[Paddlewise] {PaddleWise} Canoe Seats

On Thu, 11 Mar 1999, Steve Jernigan wrote:

> Hi All!
> OK, here's something a little different for you to chew on:
> My Wenonah solo canoe has a tractor seat, which I find very comfortable in
> most situations. Last time out however, I had to paddle a rather long
> stretch with gusty wind and waves attacking enthusiastically from the port
> side. As the tractor seat is mounted high enough to allow it, I decided to
> assume a kneeling position to gain a bit more stability and control, and to
> be in the correct position to request divine intervention should that have
> become necessary :-)   In this case, kneeling was no where near as
> effective as the same maneuver performed in a boat with a conventional
> seat; in fact I pretty much ended up still sitting in the tractor seat with
> my legs doubled back beneath me. I think this has something to do with the
> fact that the forward edge of the tractor seat is too low for me to
> effectively use as a butt rest (as opposed to the conventional seat in my
> tandem boat which is "just right"). In any event, I eventually gave up
> trying to make the kneeling position work, and returned to my normal
> seating arrangement.

normally i would snip the above, but it may be handy to refer back to,
with my answers...

> Questions, then:
> Does having a tractor seat preclude kneeling? 

no. my wen-no-nah is probably similar to your's ;-) i have the rendezvous.
as did most of my friends & family, opting for the stabilty over the
speed. of course i paddle with a lot of "plastic pigs" on river trips, and
in relationship to each other, i fly ;-)

> Are there other methods one can use to increase stability and
> controllability when seated?

that depends on how the boat fits you. and since we're potentially
paddling together saturday, weather holding, i'll look and make
recommendations, and then we can share with the group on monday ;-)

> Any other discussion on this issue would be enthusiastically
> encouraged!
> TIA! ByeBye! S.

well, if we get weathered in, you can sure have a lot of reading to do. i
would expect a lengthy reply from mr winters, unless old man winter isn't
visiting him either ;-( snow pack is looking bad in colorado this year. 
they released a statement recently, 75-85% of average [based on 1960-1990]

more arrangements offline.

mark

#------canoeist[at]netbox[dot]com----http://www.diac.com/~zen/mark ----
#
mark zen                      o,    o__              o_/|   o_.
po box 474                   </     [\/              [\_|   [\_\
ft. lupton, co 80621-0474 (`-/-------/----')      (`----|-------\-')
#~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~~~~_at_~~~~~
http://www.diac.com/~zen/paddler  [index to club websites i administer]

Rocky Mtn Sea Kayak Club, Colorado River Flows, Poudre Paddlers
The Colorado Paddlers' Resource, Rocky Mtn Canoe Club Trip Page 
--
Fortune:
"In a world without fences, who needs 'Gates'"
   -- Scott McNealy

"In a world without walls, who needs 'Windows'"
   -- Dave Livigni




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