Advice on putting small paddler in a Wildfire

[cflcanoe]

Now my wife is a dedicated tandem paddler who loves working together while paddling. In places that require a lot of constant turning she is the best bow partner you could ask for. Sanding in the bow of a Bell Northstar is done with great ease.

While I was putting the Wildfire away yesterday out of the blue she says I want to try this one. My response was err ok. What about Katie's Sunday afternoon. The last time she tried a solo was a disaster. She tried out a Jensen 16" 1" solo. At 105 lbs and 5' 2" she was way to light for that canoe. Anyhow what will it be like for her in the Widfire?

Solo canoes are rare in our area. If it is some thing other than a Mohawk solo 14 or solo 13 have only seen a Swift Kaywedin in the last ten years on the water other than ours. So getting a different canoe for her to try is not likely. A Flashfire would be good and a Ladybug wonderful . At this time her choice is Wildfire, Mohawk solo 14, or the hated Mohawk Jensen 16" 1" solo.

Planning on putting the dry bag with all the emergency stuff in it right behind the seat. The clothing, duct tape, poncho, towels, and other needful items weigh in at about 17 pounds. So any advice on a little more weight than that? The seat has been lowered 5/8" so start her knelling or sitting? She usually uses a 50" bent shaft in the bow of Northstar, Explorer, and Blazer. Though for some odd reason sometimes grabs the spare (heavy aluminum/plastic 52" bent) on purpose. Yuck. Available paddles are 50"& 52" wood bent shaft or a 58" wood straight shaft.

If the wind cooperates this Sunday April the 23 around twoish we will most likely be playing at Katie's on the Wekivia in central Florida. If you are in the area come on by and bring a solo or even a tandem for others to try. Maybe some paddles too. For new comers Katie's is Katie's landing park. Been here so long that I knew the Katie that the place is named after. So it is Katie's.

 

[Guest]

Yay, another solo canoer! Wish you were closer to WNY. We have a plethora of solos around here. I would definatly have her kneel. She will feel more secure and better able to control the boat. She would be a good fit in My reverie I.
Good Luck

 

[yellowcanoe]

Oh have her try it.. She might be a little small but I do know of some paddlers her size that do like the WildFire for touring. Try the 50 inch bent. Its going to be a little long maybe. But the best way to judge length is to paddle with something and figure out how long the paddle should be.
Did you make the Placid Boatworks try out paddle at Katies about three days ago? Sounds like not.. Actually the Spitfire rigged for seating would have been neat to try. The Mohawk Solo line are boats with a box like feel. Don't get me wrong they are great boats but to me they feel huge.

Turtles is right. Western NY has about every solo made it seems.

 

[Cruiser]

Why not get really crazy and see if you can scare up a twin paddle for her to try. A low angle long twin would likely make that boat fly with hardly any effort.

I know to some that is heresy, but a twin paddle in a solo is a great pairing ...

Brian

 

[Jim Dodd]

Cflcanoe, what seat drops do you have in your Wildfire ?
I'd say if if they are the short ones, and she kneels, she'll be fine.
If on the other hand , they are the long drops, and she's a sit and switch paddler, she may feel a little unstable, in the Wildfire. I know I do in mine.

Yes Brian ! I believe Double Blades are Heresy !!!
I wouldn't hand her a double blade. The difference between double blade paddling, and single blade paddling, is like the difference between walking and dancing. Let her learn to dance with the single blade ! She will also stay drier. Not to mention it will teach her to be an even better Bow paddler !

Have fun !

Jim

 

[yellowcanoe]

I think that a double if you have one handy could be good. Especially upstream from Katie's with all the spatterdock etc
Small paddlers often find big boats in relation to them very stable
I don't think that sitting will be an issue though reach may be
Routinely small paddlers enjoy the DragonFly until someone reminds them that it is notoriously tippy for larger paddlers. It's round bottomed. The Wildfire has a much flatter bottom

 

[deerfly]

Did you make the Placid Boatworks try out paddle at Katies about three days ago? Sounds like not..

How did you get the memo?

Given the dearth of quality solo's around these parts it would have been great to have known. Placid's offerings are a bit narrow for my needs but I would have made the drive over to try a few anyway.

Do you have any scoop on Swift having a demo day around here any time soon? I'd be all over that...

 

[yellowcanoe]

Placid has a rep in Central Florida You could call them to find contact information. They are on FB. From FB I see that Swift is going to Saskatoon.
Lots of people don't like FB but I follow lots of small and or local businesses that way.

 

[deerfly]

thx YC, I'm one of those that is not a FB user or fan, but understand how the service can be useful for the reasons you stated.

As far as a Swift test paddle, Saskatoon appears to be a bit of drive for me as well. Probably gonna' have to pass on that and wait for the trans Florida tour.

 

[cflcanoe]

Same as deerfly here. "Not a FB user or fan" so I missed out on that. The last time I was at a demo at Katies it was when a Curtis rep came down for the winter with a trailer load of solo canoes to demo/sell. Katie let him have the prime campsite on the river to the upstream side of the area.

As for the seat drops they are the Bell factory kneeling standards with a 5/8" spacer added. Have the ash planed to thickness but uncut and undrilled to make new drops. My size 10 hiking boots fit under the seat just fine still and I feel more comfortable sitting. Carry two pieces of foam to raise the seat back up for knelling though.

Nary a double blade in sight around my house. Thought about it a couple of times. Liked them with a Perception Torrent sit on top on the Nantahala. Had to rent those after Whitesell went out of business.

Deerfly I wounder who we could get to come to Florida this next winter? Hemlock canoes used to come down to the space coast area I believe. Wenonah sells a lot out of Canoe Country in Tampa/ St Pete. Northstar is supposed to have a dealer around their also.

