How to recruit new canoe paddlers?

[Steve in Idaho]

Rambling here...

The site member activity thread brought this question to my mind again. I think about this from time to time, and sometimes I think I have an answer; but then it never seems to materialize.

I have assumed that paddling with a group of mostly recreational k*y*k*rs would give maximum exposure. For a while, I thought that those times I carried gear that wouldn't fit in their boats would make an impression, but that doesn't seem to have been the case.

I often get comments about how easily my canoe handles and maneuvers, but never any interest in learning about canoes and how to paddle them effectively. I never expected that any k*y*k*rs would be interested in poling (to them, it looks like a cross between physical therapy and voodoo), but it puzzles me that curiosity about the open boat and single blade is just not there.

I have tried to demonstrate the practicality and versatility of canoes at every opportunity. I wonder if I make it look too complicated, but comments are usually about how easy it looks. I even keep the Mohawk Solo 14 in the fleet as a loaner, but so far, no takers outside of my immediate family. Family has been my only success, but I'm done breeding new paddlers.

I was invited to join the local flat water group on the opening weekend of our local lake, but declined. I went out by myself in the Wildfire a day earlier instead. Paddling alone is always so much more enjoyable I'm tempted to just say dash it all, and go paddling. Let the masses be content in their little butt boats.

Maybe it's just the way things are going to go, but it's a shame that this seems to be a dying art. Maybe I'm thinking about it all wrong. Maybe it's just the reality of where I live. What are you all seeing?

 

[Alan Gage]

I've never had any luck converting a kayaker to canoeing. I assume they think I'm just as nuts as I think they are. Oh well.

I think most of them are just out there to be on the water and don't have a real desire to learn to paddle a canoe with a single blade, even if they do struggle in their kayak and I make it look easy in the canoe.

Any time I have gotten a kayaker to try a solo canoe they struggle with control and are happy to go back to their kayak.

Alan

 

[Benson Gray]

My experience is that this is religious issue and evangelism is never easy. You might have better luck going out with paddleboarders. They already understand the concept of single sided paddling and can carry even less stuff with them. You can even paddle standing up. Be sure not to groan as you carry your canoe to and from the water. Good luck,

Benson

 

[Erica]

I sympathize and wish I had an answer. My success rate is zero. I took part in raising two children. One hates camping. The other has learned to be afraid of gators, though she never was when I was raising her. She will still paddle with me but is grown up with a job and has little time for it.

 

[Tryin']

Arguments to overcome, keeping in mind that the level of on-water experience is at or near zero.

• Cost of entry is lower for kayaks.
• Small kayaks can be tossed in the bed of a truck or poked out the rear hatch of an SUV.
• Paddle stroke is more intuitive in a kayak.
• Center of gravity is lower in a kayak.
• The seating position in a kayak is more familiar and therefore comfortable to newcomers. Heck, just look at the popularity of back supports and pack-seating in canoes.
• Kayaks are typically solo affairs, which makes for easier group dynamics
• Kayaks get most of the press, AND the shelf space at stores

There are a lot of good evangelism points in this thread:

Kayak vs Canoe - Your Personal Pros and Cons

I'm curious how many of you are exclusively canoeists and how many enjoy both. Personally, I own both and enjoy both for different reasons. Canoes: -Can carry more stuff and are easier to pack -Offer a variety of sitting positions and are much more comfortable -Track better and are more...

www.canoetripping.net

My son is a canoe convert. It took a "big" trip for him to see the light. Portaging and camping make it an easy choice. Throwing a boat in the car for a day on the river? That's gonna be a harder argument to win.

 

[yknpdlr]

i will admit that I may have paddled a kayak just once in my life to nowhere in particular, just to try it for a few minutes. Enough to know that I did not like it, as it does not fit my on water travel paddling likes in any way.

I even dislike paddling my Hornbeck canoes, as due to seating position, they require use of a kayak paddle for effective locomotion. But my 14 pound easy to carry mounted on backpack 10.5' Hornbeck is a functional boat for backcountry off-trail bushwhacks, theading me between densly spaced trees from one isolated remote Adirondack pond to another.

I will also admit to reluctantly using a kayak paddle for, and only for, its use being required by the rules in the solo-rec class of the Adirondack 90 mile canoe race while paddling a Placidboat Rapidfire or Shadow in the solo-rec competiton class.

 

[Gamma1214]

I run into some yakkers & paddleboarders around here and the misconceptions are humorous at times. I've had quite a few be surprised that my 16 foot stripper weighed less than their yak and then there was the SUP guy whom I overheard (from some distance as he was unaware of how well sound carries over water) as he was explaining that strip canoes are really fragile. I skipped the evangelism that day, shook my head and paddled on.

If he only knew how I'd treated that hull on the last 2 Canadian trips... "fragile" it is not.

The Conemaugh Valley Conservancy has a huge paddling weekend here on the Conemaugh River and I could take the ministry to the heathens of the river during their sojourn (most pictures look like it's 98% yaks) but it almost always conflicts with the WPASCR. Maybe next year.

My oldest daughter may be on the verge of conversion. She's been borrowing camping equipment more often and talking about paddling the Allegheny River. Her yak won't haul the gear well so we might need a crash course in single-blade.

 

[Erica]

So just this morning at the guesthouse I’m staying at, a woman from Oregon, was telling me about her canoe experiences. She and her husband both had separate unpleasant canoe experiences and were considering switching to kayaks. With this thread fresh in my mind, I explained how just a few basic strokes and skills could make it enjoyable. And she wants to do more camping and liked the more stuff idea.

So I did my bit, but I doubt I changed any minds. Her husband was dead set against it. (He and a buddy were fishing from a canoe and got a fish on the line and both stood up at the same time. The canoe, predictably, went over into cold water.)

