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Happy National Zipper Day (pat. 1913)! 🤐
Canoe Poling on the Lamoille River
- Thread starter Carp
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What a great video! I need to do more of it, I usually only do it on shallow rivers wile moose hunting in the fall!!
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Hey Jim, getting the hang of the the balance is not as hard as it seems. As long as you have a decent size tandem boat and you start off in easy water, there isn't much to it except practice.
-carp
How much more difficult is it with a tripping load? Say, 60 - 100 pounds of gear?
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In my experience, when plying with a loaded boat, the boat get more stable to a certain point. And the polling is not really harder, since your boat doesn't get thrown around as much as an empty canoe. But I don't have a lot of experience polling other than on shallow moving water w/o rapids... so far anyway!
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For non-whitewater poling, I'm with Canotrouge. The extra weight adds some stability, and only slows you down a little. However, in whitewater, it does make it more difficult just because you are pushing all that extra weight uphill. More difficult, doesn't mean impossible though...
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There you go... I think that trim is quite important in a situation like that, and that is where I have a lot to learn! That said, some time is is just as fast to get out, line, get back in!!
That looks like a lot of fun. What are you guys using for polls?
Nice video, I'm curious about the poles too. Are the MR canoes Royalex Explorers?
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The canoes in the videos are mostly MR Royalex Explorers with an OT Tripper thrown in for variety in the Lamoille video.
While I used to do all my tripping in the Royalex explorer, I've switched to a Kevlar Explorer for longer trips. However, that's just my choice. For poling, any decent tandem boat will do. A Malecite, TW Special, OT Canadienne, Dagger Reflection, Millbrook Coho, Souhegan, Freedom, Appalachian, Prospector, or anything else that suits your fancy will work just fine.
The poles are Hayden aluminum poles. They are simply more efficient and durable than any other material: http://www.haydencanoepole.com/
The downside to aluminum is its thermal conductivity. In the colder months, I'll also use a wood pole from Don Merchant: http://poleandpaddle.com/merchandise/canoe_poles
-carp
While I used to do all my tripping in the Royalex explorer, I've switched to a Kevlar Explorer for longer trips. However, that's just my choice. For poling, any decent tandem boat will do. A Malecite, TW Special, OT Canadienne, Dagger Reflection, Millbrook Coho, Souhegan, Freedom, Appalachian, Prospector, or anything else that suits your fancy will work just fine.
The poles are Hayden aluminum poles. They are simply more efficient and durable than any other material: http://www.haydencanoepole.com/
The downside to aluminum is its thermal conductivity. In the colder months, I'll also use a wood pole from Don Merchant: http://poleandpaddle.com/merchandise/canoe_poles
-carp
Carp,
Thanks. The Lamoille has a lot more current than what we see in most videos. It is probably near the upper limit for poling and snubbing. I agree that loaded boats settle down a lot with a lower center of gravity. I have tried it only a few times here in the West. I have an OT Guide 18 that was designed for the shallow rocky rivers of ME. It helps people a lot to understand hydraulics by going up rapids.
In a practical sense, the choice of a pole is not that important. Out here I would probably be more likely to cut a pole somewhere when it seemed like a good idea than to bring one. Balance and technique, and understanding turbulent flows are the name of the game.
Thanks. The Lamoille has a lot more current than what we see in most videos. It is probably near the upper limit for poling and snubbing. I agree that loaded boats settle down a lot with a lower center of gravity. I have tried it only a few times here in the West. I have an OT Guide 18 that was designed for the shallow rocky rivers of ME. It helps people a lot to understand hydraulics by going up rapids.
In a practical sense, the choice of a pole is not that important. Out here I would probably be more likely to cut a pole somewhere when it seemed like a good idea than to bring one. Balance and technique, and understanding turbulent flows are the name of the game.
Fun. I would need a lot of practice on flat water to balance that well.
Complete Newby question, as I have never done any whitewater: at 4:40 was that eddy/plume/whatever it is actually called actually holding the canoe in position, or was I missing something that the poler was doing?
Had to laugh at 6:00. Every time someone tries to look cool...
Complete Newby question, as I have never done any whitewater: at 4:40 was that eddy/plume/whatever it is actually called actually holding the canoe in position, or was I missing something that the poler was doing?
Had to laugh at 6:00. Every time someone tries to look cool...
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The wave was strong enough to surf without much effort on my part. It was strong enough that it kept inching the boat upstream. You can see me back paddling with the pole several times to stay on the wave.
Clearly, pride goeth before my swim.
-carp
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