Axe Vale Canoe Club

Open Canoes - >3m  long - Good for the flat water (lakes, estuaries) and sea trips of any length. Long  means fast and straight running. Can be taken down most of the river trips as  well with appropriate buoyancy bags. Can be paddled solo or tandem (generally) and have lots of room for children, dogs, picnics, etc.

For choosing an Open Canoe there is an equally complex choice - ask  Tash or Geoff for advice or try the various club ones for size... As a  club we have most recently bought Mad River Canoes - Legend 15 and  Reflection 15 in Royalex with vinyl gunwales.

Also look at the Open Canoe Association as they have lots of information, films on paddling technique by Bill  Mason, and organize trips (i.e. Bob’s Open Canoe weekend in July). The great Bill Mason canoe stroke videos are linked from here...

Here is a good document on one way to fit out an open  canoe - painters, buoyancy, lacing, kneeling twart -> Open Canoe Outfitting (14MB so it might take a while  to download).

A site found by Tom Kealy for help in repairing cracks  in Canadian Canoes:
 Repairing a Royalex Canoe with G/flex Epoxy. You can get the G/flex from various  places, including: Robbins Timber in  Bristol.

Paddles

Choosing open canoe paddles - Have a look at Grey Owl Paddles site and the Open Canoe Association  discussion forums...

Open Canoe Sailing Rig

Here is an easy method of turning canoes into a  catamaran/trimaran with a simple  sailing rig - all you need is poling poles, a  groundsheet and few pieces of rope.