Beam
Beam is the distance across a boat at its widest point."Maximum beam" may occur at the gunnels (gunnel beam) or someplace lower in the boat (waterline beam).
In an effort to provide more meaningful information about the paddling characteristics of their canoes, some manufacturers supply width figures at the 3-inch or 4-inch working waterlines. A narrow waterline usually means a fast, easy-paddling canoe. A wide waterline suggests the opposite.
Professional racing canoes are built to a formula which generally translates to a minimum beam of 27 inches at the 3-inch waterline; U.S. Canoe Association (USCA) competition cruisers follow the "4 and 32" rule — a 32-inch minimum beam at the 4-inch waterline.
It's probably okay for a wilderness tripping canoe to be wider at the 4-inch waterline than a USCA cruiser. An extra inch or two here might improve load capacity without noticeably affecting performance. On the other hand, it's doubtful you'd want a much beamier hull than a "4-and-32" for general cruising.
Rule Five: If you want to race, buy a canoe built to the appropriate race class specifications. Otherwise, begin your search for the "ideal" hull with canoes whose mid-section measures within an inch or so of the "4-and-32" rule. Watch out for that old debbil tumblehome, and take a tape measure with you when you go shopping. Most canoe manufacturers print 4-inch waterline statistics in their catalogs.
Rocker
The fore and aft upward curve of the keel-line of a canoe is called "rocker." A canoe with lots of rocker (anything over 1 1/2 inches is a lot!) will turn easily in rapids and rise quickly to oncoming waves. But it will track poorly and be slower on the flats than a similar hull with no rocker.
Racers like a canoe with zero rocker — perhaps a hint of lift in the bow, but that's all. White water canoes should have severe rocker — three-inches is not uncommon. A wilderness tripper might fall somewhere in-between — about one -1 1/2 inches. The important thing to consider is how the boat will be used. A canoe that tracks like a mountain cat when near empty will turn with impudence when heavily loaded. A heavy load forces a canoe down into the water (acts like a keel) and so improves directional tracking. Wilderness canoes ordinarily are heavily loaded and therefore require some rocker. Conversely, it makes little sense to have lots of rocker in a minimally loaded day cruiser.
A canoe's length and hull configuration are important too. Short hulls need less rocker than long ones, and flat bottom canoes turn more easily than rounded bottom ones. Very short canoes — 14 1/2 feet or less (solo boats) — with no rocker may be turned easily by leaning them on their side (you use the rocker in the side wall). A rocker of more than one inch is ridiculous in a true solo canoe unless it's a flat-out white water boat.
Rule Six: Use a tape measure to determine the amount of rocker in a canoe before you buy it. Simply measure the distance from the stem to the ground (note that asymmetric canoes usually don't have the same amount of rocker at each end). Figure on zero rocker for a racer, maybe a half-inch for a day cruiser, and up to I 1/2 inches for a wilderness tripper. For white water, the more rocker the merrier.
Capacity
The advertised carrying capacity of a canoe is generally meaningless information. That's because about three-fourths of a canoe's load carrying ability is borne by the middle third of its length. Moreover, capacity figures tell you nothing about seaworthiness or how the canoe will perform when heavily loaded.
Rule Seven: Advertised load capacities are generally meaningless. If you want speed, choose a canoe with finer ends. Note that it's impossible to improve on both variable — speed and capacity — without changing the length of the canoe. That's why long canoes carry loads more effortlessly than short ones.
Weight and Strength
You can have a strong canoe or a light canoe, but it's unlikely you can have both unless you choose a very sophisticated and frightfully expensive ($ 1,400 plus) lay-up.
Look carefully at any 16-18 foot pleasure canoe which weighs less than 50 pounds. Most likely the strength isn't there, regardless of the manufacturer's claims. By the way, most canoe makers are "overoptimistic" in advertising the weights of their craft. Take your bathroom scale with you when you go canoe shopping and figure on a 5-15 percent "little white lie" factor.
Rule Eight: You can have an ultra light and strong canoe only if you choose a very sophisticated and very expensive lay-up.
Abrasion
Canoes generally die of abrasion, not from being wrapped around rocks. The harder the canoe's material, the better it will resist abrasion. Heat-treated aluminum ranks number one in the "drag it through the shallows" category, with Royalex ABS and Polyethylene not far behind. Epoxy-fiberglass is probably next, with polyester-fiberglass, wood-strip and wood-canvas finishing last.
Easy of Repair
If you use a canoe hard, you'll ultimately need to repair it. Canoes built of fiberglass and Kevlar are easiest to repair; a properly applied patch is hardly noticeable. Wood-strip canoes mend nicely, as do wood-canvas ones. It's possible to fix a Royalex ABS or aluminum canoe but the patch will be a glaring reminder of the rock you hit. From an aesthetic view point, polyethylene hulls cannot be repaired.
Despite what some canoe manufacturers say, no canoe-building material is "indestructible." So consider the merits of a less durable canoe that is easily patched over a more durable one that is not.
Rule Nine: No canoe is indestructible! Generally, the more durable the canoe material, the more difficult it will be to effect an invisible repair, and vice versa.
Solo Canoe Considerations
The traditional requirements for length, depth and beam mentioned earlier don't apply to solo canoes. Most variables (speed, tracking, turning, portability, seaworthiness and general handiness) will be maximized in a canoe length of 14-16 feet; an outwale (outside edge of the gunnel) beam of 27-30 inches, and a center depth of 11-12 inches. Except for use in severe white water, additional depth is unnecessary since the paddler is located at the craft's fulcrum. It takes a very big rapid to bury the ends of even a low volume solo canoe.
Tumblehome is less of an evil in solo canoes than in tandem ones because a lone paddler doesn't need to coordinate his movements with a partner.
On Buying a Used Canoe
| 1. | Know the current retail price of the canoe before you buy it. Good canoes command around 80 percent of their current market value; cheapies ten to 20 percent less.
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| 2. | Stay away from the classified ads in newspapers unless you want a typical aluminum or polyethylene canoe. High-tech canoes are almost never advertised in newspapers. If brand names are not specified in the ad you can bet the canoe is junk.
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| 3. | Canoe races and paddling seminars are good places to frequent if you want a good buy on a used canoe. Canoe enthusiasts want their old "friends" to go to other enthusiasts, not to "canoers" who would rather fish than paddle.
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| 4. | Home-built canoes may be good or bad. The good ones are built on club forms and are advertised almost exclusively in canoe club newsletters and by word-of-mouth. The bad ones are usually constructed from plans supplied in popular magazines and are invariably advertised in newspapers.
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| 5. | Turn used canoes upside down and sight along the keel-line. Don't buy a canoe with a "hogged" (bent-in) keel-line. Once a keel-line is bent, it's almost impossible to straighten properly.
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| 6. | Check fiberglass/Kevlar canoes for signs of hull delamination. A cloudy matrix tells the tale. Once delamination begins, it usually continues. Avoid these boats like the plague!
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| 7. | Don't over-react to minor surface damage: Galled varnish, scratched gel-coat and surface cracks in woodwork are easily repairable. But don't buy a canoe with a twisted stem, broken gunnel or hull that's out-of-round.
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| 8. | If a canoe looks out-of-round or twisted when you stand back a ways and view it, it probably is. Your eyes are a most accurate measuring device!
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| 9. | Good canoes appreciate. Bad ones do the opposite. You can't go wrong by buying a good used canoe.
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