Does how you pack a canoe make a large difference on how the canoe performs? What is the correct way to pack a canoe with all your gear. Ie) where should the heavier pack go, where should the heaveist person sit, any other information would be great.
THANKS,
HBN

The main object is to be as trim and level as possible.

If the heaviest person is in the back then the gear needs to be loaded in such a way so the canoe is relatively level so the heaviest packs and gear end up nearest the bow.

If you have to be either bow heavy or bow light I prefer having the canoe a little bow light. The only time I would not is when you are travelling in large cross winds when the bow can catch the cross wind and make it difficult to stay straight.

Instead of thinking about who goes where by weight, make sure the person with the strength is in the bow as this is more the motor and the person with technique is in the stern as this sets the direction and course. With well matched paddlers trade off periodically.

Base you gear loading on who sits where and how the weight is distributed. It is important to be trim to have the canoe handle well and track straight. If at all possible try to have packs ride completely within the canoe-not sticking up above the gunwales. This will also help performance. Just make sure you are not overloading your canoe-make sure you have plenty of freeboard after loading. An overloaded canoe will not handle well or track well and will be dangerous in heavy seas.

That sounds good. Is this an aluminum canoe that sounds like;

f00.middlebury.edu/BI140A/STUDENTS/FishTremble/AluminumCanoe.mp3

Hope it works, I just found the link to it from someone on the CanoeCountry.com board.

I love finding new, cool things!

Loading the canoe correctly does take some time. When loading the canoe for a long paddle it is very important to load it correctly. I have seen over the past 10 years that when we pack the canoe right, it does seem to perform better.

I would say it isn't that hard. Just make sure that when placing a heavy pack on one side of the canoe, that there is something that will be placed parallel with it to balance the weight out. You will know almost right away if your canoe isn't balanced right. If your at a busy portage and don't have time to repack it, and it isnt that bad, we usually just sit closer to the unbalanced side when paddling to balance the weight out some what.

Hope that helps!

the more weight you got in the back the easier it is to steer.....if you have too much eweight in the back you can't go very fast... you wnat to make sure your not front heavy cuz that will really slow you down...so you got to find the right balance between flat and alittle back heavy...