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Poll: How much is your spouse or SO interested in canoeing compared to you?

What percent of your interest in canoeing does your spouse or SO have?

  • 0%

    Votes: 19 27.5%
  • 10%

    Votes: 13 18.8%
  • 20%

    Votes: 5 7.2%
  • 30%

    Votes: 8 11.6%
  • 40%

    Votes: 7 10.1%
  • 50%

    Votes: 4 5.8%
  • 60%

    Votes: 4 5.8%
  • 70%

    Votes: 1 1.4%
  • 80%

    Votes: 4 5.8%
  • 90%

    Votes: 1 1.4%
  • 100%

    Votes: 3 4.3%

  • Total voters
    69
My S.O. is "really" into paddling under the following terms......

  • The drive to the put-in should be fairly short
  • The organizing of gear and food is done by someone else
  • The choice of destinations is done by someone else
  • Any portages must be short
  • On any portages the carrying must be done by someone else
  • The weather must be right, not too cold, not too hot, no rain allowed
  • The campsite (for overnight stays) must be nice
  • Camp must be set up by someone else
  • Bugs are not allowed to be present
  • While on the water the paddling must be done by someone else
  • Preparing of meals must be done by someone else

Someone else must also maintain a pleasant attitude at all times from the moment they say "let's go paddling" to the eventual return home.

"Someone else" in this case prefers to paddle alone or with those that have fewer terms and conditions!
Well I asked my wife and she said before or after she retires which offers hope. Other wise she said 20% which I thought was high. Then I read to her recped's reply about his S.O. and she said that sounds about right. I feel your pain recped and hence while I often paddle alone.
 
After getting divorced, I met a really nice woman at the local Garden Club. We got to know each other and then I asked her "would you like to go on a canoe trip in Montana?" She said yes, so we paddled the Upper Missouri River on the Trail of Lewis and Clark for 151 miles from Ft Benton to Kipp Bridge. That was 25 years ago. Since then she has been on drift boat trips, raft trips, canoe trips, cruise ships, my power boats, sail boats and relatives big boats. But she doesn't swim, and really doesn't like being in small boats any longer.
 
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My wife likes to sun tan on a sand bar on the Wisconsin River and enjoys exploring the river with me and our Dog Jake. She has zero point none interest in canoe camping, tripping … or anything to do with a portage. To this end, she has commandeered my solo canoe as her own … which is fine really as Jake and I prefer to paddle our tandem anyway.

I am just glad we can paddle together, even if only on day trips.

Bob
I posted this on page1. Since then, and many day paddles on the Wisconsin River and local lakes this summer, my wife now has her own used solo canoe … a Rapidfire. We are planning a trip to Florida this March to day paddle springs and lazy rivers looking for Manatees, monkeys, crockagators, birds etc. We will stay in hotels and cabins, and day trip varied waters for a week or so. She is excited to go … I am ecstatic!!! I can’t wait to explore new places by paddle with my wife! It feels good to share another interest together.

Bob.
 
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my wife now has her own used solo canoe … a Rapidfire. We are planning a trip to Florida this March to day paddle springs and lazy rivers looking for Manatees, monkeys, crockagators, birds etc. We will stay in hotels and cabins, and day trip varied waters for a week or so. She is excited to go … I am ecstatic!!! I can’t wait to explore new places by paddle with my wife! It feels good to share another interest together.

This sounds great, Bob, and I'm sure you two will have a wonderful time. (Pssst, don't tell the House Stark of Winterfell trippers that you can enjoy canoe "tripping" without portaging the Wall every kilometer.) There is so much paddling water in Florida that you could paddle the ocean, a lake and a river all in the same day with just short drives in between. And sleep in a bed, eat in a restaurant, take a shower, log on to CTN, post your pictures, make us all jealous . . . all while the Starks are waiting for the ice to disappear so they can slog through muck and swarms of black flies. (But we luv them cuz we used to be them.)

I believe Yellowcanoe will be in Florida in March, too, and we have several members who live there.
 
Think my wife meerly endures a trip once a year on my behalf, bless her heart. I make it as pleasant and stress-free for her as I can and she seems to have a good time. I’m a full service camping host type of guy. I take care of everything, you just need to relax and enjoy yourself. I don’t even care if you help paddle.

Think half the time she goes with me is because she knows I’ll just go solo if no one else will come. Tagging along might be more enjoyable than sitting home worrying about me being solo.
 
Since I paddle more than my wife I tell her to take breaks so she doesn’t overdo it. I tell her to turn around in the bow seat so we can talk. In this photo I had her sit on the floor and rest her back on the thwart, for her comfort and to get the bow light trim needed to pole up a swift.

It doesn’t hurt to feed them too. DFA4C5EF-1B27-4AEC-8BEC-3B0BB0357981.jpeg
 
My wife has zero interest in canoes or canoe camping anymore. We did a lot of canoeing together early in our marriage, our first big purchase other than a car was a new Grumman canoe in 71’, we did a couple of short trips but I know she wasn’t comfortable without a regular bathroom.

In our younger years, we had 3 kids under 5 and she enjoyed staying in an old cabin on a lake in Ontario for 2 weeks at a time, car camping in the ADKs too, a week at Montauk camping just off beach many times was her favorite. She was/is a great organizer and it’s too bad she never liked backwoods canoe camping.

Today, although she won’t admit it, I think she enjoys her own free time when I go on trips, and she supports my canoe buying problem without so much as batted eyelid.
 
