Can you canoe in the ocean

Some days they are a bear down in the river valleys. Is this the same water you paddle the Rob Roy in? I would think that in a group with good assisted rescue skills, proper equipment and moderate conditions an open canoe on the ocean would be reasonable. A decked and bagged canoe would be better and a decked, bagged canoe set up for rolling with a good skirt would be the best.

It was quite a charge, but very demanding paddling. Highly dangerous and not recommended…but weirdly worth it. I would do it again, but be very willing to walk away if conditions were not ideal. Go for it! I have done some wave surfing in a large tandem, paddling solo. You certainly do have to watch the wind, as a switch to wind from onshore could send you out. If I were traveling long distances on a big body of water, such as along Superior Provincial Park on Lake Superior, I would want to have added floatation and a full fabric deck, plus plenty of time to wait out the periods when it is too windy to be out.

I think you would be nuts to go out on an exposed open coastline on the ocean in a canoe. Delaware bay would probably be OK if the weather was good. Ocean Canoeing? But most pedestrians reach their destinations unharmed. All kayak tour operators seem to promise sheltered waters. There are canoes and canoes, from cottage tubs to sleek, spraydecked cruisers designed for open flatwater.

Like the Sea Clipper. There are paddlers and there are paddlers. There are charts, tide and current tables, VHF radios, and guidebooks. There is the open ocean and sheltered tidewater. There are brief jaunts and ocean crossings. The great popularity of recreational sea kayaking overshadows the fact that the world over, and through history, people have paddled small open craft on the oceans.

We do most of our canoeing on saltwater and often with sea kayakers. In fact, we just got back from canoeing on the Pacific - with a child - in November. If you want to know why a flat-bottomed canoe should not be used in the ocean read this.

The typical Native American canoes are brought to mind when most people think of a primitive canoe, and for good reason. This design was so successful that canoes have changed very little since the American Nations used them before the formation of modern America. However, these canoes were rarely used in open ocean waters.

Ancient canoes were mostly transportation and fishing boats that were used on inland waterways where the body of water was calm, being protected from strong winds. These inland bodies of water were also usually fairly shallow. As canoes have changed very little in design since those days it stands to reason that modern canoes are also best suited to the same uses and environments.

Even ancient cultures, using traditional canoes, understood that a canoe used on the ocean needs extra buoyancy. Hence the introduction of the outrigger canoe. Outrigger canoes fair much better in ocean conditions than other types of canoe simply because they have extra buoyancy and stability.

Outrigger canoes get their name from the fact that they have one or two additional floatation devices attached to their sides, called outriggers. The floatation devices, or outriggers, offer a canoe much more buoyancy because of their design. In addition an outrigger will be made from a construction material which is naturally buoyant. Outriggers are made from plastic or inflatable materials and are attached to the side of a boat via hollow poles usually made from plastic or lightweight aluminum.

Outriggers are attached to each side of the canoe and jut out from the boat to stabilize it in the water. Should a wave hit the the boat from the side the outrigger on the other side will stop the boat from tipping.

Although it will vary depending on the size of the canoe it is fitted to, an average outrigger will be several meters long and will sit several meters away from the side of the boat. It is taught on sheltered coastal waters and includes exposure to typical environmental conditions such as wind, rain, waves, tides, etc. Ocean canoeing courses are often taught to:.

Whatever the reason for your interest, ocean canoeing is a dynamic and rewarding endeavour with endless exploration potential. The content can be divided into the following categories:. This course contains some of the information taught in RCABC moving water river canoeing courses because of the similarities between rivers and moving tidal waters.

The course is intended for:. The effects of tidal changes, currents, hydraulics and weather will impact your trip and learning to predict and prepare for these conditions is crucial. An overview of the content includes:. Even better, add a gps for fog. Obviously for landing in surf, being able to brace and backpaddle straight is essential. Localized conditions may require that you be able to do a ferry. On the other hand, there's little or no need for eddy turns on the ocean.

