Book Review
Paddle Your Own Canoe by McGuffin, Gary & Joanie.1999, Boston Mills Press (Ontario). 208 pp. $29.99
by Rich Furman

Have you ever wondered why steering strokes are so effective from the stern, but not from the bow? How you can maneuver more easily by exploiting the lean of your craft? How you can paddle with your whole body, not just your arms? Well, Paddle Your Own Canoe by Gary and Joanie McGuffin explains all this and more.

Starting out with a discussion of the joys of canoe travel, the book leads the reader through every important technique from how to launch a canoe to how to perform a tandem open canoe roll, making the book suitable for paddlers of all levels of experience. Plenty of detail is given not just to what to do, but also to why it works. This is accomplished by discussing Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion early on in the book and using them as a framework for discussing the hydrodynamics of the canoe and the paddle-strokes one takes in it. But do not imagine that the book is heavily theoretical—practically every page shows step by step instructions on how to effect various strokes, maneuvers and techniques essential to both lake and river paddling. They even discuss Yoga as a technique for stretching muscles and improving balance.

This book’s emphasis is on the Canadian-style paddling made popular by Bill Mason. But where Mason places most of his emphasis on the way the "path of the paddle" influences the movement of the canoe, the McGuffins approach canoe motion from the canoe itself. The result is that, while Mason tells you that leaning a canoe is a good idea, the McGuffins tell you when to lean it, which way to lean it, and why you are leaning it. Their emphasis is on the way the "path of the canoe" is influenced by the combination of paddle placement, body mechanics, and lean.

The book comprises 208 glossy pages full of easy-to-read text and stunning photography. The photography alone is worth mentioning because every photograph is a thing of beauty, even those illustrating technique. Reading the book and looking at the pictures, it becomes enormously clear that the McGuffins had an absolutely glorious time assembling the materials and preparing the book. This high level of production quality does come at a price though—the book sells for $29.95. But I would call it a must-have.