Basics of Buying a Canoe

I once bought a canoe because it was green. Granted, it had other attributes: it was cheap and it had an all-purpose design that suited my intended use. But mostly, it was green. Why? Because I wanted it to blend into my parents' backyard, where I planned to store it. They were indeed grateful that I hadn't bought the bright yellow one.

The point is that, as a canoe buyer, you probably have your own priorities. What's the ideal boat for you? A glance at the Buyer's Guide listings will tell you that there are an overwhelming number of options. How do you narrow it down?

The Usage Codes in the Canoe & Kayak Magazine Buyer's Guide are a good place to start. Besides general recreation canoes, you'll see specialized boats at both ends of the spectrum. Long, sleek "competition cruising" canoes. Short, super-tough, spin-on-a-dime canoes designed for hard-core whitewater paddling. Extra-wide, ultra-stable "sportsman" canoes. But remember, the more specialized a canoe is, the less versatile it is. A majority of buyers are looking for a general recreation canoe, so we focused on that broad category in this introduction. It pays to start your search by learning a bit of the lingo, and some of the fundamental ways in which canoe design and function are interrelated.

Lingo First, the basic parts. The front end of a canoe is the bow, the back end the stern. Every canoe has top edges, or gunwales (pronounced GUNnels). These are made of vinyl (durable, economical, and quiet when bumped with your paddle), wood (sometimes lighter, generally prettier, and requiring higher maintenance), or aluminum (tough and flexible). Thwarts are crosspieces that add rigidity, and serve as attachment points for yokes, seat supports, and gear tie-in. Seats, in a variety of materials, affect comfort and stability. Some flatwater models have "tractor seats," often designed to slide back and forth for optimum trim adjustment. They also provide long-range comfort, but if mounted too low, they can make it hard to kneel if necessary.

Design Length is probably a canoe's single most distinguishing design feature. Canoes vary in length from less than 10 feet, for fast-turning, tight-maneuvering solo whitewater canoes, to stretch-limo-length, 23-foot, four-person wilderness trippers. In general, shorter canoes are better for faster turning, while increased length is associated with better tracking (however, there are many exceptions). A longer boat can also carry more gear. The average length for general tandem canoes is 15 to 18 feet. Remember, though, that longer may also mean more cumbersome to carry and load on your car (though not necessarily heavier). Maximum width varies from about 33 to 40 inches for tandem canoes. As you might expect, a "fatter" canoe tends to feel more stable, but it tracks less efficiently and may make it harder to take efficient strokes.

Bow and stern profiles, called the stem, affect the way a canoe slices through water. A vertical entry slices cleanly and maximizes boat length in the water. That means good tracking and excellent resistance to sidewind, but a reduced ability to spin fast, and possibly a wet ride in waves. Stems can also be "recurved" (slanted backward) or raked (slanted forward). A more rounded entry adds to the canoe's ability to ride up and over waves but doesn't track as effortlessly (you'll also hear references to high- and low- "volume" bows).