To suit us, not someone else!!!
What's best next if we are drawn by the romance of a craft which is "good enough" for everything from upstream travel and white water to open water crossings and expedition paddling?
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In our imaginations, the open canoe may open onto visions of the Northern Forests of Canada - but “Trad” boating is as British as Lancashire Hotpot or Yorkshire Pudding.
"Trad" is what we get when we revere an intense form of journeying, plus all the associated skills - and if this is what appeals to us, we’re going to be after a quite specific style of canoe.
Advocates of “Trad” may talk of a canoe which does everything, but at the heart of their enterprise we find compromise. The focus of skills is on managing with a craft which is way less than ideal for whatever we might be doing at the time - but which will still be just about ok for doing way-different things at other times!
In the ordinary, everyday world of journeying on rivers and open water we each have to make our own compromises - but which compromises should we prioritise?
NEXT: Going “Trad” on White Water
- as for many “trad” boaters, rivers are a first and enduring love.