Safety also demands that you know a variety of recovery methods, ranging from the traditional canoe-over-canoe or "T" rescue, to being equipped for deepwater, unassisted capsize recovery. Basically it involves taking advantage of a secure spraycover plus a kayak-style double paddle with paddlefloat to recover and reenter the canoe. Note the weather conditions and sea state all the time, even when ashore. Check the marine weather radio for updated forecasts. Listen to the updates for areas outside where you are, to get a bigger picture of what may be arriving from farther away.

Minimize exposed crossings. Keep your distance from large sea mammals. Trimming the canoe is important. Since our daughter boards after we load the canoe, the other gear has to be arranged to balance her off-center weight. We also trim the canoe end-to-end, depending on the conditions. Usually you want the heavy end to be into the wind, so it's more "locked" in the water while the lighter end weathercocks.

However, if one person tends to navigate or take photos, you might want to trim their end heavy so the canoe maintains a straighter course while the other paddles. We don't secure the load in the canoe, and we usually don't use the one drybag we own. We may be wrong about this, but we think the spraydeck would keep most things inside the canoe should we capsize.

Lower your challenges if you don't wear wet or drysuits. Tie up your canoe at night, and don't make the novice mistake of neglecting it to be floated off by a rising tide. Often on ocean trips, you will do day outings from a base camp.

This means the canoe is travelling relatively unloaded, and therefore becomes vulnerable to crosswinds. Given that winds build during the day, this can prevent you from making it back to camp later in the day. Ballasting the canoe is an important tactic. Not to the extent of running out of freeboard, but sufficient to give the hull some bite in the water. Don't use rocks. If the canoe swamps, the rocks will take it to the bottom.

Driftwood is a good choice, as it can also be used for firewood. Sealed food containers filled with water are also suitable, take up less room and don't mess up the canoe. Cellphones work in a lot of places, but don't depend on it. Carry contact information for local water taxis, lodges and perhaps even marine businesses. Evaluate the proximity of potential rescuers and time needed for a rescue relative to the survivability of the circumstances of your party.

Have more than one boat in the party, and bear in mind the overall strength of the party. Use a modern flatwater canoe equipped with a spraydeck. Make sure your pfd is of good quality, and is adjusted so it won't ride up should you end up in the water. You might consider attaching to your pfd: flares, a knife, waterproof means to start a fire. Anyone exposed to the open ocean, whether ashore or on the water, should keep an eye out for rogue waves.

Recent findings are that rogue waves are not rare at all, and can appear at any time. I would say that of all the hazards of ocean canoeing, this is the one I feel least able to manage.

Similarly, when choosing a campsite or location for a fire, or storing boats, consider not just tides but also rogue waves and wakes from passing vessels. Ferry and cruise ship wakes are notorious for causing problems along the BC coast. Most of the exposed coast is not beaches, and landing gracefully amid waves crashing on rocks, or on cliff faces is impossible.

Therefore as you travel along the coast, consider where you may be able to get ashore should things go wrong, and plan accordingly. Venture into surge channels, sea caves and tunnels only with the utmost caution and the most benign conditions. Equipment Let's rummage through our gear, stem to stern. The canoe is a Clipper Tripper. At Families with two kids probably would want a larger canoe such as the Sea Clipper. The Clippers are uncommonly fast for their dimensions, and the shallow arch bottoms are not "caught" by waves passing from the side.

They have a lot of deadwood, the extension of the keel at the bow and stern to the point where the ends are almost vertical. This deadwood makes them slow to turn, but this pays off in flatwater touring as they hold a course well. Similarly, there is minimal rocker. They come with low-mounted tractor seats.

Tractor seats prevent you from moving sideways to the gunnels, but the Tripper is narrow enough at the ends that you don't need to do this. There is barely room to get your feet under the seats for kneeling. Ours has the stern seat mounted even lower than standard, which pretty well prevents kneeling.

