Just wondering if you folks have a preference for paddling in the bow seat or the stern seat?

I can't remember the last time I paddled in the bow seat. Not sure if it's because I own the canoe or I like knowing which way the bow guy is leaning or what...

I prefer the stern. But if I travel with someone whose skills are equal to mine, I try to alternate bow and stern on successive days.

Bow - I like the view and I have a lot of options for making quick direction changes there. Besides, I'm not afraid of hard work - the stern paddler just sits back there ruddering ;-)

Stern. But mostly because I'm almost always paddling with my wife and we've gotten used to this division of things. Plus, she takes more pics than I do and that works well from the bow.

I have always paddled stern by default. One of these days I would like to be up front, but that means I would have to trust the stern paddler. I'm not holding my breath : )

i have the young guns up front and i'll keep us straight ;)

My wife is a better paddler than myself, so I'm almost always in the bow.
The last time we paddled a river with our two dogs, I was in the stern and it worked pretty good.
My preference for flatwater paddling would be in the bow for me.

I have done a lot of both but if I have the choice it would be bow

I always paddle with my adult son. I prefer the stern since a trust my canoe tracking ability and the extra horsepower of my son in the bow. It keeps me honest since I have to keep pace with him to track a line since I detest paddling anything but forward with minimal corrective strokes.

quote arm2008: "Bow - I like the view and I have a lot of options for making quick direction changes there. Besides, I'm not afraid of hard work - the stern paddler just sits back there ruddering ;-)"

That is funny! One of the guys who paddles with me on rare occasions actually thinks that is what I should be doing (i.e. ruddering).

I'm always in the stern. As my wife prefers the bow seat. That way she can sit back and relax some while I paddle on.

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Used to be stern because I felt more in charge. Now it's bow because with age I've conceded to a backrest and my framed model fits better in my canoe on the front seat.

I am in the stern 97% of the time....the only time I'm not is if I'm working on teaching someone how to J-stroke and/or keep the canoe straight.

Plus, I often paddle with my wife, who weights something like 125 pounds less than I do. That makes trimming the boat a little tricky, and she really struggles with any crosswind to keep the boat tracking (the back of the boat keeps getting pushed around).

And the final reason is that we own a MNII that doesn't have much room in the bow. I'm taller than most, so it's quite cramped up there for me. Smaller people don't seem to be as bothered, and since I'm a big guy, one or two threats of violence usually gets them seated in the bow without much trouble.

I am in the stern 97% of the time....the only time I'm not is if I'm working on teaching someone how to J-stroke and/or keep the canoe straight.

Plus, I often paddle with my wife, who weights something like 125 pounds less than I do. That makes trimming the boat a little tricky, and she really struggles with any crosswind to keep the boat tracking (the back of the boat keeps getting pushed around).

And the final reason is that we own a MNII that doesn't have much room in the bow. I'm taller than most, so it's quite cramped up there for me. Smaller people don't seem to be as bothered, and since I'm a big guy, one or two threats of violence usually gets them seated in the bow without much trouble.

I always paddled in the bow, and still do. I have no idea how to steer a canoe.

Stern. The only time I will paddle the bow is when I am with my buddy Dan, and that is because he is 6' 7".

I paddle in the middle

Bow. That way I can just concentrate on my cadence. I paddle along with the voices in my head.

My dad and I paddled many trips in the BWCA, and I was ALWAYS at the bow- it was my job to provide the front horsepower, watch for rocks/logs/moose/beavers in the water. The benefit was that I always got to be the one catching fish when we trolled.....my dad was the "trolling motor" as I jigged along for walleyes around points/humps we found. This past March, my dad passed away, so now I am the stern man, and I have to give up my seat to my older sister, who FINALLY at the age of 48 is going on her first BWCA trip. Now I get to be the one running the "trolling motor".....though we may be bringing a large supply of slip bobbers and leeches on this trip, haha. She can weigh anchor just the same, haha.

I've done both.

As I'm usually with my husband I usually end up in the bow, tho I do get the stern if he wants to fish in the bow,

With others I take the stern, usually because they have less experience.

quote Spartan2: "I always paddled in the bow, and still do. I have no idea how to steer a canoe."

My wife and I have a good thing going. BUT, I wish she knew how to steer a canoe because I think she'd enjoy it.

Should she learn or just keep what we have workin workin? Discuss.

quote arm2008: "Bow - I like the view and I have a lot of options for making quick direction changes there. Besides, I'm not afraid of hard work - the stern paddler just sits back there ruddering ;-)"

+1

I am a "lets get there" guy so I am in the bow. That, and I stink at ruddering....unless of course you like to go in circles, then I am a gold medalist.

