Trust at Both Ends: The Silent Language of Tandem Paddling

[eckilson]

The more I paddle, the more I find myself reaching out to other paddlers to paddle tandem. The advantages are obvious: you have two people to provide power, and you have paddles on both sides of the boat to brace in the event of an upset.

Yet, for many, tandem paddling means a strong/experienced paddler in the stern calling the shots, while a weaker/less experienced paddler in the bow just goes along for the ride. To me, that isn’t tandem paddling. That’s paddling solo from the stern with a person in the bow for ballast.

The Power of Teamwork

Real tandem paddling is about teamwork between equal partners and sharing responsibility. To be a good tandem paddler, you first need to be a good solo paddler. In a solo boat, you are both the bow and the stern paddler, providing all the power and control. You have to know the strokes and maneuvers to handle various conditions—skills you carry over into a tandem boat.

In a tandem, the skills are the same, but the responsibility gets split. The common belief that "the bow provides power and the stern steers" doesn’t quite capture the coordination between good partners:

• The Bow Sets the Course: Because the bow paddler has the best view of what is ahead, they choose the line.
• The Stern Executes the Turn: Steering strokes are less effective at the bow, so the stern paddler executes the maneuvers, taking the bow’s lead.

Trust and Silent Communication

This setup requires trust at both ends of the boat. The stern must trust the bow's course, and the bow must trust that the stern will follow their lead.

While communication is critical, a good tandem team often doesn't need to talk at all. The stern paddler reads the river and watches the bow paddler’s strokes to decide what to do next. If the bow executes a sweep toward a nearby eddy, the stern follows. If a rock appears and the bow begins an onside draw to side-slip around it, the stern mirrors the move. In fast-moving water, there usually isn't time for words anyway.

The Ultimate Test: Big Waves

One of the most challenging environments for a tandem team is open water with big waves. Solo paddlers have the upper hand here; their lighter stems let them bob up and down easily. A tandem boat, weighted down at both ends, is much more likely to submarine into oncoming waves or spin out in the troughs.

When paddling in waves, the bow paddler has to maintain forward momentum up and down the faces, while the stern paddler sets the quartering angle and stands ready to rudder. Once a boat gets caught in a trough parallel to the waves, staying upright is incredibly difficult, let alone getting back on course.

My Tandem Checklist

I’m blessed to have several great tandem partners. For me, the ideal partner fits a specific profile:

• They are a righty (since I paddle on the left).
• They are experienced paddling solo in moving water.
• They are comfortable in the bow.

Personally, I’d prefer to paddle in the bow myself. However, I’m heavier than most of my friends, so I almost always end up relegated to the stern.

If you want to be your own boss, you absolutely can’t beat solo paddling. But if you can get comfortable splitting responsibilities and relying on a partner, tandem paddling is the way to go. With two engines providing power, a tandem team will outrun all but the strongest solo paddlers. Thanks to longer boats and a shared workload, you can ultimately paddle further, faster, and much more efficiently than going it alone.

What about you? Are you a solo purist, or do you have a tandem partner you can read without speaking?

 

[yknpdlr]

I began family canoe tripping in a 17' Grumman in the early 1970's with my wife, two small kids, and a dog. Since none of the others had much of any canoe experience, I stern paddled to get us where we needed to go. But they couldn't always go so I learned to solo paddle that long aluminum can. I did not have my first true solo canoe until many years later.

Fast forward to the late 1990’s when a couple of my co-workers raced in the Adirondack 90 miler in a wood strip tandem canoe, made by a friend of mine from my home town. I was asked to go in on asking the strip builder to make a voyageur canoe for us. Of course, I was in. When it came time to try out that 34 foot monster, I volunteered to take the bow seat, and have been bow paddler in nearly every race ever since until just having paddled my current 30th 90-mile year. The rare exceptions were a few solo years when work team partners moved on and or when I raced C2 with my daughter, she in the bow after a couple of days of quick bow paddling lessons.

What a learning experience for me (and everyone else in the mainly co-worker static crew behind me. We did well for our first few years in the 90, and I have several first and second place plaques to prove it. But eventually time moves on.

Since I am a navigator at heart (former Air Force air crew nav), and teach land navigation to SAR teams, the bow was perfect for me. On new races, I study the maps and look for the best routes. I use GPS waypoints the first time through, modifying as experience shows for subsequent visits. On prior experienced race routes, I use GPS mainly only to monitor our speed. I enjoy setting the paddling cadence that is efficient for my team paddlers and for racing. From the bow I take the responsibility to visually watch for any obstacle, floating or subsurface. I choose our track, including in fast moving water and wave trains.

