PE 1508 Flatwater
Canoeing
Instructor: Tom Beery
Fall 2003, 1 credit
MW: 12-1:50 pm, Sept 3- October 22
Office hours: By app=t
235
Engineering
726-7333
?The movement of a canoe is like a reed in the
wind. Silence is part of it, and
the sounds of lapping water, bird songs, and wind in the trees. It is part of the medium through which
it floats, the sky, the water, the
shores.@
(Sig Olson, (1956)., The Singing Wilderness. p
77)
GOAL
The goal of this course is
to teach you the basics of flatwater canoeing
skills. This includes an effort to
impress upon you the pleasures of paddling a boat under your own power and
direction.
OBJECTIVES
Text
One of the best texts is
Bill Mason=s book listed below. However, this text is no longer
in print. In lieu of purchasing the
Bill Mason text, the text is located in the reserve reading section of the
Library. The bookstore provides the
Slim Ray text; you are required to read the assigned sections out of these
texts. Other readings will be made available on the course website.
Mason, Bill (1984). The path of the paddle 2nd
edition. New York: Van Nostrand
Reinhold.
Ray, Slim (1992). The canoe handbook, Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books.
Note: Do your readings prior
to and in correspondence with the weekly class subjects.
SCHEDULE
Sept. 3:
Introduction; Hypothermia; Clothing; Canoe types
Readings
Website: Canoe charts,
Princeton Outdoor Action Hypothermia Guide, Bill Mason canoe guide, All About Canoes—canoe types
Sept 8:
MEET AT POOL - ready to swim at 12pm
Canoe terminology & design; Safety—swim test; Canoe stability; Canoe
rescues—self rescue
Readings Ray: Chapters 2 & 9
Website: Canoe charts, canoe
rescue diagrams
Sept 10:
MEET AT POOL - ready to swim at 12pm
Safety—Canoe T rescue; Strokes—braces
Sept 15:
MEET AT THE HARBOR AQUATIC CENTER—READY TO GO AT
12pm
Lifts (1 & 2 person); Canoe teamwork; Strokes—forward, draw,
sweep
Readings Website: Flatwater (The Complete
Wilderness Paddler)
Sept. 17:
Strokes—pry, J, reverse stokes (back and sweep)
Readings
Ray: Chap. 3 & 4
Sept. 22:
Strokes—C, duffek, cross strokes (cross draw
& cross duffek), sculling
draw
Sept. 24:
Practice strokes on the harbor
Sept 29:
Hearding Island
Expedition!
Oct. 1:
Solo paddling workshop; Loading a canoe for wilderness travel
Oct. 6:
Moving water—How to read moving water, rapid classification, river
fundamentals, Bill Mason Film
Canoe navigation
Readings Ray: Chap. 5
Website: Canoe
navigation
Oct. 8:
Skills review
October 13: Skills review
October 15: Practical
Exam
October 20: Review
October 22: Final Written
Exam
GRADING
Practical progress = 70
points
A = 92%
Practical exam = 100 points
B = 82%
Written exam = 50
points
C = 72%
Attendance is
mandatory. Because this course is
condensed, missing even one class is equivalent to missing an entire week of
material.
PREPARATION FOR
CLASS
It is essential for your
learning and enjoyment of this course that you come to class prepared for the
weather. We will be going outside
regardless of the conditions.
Therefore, you must be properly dressed. Also, please be ready to go at the
class site at 12 pm
so that we can move right into our lesson for the day. Please anticipate traffic
(both automobile and boat) in getting to the Aquatic Center. It is imperative that you are timely in
being ready to begin class at 12pm!
A man is part of his
canoe and therefore part of all it knows.
The instant he dips a paddle, he flows as it flows, the canoe yielding to
his slightest touch, responsive to his every whim and thought. The paddle is an extension of his arm,
as his arm is part of his body.
...there, too, is a sense of harmony and oneness with the earth. But to the canoeman there is nothing that compares with the joy he
knows when a paddle is in his hand.
(Sig Olson, (1956)., The Singing Wilderness. pp.
77-78)