Aha, A Blog of some sort!

You talk to people about canoeing, at least people already heavily involved in whitewater and they tend to do one of three things: assume you mean kayaking, realise that you’re talking about whitewater canoeing and assume that you’re obviously some sort of god (nothing could be further from the truth) or take a very negative stance.

Of these, the first I can do nothing about; it’s all the fault of the man that wrote “1000 miles in the Rob Roy canoe” just over 100 years ago now, It’s the second and third which aim to address.

There is some sort of assumption that whitewater canoeing is somehow harder than kayaking, to my mind it isn’t, just different coming to a canoe from a kayak makes the canoe seem difficult merely because it doesn’t respond as you expect. Equally coming back to a kayak after several months of paddling a canoe exclusively can feel equally frustrating, being a c1 paddler is independent of the majority of factors that dictate technical ability. A significant portion of your ability to run harder whitewater is in confidence, understanding the water and quick decision-making than your ability to actually paddle your chosen craft making it somewhat craft independent, assuming you’ve taken the time to round off your basic skills in the particular craft you elect to paddle their capabilities are essentially equal.

That addresses both stances to some extent, the latter requires some elaboration however; as the camp which is negative has a number of subdivisions: the “I don’t see the point” brigade, the people who are unaware of the capabilities of C1 and consider it inferior, and the people who object to you being at all different because it doesn’t fit their worldview.

To try and address the above camps;
I don’t entirely know that I can prove a point to whitewater canoeing over whitewater kayaking to the people that don’t see the point, I can only say that they would also struggle to justify the point of whitewater kayaking to someone who didn’t see the point of that beyond the fact that it’s enjoyable to them.
The people who are unaware of the capabilities of a canoe often overlap with the people who object because it’s different making a little harder to address, what I will say is that in the hands of someone with the right level of technical ability a canoe is capable of practically everything a kayak is (with the exception of making some of the tougher attainments and other moves requiring a constant application of power in a given direction, it is often worth noting that a fit C1 paddler will still be able to make moves that unfit kayakers cannot). The notable difference being that for every canoeist at a given skill level there will be many more kayakers, when you start to look at the bleeding edge of whitewater paddling there aren’t many paddlers at all, making people like Louie, Dooley, Paul Danks, James Weir, Stephan Pastch and Brian Miller seem particularly exceptional. It isn’t that a given canoe is incapable of everything that an equivalent kayak is, simply that there are far fewer paddlers skilful enough to make the boat perform that well.

The people who object simply because it’s different I have little time whether it’s because they genuinely can’t cope with seeing a slightly taller one bladed figure, out of some sort of misguided machismo making them feel the need to preserve a perception that what they’re doing is the best, or some other altogether less predictable reason I’m not particularly bothered, just remember no one is asking for your opinion on what they should paddle or how.

I’ll eventually write something self indulgant about my current transition away from buttboats to the darkside (“Incidentally we do have cookies, just sign this paddlle blade in your own blood”) stay tuned.