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Sailing Kayaks &
Canoes
The History of Sailing
Canoes
by
Graham
Russell |
The luminary in the world of canoe sailing,
who more or less founded the sport was a
certain Mr John MacGregor, who with a 15 foot canoe, dressed
in a grey flannel suit, set out from Britain, on various journies, one across France and Germany and another into
the Middle East, including down the Nile.
He wrote books of his adventures and also numerous articles for
magazines.
He graduated in law from Trinity College Cambridge, earned himself an
M.A. and practised as a barrister at the Temple in London. It was
there that he formed the Royal Canoe Club, which he captained.
A committed Christian, he didn't travel on the Sabbath and gave much of
his profits to charities, particularly those which aided boys in the inner
cities. I think it's better to let him speak for himself:
From:
A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe
on
Rivers and Lakes of Europe
By J. MacGregor (1825-1892), 1866,
1892
The Rob Roy Canoe was built of oak, with a deck
of cedar. She was made
just short enough to go into the German railway
waggons; that is to say,
fifteen feet in length, twenty-eight inches
broad, nine inches wide, and
weighed eighty pounds. My baggage for
three months was in a black bag
one foot square and six inches deep. A
paddle seven feet long, with a
blade at each end, and a lug sail and
jib, were the means of propulsion;
and a pretty blue silk Union Jack
was the only ornament.
My clothes for this tour consisted
of a complete suit of grey flannel
for use in the boat, and another
suit of light but ordinary dress for
shore work and Sundays.
The Earl of Aberdeen was afterwards drowned in a sailing
vessel. His
brother, the late Hon. James Gordon, was an expert
canoeist, and the
first to cross the British Channel in a Rob Roy. The
present Earl is
also a member of the Club, and so was the late Prince
Imperial of
France, who had four canoes. The Prince of Wales is our
Commodore.
CANOE CRUISING AND CAMPING
by Perry D
Frazer
A canoe, when fitted with air tanks, watertight
bulkheads, deck, sails
and rudder, is really a small yacht. One may
live aboard, cook his meals
on a tiny alcohol stove without landing,
and, if necessary, sleep aboard
while afloat. Everything needed for a
cruise of a day or a month may be
stowed under the deck, and the
skipper need depend on no person for a
meal or a place to sleep at
night.
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