 

[clemency]

I don't think the average recreational paddler has any interest in actually going places. They just want to get outside. Better to go after backpackers. Or sea/touring kayakers. Folks who think sleeping on the ground is fun.

 

[Riffle-Raff]

Canoes are a finesse craft. Their overall use and utility only becomes fully apparent when you put time and effort into learning how to do it.

Rec paddlers only care about 2 or 3 things really. Being on the water, feeling stable while on the water and being able to move in a general direction with a nominal amount of effort.

Converting a rec kayaker to canoeing is like trying to get an E-biker to ride horseback. The experience would undoubtedly be rewarding, but since they can't buy a horse at Walmart and throw it in the back of their pickup at the end of the day convenience takes them one way and not another.

It won't stop me from tireless selling the idea of canoeing to anyone seeking to get on the water however.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Better to go after backpackers. Or sea/touring kayakers. Folks who think sleeping on the ground is fun.

I think you may be onto something.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Canoes are a finesse craft.

That may be importantly significant. A whole discussion might be had about this. My observation is that the concept of finesse is foreign to a large segment of society. I wonder if these are all the same people who will never learn the single blade.

 

[dutchlennart]

I do kayak and canoe and bike and sail and...
Many of my buddies do a array of things on and of the water . Some got started because they got to know me. Some stearte despite knowing me...many get i. A canoe becuase they are done with land sports like cycling running footbqll

 

[Black_Fly]

A couple years ago, I launched just ahead of an Outfitters’s bus. One young man had a rented canoe for him, his not small wife, and

 

[Neophyte]

As someone who is currently going throw the transition from kayak to canoe with a single blade, my observation has been that single blade is more challenging to learn. With a double blade you can flail around and you’ll get there eventually, but there is still room to grow if you want to develop your technique. The single blade offers more and rewards mastery more, and that may not be for everyone.

A cheap canoe paddle that isn’t sized correctly can make for a bad time, I found single blade much more enjoyable once I upgraded my paddle. I wonder how often people get turned off to this by the wrong equipment.

My wife still paddles a kayak. It’s a nice light touring kayak and she’s a good paddler. She use my canoe with a double blade but has no interest in learning a canoe paddle. For her frustration does not equate to fun, while I find it a challenge to be overcome. She might really like a pack canoe though, I have her convinced to tty some when we go to the Adirondacks this year.

 

[bonpawtuck]

My wife and I (both early 30s) have a lot of friends with toddlers, and one thing we've noticed when we paddle with kayakers is that they're envious of how much more space we have. They oftentimes try to position a toddler in their lap but get frustrated by how that makes paddling more awkward. We'll offer to let the kids ride in the canoes with us, and everyone has a much better time.

We're going canoe camping with two such families in the ADKs in June. We're lending a canoe to one of them, and the other is seriously considering adding a canoe to their kayak fleet because of how much more toddler/gear friendly it can be, especially for a multi-day trip. I did do a bit of educating (one friend initially objected to the idea of a canoe because she "didn't want to have to switch which side she was paddling on every few strokes). But the main thing was just utility. One moment that really highlighted this was when I caught a fish with a toddler on board, and there was enough space for him to get situated, inspect the fish a bit, work up the courage to touch it, etc. I like to think it was a formative experience for the little guy.

 

[riverstrider]

I have led a lot of kayakers on trips in my club. The ones who convert to canoe (yes, there have been a few) are the ones who followed me through thick, twisty rivers with overhanging trees where half their paddles kept getting caught above them, or the ones who came along on trips that involved portages, or the ones who decided to join me on some overnight trips and saw how much great gear I could carry.

I also think it may be a peer pressure thing...many of the converts have taken their kayaks with them on trips I lead into the Adirondacks, where sometimes it appears that canoes make up the majority of boats they see. Maybe seeing all those fantastic looking canoes resets their brain. In which case, it could be a location thing.

Sure, many of these converts still paddle their new pack canoes with a kayak paddle, but not all of them. That's a win in my book. And for what it is worth, I have been seeing more canoes show up on day trips I lead in RI. Still overwhelmingly kayaks, but there's a resurgence in canoes here that is nice to see.

-rs

 

[bonpawtuck]

I have led a lot of kayakers on trips in my club. The ones who convert to canoe (yes, there have been a few) are the ones who followed me through thick, twisty rivers with overhanging trees where half their paddles kept getting caught above them, or the ones who came along on trips that involved portages, or the ones who decided to join me on some overnight trips and saw how much great gear I could carry.

I also think it may be a peer pressure thing...many of the converts have taken their kayaks with them on trips I lead into the Adirondacks, where sometimes it appears that canoes make up the majority of boats they see. Maybe seeing all those fantastic looking canoes resets their brain. In which case, it could be a location thing.

Sure, many of these converts still paddle their new pack canoes with a kayak paddle, but not all of them. That's a win in my book. And for what it is worth, I have been seeing more canoes show up on day trips I lead in RI. Still overwhelmingly kayaks, but there's a resurgence in canoes here that is nice to see.

-rs

I hear ya on the value of seeing a good looking canoe, especially if your main association with canoes is the old Ram-X leaning against grandpa's shed. But once you see a nice layup with wooden gunwhales... It's like how you see a dog and just wanna go pet it.

 

[Robin]

But once you see a nice layup with wooden gunwhales... It's like how you see a dog and just wanna go pet it.

When I used to restore old canoes and sell them, many of the buyers wanted to get back into canoes but didn’t see the need or have the funds to buy those lightweight expensive new ones sold at the nearby Swift dealer.
A nicely painted (Epifanes or Interlux) fiberglass or Kevlar canoe with fresh wood trim and new webbed seats for less than $700-$800 was never hard to sell in Connecticut. Up here in Maine it’s low ball country, not worth the time.