Turtle really want to make it to the Turtle pond event. Just two problems. Too far to drive for a weekend and a real ABCA Border Collie. Although he says he is not a pet many do not believe him. Will start out kneeling.

Thanks all. CFLcanoe

 

[deerfly]

Deerfly I wounder who we could get to come to Florida this next winter? Hemlock canoes used to come down to the space coast area I believe. Wenonah sells a lot out of Canoe Country in Tampa/ St Pete. Northstar is supposed to have a dealer around their also.

I'm sure most of these mfr's would want reasonable expectation to sell a few canoes for their efforts in getting here and back. Lack of sufficient sales may be part of the reason for them focusing more up north where the critical mass is higher.

Me, I'm hoping to pull the trigger on a solo in the next few months and be done with it long before next winter. Until the possibility came up to borrow or maybe even buy a MRC Monarch to prepare for next years WaterTribe EC Challenge I was all set to buy a Shearwater. Now I'm seriously considering something in the next level down. Colden Nomad, Keewaydin 15, Osprey or Hemlock Peregrine, any of which would be better suited for a grab-n-go most weekends for my needs, although I'd probably be fine with the Shearwater anyway. Would be awesome for those builders to come to town though, but I'm not holding my breath.

Hope the WF works out for you and the missus.. - eric

 

[cflcanoe]

Well I tried to upload a photo but the site says the Image is too large. Going to work on that on tomorrow. Cause I know many are not going to believe this. .The wife just stood up in the Wildfire today like it was nothing. Claims a Wildfifre is stable. So yellow canoe is correct and Yellow canoes concerns about reach was also correct.

​She sits in the seat with her legs narrow like she is in the bow or kneels in front of the seat with the dry bag all the way to the rear. The Wildfire is too wide for her to keep the paddle horizontal. She needs a canoe that has a narrower paddling station. Maybe a Flashfire or a pack set up for sitting in a seat. The budget is not there right now for a new solo for her or I would contact the Placid factory rep. Will keep a eye out on the used Florida market. For now she can use one of the two Wildfires if she wishes.

​Turtle is a reverie a manufactured composite boat or a striper?

 

[yellowcanoe]

The Pat Moore Reverie is an old glass design. Not made since the early 90's ( and maybe even before that) I believe there may be some in Florida somewhere in someones old barn. This is an interesting article. He and Galt (a FL paddler and canoe maker) were often at odds. I think Pat is also from the South where lately he has become ahem reclusive.


http://moorecanoeing.com/sportcanoei...interview.html

Suggest to your wife that she slide over to the paddling side a little. As she finds the WildFire so stable she can do that without going in the drink.. It will feel odd at first so be sure no gators are around

Its common to have to resize your pictures.. I use anything below 2000 wide and it works. Irfanview is a resizer but I find the latest Photoshop Elements faster.. There are other resizing programs I am sure.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

The Wildfire might not be the ideal size for person your wife's size, but nothing in life is ideal in my experience.

Small people have been paddling large canoes with competence and pleasure for ages. In the Northeast in the 80's lots of women were soloing class 3/4 rivers in heavy tandem Royalex canoes 36" wide, such as the 15'-9" Blue Hold OCA and the 17'-2" Old Town Tripper. They could execute the required strokes including cross strokes. Before that, folks of all sizes soloed tandem Grumman's. Before that, tandem wood/canvas canoes. A Wildfire is narrow and short compared to those.

A Wildfire is best maneuvered as a kneeling canoe.

Forget the vertical paddle stuff. That's just a theoretical ideal, used to explain basic paddle physics. Everyone, even those who teach and preach vertical paddle and top racers, actually hold the paddle at some sort of comfort angle, which varies with their height, arm length, and the boat width. The important thing is not the angle of the blade in the water as it's being drawn back, but that it's not sweeping as it's being drawn back. Whatever the angle of the shaft entering the water, the ideal is the blade should be drawn back parallel to the keel line. In practice, however, the path of the blade may be a C or a J to provide correction.

The paddle can be held more vertical and reach can be improved if the paddler slides to the side of the seat and paddles on a slight heel.

A 58" straight paddle would be too long for a 5'-2" paddler. In my experience, a straight flat water paddle works best for me when it is of such a length that my grip hand punches out level from my shoulder or slightly upward on the forward stroke. I like a bent shaft paddle that punches out slightly down from my shoulder.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I was hoping for some info from Glenn on Pat Moore..the enigma but no matter

Apparently some people are happy sitting in the WildFire.. The OP's wife and my husband who swops back and forth . He paddled some four miles around the lake in some chop sitting more than half the time .
What I do see in her future is a slight gift from you.. If she is going to paddle with the boat heeled over a little swopping sides for correction is going to be a royal PITA. Get her a nice sized straight shaft paddle so she can figure out the J stroke.. for 5'2" 52 inch straight is a starting point.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I had some email contact with Pat Moore about four years ago. He drafted an article on the history of freestyle in the mid-to-late 70's, including his relationship with Mike Galt, but I don't know if he ever published it. He also said he was thinking about getting more involved again in the canoeing scene. We lost touch, however, and I don't really have any idea what he's doing. He said he owns some land near High Springs, Florida, so it's possible he's in that area.

I both kneel and sit in my Wildfire, but I'm mostly a kneeler in all canoes and feel that a rockered canoe like a Wildfire can be best maneuvered from the kneeling position, as all freestylers do. It's a great canoe for twisty Florida stuff like Rock Creek and Juniper.

About 20 years ago, I stayed at Katie's and she let me paddle her personal kayak. Her husband shuttled me up to to a put-in on the Little Wekiva.