Cheap Trim Options

[AR-Nimrod]

If you've ever read any Patrick F. McManus you may recall that he always used bags of lead shot for ballast when he didn't have a "boy" for ballast. Just felt a need to throw that out there. The bag and bucket 'o' water do sound more practical. But McManus is one of my favorite authors. If you haven't read him you should. Good clean outdoor humor.

[Canoe_Codger]

On seat placement, should you decide to add a solo seat, I measured the Morningstar today and the front edge of the seat is about six inches behind the measured and balance center (not always the same on all canoes). This puts my belt buckle very close to center when I am paddling. YBBMV (your belt buckle may vary). This is a light composite canoe and balances well with my usual day tripping ballast of only 10-20# of gear... an aluminum drybox and a small cooler with frozen bottled water, snacks and lunch and maybe a soda or two. With Jake along in this one, the box and cooler have to shift to the rear behind me to offset half his weight.

Lead? Seems like flasks of mercury would be less bulky.

[Richard]

Excellent advice. Thank you everyone. Now I need to move it into my mindset.

Yesterday, I made a quick decision to get on the Arkansas River at Cadron Settlement. Things were already in the car so it was just a matter of going. Got to the river and paddled off. I had a bucket in the car and didn't think about taking it.
Wasn't much of a problem until a breeze began to blow. Swells and whitecaps developed. Canoe weathervaned. I fought to keep it on track. All could have been averted had I thrown the bucket in the canoe.

[Deuce]

Ugh. Last winter on the Current I enjoyed the same experience. I moved all the gear (weekend's worth) to the bow and that helped, but there were still moments when all I could do was keep the boat in the middle of the river and wait for the gusts to die down long enough to allow some forward progress.

[Richard]

:myday" From now on, my canoe gear will include a drybag or bucket to trim the canoe.

[Canoe_Codger]

On most rivers, wind has eddys like water does. Paddling closer to a windward bank, particularly if it has a bluff or trees, offers more protection from the wind than the middle of the river/lake. Of course sometimes the only way to beat it is to beach the canoe and wait it out. Or overweight the upwind end and put up with plowing through the water.

Yeah, the bucket has become a habit for me. Seldom do I go without it though I don't always need it. Having a dedicated canoe trailer that I can keep loaded helps me remember stuff. As long as I remember it before I launch. I'm guessing that if one had a dedicated ballast bag, it could be lept strapped to the underside of a seat.

When I installed the solo contoured web seat in the Sunburst, it was immediately apparent that it was too far back from center. I've moved it foreward three inches, but not tested it yet to see if that is enough. That still puts the front edge back of center a bit. Also, I found initially that the center thwart was too close for my long legs, so I moved it more foreward than the seat.

Michael
PS- I'll not mention how CRS made me forget to take a PFD once this spring and I had to borrow one from an outfitter.
Dangerous but also a $250 fine here.

[Richard]

I tried the drybag tonight. Worked great. However, I still need to move both me and the bag closer to the center for optimum performance.
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[dwilson]

Howdy Richard hows thangs? I know what your doin here. Your pockin fun at us peasant packers. I got your number here. I have seen the ability of you and Eric to load a canoe and get it from point A to B. But I'll jump in and give my advice that works for me. Make what is known as the front of the boat the back. So paddle it backwards. Duh! Hope to see you soon with cool weather coming and Mr. Smith and his trail work. Let us know about the when and wheres of those activities.

[Richard]

Hi Danny,
Turning the canoe around is step #1. Done that. Lean forward. Done that too.

Trail work with Ken Smith: We will be setting up tents on Thursday, Oct 10 at Tyler Bend, Group site 1. Trailbuilding will continue through Saturday, Nov 2.