Points in Choosing a Canoe: Over haste in buying a boat is pretty sure to bring regret. The prospective purchaser should know where he is going and what he is going to carry. Some sportsmen, who carefully consider every other detail of equipment, seem to figure that a "canoe is a canoe," and let it go at that. Mr. L. E. Eubanks, a specialist on this subject, writing in the Sportsmen's Review, says: "The birch bark, because it is the original Indian craft, is commonly regarded as the best canoe. But this is not true; the birch has many excellent qualities, the chief being its unequaled ability to weather a gale; but it is slower than a wooden or a canvas canoe. A new birch bark is very satisfactory, but as it is used it gets a bit loggy from soaking, and springs leaks easily. Also, it warps and twists-you seldom see a straight birch. If you decide to buy one of these canoes, try to procure one that an Indian has made for himself; the ordered one may prove a disappointment, bark full of tiny holes, and sewed with inferior stuff instead of jackpine or cedar roots. But the Indianmade craft will always be too high at bow and stern; it is fine for running rapids, but a poor all round boat. "The wooden canoe, the favorite in Canada, is smart in appearance and satisfactory for most ordinary purposes, while it is new. Like the birch, it absorbs water and becomes frightfully heavy for a portage. Of the two woods generally used, cedar and basswood, the latter is the tougher, but it more than loses this advantage by its oversusceptibility to heat. It must be left in water all the time; exposure on a sunny shore will open it up and unfit it for use. The typical Canadian wooden canoe is built without seats, the paddler resting hips on the thwart, but the makers will put in a seat if so desired. "The canvas canoe is the master craft in the paddle breed. It has the grace of a birch without the weight, the smartness of a wooden canoe without the latter's extreme rigidity. The canvas canoe is a thing of life, pliant yet strong, buoyant, yet stable. It has most of the virtues of the other two, plus distinctive ones of its own; it is decidedly faster, being of the general model of the birch but with a smooth surface instead of rough bark to glide through the water. Secondly, it is delightfully light for portaging. Thirdly, it is easily and dependably mended when it suffers a tear. It will cost you more than a birch bought from an Indian, but less than any of the rib canoes. "Whatever material you prefer, there are other considerations; you would not attempt to carry a ton in a little 13-foot canoe built for one man and his pack. You would require for this a freighter weighing four times as much as the little boat and some twenty feet long. Canoes weigh all the way from 50 pounds and less to 200 pounds; and sometimes two canoes of the same size will differ surprisingly in weight. Between these extremes, a man can get nearly anything he wants, and it pays to insist on suitability of your boat to the prospective use. For three men and equipment to start out on a rough lake voyage in a 14 or even a 15-foot canoe is apt to end in disappointment, if not disaster. Their craft ought to be 18 feet long, 36 inches wide and 13 inches deep. Two men could use a 17foot canoe and yet have good capacity by selecting one with good width and depth, but as a rule three men require a long boat for satisfactory paddling. "Sixteen feet is a good all-purpose length for a canoe. The width may be from 31 to 36 inches, depending on the degree of stability required in its use; the corresponding depth from 11 to 14 inches. "Shape is another vital factor. Even the uninitiated can readily understand that a flat-bottomed canoe has more stability in the water. And it is equally obvious that, ordinarily, it would be slower. What the "will-be" seaman does not always know is the important part played by the load in this comparison. Even some men of experience use a round-bottomed boat, in spite of their intention to load heavily, rather than sacrifice speed. As a matter of fact, loading up a flat bottomed canoe brings out its virtues-and speed. "You can't have all the good qualities of canoes in one boat, and it requires careful consideration to determine the best combination-just how much speed you want to sacrifice for stability and capacity, just how much style for service, etc. The best river canoe will not be as good on a lake, and vice versa. But if you are headed for the North, the Hudson Bay country, say, you must have an all-round boat, not the best for any one place, but able to navigate rivers and lakes, fairly easy of portage, fairly swift, yet capacious enough for several months' stores. Such an allpurpose canoe must not be too long nor too short, we will select a 16-footer. The ends must be high enough for running rapids, so the current does not grip them; yet low enough to give us enough "wet keel" for safety on windswept lakes. (You'll encounter every old style of going in the North Country.) An experienced canoeman on this trip usually leans a bit to the straight keel, depending on his skill to get through the fast water. This boat, 35 or 36 inches wide and 14 inches deep, if well made, will weigh 70 pounds and be heavy enough on some of the long portages, but you won't dare take anything much lighter for such a voyage. "Not all canoeists contemplate a long rough trip. The sport is a winner in all its forms, and the man—or woman who must be content with a paddle in the placid park lake will have a lot of pleasure at that. For such a purpose we select a rather showy canoe, brilliant coat and gunwales, high, gracefully curved ends, Indian style. Needing no capacity for supplies and no particular stability, we can have a narrow, tapering boat that will cut through the water with great speed. Assuming that it will be used by two persons most of the time, it should be about 16 feet long. A width of 31 inches, a depth of 10 or 11 inches, and a rounded bottom will make the craft very light and easily paddled. "Canoes are alike in one thing, they all require care. Repair even a slight injury promptly; neglect permits it to grow worse, and you can not tell when an extra strain on the craft will cause an apparently trivial weakness to prove serious. In the case of canvas canoes, there is no excuse for neglect; adequate repair outfits are procurable from the manufacturers, and the work is very simple. Quoting an authority on the 'wounds' of canvas canoes: "Melt the (canoe) glue until it is about the consistency of thick paint. Turn back the edges of the cut and paint the glue on the wood about an inch back all around the cut, then lay the canvas back over the glue and iron with a hot flat-iron. If the edges are badly frayed or far apart, and if it is a bad tear, paint on another coat of glue and lay over this a piece of canvas, cotton or silk about an inch larger than the tear, then iron again with a hot flat-iron. After this is done give it a heavy coat of shellac and paint any desired color.' "But if a canoe is to be much left in the sun, marine glue will not do as a finish; it melts too readily. All considered, white lead paste is the best thing. Rub this well in and put on your varnish, and the wound is O. K. "About as many canoes are injured in the housing as in use. Leaving a delicate, perhaps, expensive canoe on a boathouse floor among scores of others, to be kicked and jammed about every day, or turning it over on the beach to stay indefinitely, is poor business. The best course is to elevate it into the roof of some shed or garage. Canvas bands of double thickness make good slings." As pointed out in the practical suggestions given above, ita very wise policy when selecting a canoe to select one that meets your own individual requirements. This |