Raw newbie to C-1ing with several questions...

[TommyC1]

I'll always remember my first time in my first solo which was a Gyramax. I paddled up the quiet Assabet, entered the slow current, took my paddle out of the water, and promptly swam. That boat was nothing like my Explorer!
First off let me apologize if you know this stuff already.
IMO the Gyramax mas no edges to speak of. It's a big fluffy marshmallow of a hull and likely one of the easiest to keep upright.
So I wonder if you are heeling the hull enough when crossing eddy lines?
Even with no edges the it's a narrow hull compared to most rec canoes and if your heel is off it will dunk you.
The generic instruction for crossing eddy lines is to lean down stream.
That always made sense to me coming out of an eddy but when you enter an eddy you want to lean down stream of the eddy current.
It's easier for me to think of it as where on the hull the water hits.
Coming out of the eddy you lean the hull downstream so that the fast water hits the bottom of the hull NOT the side.
Coming into an eddy you lean the hull upstream of the current you are leaving so that the still water hits your fast moving boat on the bottom NOT on the side.
Keep in mind that you lean (or heel) the hull with your hips keeping your head centered over the boat.
For now try to cross eddy lines at roughly 90 degrees. That will keep you from getting hung up on the eddy line. As you progress you will adjust that depending on where you are and whet you are doing but it's not a bad way to start.

The C1 Challenge is a fun video and worth watching but if you are looking for an instructional I'd recommend either DrillTime or Solo Playboating.

[pblanc]

Solo Play Boating and Drill Time are both quite good. My favorite is Tom Foster's Solo Open Whitewater Canoeing. Tom has always placed an emphasis on carving circles and trying to execute correction strokes from the bow.

Entering an eddy at an angle of about 90 degrees to the eddy line is good advice. For leaving an eddy (peeling out) I would suggest you use a more conservative (smaller) angle to avoid getting blown downstream too quickly.

As has been mentioned, always try to cross the eddy lines with authority. Remember, that the boat doesn't "enter" the eddy when the nose crosses the eddy line, but when the pivot point (roughly around the front of your knees) crosses. That is when the current differential will start to turn the boat.

A mistake I made for a while which resulted in a number of seemingly inexplicable swims was to relax the boat heel too soon when executing an eddy turn. You are facing the front of the boat and focusing on it. It may look as if the nose of the boat has stopped turning while the stern is still skidding across a couple feet of water. If you relax your heel at that moment, you may well slice the rear deck under and dump.

[philcanoe]

Dave here...
In making a down stream eddy turn, as the boat reaches parellel to the river turned upstream, there comes a point that the hull seems to "stick" on the water and nearly throws me out. What am I doing wrong?

I maybe be all wrong but this sort of sounds like a ferry into a eddy, instead of actually piercing/crossing the eddy-line... and then turning upstream. I say this because you mention being turned parallel to the upstream. Does the stick occur before, while, or after entering the eddy?

[redbeardcanoeworks]

Thanks for the recomendation about the C-1 challange, I read that kent ford post the other night and immediatly ordered the DVD. It's good to know that you think it is worthwhile.

[oopsiflipped]

I second the Tom Foster video. Really, really good stuff. Breaks down a lot of the basics very, very well. I think his emphasis on paddling an infinite circle is still the most important thing i know about paddling with a single blade. That and his how to get in a canoe tutorial. I can't remember if it was the first or second time I paddle a canoe on the river. I had a day off from guiding and went down to the whitewater park in Golden, CO. The slalom club was there practicing and it seemed like dozens of paddlers were there to see me capsize just trying to get in. Considering I was going from rafting 4/5 stuff solo in a shredder to swimming just trying to get in a canoe, it was a very memorable moment and to me, is one off the best things about canoes and pushin yourself to try new boats.

Ramblings aside, if the transition to c1 seems tough at first, or second, or third, stick with it. It can be infinitley rewarding to learn something that at first seem difficult or even impossible.

[sbroam]

I went from an ME to a Gyramax - that first ill-prepared-for trip involved 5 (or 6 or 7?) swims in frigid water - sold the Gyramax a couple of weeks later. A more careful introduction to C-1s came a couple of years later and started me into a period of 5 + years where I paddled (almost) nothing but C-1s - starting with the decidedly edgy Slasher, a Cascade for a while, then a succession of smaller and smaller conversions. [Then I went on an OC-1 kick that I'm still, more or less, on.] Getting comfortable in a C-1, especially that combat roll, was one of many satisfying "steps" in my paddling journey.

Give that Gyramax some time. You will become much more aware of your leans as you won't have 12"+ of freeboard to cover up mistakes! When you hop back in an OC-1, you'll probably find you are a better open boater, too...

[Bob P]

I went from an ME to a Gyramax -...

I did something like that, only with a 10-year time offset. I went from an Old Town Pathfinder to a fiberglass Max II. But, for some reason, I didn't have the stability transition problem. Learned to roll early and rarely swam.

Then, when the Max II fell apart, (almost instantly, but that's another story), I paddled kayak conversions, including the Dancer. Still, the narrowness never bothered me. The Gyra seemed very wide by comparison, and it turned better too.

Then my life went downhill when I started C1 slalom.