How to Position a Central Seat in a Solo Canoe

We have had many threads here on various methods to position a solo canoe's central seat for proper trim.



The following article offers a method using a carpenter's level taped to the bottom of the canoe and a fore-aft adjustable temporary kneeling bar. The freestyler author reminds us that perfectly flat trim in an empty canoe should be the default paddler position because:

"Very early on, FS paddlers learn that all forward and cross forward turning maneuvers will be enhanced if they [intentionally] pitch the BOW of the boat down in the water. Conversely, we also learn that all reverse and cross reverse turning maneuvers are facilitated if the STERN of the boat is [intentionally] pitched down."

Interesting perspective from a free style paddler. He claims there is no difference between symmetrical and asymmetrical canoes either for seat placement. When I have placed a solo seat close to the centre (3 inches), it seems like there is very little canoe in front of me due to the narrow nature of the bow of an asymmetrical canoe. When I move the seat further back (10"), the canoe balances just about right when loaded for a trip in my usual style, and I don't feel like I'm paddling the end of a banana.

memaquay said:

Interesting perspective from a free style paddler. He claims there is no difference between symmetrical and asymmetrical canoes either for seat placement. When I have placed a solo seat close to the centre (3 inches), it seems like there is very little canoe in front of me due to the narrow nature of the bow of an asymmetrical canoe. When I move the seat further back (10"), the canoe balances just about right when loaded for a trip in my usual style, and I don't feel like I'm paddling the end of a banana.

Click to expand...

The author says: "I have learned that most FS canoeists will be well served (whether they paddle a symmetric or asymmetric boat) if their seat is installed 4 to 5 inches behind the centerline line of their canoe." Keep in mind that freestyle paddlers, when paddling for recreational fun, are paddling in empty canoes and, furthermore, that "freestylers move and shift their weight a lot when manoeuvring and, therefore, hardly ever kneel and sit the exact same way on their seats; and this by itself is enough to offset any tiny difference in seat position."

The 4-5 inches is just a general estimate for all canoes, I suppose, whereas the exact seat placement for empty canoe level trim would be determined by the bubble level.

I've always placed mine by feel. I find something to use as a temporary seat and take the boat for a paddle.

When the seat is too far forward it feels like the bow is pinned and the stern feels loose.

When it's too far back the bow wiggles back and forth too much and it's hard to make the stern move.

I want to be able to easily move either the bow or the stern for correction or turns.

Early in my canoeing life I couldn't have done this because I didn't have experience. Now it doesn't take me long at all to get a feel for where the seat should be.

Even then I don't think there's a perfect position because the load and wind/ water conditions are always changing. But getting the seat right with an empty boat usually makes it easy to make slight adjustments with gear or other ballast to change trim on the fly.

This is also why I prefer a sliding seat. I usually set it up so that an empty boat is trimmed properly with the seat about 3/4 of the way forward. This gives me a little room to slide the seat forward in the rare situation I want more weight in the bow and gives the majority of seat travel to the stern, which is where I find I usually need to adjust to.

Alan

There's also the method of using a water level rather than a bubble level. Just splash some water in the boat and see if it's centered or if it flows to the bow or stern.

I've never had a lot of luck with this. It seems easier to just set it by feel. But by feel it's harder when you don't know what it should feel like.

Alan