I love the simplicity of my canoes. No moving parts. Light and easy to handle. Makes you appreciate simplicity.

Not to complain, but we have had one thing after another breaking down lately. After my son's graduation party tomorrow, I will be doing some extra paddling.

Canoe, paddle, PFD, simple, peaceful. See you out there.

Agree with your thinking! No hassle and no smelly noisy engine to break down! Marc

Well..my canoe paddler has gotten smellier and noisier with age...and it's getting a little slower to start!

Bob

I'm with you 100%. However, the "motor" can be a little slow to go after a hard day.

I have a cell phone. It makes calls, takes calls, and stores names, numbers, and addresses. No Siri, no Apps. So when I am driving intercity I have maps. I was in Cleveland visiting my sister and was leaving to go the Wash,DC. My sister started laughing when I pulled my map book out of the glove box because it was a paper map.

I just told her I have never had a paper map die on me.

Yep, Tracfone here. It's a phone. Simple

That's why I keep coming back to take BW/Q trips. The simplicity of it all. My only electronic device I take in is a depth finder. Besides that and lighter technology things are the same as when I started in 1983.

As for the canoe, it's the quietness. When I hear motors on a lake it's not wilderness. It's total stealth in a canoe.

Great thread content, and I love the title! Could not agree more; I wish I could "drive" my canoe to work each day.

Stealth, quiet, peaceful, calm, smooth running engine except for that occasional mosquito that makes it idle rough , the stillness in the air, there are so many reasons to love God's Great Outdoors via a canoe and a paddle ! !

Canoes and boats. Both serve a purpose. My little 15 hp evinrude starts all the time and runs great. Just cause you can hear a motor doesn't mean your not in the wilderness. I've done both and love both.

quote yogi59weedr: "Canoes and boats. Both serve a purpose. My little 15 hp evinrude starts all the time and runs great. Just cause you can hear a motor doesn't mean your not in the wilderness. I've done both and love both."

I totally agree, my 20 horse Johnson , 15 hp mariner, as well as my Honda rancher, and Honda big red Atv's all get me out into the great outdoors to enjoy it! Whether it's by horsepower or manpower enjoy it! Whether it's by straight paddle or bent paddle or propeller, boots or tires, skis, snowshoes, or snowmobile. There will always be different strokes for different folks, just get out there and enjoy God's Great Outdoors! If your budget will allow it, get out there and do it!
I've lived in N.E. Minnesota my whole life, didn't go on an overnight canoe trip till last year, I'm 36. Definitely will be going again!

A canoe is just about the most perfect means of travel mankind every invented. Taken me to many a magical place.

I always got a kick out of the guys at work who have motor boats of some type and size. Every weekend in the summer they would go out and come back with some type of problem with it that was going to cost $$$-$$$$. Meanwhile I would not have any problems with my canoe. I always told them a boat was just a hole in the water you throw money into.

I have no issue with motor boats, chain saws, lawn mowers, 4-wheelers, use them all.

I just had a string of issues with things breaking down: truck, car, wash machine, septic pump, central air, car tires, ...

Just had the thought "My canoes always start and run great"

I do love the simplicity on my canoe too.

However the big boat has it's place too and it does cost a lot more $$$ to play in the big boat. Doing some work on boat now and have already dumped 2K in it and I ain't done yet. Ouch!!

There's nothing like a good running, finely tuned motor. I feel it every time I get my Suburban, my parent's Sprinter van, or Grandpa's Buick LeSabre up past 60. Sheer joy. As far as boats are concerned the reliable 7 horse Evinrude on the fishing boat is pretty sweet too.

But I do love canoeing. I love the simplicity and flexibility of paddling.

I actually spend more time per year maintaining my canoes than I do my outboards, oil changes, gear lube changes and trailer wheel greasing stake very little time. Lovingly sanding and applying watco to my Magic takes a bit of time, it's almond so I tape off to make sure no finish stains it or that I accidentally skuff it with the steel wool. The modern 4 strokes with EFI sure has changed outboards, at least for me.

Boat= Break out another thousand

One time, almost 50 years ago now, I glided around a point into a little bay on That Man Lake in Quetico and silently drifted past a wolf sitting near the shore line........That would never have happened in a motor boat.

Many times I have sat quietly in my canoe on one of our local rivers, resting against a downed tree as I patiently wait for a fat catfish to fall victim to my stinkbait offering and have had deer come down to the river bank for a drink and not even notice me sitting there.......Not likely to happen in a motor boat.

A motor boat is a wonderful way to travel when you need to quickly get from one place to another. But you miss a lot along the way. With a canoe, you can actually notice, feel, see and smell your journey. You notice the little things. You become part of the natural world around you and not just passing through.

Well said awbrown.

"There is magic in the feel of a paddle and the movement of a canoe, a magic compounded of distance, adventure, solitude, and peace. The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness and of a freedom almost forgotten. It is an antidote to insecurity, the open door to waterways of ages past and a way of life with profound and abiding satisfactions. When a man is part of his canoe, he is part of all that canoes have ever known. - Sigurd F. Olson, The Singing Wilderness

"Not so, a power boat" -Obiwenonahkenobi

quote awbrown: "One time, almost 50 years ago now, I glided around a point into a little bay on That Man Lake in Quetico and silently drifted past a wolf sitting near the shore line........That would never have happened in a motor boat.


Many times I have sat quietly in my canoe on one of our local rivers, resting against a downed tree as I patiently wait for a fat catfish to fall victim to my stinkbait offering and have had deer come down to the river bank for a drink and not even notice me sitting there.......Not likely to happen in a motor boat.


A motor boat is a wonderful way to travel when you need to quickly get from one place to another. But you miss a lot along the way. With a canoe, you can actually notice, feel, see and smell your journey. You notice the little things. You become part of the natural world around you and not just passing through."

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