A huli can happen at any time with little or no warning.

A novice crew, a beginner stern, or rougher waters can cause the boat to capsize.

A huli is very common and can happen during a practice or a race. It is more common for boats to huli during a race. Contact with other boats, wake, or extra boat speed and paddler effort may cause the boat to huli.

Read more...

To Bail or Not to Bail:

• An average depth of 1 inch of water 8 inches wide for 20 feet long in an OC6 canoe is 1.15 cubic feet or 75 lbs.
• An average depth of 2 inch of water 10 wide by 25 feet in an OC6 canoe is 3.33 cubic feet or 206 lbs.
• An average depth of 3 inches of water 12" wide in 30 feet of an OC6 canoe is 7.5 cubic feet and weighs 465 lb, more than the empty weight of an empty OC6 canoe without its occupants.

Weight of Water

Read more...

Paddling is fun, challenging, addicting, healthy and many other things.  As with anything in life, it can also be risky if our wisdom is left at home. On the west coast of Canada, we often paddle after dark and all winter long. This increases some of the risks, so some additional wisdom is required.

All our lessons are learned by experience, either from someone else's experiences or from our own experiences. "You will never live long enough to learn everything you need to know from your own experiences." "Cheat and learn from others." Click READ MORE... for the rest of the article.

Read more...

To Bail or Not to Bail

• An average depth of 1 inch of water 8 inches wide for 20 feet long in an OC6 canoe is 1.15 cubic feet or 75 lbs.
• An average depth of 2 inch of water 10 wide by 25 feet in an OC6 canoe is 3.33 cubic feet or 206 lbs.
• An average depth of 3 inches of water 12" wide in 30 feet of an OC6 canoe is 7.5 cubic feet and weighs 465 lb, more than the empty weight of an empty OC6 canoe without its occupants.
• The risk of this weight is that it is live weight, not attached, to the canoe and can cause ...

Read more...

[dropcap cap="M"]ost outrigger canoes are stored on the beach or in a rack and do not need to be tied up, so rope skills are little known. However, knowing how to tie a few simple knots is part of contributing to a crew and the jobs that need to be performed and will be invaluable in an emergency. This article is part one in a series of useful marine knot tying skills. This article is about the Bowline (pronounced Bow, like in a bow and arrow) plus Lin, (sounds like chin). LEARN TO TIE THIS KNOT by clicking READ MORE>>>[/dropcap]

Read more...

[dropcap cap=T]echnically, a Hitch knot is used to tie the end of a rope to a thing. A Lashing knot is used the hold one thing to another thing and is an obviously important skill in outrigger canoeing for attaching the ama to the canoe.  This article will describe the Clove Hitch. Other Hitches and Lashings are covered in additional articles in this series. LEARN TO TIE THIS KNOT by clicking READ MORE>>>[/dropcap]

Read more...

[dropcap cap=P]addling alone or paddling away from your home base where rescue and safety are close at hand can be impossible without a paddle, the proverbial "up the shitcreek without a paddle". [/dropcap]

Paddles can break or be dropped.

To secure a spare paddle to your Iako, use a narrow light strip of rubber from a bicycle tire or surgical tubing. This method can result in a quick spare paddle release. If you are not in a race you can even go back and retrieve your original paddle.

The following pictures tell the story much quicker than words could ever...

Read more...

[dropcap cap=H]erc straps, ratchet straps or cinch straps as they are well known are the powerful racheting straps commonly used to cinch down cargo in truck beds or in the back of a Hercules freighter aircraft (hence the term). [/dropcap]

Read more...

Lateral Buoys

PORT (green can)
Keep this buoy on your port (left) side when proceeding in the upstream direction.

BIFURCATION (red and green bands)
You may pass this buoy on either side when proceeding in the upstream direction, but the main or preferred channel is indicated by the colour of the topmost band. For example: Keep this buoy on your starboard (right) side.

PORT (green pillar)
Keep this buoy on your port (left) side when proceeding in the upstream direction.

PORT (green spar)
Keep this buoy on your port (left) side when proceeding in the upstream direction.

STARBOARD (red spar)
Keep this buoy on your starboard (right) side when proceeding in the upstream direction.

Read more...