Last month I Paddled from the Splash Lake portage back to Canoe Country dock into a light quartering breeze in just a tad over 2.5 hours, according to my GPS I was paddling 3.2 to 3.5 mph [when I checked it] and was wondering if this is about what everyone else does or are you other soloist going a lot faster? That was a good rhythm for me it seemed, I could have went faster but that seemed to really work the old muscles. Thanks for any and all replies, even cutting remarks are good for a laugh. FRED

I'm usually just poking along and not too concerned about measuring it, but a good guesstimate would be +/- 3 mph.

Speed kills. ;-)

I never track how fast I'm paddling and could care less how fast anybody else is paddling.

In my younger days I used to race like a hare.....now I'm the tortoise.

I always like to check my 'stats' at the end of the day. Speed, distance, time and such. My moving average is usually in the 2.5 - 3 mpg range.

I have never measured it rigorously, but have estimated from the hours it takes me to travel the distances I travel (both paddling and portaging) at the end of a day that I move at an average rate of a moderate walking speed, about 2.5 mph.

quote AndySG: "
Speed kills. ;-)"

Uh, Oh...I'm dead meat :).

I'm another 2.5 - 3 mph doing the double portage thingy.

I go slower, cause it isn't a race for me... it is just a paddle, especially by myself, I have 1 Speed, it is SunCatcher Speed and that is slow.

SunCatcher

quote KevinL: "I'm another 2.5 - 3 mph doing the double portage thingy. "

Me too.

I don't clock my speed.

But paddling with the boys I move at a moderate clip. We don't go all out but we don't lily dip either.

I guess on my solo I was hauling *ss according to my friends who were following my progress via my GPS. I don't think I was particularly fast, I just didn't stop for anything that wasn't a portage so I covered a lot of ground each day.

Thanks for the replies. I've never figured out my paddling speed with the portages added in because on portages I generally drag my feet, and sometimes other parts of my body. I think if you folks would want to go faster you should get BLACK canoes, they go faster [insert a silly grin here]. FRED

One nice thing about having a fairly fast paddling setup is, I can dink around, goof off, yet still catch up when needed. I'm in no rush but like having the option to cross large water at a good pace, can keep my Advantage at 3.5 mph (checked on the GPS), for as many hours as I can sit paddling.

butthead

Is that with a yak paddle, butthead?

Birch portage to Moose public entry in 2 hrs with light quartering winds. Took two breaks of about 5 minutes each. Coming out tired so consistent with my travel enroute. Black boats are faster.

I did not figure miles, but traveled that day from the site on This Man about a mile from the portage to exit 7:30am to 4:30pm. Double portage and lunch break about 20 minutes. I took time to enjoy knowing the set up can give me some real speed if I need it and I could be at exit before dark. I do not like to travel that much in one day, but had to keep going to meet exit date and not worry folks back home.

I mainly measure my speed by how many groups I pass vs how many groups pass me. If it's mostly the former, then I'm going about the right speed.

quote MNDan: "Is that with a yak paddle, butthead?"

Nope, 10 degree bent carbon paddle.

butthead

I,m new to this, so do tandems or solos generally paddle faster? Rick

quote drrick: "I,m new to this, so do tandems or solos generally paddle faster? Rick"

I try to paddle at the same speed in either boat...although the speed of the boat will vary...lol

quote drrick: "I,m new to this, so do tandems or solos generally paddle faster? Rick"

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. OK, it's very specific and highly variable. Sorry, that sounds smart***, but it's complex - hard to even generalize; it just depends.

Lets say two men in a Min.2 Kevlar carrying a weeks gear verses a single man in a prisim Kevlar with his weeks gear. They are traveling together in fair weather. Who will be out front most of the time with equal effort?? Rick

quote drrick: "Lets say two men in a Min.2 Kevlar carrying a weeks gear verses a single man in a prisim Kevlar with his weeks gear. They are traveling together in fair weather. Who will be out front most of the time with equal effort?? Rick"

The best paddler(s) will.

Hardly a fair comparison with an 18+' tandem compared to a 16' solo but while the Minn 2 would be the faster boat a good paddler in a Prism could outpace two not so good paddlers in the Minn 2. Not enough credit is given to the paddlers, too much focus on hulls (I'm including myself in this generalitly).

Look at marathon canoe racing results. The fastest tandem teams beat the fastest solos (both 18.5' long) but the top solos beat a lot of the tandems.

Alan

I don't know why most paddlers haven't measured their progress with a GPS? This isn't a penis contest, just good info to have. I.E. you know there is a storm coming, you have a mediocre campsite, but so many more miles away is a better site. Can you make the next site before you get beat on?

I can paddle a fast tandem Canadian style around 3.5mph, the Sawyer Autumn Mist I tripped with was a speed demon, I averaged almost 5mph over 4 hours, my current Canak I can paddle at 4mph for as long as I can sit.

I used to plan for an average of 3mph during a trip plan, but now that I am paddling solo's I have bumped it up.
But a tandem canoe will always be faster than a solo, all other things being equal.

Doilligaf0220, some of us do not know we have a GPS or how to use it. I am in that group. I learned upon return from a recent trip my phone has GPS and does not need a tower to operate that system.

Your point that we should know how fast we can go in a situation is well taken. I do know that. Per my earlier post I know how far I can get in a set amount of time, but have never calculated MPH. I do not know how fast that storm might be traveling unless my GPS also has a live weather map app, which my current cell phone does not offer without tower access.

AlanGage is right one with the paddler effect being more than hull alone.

