[Paddlewise] Salt-water paddling in an open tandem canoe..question.

I'm sure this may sound silly to sea-kayakers, but....

Next summer we are going up to the Bathurst Inlet area in NWT ( 106 -108
Long  , and mostly along  67-68 N  Lat.)  to paddle the Hiukitak River which
runs about 90 miles West into the eastern shore  of Bathurst, then paddling
another 90 miles or so along the islands( many of which rise steeply 100-200
’ above the water)  and shoreline to reach Bathurst Lodge ( which is  near
the end of the Burnside River).  We are real "coast-huggers " too …..I am
curious if anyone has had experience in paddling an open tandem canoe  on
salt water. Bathurst Inlet was explored by Hood and Richardson on one of
Franklin’s 19th century "exploits" . And I have read  their narratives of
it.

I don’t know how "tidal" this area is,… it is a deep and narrow  southern
inlet of the Arctic Ocean. To me, it doesn’t seem as if it should be any
more complex than big lakes like Reindeer Lake in NE Sask/MB. (Which we
paddled 2 years ago. ) Aside from wind and waves and weather, is there
anything different  about canoeing on salt water. We will be using a rented
Royalex canoe ( probably a Mad River or OT Tripper).

We have allotted  a bit more than 7 weeks to cover the distance (180=
miles), especially since the Hiukitak will probably be a long series of
"drags & portages" depending on water levels in early July, and weather up
there is… well, we don’t paddle in whitecaps or rain..(GRIN).

So…is salt water much different from fresh?



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