not gonna let those two scrawny folks pass us!?" Except he didn't call us "folks".
Now, I took slight offense, I'm not scrawny...I'm wiry. Anyway, we just kept paddling, increasing the gap, as these two guys argued over who was contributing less effort. They continued arguing as we got out of earshot, maybe they are still at it!!
We still paddle tandem, when the need arises, but she really likes that kayak. Most of my tandem paddling is now with my son, S-I-L, nephew or another camping partner.
Tandem paddling generally makes beaver dams and deadfall crossings much easier, especially if the boat is full of gear.
 
My wife promised to paddle some with me this year. We shall see.
 
My wife is a kayaker, and prefers to stay in hotels or drive-up campsites rather than trip through the wilderness and sleep on the ground... so I solo, of late in my Nova Craft Pal.
 
I paddle with my son, he is my bow paddler. But sometimes I do like to go solo, get away by myself, take it easy, and relax.
 
Greywolf tell us more about where you paddle.. All I know about Hickory is furniture and I 40.. and the establishments along that route
 
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