PADDLING/BOAT GEAR/QUESTIONS

Our team has two boats and I am always the one that gets that middle ride!!! FUN FUN! No kidding, in the last race in Blue Ridge, my teammate had made a beautiful seat out of plastic and PVC piping (very light) and the seat had wheels on the sides so that way we could take it out and use it for portaging. It was a great idea and worked great!!!!

Neat concept, third seat that doubles as portage wheels. The middle paddler has it tough. Often you put the the strongest on the front and the person with the control on the back. The middle on most of my 3 person races has been the smallest person yet the boat is the widest at that point creating added difficulty for that person. I have also had problems with the cloth portable seats....they seam to sage pretty bad and we even had the rope break on one.

I am usually in the back (I hate) and have never really learned how to use a j stroke. I have a funky way to adjust but am not get. Bruce...nice buy. I just bought a used 17 foot Penobscot that I have a friend picking up today in spartanburg. Hopefully I will be able to learn to paddle now.

I have had nothing but bad experiences with the temporary third seats...usually you end up on the bottom of the boat due to sag....they just don't stay tight. Most boats can be retrofitted with perm third seats...in fact a buddy from SC just did that with his Penobscot 17' it just requires the seat and mounting kit.

Those Penobscot canoes are some of the fastest available outside of real high end prices. We really ought to take the boats out to Crabtree and all practice paddling in team formats...see what works, what doesn't....placement of paddlers.... body size etc.....

I have had nothing but bad experiences with the temporary third seats...usually you end up on the bottom of the boat due to sag....they just don't stay tight. Most boats can be retrofitted with perm third seats...in fact a buddy from SC just did that with his Penobscot 17' it just requires the seat and mounting kit.

Those Penobscot canoes are some of the fastest available outside of real high end prices. We really ought to take the boats out to Crabtree and all practice paddling in team formats...see what works, what doesn't....placement of paddlers.... body size etc.....

Bruce,
I'd love to get out there. Now that we have more light, I'd like to try to paddle afterwork then get in a mnt bike ride. Let me know. I usually try to get Out wed or thursday and then Sunday morning.

hey one last thought about boat seats.... i just got back from the sprint nationals this past weekend in austin. we were told we would use sevelor boats with no seats. we could either bring beach balls to use for seats or buy some blow up seats from them. we chose the beach ball route! it didn't work that great!!!! so, if you ever have to paddle the duckies, then remember to buy the seats or spend quality time on your knees!

Just saw this pretty good deal on Craigslist Raleigh for a Mad River 3 seater canoe with paddles.....good price

http://raleigh.craigs...

Upcoming basic Canoe course- Bond Park, Cary.

Basic Canoeing (age 13 & up)
Learn basic paddling and safety skills for tandem (2 person) canoeing
in a short, introductory course. Covers personal preparation,
equipment choices, and strokes essential to efficient paddling in a
Bond Lake type environment. Approximately 1/2 the time will be
spent on the water. Canoe rental is included.
Location: Fred G. Bond Metro Park, 800 Highhouse Rd, Cary- Waterfront
Instructor: Lynn Wright
Fees: $35(R) $46(N) (1 class)

42639 Sat Oct 3 9 a.m.-1 p.m.