spider Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 (edited) Just wondering if anyone has travelled along with canoes on a trip..?next trip is 2 weeks ...2 of us in single kayaks and 2 travelling in a canoe... my friend feels we will easily keep up in singles... I tend to think we might be underestimating how quickly 2 experienced men in one canoe can travel.So thought I would ask...? Edited August 1, 2013 by spider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfolster Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 I don't have any direct experience with kayaks vs. canoes, but my understanding is that traditional canoes (as opposed to racing canoes - those things are nuts!!) are slower than kayaks due to a wider beam and wider, more vertical bow. I know that the BCU 4* aspirant that lead us on our 3* assessment a couple of weeks ago paddles his canoe as much as his kayak, and tends to use the canoe when paddling with beginners in order to slow him down enough as to not run away from them.I would think that the single kayaks will keep up with two paddlers in one canoe without issue. But hey, if they are doing so well, just load more gear into the canoe and lighten up your kayak! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brambor Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 it's all fun and games until the wind picks up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcoons Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 We went kayak/canoe camping with another couple in the Everglades. We each had singles and they had a traditional canoe. Little wind and pretty flat water. We were worried about the same thing you were worried about but what made the difference was the loading. Since the canoe took much of the heavier gear, things were pretty equal in our group. Of course, a great deal has to do with the strength of the paddlers and size of the boats. Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterB Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 I did a canoe kayak camping trip in Georgian Bay (north of Toronto, adjoins Lake Huron ) with my cousin and family: two of us in a tandem kayak, the rest in two canoes.We outdistanced the canoes in open water by a big margin, but the canoes were much easier to portage.The canoes carried way more stuff in big Duluth bags. I did a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters with a college friend: The portages we did would have been very long and difficult with a kayak, and , in his view, the quality of a canoe trip is related to how many and how long portages you can do , as you then can get to more remote areas others would be less likely to explore. However , we were stuck for a whole day at a campsite on a lake due to strong wind. we could not have ventured out in our canoe, but we could have been across that lake in 10 minutes in a kayak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnHuth Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 (edited) I went on a trip in downeast Maine - a big loop in the Grand Lake Stream area, with three canoes and I paddled a kayak. The upper reaches of the Machias River can get pretty shallow, so I didn't want to risk the gel coat on my sea kayak. I used a plastic two-person recreational , moved the seats around, stuck my backpack in, and threw a plastic tarp over it. It worked well. I don't mind really all the scraping on rocks in this particular boat - takes a licking and comes up ticking (or whatever that Timex commercial is) - just not very fast, nor does it do well in big seas, but for this trip, it was ideal. I found a nice portage yoke (I think Old Town makes them) which made portaging relatively easy (including a 1.5 mile portage). I thought that portaging the kayak with this yoke and portaging the canoes were roughly the same in degree of difficulty - but the yoke was absolutely critical to this. It worked reasonably well - I outpaced the kids in the canoes, but these were 14-16 year old boy scouts, so it's not clear that they were up there in the skill level. Anyway, it was a very successful trip, and I was pretty happy with how it worked out. I also know a guy who did a mixed trip (kayak and canoe) in Labrador down one of the rivers up there, and he had much the same setup as I did with a plastic rec model and also reported that it worked well. Edited August 3, 2013 by JohnHuth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spider Posted August 26, 2013 Author Share Posted August 26, 2013 (edited) Just got back from a 10 day trip up in Quebec north side of the St Lawrence...2 single kayaks and one tandem canoe (with two experienced canoeist)...they smoked us big time. Okay not all the time, but I paced myself to them and kept with them... it was a strong pace. If they pulled ahead it was a definite sprint to catch back up.When the wind was up and broadside it made it hard for them, but not impossible they had the muscle, and technique to travel as necessary. When the wind was up for them it was also challenging for us as well. My friend in the other kayak pulled up lame on day 5 with big time tendonitis in both wrist & arms. I might write up a report but it was a fresh water trip... All and all it was agreed we paddle with our brains not our muscles so to speak (brains not brawn I guess) We called it an expedition/vacation...satellite phone etc... up on the Canadian Shield Edited August 26, 2013 by spider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyork Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 I might write up a report but it was a fresh water trip...Not a bit less interesting, I'm sure! Can't wait for your post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnHuth Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Not a bit less interesting, I'm sure! Can't wait for your post.I second that motion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spider Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 (edited) Just home for a week so heading back up to the Gaspe in a day...hope this links to a furry fellow checking things out... https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=78afc8e644&view=att&th=140d6317940c9814&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=file0&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P9CHbCdh8pLJJ6MlJH5PU-f&sadet=1377983466071&sads=GWjCTSr0AVBsixCMQLGe5T4c3Sgthat is exactly where I was sitting out of the wind a few minutes before... that is my spray skirt...where I had been resting out of the wind..amazing how agile they are...and do get bigger as they get closer.... Edited August 31, 2013 by spider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Just home for a week so heading back up to the Gaspe in a day...hope this links to a furry fellow checking things out... https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=78afc8e644&view=att&th=140d6317940c9814&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=file0&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P9CHbCdh8pLJJ6MlJH5PU-f&sadet=1377983466071&sads=GWjCTSr0AVBsixCMQLGe5T4c3Sgthat is exactly where I was sitting out of the wind a few minutes before... that is my spray skirt...where I had been resting out of the wind..amazing how agile they are...and do get bigger as they get closer....I am not sure what the link is supposed to be but it shows up as a 404 error for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spider Posted September 4, 2013 Author Share Posted September 4, 2013 yeah, that's weird it comes up ok for me but not on my wifes.I'll figure it out some day but for now it just goes on the "why I seldom do trip reports these days list " (it was a pic of a bear, no big deal but it did show that they can approach from above on a rocky shore) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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