[Paddlewise] Canoe Floatation

From: Rob MacDonald <robm_at_udl.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 09:19:59 -0700
Doug Lloyd wrote:

 >Then again, all canoes sold in Canada I believe, must have flotation or
some inherent buoyancy. Perhaps that is one of the real issues here, but
then the boats never sank anyway off Gonzales Bay...just one of the
paddlers!
<

Most canoes have just enough floatation to not sink under their own 
weight,  i.e., enough to support the fiberglass, aluminum, or what-have-you 
that they are made of.  I guess wooden ones just plain float on their 
own.  They do not have enough floatation to self-rescue in any except 
exceptionally calm conditions, with an incredible amount of effort on the 
part of the paddlers.  I have seen it done, but it is a warm water, calm 
water stunt, not a viable "real-life" technique.  Even if you can get the 
gunwhales above the chop, bailing the remainder of the water is a Herculean 
task.

The rec. kayaks are usually made of a material that is inherently buoyant, 
and probably don't need any floatation to stay afloat. But they probably 
can't be self-rescued with this amount of buoyancy, either.

Rob.

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Received on Wed Apr 17 2002 - 09:17:53 PDT

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