need beginner info

[nu2canoe]

I am currently in information gathering mode about canoeing. Our family at this time do not float or paddle. The family can swim excepting myself, so this is a future adventure for us. According to Buffalo Outdoor Center in Ponca, they said that currently they are launching from Pruitt, which I understand to be good floating for beginners. With that in mind, does the canoe club have floats for beginners? We do not know of anyone personally at this time who floats in order to learn from. My family are two adults and two children ages 6 yrs and 9yrs, so any suggestions greatly appreciated. Pack Rat had their drawing for a Mad River adventure 14 canoe...we did'nt win it, but sat in it, thought it was nice and wondering if it would work for us in the future? or if it's just a person's personal preference? Thanks a bunch!

[flow]

Welcome to the wonderful world of paddling! For your first
Trip I would suggest leaving the kids at home so you can take turns in front and back of your canoe. You need to be confident in what your doing before taking kids that young! Launch from Pruitt is a great beginner float, has few class 1s. Also you can get some tips for basic paddle strokes and steering on YouTube. Hope this helps,

Phil

[JasonK]

As a daddy who regularly paddles with wife and a 3 year old I second that. As someone who sees folks paddle for their first time quite a bit for work I also second that.

You don't want to have anything other than your paddle and the river on your mind until you get the hang of it - easy water or not.

And most importantly - have loads and loads of fun!

[Tim Eubanks]

Make sure you wear your lifejacket at all times! Agree with above responses, leave the kids home until you can control your boat. From my experience, kids have just as more fun playing in the river than sitting in a canoe.

This is a good time to learn: warm and predictable water levels (low).

Welcome!

[nu2canoe]

thanks for the info...may be fall or early next spring before we buy a boat, so we will keep learning what we can.

[Cowper]

With that in mind, does the canoe club have floats for beginners? We do not know of anyone personally at this time who floats in order to learn from. My family are two adults and two children ages 6 yrs and 9yrs, so any suggestions greatly appreciated. Pack Rat had their drawing for a Mad River adventure 14 canoe...we did'nt win it, but sat in it, thought it was nice and wondering if it would work for us in the future? or if it's just a person's personal preference? Thanks a bunch!

Lot of questions packed in there. Let's see if I can break it down...

1) Floats for beginners – Yes and no – due to liability considerations, there are few “official” club-sponsored floats. But several members invite anyone to join their floats on our message board. Right now the most frequent are Jim Kruger’s floats on the Caddo. If you see a float posted, just ask and you’ll quickly be able to figure out if it is a “beginner”, “intermediate”, or “experienced” level float. Some that would be good for beginners would include the Caddo, Cadron Creek (at medium and low levels), the Buffalo, and the Ouachita (Remmel to Rockport, summertime float). With young kids AVOID the Spring river on Saturdays and Holiday weekends; the river is good, but you would not want to expose your kids to that much drinkin’ and carrying on. There is also a decent rental service now on the Saline river.

2) Mad River Adventure 14 – Most of us prefer more traditional ABS plastic boats like the Buffalo Canoe, one of the “Twin Brothers Canoe” models, etc. I’m not sure if the MRA-14 has enough capacity for you plus your two kids, who are certainly growing quickly at this age. If you look at rental fleets, which typically have to take a lot of abuse, you see boats like the Buffalo Canoe but not like the rotomolded MRA-14.


3) Personal preference – yes, that is a big factor. The two pieces of advice you will hear most often are “demo before you buy” (via renting, or via stores that will let you at least paddle on the lake before you buy), and “buy used for your first boat”. New boats are just like used cars; the scratches from a single trip can cause it to lose up to ½ of it’s value. With a used boat, if you don’t wreck it, you can usually sell it for near what you paid for it if you don’t like it.

Trick Way to demo something at low cost: Watch for the Buffalo River clean ups. Typically, the outfitters provide a few rental boats at NO CHARGE to the first few folks who sign up to help. So in return for picking up some trash along the way, you get to meet a few other floaters, and have a boat and shuttle service that would have probably cost you more than $50 to $60 if you had just showed up to rent for the day.

[cj5752]

Doing a rental float on the Caddo or asomeone else mention the Saline(near Benton) would be an excellent way to get started. With the water levels low and depending on the size of your children you might be able to just get one canoe and float the Saline to "get your feet wet " so to speak. Start early and keep the float short. You don't want to be rushed. Take your time and have fun.

[nu2canoe]

yeah, heard that the buffalo canoes were pretty good stuff, just had'nt looked at them yet. used but in good shape and not the brand new price tag is what we would be looking for. thanks for the info on some of the creeks and getting started up. understand about the kids not going the first time or few times till we get the hang of it, just wondering how you learn what to do and not to do and whom to learn from. thanks again. Good to know when and where to stay away from some of the drunks on the water!

[kru1]

As far as learning what to do and what not to do (I learned on the Mulberry River). I learned what not to do the first time I went out, and that was flip. After seven years of extensive paddling, I'm still learning what to do, and I don't see that ever changing. Every rapid or shoal provides a unique challenge, every river is different, but the water level is always the determining factor.

The summer time is a good time to learn if you can find a river that is floatable. The consequences usually aren't as serious if you flip, and you can learn some good technical skills by trying to avoid rocks.

kru

[okieboater]

"The summer time is a good time to learn if you can find a river that is floatable. The consequences usually aren't as serious if you flip, and you can learn some good technical skills by trying to avoid rocks.

kru"

The above may well be one of if not the best timing suggestions given so far to the original question.

Renting a canoe now (PainterBob's service comes to mind as a good place to start) and getting started while weather and river levels are friendly could be the difference between success and failure.

Flipping and swimming in warm water, reasonable current and warm to hot sun is not that big a deal. Flipping and swimming in cold water, fast current and cold overcast days can take the fun out of learning and possibly be fatal.

Time is indeed wasting away, get on the water and get the learning process going !!!!!

[cpresoz]

Floating with friends, sitting in front of a tandem canoe with someone experienced in the back on a gentle float and getting constant instruction and comments is a great way to learn. Most creeks are very low right now, but two weekends ago we had a great float on the Kings and last week a decent float on War Eagle. I'm assuming you're in NWA based on your comment about the canoe drawing at the Pack Rat. We don't have any floats scheduled right now because of the levels, but when we do, you're very welcome to join us. We had several first timers on our last float. You can rent or several of us have extra boats and can loan you guys a boat. Our group is: http://www.meetup.com/nwahiking/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dave Thomas]

3)Personal preference – yes, that is a big factor. The two pieces of advice you will hear most often are “demo before you buy” (via renting, or via stores that will let you at least paddle on the lake before you buy), and “buy used for your first boat”. New boats are just like used cars; the scratches from a single trip can cause it to lose up to ½ of it’s value. With a used boat, if you don’t wreck it, you can usually sell it for near what you paid for it if you don’t like it.

Good advice Cowper! I have almost the complete line of Mohawk Canoes demo boats here in Fort Smith and ready to be picked up and test paddled. Below, I posted links to check out our boats. Take a look then shoot me an email at dthomas@mohawkcanoes.com and we'll chat.

Mohawk Tandem Canoes - http://www.mohawkcanoes.com/tandem.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mohawk Solo Canoes - http://www.mohawkcanoes.com/solo.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mohawk WW Canoes - http://www.mohawkcanoes.com/whitewater.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;