My wife and I have always lived in the type 1 fun world, although there've been times when we may've had type 2 staring us in the face. But we aim for type 1, and my aim is true. Mostly. Over the years we've both been on trips of discovery, what we love, what we don't, and what we've learned. She's learned that despite my sometimes shaky aim, she'll always stick with me, but now there'll be canoe trip conditions.
I've never lived with this word before, conditions, so I guess it's another learning curve for me. These conditions are :
No deep water.
No big water.
No bumpy water.
No cold nights.
I must admit that the last couple of trips probably hastened her formulating those conditions, seeing as how we experienced all four. What I'd assumed was a jackpot of a teeny bit of envelope pushing was in fact to her absolutely terrifying. No amount of bigging up her confidence and congratulating her tripping ability changed anything. So I did what every thoughtful husband does...eventually. I listened to her. And learned.
Regardless of my promises of perfect aim in future she has feigned deafness and disinterest. That was until I started firming up plans for some base camp trips with the kids. I tossed around some routes and destinations over the phone, while she pretended to be aloof and bored, but I think she betrayed her interest when she muttered "Oh, I really liked that lake. We had a beautiful site there", and "That would be a nice trip."
I won't push things. I'll continue to make paddling plans without her, respecting her homebody plans. But I would really love to go on one more happy memorable canoe trip, and if it happens to be our last together, then at least I will have perfected my aim when it counted most.
 
I just checked…30%. That’s more than I guessed. I am fortunate that She lets me go whenever I want (or need) to go.
 
I just checked…30%. That’s more than I guessed. I am fortunate that She lets me go whenever I want (or need) to go.

Soloskip, welcome to first post membership! Feel free to ask any questions and to post messages, photos and videos in our many forums. Please read Welcome to CanoeTripping and Site Rules! Also, please consider adding your location to your profile, which will cause it to show under your avatar, as this is in many ways a geographic sport. We look forward to hearing where you go and other participation in our canoe community. (Your wife should allow it.)
 
My partner loves canoeing with me but I have to be respectful of her limits for cold temperatures, wind and waves, and speed and mileage. If she's happy, I'm happy. We paddle tandem canoes (she's in the bow) and solos (day trips). She took a canoeing lesson so she's been having fun exploring shorelines and marshes in a solo boat. I'm like a bird dog when we're out: Paddle ahead, circle back. Paddle ahead, circle back. :)
 
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Odyssey, my wife's the exact opposite... She likes the big deep lakes, and nice cold nights (what she calls cold is 45-55F) and doesn't even mind some "character" (her word) to the water, Me? I prefer the windy creeks, swifts and "bumpy" moving water (max CL3, more is too much work...)
 
My wife and I have always lived in the type 1 fun world, although there've been times when we may've had type 2 staring us in the face. But we aim for type 1, and my aim is true. Mostly. Over the years we've both been on trips of discovery, what we love, what we don't, and what we've learned. She's learned that despite my sometimes shaky aim, she'll always stick with me, but now there'll be canoe trip conditions.
I've never lived with this word before, conditions, so I guess it's another learning curve for me. These conditions are :
No deep water.
No big water.
No bumpy water.
No cold nights.
I must admit that the last couple of trips probably hastened her formulating those conditions, seeing as how we experienced all four. What I'd assumed was a jackpot of a teeny bit of envelope pushing was in fact to her absolutely terrifying. No amount of bigging up her confidence and congratulating her tripping ability changed anything. So I did what every thoughtful husband does...eventually. I listened to her. And learned.
Regardless of my promises of perfect aim in future she has feigned deafness and disinterest. That was until I started firming up plans for some base camp trips with the kids. I tossed around some routes and destinations over the phone, while she pretended to be aloof and bored, but I think she betrayed her interest when she muttered "Oh, I really liked that lake. We had a beautiful site there", and "That would be a nice trip."
I won't push things. I'll continue to make paddling plans without her, respecting her homebody plans. But I would really love to go on one more happy memorable canoe trip, and if it happens to be our last together, then at least I will have perfected my aim when it counted most.
I introduced my wife to canoe tripping in Killarney - including the 3K from Killarney Lake to Threenarrows, and then the Pig.

I horribly overestimated our capabilities on that trip. We were behind schedule the whole trip, beginning from a bad start. Looking back, we had a good time. She got to see otters frolicking in the morning sun. She still talks about that.

But she was sick, starting from about day two. *I* was physically capable of it, but *she* was not. But because I begged and pleaded for her to come with me, she did. She does not hold it against me nor does it eliminate the possibility she will do such a trip with me again, but it sure set some limits. This was the trip on which I learned the value of always packing backup chicken noodle soup.

In my case, she's now fine with deep water and bumpy water. She has reservations about big water (as do I, but less than her), and so long as we plan for it, she's OK with cold nights. I get it. I too want to share my love of the wild with my wife.

See, she wants to share it with me. But it's not so easy for her. It seems to be easier for me. The bugs, the food, the climbing, the paddling... it all just seems to be easier for me. But I think I understand you.

Plan your trips around your wife. It is better, in my opinion, to have someone like that with you and challenge yourself to provide a good trip, than it is to just... challenge yourself. If for no other reason, if the crap hits the fan, you will not be alone.

(And, those otherwise lonely nights with two adults in the middle of nowhere - they can be... fun)
 
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