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Just bought myself a 41 inch wide solo canoe, some say use a kayak paddle, others canoe paddle. Little help please on the right choice
 
Welcome to the site.

That sounds like a wide solo canoe. I think paddle choice comes down to personal preference. You'll most likely have to try both to see what you prefer. You may find you prefer a different paddle or paddling style for different conditions.

I think you may have to use a fairly long double blade kayak paddle depending on your paddling style.

Single blade would most likely be easier of you heel the canoe and paddle it on the onside, or lower gunwale side.

My advice is try both and see what you like.
 
Well, if you want to get from point A to point B in a 41" wide canoe, maybe a double blade is the way to go, I'm not really sure.
But... and again, I'm not really that experienced with wide canoes, maybe starting with the single blade paddle is a good idea. If you learn to paddle a wide canoe with a single blade well, you will be really good when you buy that 29" wide solo canoe we all know you will end up.

I can just see you now in the picture of the day post, running a class 2 rapids, single blade held high in the air as you do a 360 hand spin....with "Thanks Canoetripping.net" written on the blade in magic marker....

I'm a single blade open canoe diehard, I hope you go with the single blade....

Sorry, got carried away. hopefully you will get some really sound advice here and not some old guy not willing to change opinion.:)
 
As a former kayaker, I bought my solo intending to primarily paddle kayak style. I have since decided that single blade is the way to go for me, although I might think differently if the seat was floor mounted. It really just boils down to whatever feels right.
 
I built a Eureka 155 and made a double blade for it... I keep forgetting exactly how long it is, but it's somewhere around 8'. My canoe is 36" wide, and the longer double makes it tolerable to paddle. If your barge will heel, maybe a stick would be better... smarter people than I (YellowCanoe) will have to chime in on that.
 
Well Blue, We run into this time and again; some nice guy buys or is given a "canoe" and would like a little advice on how to make it work. It turns out that the craft is some kind of tub that the manufactures have made to appeal to a broad segment of the population, get them out on the water without promptly drowning them. (What with the threat of litigation and all) Most of us have some kind of awful thing in our past that we tried to paddle, tried to carry, tried to imagine that we were with Lewis and Clark or maybe fur traders for HBC. That's as it should be; we were young and would heal quickly.
With the passage of time and a lot of pain most of us have learned a little bit; of course this is up for argument but I'd suggest that a theme for our canoes now could be "Do a lot with a little". Most of our canoes are lighter, narrower, more nimble and capable of deft movement at the flick of a skilled paddle.
That last part about skill is where the paddler needs to spend quite a bit of effort learning how to bring out the best that's in his canoe.
You might want to spend some time on the site looking at the pictures of what we paddle and comparing it with what you have.

Now, judging on a poverty of evidence, I'd guess that you are at the start of your journey toward something that will be a real pleasure to use.
Where will you be using this craft?
Give us as full a description as you can of what it is.
Buy and wear a comfortable life vest (PFD) this is really important!!!
Do you have any experience with self propelled water craft?

Best Wishes,

Rob


P.S. I still think we need to make up a section of good advice for the person new to canoes, I imagine someone asking for help and maybe this may be the only time they reach out and we really ought to provide a little guidance. If any of us were out paddling and found someone clinging to a tub (like Blue here) nearly hypothermic there's not one of us who wouldn't help. So why doesn't it make sense to provide some basic solid information that will help that person before they make one of a thousand mistakes that the beginner is all too prone to making?
 
Not saying anything until I find out more about the canoe. Especially the length and the placement of the paddling station. I could tell you one thing and find out that where you are paddling from is relatively narrow. Then you have way too long a club.

But I have never heard of a 41 inch wide solo canoe made for paddling. Maybe for stern kicker motor.. Maybe its a typo.. who knows? Some solos that border on broad have the paddling station quite far back and the length to span is more like 32 inches.
 
More info needed here. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a 41" beam solo. Reminds me of the old Stillwater, but that was a fat 12 foot tandem if I remember correctly. What make and model is the boat? Got pics?
 
oldy moldie, I totally agree with your suggestion of a section to really reach out and help people that are new to paddling. Good, sound advice from experienced paddlers (who have all made many of the same mistakes early on) without getting buried in all the tech jargon may be all that a new paddler needs to develop the skills and the love of the sport that we share.
 
Hi Blue,

Welcome to the NFL.

I'm happy to see someone from my part of the country. I live in Greenbrier Co., WV. There's a at least two active members in PA and a couple in Ohio.

Maybe even more basic than questions about your boat might be a question about your intentions.

As you lean back and close your eyes and see yourself competently paddling along, where are you send what are you out there for?

Knowing a little about that stuff will help people give you
advice about paddles and other things.
 
I do not consider myself an experienced paddler so I will just tell you what I do.
I use both a single and a double blade. I use the single for casual paddling and streams and the double on big water crossings or if I'm in a hurry. If I'm using the double then the single is my spare and vise versa.
My solo is 14' and around 27" at the widest point.

