Why canoes don’t need motors

Rich    kayakingholidays     Canoe, canoeing, Kayak, Kayaking, kayaking holidays

My girlfriend Amber and I spent a Sunday a couple of weekends ago on the river Dart in Devon, with a friend (and customer) and his cheating brother…

Amber, and man with a motor

We set out from Dittisham near Dartmouth, with its reasonable parking and easy access to the water (when the tide is right – and even when it’s not, it’s  a 200m walk at the most) and I introduced Paul and his wife Coleen to their new boat. As this was straight from production and Paul’s first time in a canoe, I took it for a little spin with him so that he could get used to it.

Well, the test went swimmingly (thankfully,with no swimming). And after Paul’s brother Stephen turned up and unloaded his canoe (with a motor ,WTF?!?!) it was time for Coleen to join Paul on the water for her first trip in the canoe.  Sadly, just three meters after pushing off from the shore they turned it over, giving them both a good soaking and covering them in mud!

Still, after a quick wringing out of clothes, a shower for Paul and resetting the boat the right way up, we all set off upriver towards Totnes – and it soon became clear that for Stephen, a canoe with a chuffin motor on it adds a lot of drag and weight when you’re out for a paddle, and so he had to use it just to catch up!

New canoe

After a quick paddle of about two hours against the tide to see the oyster fisheries, we turned downriver, going with the flow of the tide to get to the Ferry Boat Inn. After circumnavigating one of the many huge sand bars in the river, we pulled up on the foreshore to the pub and had lunch.

From here, we all decided to have a swap round in the boats – I’d been hearing shouts all the way down the river of “What you paddling for ?” and “We’re going the wrong way!” Clearly it was time to restore the harmony  between Paul and Coleen – they’ll soon get the hang of it!

So, after the change we continued downriver towards Dartmouth and within a mile we were round past anchor rock, and into a nice, quiet stretch of river where we gained another member of our trip.

Sammy, no motor

I was upfront and heard a shout of “bloody hell there’s something big and black under my boat!” And a few moments later a seal surfaced and began following us as we made our way down the Dart, where we beached before the Naval Academy. Sammy seal rested just off the beach near us, and we had another swap around before starting our return to Dittisham on the turning tide.

A nice, chilled out, short paddle with friends to while away a Sunday afternoon  - and a reminder of the perils of putting a motor in a canoe!

About the author

Richie Bracey wrote 5 articles on this blog.

Hi I build wooden kayaks, canoes and small boats, near Plymouth in Devon. These are custom made to your specification and my own designs. I also build kits for people and boats from plans (either bought or your own). I also make Greenland style and wooden paddles.

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