However, the low-mounted seats in combination with footbraces and backrests, mean that you can achieve a level of stability while seated that demands kneeling in other canoes. On the seats we've installed pads with low backrests made by Wenonah.

These make the seats very comfortable, and the combination of backrests and footrests allows for better energy transfer between the paddle and the canoe without tiring one's trunk muscles. In fact, the seat setup secures you in the boat similar to being in a kayak, but still allows freedom of movement. However, people use all sorts of canoes on the ocean.

You just have to be aware of and stay within the design limits, and also accept the speed penalty of a slower hull. Not having exactly the right design is no reason to stay home. We use Bending Branches 7-degree bent shaft Cruiser paddles.

The design concept behind bent shaft paddles makes sense to us, but we found when we were novices the more extreme bend of the usual degree bent shafts interfered with steering. We figured the 7 degree paddles would be a nice compromise, and indeed they are. We sanded the grips with fine steel wool to lower the surface friction and so prevent blisters.

For spare paddles we carry a Mohawk double-ended canoe paddle. This is like a large kayak paddle, and comes apart in the center. We carry it assembled, with a standard kayak paddlefloat on one end. This comprises part of our self-recovery system. We also carry T-grip handes for it, which convert the double paddle into two single blade paddles. We have a NorthWater spraydeck, fitted for the Tripper. In combination with the white hull, our red spraydeck with black trim looks so sleek it's not funny.

We chose an extra cargo hatch so our daughter would have her own place to sit in the canoe. Rather than use the factory system of lacing the cover onto the canoe, we installed hooks on the sides of the canoe, and replaced the nylon lacing with a thick bunji cord around the perimeter of the spraydeck.

The lacing hooks are tough plastic, bought from a marine supply store, and they bolt to the hull with stainless steel hardware. This system allows the spraydeck to be mounted or removed in seconds, and adjusts for different load heights. The downside is the hooks on the hull can be a nuisance. Don't even consider using metal hooks, because they will cut your hands and damage your paddles.

Snaps could be used alongside the cockpits because there's no need to tension the deck there, and snaps would not be in the way as hooks are. On the top of the spraydeck I've mounted some criss-cross bunjis like you see on kayaks. These are very handy for temporary "deck cargo", and secure the long rescue paddle.

There is a velcro paddle shaft strap on the spraydeck, and this is where we attach the handgrips that convert the double paddle into two ordinary canoe paddles. The two handgrips are male and female, so they clip together and can't escape from the strap.

Just ahead of both cockpits are wide strips of velcro. With a strip of mating velcro on the Sealine mapcase, it can mount in front of either paddler. Under both seats go our plexiglass waterproof boxes. They are lined with thin foam to keep contents from banging around. They have handstraps added, plus webbing and fastex buckles that can fasten them to mating straps and buckles mounted under the seats.

In deteriorating conditions, watches and cameras go in the boxes, while the VHF radio goes on someone's lifejacket. In the cargo bay behind the bow paddler goes various packs, cooler, dufflebag, small water containers etc. The duffelbag organizes all the loose stuff such as gas cans, footwear, and so forth that always seems to end up on these trips.

Plus rigging to hoist our food into trees. Fitting perfectly lid-to-lid under the center carrying yoke are two 5-gallon rectangular plastic pails with waterproof lids. These contain our food. They also make camp stools, and can't be opened by any animal less than a bear.

They are easy to carry and hang up. Our daughter sits in one side of the cargo bay behind the yoke. We line the bottom of the canoe with a blue foamy, and she has a small pack or stuffsack full of clothing to sit on or lean against. To her side is a plastic-lined backpack containing our tent, sleeping bag and thermarests. At age 7, her increasing need for legroom means one of the food buckets has had to be stowed elsewhere.

