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Other than the USA and Canada, what country has the most open canoes?

Glenn MacGrady

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I don't know the answer. Just asking for opinions if not facts. I can't remember everyone, but we have members here at least from Germany, Switzerland, Norway, England, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, and even China. Perhaps they have a perspective.
 
I'm gonna go with Brazil due to the large number of indigenous boats. But thats just spitballing.
 
Projected sales of canoes and kayaks (the article did not separate them out) is highest for the “Asia Pacific” region, with the map showing greatest growth in Australia and India. The area showing the most sales however, outside of North America, is in Europe. But the study did not separate out individual countries.

The above is for recreational boats. Tryin’ pointing out the use of canoes by indigenous peoples is a good point. Southeast Asia indigenous folk, including India, use a lot of canoes.
 
the article

Erica, can you post a link to the article.

The above is for recreational boats. Tryin’ pointing out the use of canoes by indigenous peoples is a good point.

That is a good point and could result in different answers. I'm not sure how many natives of the USA and Canada use canoes for their daily livelihood as in Asian and South American countries. Although, I seem to recall @Woodpuppy in Tallahassee, Florida, sometimes does in his geology/hydrology work.
 
Certainly not the UK!
I paddle usually once a week in the Norfolk Broads, one of Englands largest areas of water and I occasionally see kayaks but rarely canoes.
In Englands other area of water - the Lake District - I see more, but not many.

Sam
 
Certainly not the UK!
I paddle usually once a week in the Norfolk Broads, one of Englands largest areas of water and I occasionally see kayaks but rarely canoes.
In Englands other area of water - the Lake District - I see more, but not many.

Sam

With all due respect to samb, I was thinking England. They have an active website “Song of the Paddle” which states its purpose is for all canoe users who hear the song of the paddle and its most popular part of its forum is the discussion about “open canoes” (what a concept, sorta like this site used to be)
They also have an active chapter of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association in England.
I spent 14 months in Vietnam, never saw a canoe there, lots of San pans and the smaller ones didn’t look much like a canoe to me. Flat bottom, straight sides, more like a pirogue.
Same with Brazil, but I do have a Facebook friend down there who owns a real Chestnut Prosecutor.
 
For its size Belize has a lot of paddlers. Canoe racing is very popular. Checking into a place one day I said I wanted to rent one of the old 90 pound canoes. Told me not to take the Grumman as grandma was using that for training. One big stage race is broadcast on the radio and you would think the man was calling the Kentucky Derby.
 
Erica, can you post a link to the article.



That is a good point and could result in different answers. I'm not sure how many natives of the USA and Canada use canoes for their daily livelihood as in Asian and South American countries. Although, I seem to recall @Woodpuppy in Tallahassee, Florida, sometimes does in his geology/hydrology work.
Canoe Markets

When I was in the "back country" in Costa Rica, there were lots of canoes traveling up and down the river, carrying bananas to market, people going from villages into town. There was even a canoe that just ferried back and forth over the river for the people who walked the trails. These were all indigenous people. Edit: These canoes were all motorized, but were dugouts.

I have an interest in tropical fruits and over the years have seen photos, etc., of canoes bringing fruits to market. This would be in SE Asia. Another article about a river delta on the border between India and ?? and the river keeps changing what country these people live in. They were all using canoes for transportation, fishing, daily life. Sorry I don't have links for these articles. It's just what I have read over decades of interest.
 
Certainly not the UK!

I agree with Robin. The Wooden Canoe Heritage Association's historical membership totals show the following order: U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and a broad variety of others with only one or two members including Australia, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland. Accurately estimating the total number of kayaks, small indigenous boats, and other similar watercraft is much more complicated.

Benson
 
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Certainly not the UK!
I paddle usually once a week in the Norfolk Broads, one of Englands largest areas of water and I occasionally see kayaks but rarely canoes.
In Englands other area of water - the Lake District - I see more, but not many.

Sam

Sam, you've been a member for a while, but let me just say welcome for your first post! Feel free to ask any questions and to post messages, photos and videos, and to start threads, in our many forums. Please read Welcome to CanoeTripping and Site Rules! Also, because canoeing is a geographic sport, please add your location to the Account Details page in your profile, which will cause it to show under your avatar as a clickable map link. Many of the site's technical features are explained in Features: Help and How-To Running Thread. We look forward to your participation in our canoe community.

Just curious where in the UK you are and what you paddle.
 
The Wooden Canoe Heritage Association's historical totals show the following order: U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and a broad variety of others with only one or two members.

That is an interesting slice of data, but I'm skeptical that wood canoes are representative worldwide of what I'll call the recreational canoe market. The study @Erica linked has data on recent year sales in different countries, but I believe those data are blocked out unless you buy the study for $499.

Western and eastern Europe have a lot of whitewater paddlers and flat water racing paddlers, and I know that flat water Freestyle is pretty well established in Germany. I recall posting here a bunch of whitewater paddling videos from Japan, and I know Kaz has shipped several Millbrook canoes there.

I bet Swift, Wenonah and Nova Craft have good sales data for different countries they ship to.
 
The Old Town Canoe Company Build Record Archive Project described at https://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/records/ is another data source. That database has a total 14,276 Old Towns that were shipped between 1905 and 1980 which includes some plastic canoes. The number of destinations outside the U.S.A. are totaled below.

Benson


Ontario, Canada 96
Quebec, Canada 31
Manitoba, Canada 17
Germany 15
Nova Scotia, Canada 14
Columbia, South America 4
New Brunswick, Canada 3
Puerto Rico 3
France 2
Cuba 2
England 2
Canal Zone 2
Sweden 2
Newfoundland, Canada 1
Virgin Islands 1
Brazil 1
Egypt 1
 
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The Old Town Canoe Company Build Record Archive Project described at https://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/records/ is another data source. That database has a total 14,276 Old Towns that were shipped between 1905 and 1980 which includes some plastic canoes. The number of destinations outside the U.S.A. are totaled below.

Benson


Ontario, Canada 96
Quebec, Canada 31
Manitoba, Canada 17
Germany 15
Nova Scotia, Canada 14
Columbia, South America 4
New Brunswick, Canada 3
Puerto Rico 3
France 2
Cuba 2
England 2
Canal Zone 2
Sweden 2
Newfoundland, Canada 1
Virgin Islands 1
Brazil 1
Egypt 1

Looks like Germany wins on that list.
 
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