Essay: "Canoes Are Better Than Kayaks"

[Glenn MacGrady]

Marc Ornstein gives an exhaustive list of why.

Canoes Are Better Than Kayaks – FreeStyle Canoeing

I'd only make a slight geographic codicil to this penultimate sentence: "Largely, inland paddlers used canoes of various forms because of their flexibility and adaptability while coastal paddlers used kayaks because of their seaworthiness on open water." In arctic North America and perhaps Europe and Siberia, natives indeed paddled skin kayaks on the ocean, but also paddled open umiaks. In South America, natives used bark, wood and reed open canoes. In the Indian and Pacific Ocean basins, outrigger canoes—which are open canoes—were (and still are) the ocean paddlecrafts.

 

[samb]

I'd also note that in event of a capsize, it's far easier to roll a kayak (if the water is deep enough)..... But canoes are still better.
Sam

 

[tketcham]

Generally, the distinctions between kayaks and canoes work, but there are many exceptions (e.g., double-blade paddles in canoes, open kayaks, decked canoes) plus the somewhat arbitrary fine lines between the two (e.g., seat heights, double-blade lengths) that a clear differentiation isn't possible.

I do agree on the overall benefits of canoes and the advantages of closed cockpit kayaks (or decked canoes) in tough conditions.

 

[ppine]

I built a Pygmy kaya from a kit. It was very seaworthy. I have liked the prospect of hanging upside down with my head exposed. I did plenty of wet exits but never got used to it. I sold the kayak. Where do you put your dog in a kayak? Where does the Coleman stove fit?

I went back to canoes.

 

[Packrat]

When I paddled a sea-kayak it was usaually for day trips or short overnight trips. The good part was that it was fast and rain and rough water were not problems, nor cold weather because I always wore a dry suit. Plenty of room in boat for what gear I chose for camping.
My switch to canoeing came about when I used a canoe for duck hunting and hooked on it over the kayak. Not as confining and if I wanted something, I could reach it without going to shore and opening a hatch. Only negative I have is heavy rain but if I had to endure that I would install a cover.

As for where to put the dog, I once saw a couple paddling a double kayak with the dog in the center storage with no hatch installed.

 

[Chip]

Kayakers often ask why I prefer canoes. I usually reply, “because canoes have soul.” Nobody yet has argued that point.

 

[Punkinhead]

I paddle a kayak in whitewater because I never learned to roll a canoe. On my last trip I got a gash on my forehead but that's the price you pay for not having to swim. We go to Florida for the winter and in the past I've brought a kayak since we sometimes paddle in the gulf far from shore but this year decided I'd had enough - I really don't enjoy paddling a kayak. I'd rather bring a canoe and stick to rivers, springs, and protected shallow bays. I prefer paddling solo but when I do paddle with friends I'm the only one in a canoe. A canoe let's me bring my dog, a pin kit, a change of clothes, and a cooler. I can shift around and go between kneeling and seated whereas with a kayak I'm stuck in one position and my butt aches after an hour or so. Since I mostly run shallow rivers I like how easy it is to get in and out of a canoe - my friends in kayaks will break a paddle pushing on the bottom rather than get out.

 

[MyKneesHurt]

The difference in my mind is simply the availability of materials - if you're relying on driftwood or tiny dwarf birch to make boats, you're less likely to invest what's truly a massive amount of wood in a single vessel, provided you could even gather that much to make one.
I'd support that with saying I don't know of any northeast woodlands tribes that went to kayaks on big water - according to Adney, the Penobscot, Narraganset and maybe Malecite in what's now Maine and Newfoundland all had ocean-going canoes, as well as the extinct Beothuk; per the logic of that article, they should have built kayaks for open water and kept the canoes inland.
Kayaks are fascinating boats in their own right, with plenty of soul, and an enormous suite of technical variation.