The only thing you should ditch is the idea that there is a right or wrong stroke.  Stroke whatever feels good and gets you there.  Me?  I now pry off the gunwales mostly.  I could give a rip that it's "novice" and lazy.

I think a J stroke is more effective as a leisurely stroke, such as for trolling when fishing.  I use a very short J at the end of my stroke, just a little 1/4 flip at the end of the stroke as the paddle is coming out of the water for the next stroke.  It is also useful when paddling tandem and your front paddler is not quite as strong as you are.  Then I'll do it every second or third stroke just to maintain direction instead of ruddering to adjust.  The trick is to adjust often and not wait until the canoe is beginning to noticeably veer off course.
Now I exclusively kayak and use a double bladed paddle.  A kayak paddle allows you to take an extra power stroke (or 2 or 3) to adjust direction and not have to rudder at all.  I have found going back to a canoe paddle uses a whole different set of muscles than the double bladed paddle does.

J stroke is probably the worst of the strokes for paddling a solo in the wind.  In short, you lose too much momentum making your correction, and if you lose too much momentum, the wind wins.  That's why you found "sit and switch" or "hit n' switch" or the "Minnesota Hut" as its alternatively called to be more effective - your stroke rate is higher and therefore, you maintain momentum better.  

But that is so inelegant - crude but effective, and I will resort to that if the wind is pushing me backwards or about to.

in quiet conditions, where you are just out for a slow cruise, a J is fine - you are coasting nicely between strokes and you have plenty of time to make the J work without losing much forward momentum
(without doing ruddering - that loses even more momentum)

I use a "C" stroke about 99% of the time.  It is a little bit of bow draw (to start your bow to the paddle side a little bit, changing into a forward stroke which tends to bush the boat the other direction, and ending with a little bit of J to bring the bow back to center.  In reality it looks more like this  -   (   - on the right side, not as exagerated as the C looks, and less of a J at the end.  I find it maintains momentum better than a J, and I can keep up a higher cadence.  I use it in my river boat, my WW boat and my lake boats.    I use straight shaft paddles - i don't like bent shaft for solo boats, and I stay on on one side for a while, then switch to the opposite side for the same length of time.  The stronger the wind, the more frequently I'll switch.

most people I paddle with use sit and switch with bent shaft paddles almost exclusively, but will switch to a straight shaft for more technical sections

padddling in headwinds, forward progress is best made by keeping the bow directly into the wind - the wind has less effect that way.  I do that even on rivers, taking the wind out of play, so I don't have to contend with both wind and current.  It also helps to trim a bit bow heavy, and that includes kneeling rather than sitting.

I suggest you try the C and see if it works better for you.  

Sit and switch works best in hard tracking boats - better in a lake boat with minimal rocker than in a river boat with 2" of rocker - the better the boat tracks straight, the more strokes per side you can get before you need to switch - generally that will be 3 to 5 strokes per side.

another stroke that is useful in headwinds is a sweep stroke at the bow - depending on your trim and your boat, it may be a more effective correction than a J, though it will also cost you momentul loss, but I think it is a quicker correction than the J, and that gets you back to a forward stroke quicker - that is useful for when the wind is shoving your bow around a lot, usually when the wind is shifting direction a lot.  I use that at times, when its hard to get the bow back into the wind, then go back to my C as quick as I can - sometimes, I will exaggerate the bow draw at the start of the C if I need more of a draw



edit:  if you decide to use sit n' switch, you will be better off with a bent shaft paddle, and you will want one a few inches shorter than your straight shaft

Quote:


I'm almost exclusively a double paddle user, but bring a bentshaft for times the double paddle won't get the job done.
Slow trolling or just a leisurely paddle, I'll use the single and either a modified J like IC, or a C stroke like M_M recommends.

The year I went from Wolseley up Bearpelt creek, I used both paddles as conditions warranted. My double paddle is longer than you would use in a true solo. It's 9', longer as I'm paddling a tandem back wards. In narrow sections I used my single and in one section, stood and used the double paddle as a push pole rather than get out a wade. I've done the same thing numerous times on Jean Creek. Probably not advisable in a true narrow solo, but in a loaded tandem as long as you have a good center of balance, easier than you might think.
I use a " rolling" touring double paddle stroke, not a " windmill" type stroke you see kayakers use when racing/competing. I needed the extra length so I can keep shaft relatively level and not continually bang the gunnel's
I think Wally is right on using what works for you and not get hung up on whether your doing it like the experts advise.
We all drive vehicles and are driving skills vary. I'd like to have the driving skills of a Mario Andretti, but I don't and still manage to get around and enjoy the ride
The more you paddle, the more time you have to polish your skills and learn and practice the classic paddling strokes.
Most of us don't have that luxury, so we do the best we can with what we have.
I don't care what stroke or paddle you use, just don't be one of those paddlers that are heard before seen, becasue their banging the gunnel's/hull on every stroke, especially on Aluminum canoes

Yak paddles make too much noise for my taste. My 3 minute trial with one got me wet enough to just say no thanks.

