Front Surfing Your Canoe

Front Surfing Your Canoe

With these tips, surfing your canoe may be easier than you think.

Front surfing is just about the coolest thing you can do in a canoe. Rushing water under the hull, defying the downstream pull of the current, just hovering in one place on the river is a remarkable feeling of speed and boat control.

So how do we choose a wave, get on it, and control our position? Let’s take a look at what makes a good surf wave.

First, a really good wave has to be large enough to hold your canoe. That means the length of the wave and its height must be large enough to cradle your boat so that your canoe will tilt downhill while facing into the current. Think of it this way, your canoe has to slide down the wave at least as fast as the current is rushing past you.

Second, a really good wave has a trough oriented perpendicular to the direction of current flow. This allows you to point your canoe into the approaching current. Everything will feel balanced and the canoe will be easy to steer both left and right for great boat control.

Before getting on a wave, look for doorways to the current. Easier waves have a trough that meets the eddy line at nearly 90 degrees. At this point there will be a depression.  This dip at the eddy line is your doorway to the current. Paddle through and drop on the wave to start surfing.

More challenging waves are further out from your eddy. In this case, your best option is to ferry across the eddy wedge to your doorway.

In some cases the doorway is upstream of the surf wave. Here, surf the shoulder wave out and downstream to the best part of the wave face.

Getting on the wave takes a bit of strategizing. Let’s look at some of the tricks that will get you surfing.

One key to catching a wave is to paddle quickly enough to match the speed of the current you are entering – not too fast, not too slow, just right.

Your position on the wave is important too, place your center of gravity a bit upstream of the crest of the wave.

Controlling boat angle is essential. Opening your canoe’s angle relative to the current will move you in the direction the bow is pointing. To hold steady in a front surf, close your angle to point the bow into the approaching current.

The tough part is knowing how much angle to give your canoe. Generally, use more angle in less powerful current, and vice versa for fast water. Boat design plays a role too, so experiment to find the ideal angle for your canoe, wave and water level.

If using a shoulder wave to catch your ride, you will need to surf along it to reach the sweet spot of the wave. Choose an angle close to 90 degrees to the shoulder wave. As you surf out into the current keep adjusting your canoe angle to match the shape of the wave. Once in the sweet spot, maintain 90 degrees to the trough for a beautiful gliding front surf.

Once on the wave, controlling your left to right movement comes from unique rudder strokes. These strokes are the same for solo and the stern position in tandem.

The rudder is modified by twisting the blade using the T grip. Twisting the blade creates drag which controls both direction and speed.

To turn away from your paddle, twist the T grip outward and push the bottom edge of the power face down while pulling inward against the current.

To turn toward your paddle, twist the T grip inward and push the bottom edge of the non-power face down while pushing outward against the current.

Viewed another way, to rudder away from your paddle, turn the t grip’s thumb toward your shoulder.

Or, you can turn the t grip’s thumb away from your shoulder to rudder toward your paddle.

While ruddering, both your grip hand and shaft hand work together to control the blade. For balance, keep an independent upper body by holding your hands away from the gunwales. Plus, keeping your hands off the gunnel means the stroke won’t interfere with boat tilts.

In tandem, bow paddlers can assist in steering. Often they’ll use the bow cut to direct the canoe toward the bow’s onside. This likely is the more difficult direction to turn for the stern paddler. Cross cuts are often not needed as the stern onside rudder is so effective at steering to the bow’s offside.

Surfing also needs good edge control. Surprisingly, an effective carve requires you to keep your gunnels level as it is the wave face that is tilted beneath you, even when moving left to right. If tilt were added, traction would be reduced leading to weakened boat control.

Your position between crest and trough can be controlled by how you lean your body. Shifting your weight forward drops your bow down to the trough, while leaning back will move you back up to the crest.

In tandem, both partners must coordinate their leans with good communication and a keen awareness of where the canoe is positioned on the face.