I know I can go fast enough to beat a storm down Moose arriving at the outfitter's dock just as the squall line hit. The staff were enjoying some beers watching the storm come in and helped me pull gear up under the trees and offered one of their beers. If all trips ended like that one...

Back when I was only base camping, knowing what my speed was didn't matter.

Now that I do some longer trips, knowing how fast I can go under many different conditions is a must. On my big trip of last year, I extensively checked on my speed under all kinds of conditions. Good thing I did, because by the time I was paddling the Bering Sea, my life depended on knowing how fast I could cover distance. Some interesting things I learned:

1)Traveling with current(river or tidal): You'd think you could take the speed of the current plus your normal flat-water traveling speed, add them together, and this is how fast you're moving. Wrong. Say the river current going 4 mph and your normal paddling speed is 4 mph, you'd think your combined speed would be 8 mph. Nope more like 7 mph. Paddling through moving water is not the same as still water.

2)Traveling through broadside wind, even if waves are large, really doesn't slow you down. It seems like it does because you're paddling in a more nervous state watching waves coming at ya.

3)Tailwinds will add to your speed, unless waves can form big enough that they start pushing your boat. Under these conditions, your speed decreases. The heavier your boat is loaded, the more pronounced this is.

4)Headwinds really stink, especially when accompanied by large waves. You all already know this. Everytime a big wave stops you in your tracks, you need to restart your momentum again. It takes a lot of energy to get your boat up to speed. Then another wave comes and hits you again. This is nightmarish when you(I) need to travel 35 miles and your(my) boat is loaded heavy.

quote BeaV: "Back when I was only base camping, knowing what my speed was didn't matter.


Now that I do some longer trips, knowing how fast I can go under many different conditions is a must. On my big trip of last year, I extensively checked on my speed under all kinds of conditions. Good thing I did, because by the time I was paddling the Bering Sea, my life depended on knowing how fast I could cover distance. Some interesting things I learned:


1)Traveling with current(river or tidal): You'd think you could take the speed of the current plus your normal flat-water traveling speed, add them together, and this is how fast you're moving. Wrong. Say the river current going 4 mph and your normal paddling speed is 4 mph, you'd think your combined speed would be 8 mph. Nope more like 7 mph. Paddling through moving water is not the same as still water.


2)Traveling through broadside wind, even if waves are large, really doesn't slow you down. It seems like it does because you're paddling in a more nervous state watching waves coming at ya.


3)Tailwinds will add to your speed, unless waves can form big enough that they start pushing your boat. Under these conditions, your speed decreases. The heavier your boat is loaded, the more pronounced this is.


4)Headwinds really stink, especially when accompanied by large waves. You all already know this. Everytime a big wave stops you in your tracks, you need to restart your momentum again. It takes a lot of energy to get your boat up to speed. Then another wave comes and hits you again. This is nightmarish when you(I) need to travel 35 miles and your(my) boat is loaded heavy."

BeaV--very interesting and insightful post. I timed a couple of lengthy (3-6 mile) paddling segments in my solo canoe in northern Questico this summer. Wasn't trying to "race", just steady pace with short breaks to drink water in fully loaded canoe. In calm conditions, averaged about 4mph. In a slight headwind, dropped to about 2.5 mph, with a slight tailwind, went up to about 5.5 mph.

Curious about large tailwinds. I'm sure you've paddled super large waves, but I've never experienced going slower the larger the waves. At that point, I'd probably be swamped. Anyway, I recall years ago literally "surfing" Basswood from Lincoln Island to Prairie Portage in a 16-foot fat Old Towne Camper. I'd been windbound for 2 days already and that morning said I really need to get home. The wind was west at least 25 mph, large whitecaps were everywhere and I was pushed to Inlet Bay (about 6.5 miles) in about 45 minutes....when I beached the canoe at PP, I was unloading and a guy asked how it was on the big water. I told him I was an idiot for paddling that day, just couldn't stay windbound for another day...his response was, "Well, we all have to try it at some point in our lives...." I laughed and got the hiccups....

1.2 mph

quote PineKnot: Curious about large tailwinds. I'm sure you've paddled super large waves, but I've never experienced going slower the larger the waves.

PineKnot, I'm trying to come up with a good answer to explain that phenomena (do I get extra points for sounding really smart?). It was easy for me to observe it because my GPS allowed me an instantaneous speed as well as a time averaged speed. My instantaneous speed would be fast when on the front or crest of the big wave but than would be slow when I fell behind or in-between the wave crests.

Why? Hmmm... the wind itself is what is pushing you in the direction of travel with a tailwind. The wind is also creating the wave which builds in both height(crest) and distance between subsequent waves (period) the longer the distance the wave travels. Picture a Lake Superior wave verses a BWCA lake wave. It seems at some point, the larger wave height and period create more interference to paddling than what the wind itself pushes you.

Not sure if this negative effect can occur on any lakes in the Bdub (even Basswood is really not very long in any direction to allow for wave to reach it's maximum period). What you experienced on your hiccup-producing paddle day on Basswood was all the benefits of the wind without too much wave interference. Oh...and sounds like you experienced a little fear too:)


"Fear is what helps keep us alive when things are going bad, fear sharpens our senses and increases our abilities. Acknowledge and embrace your fear in the moment and there will be time in the future to learn from it. Do not give in to your fear less you become "afraid" thereby ending the possibility of more moments to come."

Quote from BeaV

4.6

quote kanoes: "4.6"

Is that the judges score for my off the cuff quote or your traveling speed?