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I like your set up there Tracker, very neat and complete. When you use the double blade that must be pretty fast. What brand/model is the canoe?
I like that single blade too, what brand/model is that?
 
Wow? Lets c I am 60 years old, not new to the canoe. but I do not have one of those Slick speed racers. I use mine for real slow moving bass fishing in the river. . I would say that it is the same as a OT Stillwater. only having it made solo. Mistake I do not think so, It is a pleasure to own. I had just read an article stating that a kayak paddle was good for a canoe up to 38 inches wide but not over, being new to the site, broke ground and asked a question Thanks for the comments
 
So, I got the "skinny" on the 41" canoe, Bear Creek Cubby, 12' tandem, officially 40" beam. Here is my reply to the OP: "Gotcha. So, I assume you will be turning the boat around and paddling from the bow seat. May be awfully wide for a double stick, I would definitely go with the single blade, which also gives you the kneeling option. Double paddle would need to be pretty long." I would also add that it appears to have a flat bottom, which would add to stability, but I don't think that boat would heel very well. Reminds me of the Stillwater, very stable, not very fast. Have fun with it!
 
Bluegrasscanoe,
That sould be a good canoe for fishing. I had a Old Town Discovery 133k quite a few years ago, it was about 40" wide and nice for fishing. I never tried a double bladed paddle with it, always paddled it tandem with single blades. I did try it one time solo with a single blade and it was a handful.
If you have a double blade (or know someone who will let you borrow one) try it out and see if it works for you. Try to test out the longest one you can find.
 
Robin,
Thanks! It moves along nicely. I was told the canoe is from the Shenandoah Canoe co. not sure of what model. I searched online and found a little info on Shenandoah Canoe company but nothing on any of their canoes. I did ask about it on the ADKforum and got some info (from madmike I believe). I was told that Shenandoah canoe bought hulls from Blue Hole then put wood gunnels and their name on them.
The paddle is from cabelas, it says "by Caviness" on it.

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Just bought myself a 41 inch wide solo canoe, some say use a kayak paddle, others canoe paddle. Little help please on the right choice

There is no right choice. People "say" both things because they are biased to the type of paddle, single or double, that they happen to have or prefer.

A hull can be propelled by either a single or double paddle, or a pole or your hands. It takes far less skill to paddle (1) in a straight line, (2) fast and (3) in winds with a double blade than with a single blade. Those are the primary three reasons people use double blades in canoes. You can do all that with the lighter and more maneuverable single blade, but it takes a lot more technique and practice. Some paddlers like that challenge and the traditions behind the single blade.

The Old Town Stillwater is 12' long and 41 inches wide.
Stillwater12_green_top_lg%281%29.png


It's clearly more of a platform canoe than a paddling canoe. That is, it's made to be very stable while you perform some activity within it, such as fishing or tripod photography, other than just the physical act or hobby of recreational paddling.

It's always a good idea to have a spare paddle, so I would just get a relatively short single blade and relatively long double blade so you can experiment with both.

On edit: I should add that Mohawk Paddles and Carlisle Paddles both used to offer inexpensive break-apart double blade paddles, which you could turn into two single blades with two t-grip handle attachments. The Mohawk was lighter and therefore more preferable to me.
 
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I say both things because I want you to think about the problem Its hooey about skill lever being less to paddle with a double blade. The learning curve is of course different with a double blade paddle. A yaw to one side is corrected automatically with a yaw to the other side. To paddle really well with a double blade however takes a lot of water time. The single blade learning curve is steep at first then refinements are pretty easy to learn.

Looking at the width of the station if you sit backwards on the bow seat, you will need a 280 cm double blade. That is a wicked heavy stick. Plus if you do fish or take pictures and have to stow the paddle for a minute, it is not easy to get out of the way.

Single blading in the context of what you have to deal with, makes more sense. Its OK to switch sides. Once caveat, that boat is going to want to turn and you have to avoid following the gunwale in any stroke you do. Keep your strokes way forward, don't pass your hip with your bottom hand..

After 23 years I still have not mastered the forward double blade stroke.. and I am a sea kayak Guide. I do far better with the single as precise boat placement.
 
Hmmm....not to be "elitist" or any thing but that craft looks to be a fat, very fat, canoe devolving into a bull boat. That's not how I spell progress.
I can understand having a stable platform for fishing: there are hundreds of great little Jon-boats, put a kicker on it and away you go. End of story.

Trying to incorporate a fishing platform with the canoe is like trying to mate a giraffe with a tortoise; if you could do it, in the end what the heck have you got?

Now, Blue this isn't an attack on you, really no kidding, you have my sympathy. If for some horrible reason I had to use a boat like that or stay at home, I believe I'd try to see if I could pole the thing. At least you'd be using one of the few advantages of such a design: stability. I heard somewhere that folks can "paddle" using the pole while standing. Or maybe build a long oar to use standing and pole with it as well.

Best Wishes and good luck!

Rob
 
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