Your goal is to keep your center of balance upstream of the crest without unnecessarily plowing your bow into the wave in front of you.

Stroke cadence is important too. Combining forward strokes and lean to approach the trough, or dragging your paddle blade and backward lean to approach the crest.

Some surf waves just beg to be ridden. Problem is, there may not be an easy way to catch them as they are not close to an eddy. One way to catch a ride is to drift backward onto the face and accelerate to match the speed of the current.

Another way is a bit fancier, called a wave turn. Set yourself up sideways to the current and drift into the breaking crest of an inviting surf wave. Make sure just the front half of the canoe strikes the recirculating crest and the stern of your canoe remains in current. Now the wave will spin the canoe to face upstream and into a nice front surf.

As we said earlier, surfing is just about the coolest thing you can do in a canoe. And, we hope you find these tips helpful in making it happen. So find yourself a really great wave and go for a ride.

Check out our video: Front Surfing

Carole and Andrew Westwood

Paddle Canada Instructors / Instructor Trainers

Contact:            info@westwoodoutdoors.ca

 For:                  Moving Water Instructional Courses

                          Custom Courses and Clinics

                        Personal Coaching

Secrets of Great Paddling

    
Secrets of Great Paddling

How do you define an exceptional paddler? What makes them look so good? Do you think that you can do what they do? 

Well, I think you can, and I’m going to share some of the secrets to becoming a really good canoeist.

And, some of these ideas may surprise you as they’re really easy to do.

 

Paddling Greats

First, watch video clips of some of your favorite canoeists. A few that I think look really outstanding are Bill Mason, Mark Scriver, Eli Helbert John Kazimierczyk, and also, my wife Carole Westwood. You’ll see something in common – a coordinated union of paddler, canoe and paddle. Everything just fits together. But, why does it look this way?

I think a great canoeist moves with a degree of grace that makes them appear to paddle with remarkable ease. In fact, at times they look to be moving very fast despite their relaxed pace. Second, their strokes appear smooth and in synch with the whole river environment. And finally, the canoe moves as if it’s an extension of the paddler themselves.

 

Invisible Skills that are Key to Greatness

  1. Hold your boat

This idea is so simple it’s often missed in our attempt to paddle well. Great paddlers actively hold on to their canoe via their feet, knees, legs, hips and back side (or sit upon, butt, etc.) using the outfitting in the boat.

Avoid at all costs just sitting like a passenger in your canoe – instead work to grip it, control it, guide it, but don’t just sit in it. Try to “push” your knees to the chine of the hull and keep them there, to actively hold the canoe.

Holding your canoe will make it stable. Watch out for side to side wobbles, and bow and stern bobbing. These are signs of a loose boat.

Gunnels should appear steady and nearly level when going straight, and held tilted throughout carves. The ends of the canoe should remain flat, not bouncing up and down.

The boat held securely will glide better when held flat, and carve better when held on a tilt.

 

  1. Paddle a quiet boat

Part literal, part metaphor, paddling a quiet boat is indeed quieter to the ear, but it is also “quieter” to the eye as well.

When a canoe is pushed too fast by your stroke, say during a turn or just to accelerate from rest, you will hear splashing from the paddle and gurgles from the hull. Forcing the canoe into a movement causes unnecessary splashes and aerated water. The aesthetics are visually harsh too. These sounds and visual clues also indicate a loss of energy.

Great paddlers temper their strokes to move the canoe in a way that matches the canoe’s natural rhythm on the water. Think of the story of the “Three Bears” as an analogy, paddle “not too fast, not too slow, paddle just right”.

Knowing how fast your canoe can accelerate or change direction, and not forcing it beyond its designed ability, will improve your efficiency and make you look in tune with your craft. 

 

  1. Carve with Forward Strokes

Using the forward stroke to carve is easy. Consider that much of white-water paddling uses arcing paths. Because of this I avoid straight ahead paddling in favour of gently arcing when travelling in my solo canoe. But here’s the catch, while I’m on a carve I can steer by adjusting the speed of my forward stroke.

