Thanks for the input. My canoe (a sauris river wilderness 18) would not work at all. It has a sliding bow seat, and there is a cross bracket right behind the seat. Even if I did use it, it is so long and has so much freeboard that even light winds would blow me around. I looked at renting a prism, but I've never rented a canoe before and the $150 + price tag would almost triple the cost ot the 5 day trip. Any cheaper ideas out there?

Thanks