Adventure Canoeing

My first experience of a multi day canoe trip was our 2350 mile navigation of the Mississippi River in the summer of 2007.  I'd been canoeing for approximately 12 months.  Our club had been trying to arrange a trip to paddle the Caledonian Canal in Scotland which is approximately 60 miles.  We appraoached the organisation who manages the canal.  As soon as I mentioned that a few people in our party had disabilities the safety officer started piling out every excuse in the book to keep us off it.  On 'safety' grounds of course!!

It was this sort of attitude, along with a desire for adventure and challenge, that led me to dream up an unsupported navigation of the Mississippi.  Insprired by Don Starkell' s "Paddle to the Amazon" book I roped in 2 good mates and we started planning.

We chose a Wenonah Seneca 3-man canoe.  It worked out perfectly.  Low seats, a super-light hull, stability and the ability to carry a 1000lbs of weight, including 2 months of medical supplies and my wheelchair.

Adaptive Va'a (Outrigger Canoeing)

My first introduction to a canoe as a disabled person was a V6 Hawaiian Outrigger.  Hawaiian canoes are pretty useful for adaptive paddlers because of the shape and stability.  I progressed from 6 man outriggers to Canadian canoes.  

In 2008 I had my first experience of paddling a V1.  The V1 (one man Va'a) is now the canoe which has been accepted as the Paralympic discipline for adaptive canoeing in the 2016 Paralympics.  At the moment the race is looking like it will be a 200M sprint event.

The drawback with many types of adaptive canoeing is fitting a support seat and getting the canoe fitted for optimum performance.  Here's a picture of me (blue top) paddling a Tiger Tevanui V1.  I'm sitting in an Aquaback support seat and have an elasticated waist band which stops me from falling forward.  In the event of capsize the waist band is velcro fastened, so I can remove it quickly to exit the canoe.