Poll: How many women canoe? (Update: Detours into a Peeing in the Woods Thread around post #42)

[snakeybird]

Poll: How many women canoe? (Update: Detours into a Peeing in the Woods Thread around post #42)

Hi Folks, I am wondering how many women are canoeists? How many go canoe tripping? My mom and I took my my nieces out today in my recreational canoe (the yellow barge), and it got me wondering how many like minded ladies are out there. For the record, I am legitimately curious about this, probably because Mom and I are the primary ones passing on the family's passion for and knowledge of the outdoors to these little girls; I'm not trying to go all feminist with my first post on this board.

 

[Canotrouge]

I'm a male, I paddle day trip and multi day tripping so does my wife and daughter. Up here in our group of friends, I would say that it is close to 50/50 male female paddlers. day tripper or multi day expeditions!!

 

[GreenFrog]

No Title

My wife loves canoe camping but is a little less interested in tripping from one spot to the next..

 

[Mihun09]

I'll have to go with day tripping And tripper. We have been all over the place in Eastern Manitoba and northern Ontario. The we being myself and my friend Christine, who will chime in here eventually. We have kind of a reputation at Wallace Lake PP as the two old ladies that disappear into the bush for a couple weeks at a time.

Karin

 

[Grandpa Paddler]

My wife and I meet on a 10 day trip in Algonquin in '67. After we married, life (work & family) set in and we weren't able to go for 5 yrs. Now she isn't able to go tripping due to health issues. I'm extremely happy when she is able to spend a 1/2 hour paddling in the farm pond with me.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I usually have to drag my husband canoe camping/tripping.. Though he does't protest too much I am always the instigator.. We took canoeing lessons together in college in 1963.

 

[Seeker]

My daughter is pretty happy in a canoe... she's 22 now, still has a year of school to finish, then she's on her own... hopefully will keep it up with her family when she has one.

 

[frozentripper]

A neighbor near me is a single female, goes canoeing solo on the lakes around here. The more typical situation seen on the water is a couple or the family with kids. Camp Tanamakoon in Algonquin is girls-only and they include canoetripping in their programs. School groups also send kids out for week-long canoe trips and girls are included if all that screaming I've heard camped on the lake is any indication.

 

[yknpdlr]

My daughter is a trained outdoor guide, spending one whole summer guiding canoe trips in the Adirondacks. She has paddled the Adirondack 90-mile race with me twice, along with her husband. She has a tripping canoe that I bought for them. They live on a large windy lake and caring for a brand new baby girl born last December has diminished their canoe activity for a short time. Guess what i gave my grand daughter for her first Christmas present from Grandpa? An infant size PFD.

I regularly train and race with two to four females in a C4 or a voyageur C6, including races in the Yukon. If you want to see high female interest in canoeing, just take a look at how many enter any canoe race in female and mixed female/male race classes. We never lack for ladies who want to paddle.

 

[stripperguy]

MDB (My Darling Bride) has been paddling with me since we became a couple in 1973.
About 10 years ago, I surprised her with a small kayak, which led to a better kayak, and then to a solo canoe.
She's loves the solo paddling, and is often the driving force behind our day trips.
Sadly, she doesn't enjoy the canoe camping so much, but still will join me and the kids on the occasional 3 day trip, as long as the carries are short (or non existent).
My daughter still paddles regularly, and camps with her family and with us. And her daughter particularly enjoys paddling at the age of 5. In another year or two, I'll build her a solo boat, to keep her interested and involved.

 

[Odyssey]

My wife guilt tripped me into taking her and the kids on a trip. "So you're off on another canoe trip with the guys? Don't you think I'd like to go? I would you know, and the kids have been asking too." That was all it took. I had taken our older son on trips with the guys because he was so keen to go. That was all many years ago, and was the start of our family canoe vacations. As the years went by the kids dropped out one by one, young adult social lives and all that. Now there's just my wife and I, and we are enjoying our tandem trips whenever we can get out. Our eldest son has taken his wife on day paddles but she "hates it". We'll see where that goes. Our second d-i-l is mildly interested. We'll see where that goes too. Our eldest daughter is outdoorsy with her hubby and kids, but they paddle kayaks nowadays. Well we saw where that went. Our youngest daughter hasn't paddled since our last family trip 20+ years ago, but talks about going. Maybe I should put together a family reunion canoe trip? With family spread far and wide I don't think that would ever work, but perhaps bringing some of them along on our own trips would. We'll see where that goes.

