Evening star., 1936-07-19
Bv Miller James.

sport ana adventure Ine WOrQ
\ calls forth. Trips on lakes
and rivers. camping out, hap
by companionships, glorious Sunlit
days, dreamy moonlight nights. Not
in any other sport can you find such
an attractive activity. so wide a field
or as splendid a physical developer
as canoeing-swimming excepted.
OF course, learning how to swim Is
the first lesson for paddler. So the
two together swimming and canoeing,
make for an ideal Summer partner
ship. Padding a canoe, though, isn't
simply getting in and going some
where on the waters. Nor is it trying
to beat some one else in race-the
fine art lies in padding gracefully,
dexterously and guiding the craft in a
straight, well-balanced swift course.
Hand-in-hand with maneuvering a
canoe comes the ever-present element
of danger. But this can be mini
mized or eliminated by careful con-
sideratlon of some easy-to-follow safe
ty habits, suggested by experts of the
American Red Cross.
In the first place, no one should
ever be allowed in canoe who is not
perfectly at home in the water.
Furthermore, no person should attempt
canoeing without promising himself
that if it should tip over he will hold
onto the side of the craft until help
arrives, for canoes do not sink, con-
trary to widespread public opinion.
Right here we see the worst feature
of canoeing. So many foolhardy
folks leave an overturned canoe and
try TO swim to shore with clothes and
shoes on-and they don't make the
grade. This warning is what the Red
Cross calls special attention to in
Its instructions to swimmers and
potential life-savers.
Now, with the danger properly
stressed, let us consider the romance
of this grand sport. Canoes are our
own American product. From our
Indians we learned how to make the
birchbark and dugout canoes. The
decked varieties of the Eskimos led
to our own modern. partially decked
canvas and wooden canoes. The
"pirogue" of the Louisiana "Cajuns"
Is still in use and these descendants Of
Acadia are generally conceded to be
the leaders in this art.
TN ORDER to enjoy canoeing to the
utmost, it is necessary to have
thorough knowledge of management
and strokes So why not harken to a
few hints which if properly considered
should help make your next canoeing
expedition more successful?
First, choose for your paddle one
that measures your height from toes
to eyebrows. Enter your canoe by
holding onto the side with both hands
before stepping in and always step
in the center section to balance your
self. Now, If you're all alone, kneel in
front of the stern thwart (nevF Ess
in a canoe at the stern and expect to
get anywhere in a wind-try it and
see what happens), let the hips rest
against the thwart with body erect
and slightly balanced to one side. If
1.-TWO persons are padding, both should
Nleel, one in front of the bow seat,
tn other in front of the stern seat.
/.Jow you're ready for the first
sN1ke. called the bow stroke" Start
we4 paddle resting on the lap hori-
zontal to your body, left hand on
top of the handle of the paddle, right
hand between blade and shank, both
arms forward but not up. Now enter
the blade in the water lower both
arms, pull down and back on the
right side of the canoe. The recov-
cry is called "feathering" and is done
by swinging the shank Of paddle
across lap with blade fiat against the
water, but high in the air.
A very good way to perfect this
stroke is to kneel on the side of the
dock near the water, put waltz rec
ord on a talking machine and get
into the swing with the rhythm of the
music: /, up and in; 2, pull down
and back in the water; 8, swing for
ward and feather. The secret is not
to race; let the body swing with the
arms and the paddle drag through
the water, pulling gradually, not
pushing the water back.
There are some differences of opin-
ion about straight arm and bent
arm" padding. Both have their place.
When training crew of or IL
paddlers the uniformity of the straight
arm is superior. When padding a
long distance or travelling alone, the
bent arm is far less fatigueing.
"A fter learning this fundamental
stroke the next step is the clay"
or steering stroke. This Is the one
that makes the canoeist a "paddler"
or a "pusgner." If done incorrectly
the canoe is pushed first to one side
and then to the other, thereby losing
valuable time and energy. The clay"
stroke Is used either by the stern
paddler of a crew or by the lone
canoeist The steering should be done
in the stroke and not at the end Of
the stroke. The law of compensation
and the theorem of geometry, "a
straight line is the shortest path be-
tween two points," is the criterion.
So the stern paddler's aim is to keep
that straight line and avoid the push
over and pull-back, waste of time
and effort.
The first part of the "jay" is the
same as the bow stroke; then, when
the paddle is just past your body start
gradually to turn the inside edge Of
the blade near side of canoe, up to-
ward the sky, and at the same time,
as the paddle is Eing pulled back, it