Almost always stern. I do prefer it.
To me the bow feels like the front car of a roller-coaster. I guess I like the security of seeing all that canoe in front of me.

I prefer the stern however the guy I'm always doubled up with also prefers the stern. All things being equal, we alternate.

I've been in the bow for about 10 minutes since 1980.

My wife and I have a good thing going. BUT, I wish she knew how to steer a canoe because I think she'd enjoy it.

Should she learn or just keep what we have workin workin? Discuss. "

Hate to rock the boat when you have a good thing going :-) But what if you decide to get a kidney stone while on a trip, she may need to take the stern.

It may be easier for her to learn to paddle stern with a different paddling partner. I have seen this work for other couples, doesn't mess with their usual dynamics this way.

quote fadersup: "

quote Spartan2: "I always paddled in the bow, and still do. I have no idea how to steer a canoe."

My wife and I have a good thing going. BUT, I wish she knew how to steer a canoe because I think she'd enjoy it.


Should she learn or just keep what we have workin workin? Discuss. "

I think, after almost fifty years of canoeing together, that Spartan1 would completely agree with you. He would like for me to learn to paddle stern, just for the experience. He has taught both of our grandchildren to paddle stern, for exactly that reason.

But I love being in the bow. I set the cadence pace, and I see everything from an unobstructed view. I can relax for the most part, (of course I have to look for rocks and snags and such) and keep an eye out for photo moments.

My opinion? If it ain't broke, don't fix it! :-)

My first trip, 5 weeks long in northern Maine in 1970, I started in the stern with my friend and was moved to bow and different partner after about 2 days and ending up around 2-3 hours behind the group. Was much better with the cadence in the front and solid sternman, but after that trip have been in the stern since.

Love the thread. Some of the comments are truly enlightened!

When I paddle tandem, I always paddle stern. In the early days, when I would sometimes paddle bow, it just seemed looking straight out on the water gave me a bit of vertigo? I would get light headed, so it's definitely the stern for me.

Started off as as bow for the first couple trips because of lack of experience, etc. Moved to stern a few trips back and really prefer it. Part of it is a control thing, a lot of it is having more room back there. Being crunched into the bow for more than a couple hours is not for me.

quote bfurlow: "Started off as as bow for the first couple trips because of lack of experience, etc. Moved to stern a few trips back and really prefer it. Part of it is a control thing, a lot of it is having more room back there. Being crunched into the bow for more than a couple hours is not for me."

I totally get the space issue! This is one place my short legs are useful.

But in the stern you only have the illusion of control, while in the bow I am controlling the action ;-) I set the cadence. Shall we miss that rock? Yes, because I saw it and adjusted, and my stern paddler will follow MY lead and pivot us around it. I'm not a big white water fan, but the couple times I paddled bow in white water really showed me how powerful the bow position is, and impacted my approach to flat water paddling in the bow and it became a lot more fun.

Bow. I enjoy just paddling hard and not having to think much about steering around - other than being on the lookout for rocks. My canoe partner is much more experienced with steering.

I have always preferred paddling in the stern, and do most of my paddling there when not solo. Good question and discussion. By my count, I think it is 20 Stern, 8 bow and one middle so far. I wonder if there is a correlation between who paddles stern and who plans the trip? or who drives the car? I only ask, because I typcially do those activities as well.

Depends. With my long-time paddling partner, I almost always paddled bow and preferred it. Nowadays, though, I mostly trip with my wife; she struggles with steering so I'm almost always in the stern.

When I'm in front, I prefer to paddle bow. When I'm in back, I'm partial to stern.

I'm a very stern paddler.

quote andym: "Stern. But mostly because I'm almost always paddling with my wife and we've gotten used to this division of things. Plus, she takes more pics than I do and that works well from the bow. "

Same with me, I can't remember the last time I was in the bow seat, I find the view from there really strange, I see my knees and the deck plate and the water ahead instead of having a feel for the complete expanse of the canoe.

quote paddlinjoe: " I wonder if there is a correlation between who paddles stern and who plans the trip? or who drives the car? I only ask, because I typcially do those activities as well.
"

I guess you could say there is a correlation for us. Husband usually takes stern and usually drives. Part of that is because he drives me crazy as a passenger. On long trips, after his nap, he starts going through the glove compartment, rearranges the cubby between the seats etc. which kind of annoys me if we are in my car.

quote paddlinjoe: " I wonder if there is a correlation between who paddles stern and who plans the trip? or who drives the car? I only ask, because I typcially do those activities as well.


"

There is a correlation for us, too. But only partially. Spartan1 does 95% of the driving on a long trip in the car. And he paddles in the stern. However, we always planned our canoe trips (and for that matter we plan our vacation trips in general) together. Except for our very first trip in 1971 when I was totally clueless, I was always in on the planning.

