C-Forum

I was just wondering what other first experince was in a canoe? What kind of water and where? Was it a good experience or not so good?
Mine was in Northern Michigan at a summer wilderness camp. It was on a small inland lake in a alumium canoe (not sure what brand). My best friend at the time and I paddled aross the lake and cooked dinner over an open fire very cool for and eleven year old kids. The funny thing is we both still have the pictures and both still paddle canoes. He paddles mostly flat water with his kids up in Michigan. I paddle whitewater down in the southeast. We are still friends and hope to trip again someday in a canoe.
Any stories would be great
Greybear

I guess my first introduction to canoeing was from my dad. he would strap a 15' aluminum grumman to the top of his old nova and take my brother and i fishing on lakes. he wanted to fish and we wanted to see how fast we could paddle the canoe, he would get so frustrated to put it nicely. years later i adopted that canoe and started floating it on the colorado and roaring fork rivers, and learning the finer points of swimming. that canoe had foam in the end caps so it never fully sank but it took major effort to get it to shore when the gunnels were an inch above the water.

Indian Guides and the MIGHTY NIANGUA river in Missouri. Started paddling john boats, then when you became good you graduated to a Grumman. We had the boats about half full of water so we could keep fish and hellbenders swimming in the bottom. After that it was the Boundry Waters in Canadia with my grandfather, type of canoe unknown.

i started out paddling on a lake at summer camp as a youngun. no idea what type of boat. something royalex. spent all summer on the lake learning skills so we could go down the chattahooche at the end of the summer. learned both solo and tandem skills. looking back, i realize i got a heck of a foundation for solo open boating at that camp. we did lots of drilling to learn the strokes and the basics down pat.

aside from some commercial raft trips, it was a long while before i was on whitewater after that. got put in a kayak sometime during my teenage years. couldn't stand it.

few more years went by, started raft guiding and got back into open boating. except for a little bit of time spent in a c1, haven't looked back since.

My first was in a Mohawk in the early 80's I was just a little kid. This was the days of the strofoam blocks, my pop carved me a seat in front of him and we hit the rivers in N. Arkansas. The Piney creek, Mulberry and the Buffolo. My first trip was during an eclipse,very cool. Have been hooked every sense

green coleman canoe with the metal rib down the center keel. Couldn/t turn it around in a forty acre lake, but boy it could go straight. paddled the Nanty with a guy from Texas. Swam at lesser wesser and had a peanut butter and lettuce sandwich on toasted whole wheat. The sandwich was worse than the swim. 1981 Fond memories D-Caption

My friend had a fiberglass birch bark Indian canoe . He mounted a 5 hp engine on the back.
We went to a large lake it was early april
It was cold and drizzle and windy the waves were about 1-2 ft.
My Friend (Dan)his brother(Jim) and I were in the canoe.
My friend started up and headed to an Island unfortunately I was in the front I got soaked and was cold by the time we got to the island .
Dan decide to light a fire Jim tells him he is doing it wrong he had just joined the Coast Guard and was back on leave.
Dan gets mad at Jim while Jim is turned around getting more wood Dan throws in a pack of fire crackers. They go off small fire all over the island now. Jim is running around shouting class III fire or something.
They are just about ready for blows I stop them and we head back I don't want to sit in the front again so we stick Jim
there. He complains all the way back. It was very miserable but fun at the same time

;i

That was a great day, everyone swam the Ell, but what fun. Casey I was really worried about you that day. I am glad you got hooked, lets paddle the BSF in December I am off every weekend and of from December 17th to January 9th.

Ya i'll plan on gettin out with ya some in december. I'll be able to paddle most weekends for sure.. But until i can spring for a drysuit, i normally stick to shorter runs or at least somewhat roadside during the coldest part of the year. Give me a shout. take it easy

I think my first time in an open boat was on a tiny ditch of a river called the washburn, I'd seen another open boater (hi Kelvin ) surfing a couple of weeks earlier, and decided that playboating was fun, but that looked better; so when my erstwhile mentor showed up with his prelude, I asked if I could have a go, set off down the river, reached a stopper, hit it, flipped, swum, reflipped the boat and stood up in the first available slack water... About 2 weeks later I borrowed a rodeo, and learned to roll.

Bristol Ct., Boys club camp in NW Connecticut.Housatonic River. Aluminum Grummans around 1966 or 67. Every chance I had I was paddling. First swim was due to the 3 kids in the canoe upstream (we were headed upstream for an overnight trip) stopped paddling under a bridge. They broadsided our canoe and we flipped after getting pinned on a signpost Came up from under the canoe and saw my sleeping bag floating down the river Gave up canoeing and took up sailing, until at age 40 with a 5 year old son and beautiful rivers 20 minutes from home, we took up the single blade again. Now 10 years and 12 boats later, we both have shot knees

Mr.DeadLegs wrote:Indian Guides and the MIGHTY NIANGUA river in Missouri. ...

I hope in 10 years one of our Y Indian Braves or Princesses shows up on this board to say their first canoe experiences were on the YMCA pond, the Saluda, Congaree or maybe Edisto Rivers in one of the old OCA's, Intrepids or Grummans we maintain...

My first time in a canoe was paddling across Lake Keowee (SC) in 3 boats with several cases of beer and a couple of college friends - the next morning found me hung over and sunburnt. First time on moving water was on the Little Tennesse with my future wife and father-in-law. All I remember was "lean downstream!" and a bruising swim. The Nantahala a couple of months later left me on crutches with a hyperextended ankle. You'd think three strikes might have run me off, but no...

1968,14 years old, borrowed Gruman Alum Canoe from the local Dentist, case of Falstaff Beer from the local bootlegger, Little Tennessee river form Chillhowee Dam down to Coytee Spring spent, the night next day finished the run down to the Big Tennessee and then made the Corp of eng. pass us thru the lock at Fort Loudon Dam. Mainly Little Tennessee trips till I got home from overseas in 1975 then the Hiawussee, French Broad, First Ocoee trip in 1979 and then started Raft Guidin on the Ocoee in 1980 been down hill every since.

First experience was flat water in Chattanooga in a Grumman, then first WW was the Tellico, a long time a go in the 60s with my Girlscout troup. I really think we need to get people on flatwater on day trips, then move them up to WW using more beginner friendly boats as well as cutting edge short boats.