In white water, maintaining momentum is essential for catching must make eddies. When crossing the grain, say during a ferry, using bow control stokes will drive your canoe across currents and preserve precious momentum. If you’re gliding downstream and planning on eddying out, the river’s provides momentum to counter the friction of steering from the stern. Choosing to steer form the bow or stern will be determined by where you are travelling and the whether you are moving with, or across, the current.

Use Bow Control for Crossing the Grain

Steering from the bow, called Power Steering, relies on adapting your forward and cross-forward stroke so they control your boat angle. The advantage of Power Steering is that your paddle strokes always add to your momentum. The efficiency of using forward strokes means that you don’t wind up fighting the drag caused by friction strokes like stern prys and rudders.

Picture yourself planning and “S” turn across some pretty fast water. Your move begins with your canoe facing upstream and travelling against, then progressively across, the current. Any drag from stern strokes will slow your momentum and possible blow the move. Power Steering, with control coming from the bow, is your best method of building the needed momentum.

Use Stern Control for Going with the Flow

Stern strokes, like prys, rudders and draws, are the traditional steering strokes used by all canoeists. Their strong suite is that they work incredibly well for steering. Anytime you need to turn you canoe in a hurry, the leverage created by these strokes is practically guaranteed to work every time. The down side of these friction strokes is they all slow you down – some more than others. Be warned; use stern control when you have enough momentum to counter the drag of the stroke.

So, when’s the best time to use stern control? Anytime momentum is not a concern for making the move. Imagine you’re cruising down a drop and want to eddy out at the bottom. You’re carrying loads of downstream momentum and facing a whooping 180 degree turn coming at you, fast! The only thing that’s going to make that eddy turn happen is a stern control stroke. Heck, friction is not an issue, your going downhill building momentum as you approach the turn.

Making the Move Every Time

Making your move every time will depend on matching your paddling technique to how you plan on using the current. Your strategy has to account for the momentum gained or lost from both stokes and the river current. Think of bow control as having less friction and higher efficiency, while stern control gives you leverage and security at the cost of friction.

 

It’s All About Bouncing in the Right Direction!

Cresting a horizon line recently, the thrill of running a steep creek was heightened seeing that I would be following a path of mostly water – the best part, though, would be bouncing off a series of rocks which, if all went well, would direct me toward my next eddy.

Running steep, low volume rivers draws on both traditional water reading skills and a host of unique tricks designed to take advantage of the many exposed rocks. Using rocks to guide your canoe through rapids is one common trick used on creek runs, but not so much so on deeper rivers. When river running, canoeist who strikes a rock may state “I meant to hit that”. At best it comes off as weak justification for drifting off line. However in creeking, doing so is all part of the game.

A pioneer of many first descents of creeks in the Southern U.S., Dave “Psycho” Simpson coined the phrase that went something like, “it ain’t if you hit a rock or not, it’s if you hit the rock and bounce the right way”. In low flow steep creeks rocks often are not to be avoided, rather, they are used to assist boat placement. Some of the best lines use of mix of channelized water and boulders to descend a steep run. Besides, rocks offer that quick change in direction that no stroke could ever match.

Hitting rocks may also help to stabilize your canoe. Often when water piles onto boulders it builds a pillow wave with an upstream seam of descending water. Getting caught here may pull your paddle deep upsetting your balance, or perhaps cause you to catch and edge. Either way the risk of capsize is increased. Better to cross the seam and hit the rock. By reaching out a hand you can reduce the risk of capsize further by using the rock for stability.

Things to remember while developing your rock hitting skills:

• Lean and tilt into rocks
• Consider using your hands to cushion and guide your boat’s path
• Account for friction after slamming into rocks and prepare to speed up after impact
• Strike using the front half of your canoe as striking past midships can cause pin wheeling out of control
• Although not essential, a plastic boat is both the toughest and slipperiest for bouncing off of rocks
• Elbow pads!

 

Steep, creeky, low flow runs often require striking rocks. Bouncing the right way is key to holding your line and definitely adds to the excitement of your run.

Author’s Bio: Andrew Westwood is an open canoe instructor at the Madawaska Kanu Centre, member of Team Esquif and author of The Essential Guide to Canoeing. www.westwoodoutdoors.ca. Article first appeared in