Balance in a Solo Canoe

This video features Darren Bush who talks about balance in a solo canoe. He demonstrates the importance of keeping your weight centered in the canoe, with your head over your hips.

A canoe is kind of like a rocking chair. You can move it pretty easily right in this range. As you start to learn the boat over, you can see you get resistance back from the boat. As long as your head, your torso are immobile, your hips can kind of swivel. That makes the boat stable. 

Here's an example of how important it is to keep your head over your hips. If I take this rock that weighs about the same as my head and I hold it out here, whoa. Now, if I do the same thing with my head, whoa. Yeah, people tip over their boats because they get their core mass outside of the gunnels of the boat. As long as I keep my torso inside the gunnels, the boat can go way over, right?

Related Articles

Learn how to correctly edge your boat, use proper body position and place your paddle in order to save…

With the appropriate safety gear and a calm body of water, you can start your kids stand up paddling at…

Unfortunately, too often, I hear of paddlers with sore shoulders or those recovering from shoulder…

You are planning to canoe a Canadian river that has many challenging rapids. Weeks before the wheels…