keep water out of the boat even when the
pilot needs to manually roll the kayak back up.
Those kayaks are designed with the ability to be
flipped back up by the pilot if the vessel were
to tip over. “You could run into trouble in a large
cockpit though, you know, but people can run
into trouble doing anything,” Carpenter said.
For example, if a person were to put their head
inside the kayak to search for something they
packed inside and it flips in the water, they could
drown, Carpenter said.
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When it comes to entering the craft, each has
an area where they excel over the other. Getting
into a canoe in the water is easier than doing
so for a kayak because the canoe is more stable.
However, unlike a canoe where the boater sits
high off the waterline, a kayak can be boarded
on a beach and then pushed by the pilot out
onto the water. Most canoes dragged across
the ground would be damaged, Carpenter
explained.
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Technique certainly plays a role in the preferred
vessel. “It’s a matter of technique as to which
one is better,” Carpenter said. The kayak is easier
to paddle because it has a double paddle with
one for either side of the boat. A canoe can’t use
tha t paddle because once again, the pilot is too
high off the water to get the proper leverage
when paddling, Carpenter said.
While he said he prefers the kayak because
his legs are stretched out, the question of
which boat is more comfortable is a matter of
preference. When it comes to preferences on
bodies of water to float on, Carpenter said he
prefers the rivers. “I think these were made for
rivers,” Carpenter said of both canoes and kayaks.
In the Little Falls area, there is a 30-mile stretch
between dams. “People can float for two days
and not have to worry about a dam,” Carpenter
said.
In the end, paddling the rivers of Minnesota
by kayak or canoe will provide a world of
adventure and an experience worth living.
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