Behind the stern seat, depending on the trip, goes a 5-gallon water jug, tarp, or a daypack. We carry a bailer and a throwrope clipped to the main rear thwart. The canoe has bow and stern painters, under velcro straps atop the spraydeck. There's always a few sponges scattered around inside. The bow paddler's foot area is covered with a foam pad, to absorb water off footwear that would otherwise run around inside the canoe. We also carry "skids". These are a couple of pieces of 2x3 wood, about 18" long, with a concave top and covered with javex bottle plastic.

Landings in the tidal environment often feature jagged rocks and barnacles. Rapid and large water level changes due to tides mean the canoe has to be moved a lot while ashore.

To preserve the canoe's bottom, we use these skids. They also make it possible for one person to move the fully-loaded canoe. Since portaging is rare in this environment, the extra weight of the skids isn't a problem. We've seen kayakers use pool noodles for this, or diftwood. We just decided to always have something like that with us. Some people carry canoe carts. Shallow beach angles can combine with very low tides to make for a long walk from the boat to where you will camp.

Carts can be used to run the loaded boats between the water and the high tide line. You might also consider mounting cleats on the end decks to allow quick deployment and removal of ropes for towing other boats. We've thought about adding a kayak rudder, but so far haven't bothered.

We also don't use a sail, due to the fact that sails lower the margin of safety and we canoe partly to get exercise. Given our climate, we usually take umbrellas along. These allow moving around camp in the rain without donning full rain gear, and let you go for walks or look at the view without getting wet. Initially we carried lawn chairs, but soon found they were basically a nuisance. If it's raining, the chairs always get wet. Virtually every place along the coast has things to sit on, so this is one place you can cut back on the clutter.

In fact, the canoe's own seats, with the backrests, have turned out to be the most comfy seats in camp. When considering what quality level of gear to purchase, we bear in mind that our entire outfit cost less than a used outboard motor. So don't feel guilty about buying nice stuff instead of what you could get by with.

Our canoe is our human-powered yacht. Solo Canoeing We have done an ocean trip with a solo canoeist. He is an expert, and was using a relatively large and long Prospector design. In the best conditions, we got to slack off a bit, but it was clear that as conditions got worse the solo padder was putting more energy into controlling the canoe and less into making headway.

In the worst conditions faced, the difference was sufficient that we were just poking along and even stopped occasionally to allow the solo paddler to keep up. On the other hand, while beating into a stiff headwind and minor chop, he overtook some surprised kayakers.

The ocean is a dynamic place, and wind is typical. Solo canoes will have more trouble dealing with those conditions than tandems. Vancouver Island has been circumnavigated by solo canoeists, but the two I've heard of both got into trouble.

Daily Tripping Distance A canoe like the Clipper Tripper easily can be paddled by two people of intermediate skill and fitness at around 6 kilometers per hour, for half a day. This translates into 24km. We've found this range is more than enough to get us where we want to go in a day, so we seldom end up paddling any farther. In addition, it's unfair to any kids on the trip to keep them cooped up in the canoe any longer than that in a day. This distance and speed can be considered the same as for typical recreational kayakers, so you can use the trip times in kayak guide books.

If you visit the big outer coast beaches you will face this challenge. Often beaches have protected hooked ends, or spots behind islands where the surf is lower. Use weather reports, knowledge of the layout of the landing, and your observations to estimate the surf conditions at your destination.

Bear in mind that from offshore, you're looking at the backs of the waves, from where they seem smaller than they really are. One way to handle it is to arrange your plans so that if the surf is too large, you can go elsewhere. Launching, of course, reduces the mysteries. Kayakers land by pausing beyond the breaking zone, waiting for some smaller waves. Then, just as the crest of a wave reaches them, they sprint forward with the goal to stay ahead of the breaking zone and wash up on the beach on the "cushion" of the water from the previous wave.

There are some problems with this. You have to look directly behind you to see what's coming because your boat has to be facing the beach. Loaded paddlecraft are slow to reach speed from a standstill.