Types of Canoes

A canoe is a narrow-shaped boat that usually is pointed at the ends, the bow and the stern. They are normally powered by people using paddles who are seated or kneeling in the canoe and facing in the same direction. From the primitive dugout canoe to the modern inflatable versions, there are several types of canoes and they have been made of various substances over the years.

  1. History

    • The earliest canoes were made of wood, very often being hollowed out from felled or fallen trees. These were called dugout canoes; they are the earliest known canoes found by archaeologists. They were made by removing the bark from the exterior of a suitable log, usually a lightweight wood with good buoyancy. Then the log would be hollowed out by controlled fires and the burnt wood removed. The inside would be smoothed out with tools and the canoe would take shape. American Indians made canoes out of tree barks sewn together with roots and sealed with the pitch from pine trees; they were called birch-bark canoes.

    Size

    • The voyageur canoe was a much larger version of the birch-bark canoe, built to accommodate up to 20 people and carry more than a ton of cargo across lakes and down rivers in the early days of the American fur trade. The wood and canvas canoe came into being in the state of Maine late in the 1800s, with the hull composed of canvas rather than bark with wooden frames. The war canoe was the African rendition of the voyageur canoe, but even larger. They could seat as many as 100 warriors and were up to 80 feet long, made from one huge tree trunk.

    Function

    • Modern canoes tend to be much smaller than the previous models of canoes. The touring canoe is built of light materials and made for lakes while a tripping canoe is designed for rivers and made of heavier materials. Prospector canoes are meant for heavy loads and have more space than regular models. Some canoes are built with a square stern where a motor can be mounted on to propel the boat through the water.

    Effects

    • Some canoes have added features which make them different from others. Racing canoes are much narrower than a normal type of canoe, built to cut through he water with reduced drag. They are long and much more unstable than other canoes since they are so narrow. Inflatable canoes are made from various rubber products and are used for rough rivers. An outrigger canoe has floats attached to give it additional stability and is traditionally used on the ocean.

    Considerations

    • Canoes today are constructed of metals such as aluminum and materials such as fiberglass. Aluminum canoes are the most popular types; fiberglass canoes are made for less cost but they are heavy and not as strong as other types. Kevlar is another material from which canoes are made, producing a canoe that is tough but lightweight.