CANOE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
ARE AS VARIED AS THEIR OWNERS
Fred Dyson – Dyson's Starboard View – Messing About in Boats
All canoes are not created equal and they are certainly not equally suitable for Alaskan waters. You cannot find the "one-size-fits-all" canoe like you can when buying a tube sock. Here are some decisions to consider.
KEELS
This is a thin, small strip running fore and aft under the center of the boat. The keel helps the canoe hold a course. This is a help when you have a lightly loaded boat and/or are crossing a lake with a crosswind. On rivers, the keel can work against you by making it difficult to turn quickly and by allowing the current to push you into the outside of the turns where the sweepers can get at you.
Keels also have a nasty tendency to hang up on rocks when you get broadside to the current. When this happens, the current tips you to the downstream side and spills you and your cargo into the cold water. This is generally very embarrassing.
SHAPE
Canoes, like people, come long and short, fat and thin. The fat (wide) ones are more stable but do not perform well and are more difficult to paddle. They can be fine for fooling around, but very frustrating on a long trip. Likewise, a flat bottom is more stable but less efficient.
LENGTH
Because of the laws of hydrodynamic flow, the longer the boat, the faster it will go through the water. Also, of course, the longer and wider a canoe is, the more weight it can carry safely. My eighteen-foot Grumman canoe easily carried my wife, three small children, two dogs, and all of our gear for ten days in the Kenai canoe trails. Longer canoes are generally easier to handle than short ones. Length can be a problem on small creeks with sharp corners. For most folks, length decisions have more to do with what they can carry or the length of their car.
CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL
Materials are mostly a matter of style and taste. The classic canoes were made entirely of wood and are objects of great beauty and affection. Since World War II, aluminum and fiberglass have dominated the industry. In the last few years some extraordinary canoes have been made out of Kevlar and carbon fiber, but they are pretty pricey. Some beautiful hand-made canoes are being made out of strip cedar covered with clear fiberglass. These crafts may be a good choice for the traditionalist who wants to minimize abrasion damage and maintenance.
For most folks an aluminum or fiberglass canoe will give years of service and pleasure. Aluminum is very tough and easily patched on the trail with pop rivets and beer cans.
My only objection to aluminum is the noise when you hit it with a paddle. It is disconcerting to spend an hour inching up to a beaver colony to get the world's best wildlife picture, only to have a slip of the paddle sound like a kettledrum. Fiberglass canoes are generally heavier than a well-designed aluminum canoe but usually have better lines.
Watch out for the poorly-built fiberglass canoes. They are a vexation to the spirit. I once owned a fifteen-footer that leaked around the floor stiffeners from the first time we used it. It is a candidate for the worst boat I have ever owned.
A friend of mine bought a canoe that had been dropped in shipment and had a twisted keel. This boat is impossible to paddle in a straight line. The owner thought it would be a theft-proof boat to leave at his cabin on Crooked Lake. Alas, some thieves have no standards and it has been stolen twice. The thieves got their revenge, however, by returning the canoe after only a few days.