Although the stern paddler is responsible for gross direction control, I will often make minor course corrections with a moving wedge draw or a quick bow rudder, either onside or offside.

In difficult narrow stream-like zig-zag passages (e.g., Brown’s Tract on the 90-mile), I break from the stern’s hut calls and independently decide on my own which side I paddle on. most turns are at least a 90-degree course change, some approach nearly 180 degrees. Before every sharp turn I set up the best approach angle prior to glide around the turn, mainly beginning with a draw to initiate the turn, transitioning into a post pivot turn or other strong pull to increase the bow angle. When my stern paddler notices my initial action, he or she will draw on the opposite side to get us into that ideal approach angle before strongly finalizing to exit the turn. Every year on the race, I remind the crew (especially the stern paddler) of previously known obstacles, or where the best current flows.

On big fast moving mainly flat-water rivers, such as the Yukon, the current will split far upstream from large islands (as much as a half mile for some) and smaller obstacles. In the bow, I can see from the surface effects where that begins to happen, and we had better be in the current split that goes in our intended bypass direction or we could be swept on the wrong side where there may be other obstacles, or slow shallows or a potentially much longer distance (and time) to get beyond back into normal river flow. There is a point of no return where safely moving from the wrong current to the desired one can be nearly impossible, even with everyone paddling very hard in the attempt.

I am told that the Yukon has many layers of currents, and some collide to cause rising boiling like surface eddy effects. Even when in a wide broad flowing current, moving to a parallel track as little as a boat length away could mean an increase (or decrease) in speed as much as 30%. The appearance of the surface effects will tell you so.

Later, where the Yukon becomes more broad, deep, and makes wide sweeping broad turns, helicoidal flow takes over from a fast mid-river current as it nears turns, where the surface layer rushes to the outside of broad turns. Get caught in that cross flow and you may unintentionally go for a ride of more than a mile extra than you want. It can again become impossible, even with a team sprint effort to get out of the captured flow. If instead, you carefully track on the edge line, were you see the surface breaking away, separating more laminar straight downriver flow nearer the inside of the sweeping turn, the time and distance saved is yours.

All of that and more, is why I enjoy the bow seat the best.

 

[Tryin']

Solo by necessity. Tandem worked well enough with my son, but about the time he was in a place to really start syncing up, he wanted to switch to solo. We could probably really learn well together at this point, but our fleet is all solos now. Dear wife is just not into it all that much, and is happy to lily dip her way along, and even happier to be in her own kayak doing the same. Daughter had a really bad first experience and doesn't care for any of it.

A good tandem team can pull off some really impressive maneuvers.

 

[tketcham]

The more I paddle, the more I find myself reaching out to other paddlers to paddle tandem. The advantages are obvious: you have two people to provide power, and you have paddles on both sides of the boat to brace in the event of an upset.

Yet, for many, tandem paddling means a strong/experienced paddler in the stern calling the shots, while a weaker/less experienced paddler in the bow just goes along for the ride. To me, that isn’t tandem paddling. That’s paddling solo from the stern with a person in the bow for ballast.

Good post, Erik.

I think solo AND tandem canoeing can be a lot of fun, and there are certain advantages and disadvantages to both. Having a solid brace on both sides of the canoe is definitely an advantage for tandems in whitewater, but on the other hand, I can VERY quickly respond with a heel and/or brace to either side when in a solo canoe. I suppose a skilled and experienced tandem team can respond similarly.

In big waves I think the design of the canoe and how weight is distributed can make the difference in whether a tandem rides waves as well as a solo canoe. But you're right about some solo canoes bobbing like a cork in waves, especially while kneeling.

Tandem teams typically have the advantage for power and speed, and a fast, powerful tandem maneuver can be thrilling to execute. Having extra speed in getting somewhere in a hurry (when you really need to) is also a good thing.

I'd agree that many (most?) tandem paddlers aren't really working in tandem, that's why my partner and I are starting to take our newly acquired solo paddling skills and applying them to a tandem canoe. That's where I'm not convinced that most of the steering comes from the stern in a tandem canoe. An axle or wedge turn from the bow will bring that canoe around in a hurry, much faster than any stern stroke. (At least that's been my experience.) So is the bow paddler setting the course or steering? I think bow and stern have responsibility for both, especially if working in tandem, though the stern has an advantage in making big correction strokes.

What about you? Are you a solo purist, or do you have a tandem partner you can read without speaking?

