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Show AUGUST Rewarding Career, Rewarding Lifestyle a E i CHR White Water or Flat Water, Canoes are with Gary Nichols, here are few Fun things that feel as pleasing as piloting a canoe silent- wood. ly through a quiet mountain lake. And there are few things as exciting as maneuvering a canoe down a @ AMTA/COMTAA accredited programs rushing Nationally accredited through ET @ Financial aid available to those who qualify The design dynamics of a canoe, along with the ability to navigate @ 6 month 780 hr. day or 1 year 730 hr. evening program dugout canoes, made by slowly burning out the inside of a tree truck and scraping away the charred REI canoe expert @ Mh £ one, During the 1870s, designers hit upon the cedar strip canoe — using the sleek Indian design but crafting the boat from strips of hardwood for strength. During that period, canoes were as popular as bicycles. But the canoe craze ended rather abruptly in 1904 when Ole Evinrude created his first outboard motor. Canoe factories began producing motor-powered runabouts, almost exclusively. The popularity of the canoe was rekindled in the 1960s with the advent of the aluminum canoe. river. make canoeing a fun activity and one that is easy to get involved in. But what might not meet the eye of the untrained observer, explains Gary Nichols, REI canoe expert, is that there are a number of designs that make a canoe either better for “flat” water — lakes and slow-moying rivers, or “white” moving rivers. VOU Rae ey MASSAGE*THERAPY Call (801) 521-3330 for enrollment information and a 1995 catalogue or stop by our facility. UCMT ® 25 South 300 East Salt Lake City, UT 84111 G E T YOU Poles Clubs Packs Bats Rafts e Tents ¢« Ropes ¢ Balls CALL in the Makes Cents 801-649-8046 SOON September Issue SPACE RESERVATION August 4th time, Nichols says, EXTREME ROCKER iNet DEADLINE the ABS con- = white canoes are lightness. from to , making them easier to -turn. This is known as rocker, UPLIET AT STEMS ets bow, et "Glin 4 —— a [The \ \ popular ) lines Town ai River. carried Nichols explains. The rocker of STRAMGHT KELL-LINE i Sei Sa 1 canoe Can from moderate pacciee Vary rocker =e is designed to be maneuverable on both flat and white water. But the moderate rocker won't be as good in white water as a canoe with extreme rocker or quite as effortless on flat water as one with a straight keel line. The first canoes were designed and crafted by Native Americans of the Great Lakes region perhaps centuries before European settlers arrived on the continent. The lightweight birchbark canoe was a masterful feat of boat design and craftsmanship. Although European trappers and explorers adopted the birchbark canoe, by the 1850s white settlers began building heavy but durable PAGE minum canoes were joined yielding a keel at the seam. From that time, until just recent- ly, wood and fiberglass canoes were designed with keels. Modern canoes have abandoned the keel for other design elements in the bow, stern and bottom surface that keep the boat on track but allow it to be turned more easily, Nichols explained. Most of today’s canoes are made of plastics, like Kevlar, ABS — plastic with a vinyl skin and foam core, or a polyethylene sandwich with a foam core. A Keylar construction, known for light weight and strength, will add $500-to-$1,000 to the price of a 12 two most canoe are and Old Mad Both are by REI. For the beginner, Nichols renting several a canoe times to suggests determine which boat is right for to extreme. moderate Nichols A boat pays for noted. owner the other A canoe with « Canoes Advertising that to lbs lighter than the polyethylene curved ¢ Racquets Before canoes didn’t have actual keels — a protrusion running the length of the craft. But the two halves of the alu- compared ABS, patented and marketed under the name Royalex, is about $200-to-$300° more than the same canoe made of the polyethylene sandwich construction. While the Kevlar canoe may be 20 lbs lighter than the ABS canoe, the ABS, in turn, is about 15 canoe, water ¢ Paddles Bikes fast canoe struction. notes. hand, SELL — Gary Nichols the canoe on course, Nichols stern IF water Canoes with a straight keel-line (see illustration) are designed to track well through flat water. The flat keel-line makes for a minimum of effort to keep On INTO IT 1995 you. The retail price of canoes from $500 to $2,500. range Most people can learn to handle a canoe proficiently by reading and watching instruction videos. For those who want to learn more quickly, the University of Utah offers canoe classes through its Division of Continuing Education. Nichols warns beginners not to take canoes in white water without first practicing in flat water, followed by more practice in moderately-flowing rivers. “White water is a poor place to learn. The biggest reason for accidents is doing something that’s too hard when you're not ready for it,” he says. @ |