 

[scoutergriz]

There are 3 canoeists in my family My wife loves daytripping and short 3-4 day paddles, My daughter is a former marathon paddler until she got rear ended and wrecked her back, now she likes daytripping and overnighters, and Myself- former whitewater, former multi-daytripper, now after a serious injury I'm down to day tripping or basecamp trips. good thing I've got 3 canoes because there are days that the rack is empty!

 

[snakeybird]

Thanks for all the responses, folks! It is great to hear about so many ladies in the great outdoors, and paddling canoes.

Personally, I see a lot more women in kayaks than canoes, but to be fair, I see a lot more kayaks in general. I have way more time in a kayak myself, actually, but that is a product of growing up on the ocean; in SE Alaska, kayaks are the norm.

 

[GGTBod]

I'm interested in this question too but that is because i'm about mature enough to appreciate a good woman in my life and she will need to be into the outdoor living shenanigans or we'll be missing a good third of each others lives whilst i am gone

 

[yellowcanoe]

I could name probably 200 female solo canoe paddlers of the day tripping and extended tripping ilk
Canoe classes are heavily skewed to ladies
One paddled across the US. Another runs expeditions worldwide.
Most trip domestically in the Adirondacks and Algonquin
Western NY and PA is a hotbed of lady canoeistsz

 

[Jim Dodd]

Just my observation, but around here, most all women I see on the water, are in kayaks !
It's soo easy for a beginner to master paddling a kayak..

Jim

 

[yellowcanoe]

Just my observation, but around here, most all women I see on the water, are in kayaks !
It's soo easy for a beginner to master paddling a kayak..

Jim

I think you see the same proportion of women as men in kayaks. Women really seem to catch on the techie stuff fast as they know they make rotten engines for the most part. And a heck of a lot of women here paddle..

stern.

Or pole

You going to argue with a Chick With a Stick?

 

[snakeybird]

Interestingly enough, my local independent outdoor shop tried really hard to steer me towards a kayak when I said I wanted a solo canoe.

I outright asked them why, and they told me that they sold about 5 kayaks for every canoe that went out the doors. (Not a good reason to try to sell me something I didn't want).

I made it pretty clear I was in the market for a canoe, and they invited me to demo night... and proceeded to put me in a kayak. The only solo canoe they had was a Wenonah Argosy, and as a beginner, I was not willing to try it after watching a few others struggle with stability. I think there is not a big market for solo canoes in my parts.

Yellow Canoe, I agree arguing with a lady with a paddle is probably not the wisest course. And I do paddle stern in my tandem; my struggle is it is too wide to do so efficiently.

 

[Muskrat]

Interestingly enough, my local independent outdoor shop tried really hard to steer me towards a kayak when I said I wanted a solo canoe.

I outright asked them why, and they told me that they sold about 5 kayaks for every canoe that went out the doors. (Not a good reason to try to sell me something I didn't want).

I made it pretty clear I was in the market for a canoe, and they invited me to demo night... and proceeded to put me in a kayak. The only solo canoe they had was a Wenonah Argosy, and as a beginner, I was not willing to try it after watching a few others struggle with stability. I think there is not a big market for solo canoes in my parts.

Yellow Canoe, I agree arguing with a lady with a paddle is probably not the wisest course. And I do paddle stern in my tandem; my struggle is it is too wide to do so efficiently.

Move the seat back, way back. I'm a small guy, makes all the difference.

 

[memaquay]

To compliment Rob's other thread about Keewaydin, here's a short video showing girls only tripping in the traditional style.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4RBD35Itdw