Mostly I've paddled solo for the last 9-10 years. On the occasions I'm in a tandem it really depends on who I'm with. If it's with my wife or some (other) lilly dipper I'm in the stern. There are times I'd like (or need) to be in the bow. I've tried to show my wife (and others) numerous times how the bow paddler can steer around an obstacle. If my partner is experienced I can do either comfortably.

Hmmm, we're pretty similar to the Spartans. We absolutely plan together but I do tend to most of the driving and paddle stern. I think I'm just a bad passenger. Actually, my wife was a really crappy motorcycle passenger. She had her own bike and the couple of times I gave her a ride on mine it was really hard for her to stay locked to me and not lean independently! so, we are both bad passengers.

One of the earlier comments reminded me of an important lesson I learned here. When you are in the bow all you see is a bit of the canoe and it seems tipper. In the stern we see waves run all the way back and know more about how the canoe is handling them. I'm learning to give more positive news about that so she knows what is going on behind her.

I do not see stern and bow as one more control than the other in a good team. We each have important roles and share the work. And she can paddle stern. Some years back we took some family on a river day trip and she did fine in some pretty quickly moving water.

Stern: my tripping partner does not have a clue and does not care to learn.

quote andym:
I do not see stern and bow as one more control than the other in a good team. We each have important roles and share the work. "

I agree! A good tandem team complements each other. I think a tandem team where each member has intermediate skills in their respective positions could more than match a tandem team with an unskilled bow paddler and a highly skilled stern paddler.

I am coming to really like solo paddling, but I do miss the teamwork and sharing the work of a tandem.

Stern definitely. Then Mister can't tell if I'm slacking off :D

quote paddlinjoe: "I have always preferred paddling in the stern, and do most of my paddling there when not solo. Good question and discussion. By my count, I think it is 20 Stern, 8 bow and one middle so far. I wonder if there is a correlation between who paddles stern and who plans the trip? or who drives the car? I only ask, because I typcially do those activities as well.


"

Depends upon my tripping partner.

If its my wife, I typically paddle Bow. I like to paddle fast and set the tempo. I definitely weigh more than my wife so we need to do some creative pack arranging.

If its my other paddling partner (brother in law) we typically switch bow and stern.

Regardless of who we go with, I like to drive. Probably partly control, partly I drive fast, and partly I get bored out of my mind sitting as a passenger!

i like to give people the chance to stern. however if i feel them ruddering or notice that we aren't heading at our objective the chance is over. running rapids i like to be in the bow but again if the sterns paddler can't keep the canoe at the correct angle it's time to switch.

I exclusively paddle in the stern because I always outweigh my paddle partner by a significant amount and if I sat in the bow, the back of the boat would be out of the water. Also, I have longer legs than my partner and it just works better with him in front and me in back. It's a system we've grown accustomed to over the last several years.

Bow. As the youngest and smallest in my family, it's what I learned (put the little one up front!).

I have paddled stern and did just fine though. Solo too. My ultimate preference is me in the bow and my hubby in the stern. He's a great paddler: strong and knows what he's doing!

Bow.. cos I got the power! I don't care where we are going as long as we are going...

quote Nozzelnut: "Just wondering if you folks have a preference for paddling in the bow seat or the stern seat?

I can't remember the last time I paddled in the bow seat. Not sure if it's because I own the canoe or I like knowing which way the bow guy is leaning or what...

"And the older brother has been there more.
Us I love looking for fish from the bow.
But you do have to put up with the occasional accidental splash from the stern.
I did convince my brother ,for both of us to use kayak paddles.
We were about a mile per hour faster than paddles in our Minnesota 3

Try kayak paddles. No more J strokes and you will travel a little quicket. Also. No switching dides

I have done two solo trips in the bwca. In my 20ft 3in
Minnesota 3.
With kayak paddle and 100 lbs of stuff. I can go 4.25 mph if I have a destination I want to get to

NICE

I have had a small kidney stone. Not on a trip.
An hour of pacing , leaning on couch, curled up in a ball on the floor. Just trying to breath.
Don't wish on anyone

I totally get what you said.
I took a white water class and learned alot

I just read through all the replies.
80% stern paddlers.
What does this tell us?

Though I don mind the bow I have typically paddled the stern as I am a better navigator. Making corrective strokes just comes naturally to me and often I j-stroke without even thinking about it. My problem paddling in the bow is Rememering to NOT J-stroke.

Interesting. I would have thought it was more 50/50...

Looks like substantially more stern paddlers responded.

ETA odd that it changed font too