If you don't mind switching, switch. It's probably the most efficient, other than the switching part. I end up doing that if paddling into a hard wind or if I want to go fast. Going fast isn't efficient IMO, just more work.

A C as described works ok. So does feathering. If you have long arms and can get the blade under the boat there's much less correction needed. I can do that at a speed I consider efficient all day but if I try to push it speed wise, even a little, the back of the boat starts skidding out and I have to rudder it back. Remember it's called a paddle, not a rudder. Ruddering is for turning while slowing down like when you're coming up to a landing.

If I had a solo boat of my own, I swear I'd take out the seat and move a thwart to position the seat back as far as I could. Paddling at the middle of a canoe has always seemed dumb to me. I hate switching.

If you can, make a little video of your paddling technique.  Don't worry too much about getting it 'right', more about demonstrating your usual technique.

Post it to (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

You'll get huge responses.  Some instructors & competitors on that site who love the nitty gritty.

I am no expert, at anything!

But in my relatively short life:

I have found that a paddle is not a water shovel but a bladed lever with the wet hand being the pull and the upper hand being the push.

Reaching for the keel line with the blade will get you closer to nirvana within the world of the j and c.

Feathering really does matter.

Water is more solid than it looks.

A kayak is not a canoe.

I like the canoe not futbol; so hut is not in my vocabulary, unless you are tired and starting to get misty.

Big blade surfaces stick better, and flutter is about the shape.

Kneeling has a lot of benefits when the going gets tough.

I tried a kayak paddle in my solo years ago and never went back. Part of it was an old injury that bothered me with a single blade. I find it best to train with a heavier paddle than I may use on a long trip. Many have trouble with getting wet while using a double paddle. My cure for that has been using a longer paddle with the blades in straight alignment. The long length allows keeping the paddle as level as possible so less water runs down the shaft and ends up in your lap. The blades in straight alignment allows water to flow to the bottom lip of the blade which becomes the drip point. This puts the drips back in the lake and not in your lap. A kayaking friend showed me how to use my torso and not my arms to power the paddle. This made long days enjoyable. On narrow streams the double paddle is pushed off the bank when things get too narrow. Since these narrow streams are seldom straight it works great for fighting the wind and current in the switchbacks. For regular lake and river travel I find I have no trouble maintaining my course. It is very easy to alter the strokes in power or number to keep on course in high waves and wind.

Ideally, and you can get the idea paddling up a shallow streams, is that the paddle gets planted and the canoe is what moves. IMHO, the farther you get from the ideal - the less efficient your strokes are.

This is a helpful thread, thanks to everyone for their input.  A couple years ago my sister rented a Bell solo with a lot of rocker (I forget the model name). I tried doing the Minnesota Switch but could not get tracking at all.  The C worked best for me, but it was still a learning curve (as it were).

Paddling a tandem is so intuitive for me, getting used to the solo without the offsetting stroke of a bowman on the other side is a challenge, but a fun one.  Double blades wear me out, so I'm going to stick with working on mastering the single blade in the solo.  Besides, to me it feels "right" to have a single blade in a canoe.

I just took my brandy-new, hot off the finishing cradles, cedar strip Merlin on its maiden cruise on a local river this morning.  My first paddle in a purpose built solo.  I have a sliding seat, and took along a 230 cm bent shaft yak paddle (because I have one!), and two bent-shaft paddles (52 and 56 cm).

Now ordinarily I'm a slow cadence deep-dipping, power stroker who uses an occasional light J to keep the pointy end pointed where want to go.  But this morning I learned some hard truths about a center seat solo canoe... particularly one that isn't loaded down with gear:

1)  Yep!  They handle just like tandems in the wind:  bow heavy up wind good, stern heavy bad (and vice versa for downwind)
2)  A standard yak paddle is WAY too short!  I gotta find a nice long one so I don't have to raise it to a steep angle just to reach the water.
3)  Drip rings are worthless when the paddle is so short and the angle so high that the ring comes inside the gunnels on each stroke... they just make sure that rivulet dumps right in your lap!
4)  A comfortable bent shaft used in the conventional sit & switch manner can get you 4-8 good strong strokes on one side before the bow starts swinging too much and a switch is needed.

No news in any of these observations, just confirmation that a new, long 'yak paddle is in my near future... and hopefully Woodland Caribou not long after that!

wally wrote on May 31^st, 2011 at 4:04am:

I suspect something of the 9 foot (270/274cm) persuasion would be about right.  (I also added a second set of drip rings to my rig (one set just above the paddle blade and a second set about a foot further up the shaft.

dd

I guess I already c stroke without even knowing that's what it is .

Next up for me is to go somewhere for a whitewater seminar. Right now I'm a chicken..........

DentonDoc wrote on May 31^st, 2011 at 5:17am:


I use a 9ft Mohawk double paddle they advertised as being for canoes.
In a rented SR 16 tandem, paddling backward from the front seat, the paddle is just right. Not sure what a true solo width is, but probably pretty close to the dimensions I'm dealing with. I'd say a 9 ft would be a good place to start. I can do a rolling type cruising stroke that keeps me dry and is a good mix of power and economy of energy.

I'd put on drip rings in any case, can't hurt.