I'm not a solo purist but I have to confess to really loving solo canoeing. Interestingly, as our (my and partner's) solo canoeing skills improve, I'm more excited about tandem canoeing. Becoming a real team in our canoe. By combining bow AND stern maneuvers it adds yet another element of fun and makes it more comfortable and enjoyable canoeing in less than ideal conditions. Of course, tandem canoeing advocates have known that for years.

 

[Alan Gage]

Good post and good points.

Tandem is pretty much a no-go for me. I just don't know anyone locally that likes to paddle that much (in a canoe) so solo became my default. On the rare occasions I would find someone to paddle tandem they were generally just interested in having a fun paddle rather than learning any real skills (also it's flat water only here). Coming from solo canoes where I could control either the bow or stern I often found myself a little frustrated on these tandem paddles when I wanted to make an adjustment to the bow but couldn't because I was sitting in the stern. I'd catch myself reaching far forward to move to bow or inadvertently doing a C stroke to no effect.

On the even rarer occasions where I actually got to paddle from the bow I found it very enjoyable as I could make quick and minor corrections to make the stern paddlers job easier and it was a nice change of pace.

Once I entered a race where I was paired with a random paddler (who was much better than I) and I paddled bow. It was a wonderful experience and we worked pretty well together (or rather I took her directions well). It was always a pleasure at races to see tandem teams who paddled together often and how smoothly and efficiently they operated.

Alan

 

[Gamma1214]

I agree about the distribution of responsibilities and that a strong bow paddler can be a game-changer however...

What about you? Are you a solo purist, or do you have a tandem partner you can read without speaking?

Tandem would mean that they're in camp as well...

I can count on one hand the number of people around whom I'd like to be 24/7 for several days / weeks at a time. Happily, none of them currently want to crap in the woods so I remain a dedicated soloist.

 

[ScottS]

Mostly, I solo. But I tandem with my wife and a few friends.
I also use my tandem canoe as a tool to get acquainted with people. I am an artist and often take other artists that
I have met out for a canoe trip. I teach them a basic power stroke and a draw stroke, start them out with a factory paddle
and switch them to one of my hand-carved paddles as they get the hang of it. Then we talk about stuff and get to know
each other.
I let them sketch, photograph or just canoe, whatever they want. I just take them someplace interesting.
Contrary to what many think, artists are almost always very good at teamwork and make natural good partners, and they
"roll with the punches".
I've had only one person that just couldn't get it, and it was a tip off on that persons weird-arse personality... so the method works!

 

[yknpdlr]

Having said all the above, which is mostly relative to bow paddle racing in voaygeur and C4 canoes, I also by necessity and favor being more of a solo paddler. All season I paddle in one of several of my solo canoes as my primary way to train before the 90 miler. Most of my race partners are not located at a convenient distance to train with me in a C2 or larger canoe. My wife's knees do not allow her to easily enter or exit from a canoe anymore. I have a camp on a smallish private no-motors lake on the edge of the Adirondacks where I can get about 3.5 miles around the perimiter. Somewhat larger lakes with longer paddling distances are available are not far away at all. I can go out to paddle at any time I choose without having to coordinate with anyone else, several times a day if I choose in the height of my summer training season. I prefer to canoe trip and explore solo in a well performing solo canoe, but often like carrying my Hornbeck on my back with my pack for a few days off trail.

 

[eckilson]

That's where I'm not convinced that most of the steering comes from the stern in a tandem canoe. An axle or wedge turn from the bow will bring that canoe around in a hurry, much faster than any stern stroke. (At least that's been my experience.) So is the bow paddler setting the course or steering? I think bow and stern have responsibility for both, especially if working in tandem, though the stern has an advantage in making big correction strokes.

I think we are saying the same thing. There are certainly situations where the bow paddler not only imitates the turn, but also provides most of the power for the turn - the duffek in an eddy turn or peal outs is a great example. Having turning power in the bow and the stern is also great for spins and sideslips. When the boat is turning upstream into the current (attaining a surf wave or setting/maintaining a ferry angle), bow strokes are a lot less effective. Stern paddler is going to have to do those. Regardless, the bow paddler always has the best view of the river and is the best person to set the route.

I can count on one hand the number of people around whom I'd like to be 24/7 for several days / weeks at a time. Happily, none of them currently want to crap in the woods so I remain a dedicated soloist.

I am at the other end of the spectrum. I actually have lots of camping friends that are happy to paddle tandem. The only problenm is fitting the gear from two paddlers in one boat. The tandem boat is bigger, but most don't carry the same amount of gear as two dedicated solos.