To straighten my route I speed up the forward stroke, likewise to tighten the arc, I slow my stroke down.

Avoiding friction strokes like the stern pry helps keep momentum constant; neither surging ahead, nor braking under the drag of a pry stroke.

Paddlers who use mostly forward strokes look smooth and effortless.

 

  1. Glide

It goes without saying, canoes are streamlined. So, take advantage of the canoe’s shape and glide more often.

I sometimes see paddlers using too many forward strokes as if they’re stroking to some unheard drum beat. Driving a canoe too hard causes it to veer off course. You can see this when paddlers use frequent correction strokes to bring it back on course. It’s called a correction stroke for a reason – hint hint.

Heighten your awareness of every stroke, place it precisely every time to suit the maneuver. Avoid hitting “autopilot” and just stroking for the heck of it.

Instead, feel the glide of the hull and add power precisely when you need it.

 

Be a Great Paddler

Incorporating the above ideas will help you become a great looking paddler. Using the canoe and paddle strategically will allow you too, to move in harmony. Just like other great canoeists

Check out our videos here.

Carole and Andrew Westwood

Paddle Canada Instructors / Instructor Trainers

Esquif Canoe Ambassadors

Contact:        info@westwoodoutdoors.ca

For:                Moving Water Instructional Courses

                        Custom Courses and Clinics

                         Personal Coaching

 

Welcome to Westwood Outdoors’ Current Ideas!

Welcome to Westwood Outdoors’ Current Ideas!

With the change of seasons comes a time to collect out thoughts, reminisce about the past year’s adventures and all the people that we’ve met. Although we’re gearing up for the XC ski season, we’re still thinking about paddling. Well, who ever really stops thinking of paddling?

We often get questions about our technique videos asking to explain something in greater detail.

So, voila!

We will begin posting short notes pertaining to paddling techniques that you can further link to our videos, or get more clarity about why certain techniques work the way they do.

We’ll also add tips that you may not have thought of!

Who said physics class was useless? Now cuddle up in a warm blanket, favourite beverage in hand and let’s visualize together! The first issue will be out this Friday. Stay tuned!

New Updated Website!!

New Updated Website!!

Well, it took awhile but we finally have arrived to this decade so to speak. True. We’re ludites by nature, but we can’t stick to that behaviour if we want to share information with you. So voila! Welcome to our revamped webpage which, thank goodness, looks much better and can be viewed on a phone as well.

We’ll be going through it in the next weeks to clean up some areas and post new items. As you look through the pages, let us know what you think! At the moment, some areas repeat themselves, but all will be organized shortly.

Thanks for your patience, and hope the information gleaned helps with your paddling where ever you are!

New Video! Eddy Turns Using Arcs

We’ve been asked quite often why it looks so easy when we paddle. Andrew’s passion is looking at how experts paddle and translate that into teaching progressions to show others how to paddle the same way – or at least explain what’s happening at that time. Our latest video looks at how you exit and enter eddies based on your planned arc trajectory and the force you need to launch yourself into current to achieve the arcing path. Carving arc shaped paths is the most effective strategy for moving into and out of eddies in a canoe. “Eddy Turns Using Arcs” is the first in a 3 part Eddy Turn series of videos showing the progression of Novice, Intermediate and Advanced eddy turn maneuvers. Stay tuned for the Intermediate level “Eddy Turns Using Wave Troughs” and then Advanced level “Eddy Turns Using SHArc” both coming this winter. Look on the website for additional video resources including “Carving Tandem Eddy Turns Using MITH and for solo canoes “Carving Using 2X4”.

Video: Solo Canoeing – Carving using 2X4

This video is a must for solo open boat control!

This describes a modern approach to solo canoe carving turns used in catching eddies and front ferries. Learn how to carve arcs using 2X4 and acronym C.A.P.T. into and out of eddy pools, maintain momentum, and use bow waves to control your solo canoe.