Canoe Games

It happens. Nature is beautiful. The Wild is daunting. But there are times, that frankly, it's starting to get dull.

Over the years I've invented 4 games to play when things are slow.

Taps.

Taps was invented to keep long lakes from being a game of bumper cars. (Can you tell that most of my canoeing has been with teenage males…) In Taps, the goal is to tap the other canoe's bow or stern plate. No touchbacks until

you've done 3 strokes. Of course sometimes this turns into duelling with paddles, as you try to prevent the stroke from counting coup, whilst trying to penetrate to score yourself.

Banks and Shoals.

I invented this while going up the Mirror River, a placid stream with the mind of a snake. The river at this point was about 30 feet wide and had corners about every 60 feet. There was just enough current that a sharp bend produced a sandbar on the inside tip, while milder bends only had a shallow area, or nothing at all.

In Banks and Shoals you cannot touch the other canoe with any part of your canoe ahead of the bowman's knees.

The object is to conduct your course so to force the opponent to either: Weigh up and let you go by; run aground on the bank or run up on a shoal; crash into you with his bow. (Seriously frowned upon.)

On a straight river it's pretty much a race, as if you lap him by half a length, you can force him toward the bank. On winding rivers it's more difficult. The jet of current on the corner, the sandbar, the change from being on the inner, shorter side, versus outer longer side, all play a role. It quickly turns to accurately reading the river, and positioning your canoe to take advantage of the situation around the bend.

When I described this game to Tyler Williamson he responded. "Sounds simple enough. Let's go." A half hour later, I'd forced him into the bank 4 times. He said, "There's a lot more strategy to this than I thought"

Rocks.

Rocks was invented on the Fond du Lac river, and then developed on the Clearwater in Alberta. Rocks is played on long quiet bounder gardens. It's the only game that doesn't require an opponent, but can be enjoyed by yourself.

In Rocks the goal is to come close enough to tap the rock with your paddle. One point each for bowman and steersman, 3 points if they both hit the rock. BUT
If the canoe hits a rock, even a scuff, your score for that rapid goes back to zero. Rocks requires a certain degree of integrity if you are playing competitively.

Dare.

Dare should not be played with more than 4 canoes. The chances for collision get pretty severe as the number of boats increases.

In Dare, a canoe crew will issue a challenge. "Between the two rocks" "You mean the dry pink one, and that flat one covered in seagull crap? "Yeah"

After each Dare, the sequence is reordered. The new order depends on whether the canoe made it or not. Of the canoes that make it, the first becomes the last, and the second takes over as lead and issues the next dare. Any canoes that don't make it, go to the back of the whole line.

So in this case, played with 4 canoes, it's likely an easy challenge, everyone makes it, so ABCD becomes BCDA. B however has a wild hair, and issues a sterner challenge. "Between the two pink rocks. Upstream back ferry." He makes and D makes it. C and A both lose their angle. So now the order is DB AC

Do NOT play Rocks and Dare at the same time.

You have been warned.

 

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What games do you play on the long boring streches?  send me email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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