Thread: River canoe

What grade of rapids did he have in mind?

Grade 1 is easily handled in a traditional canoe, even by a beginner.
Grade 2 is interesting but not really difficult.
Grade 3 needs quite a bit of skill to get through in an open canoe.

Grade 6 means if you fall out of your kayak, you will die.

Hi Hally, I picked up a book by Gil Gilpatrick on building strip canoes. It includes plans for eight strip built canoes and has some tips on building canoes for whitewater use. Strip building is fairly straight forward and you do end up with a good looking canoe. Here is a link to blog on a build.

http://jamescanoe.blog.com/

I'd have a look at Tom Hill's "Champlain" or Iain Oughtred's "MacGregor" .

Very nice looking and glued lap is not too hard to build.

Bill P

I think it would only be Grade 1-2 rapids. Grade 6 sounds a bit extreme for a 13-yr old!

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll pass them on

That does make a difference. Most canoes would handle Grade 1-2, though some would be easier than others. It is possible to handle more severe conditions, but then much more thought would need to be given to the design. After all they do use canoes on the same white water course as the kayaks in the Olympics.

I would suggest that for easy rapids with one adult and a child, that anything less than 4 metres is probably a bit short. 4.5 metres means you can get enough volume without having to increase the beam to the point where it becomes unpleasant to paddle.

I think you need a strip built canoe. The sandwich construction is strong and light. If you do hit rock it can be easily repaired. Kevlar cloth can be incorporated if you're going too really tough territory. It's easy to build (relatively) and produces a good looking result. Additionally, it can be built for about half of the price of a heavier commercial OTS canoe. There may be alternate views but I can attest to the fact that my canoe (I have built one) performs admirably. Needs a touch up each year to get rid of a few scrapes. Varnish is cheap. Pretty easy maintenance in my opinion.