AUTHOR TO READER.In the little book before you I have tried to state what I would have been glad eight years ago, when canoeing was new to me, to have had some one take the trouble to tell me. The best source of information is practical experience. The experiences of others, however, are useful, even if they but verify the conclusions arrived at from your own. The subject of canoe handling is not treated exhaustively by any means, and perhaps I have not gone into detail enough to greatly interest the canoeist of several years' standing. It is not for him, then, that I write-though I trust that even he may find some points to repay him for the time spent in perusing the book. To you who have but lately taken up the paddle-or perhaps you are but thinking of wielding it - I hope the succeeding chapters will help you to enjoy what has given me great pleasure. The enthusiasm I experienced my first year does not compare with that I now feel, after eight years of canoeing. At first I thought six months covered the entire canoeing season. Now my canoe is never out of commission, and there is not a month of the twelve during which I have neglected to get afloat in the canoe or failed to get enjoyment from such an outing. You cannot learn to sail or paddle by reading. The utmost I can hope for is that what I have here told you will be of some help to you, and in a measure lighten the trouble you will have to bear in learning to handle your craft the first season; yes, and the second, too, perhaps. That you will get some help from what I have here written and profit by it is the wish of THE AUTHOR. NOTE TO SECOND EDITION. Three years more of canoeing have but strengthened my opinions expressed on the subject. The thought of a second edition is always pleasant to an author-more so the reality. In looking over these pages again I find many of them greatly need polishing from the "style" point of view. The bald facts are all here, as many tests have shown. The new ideas that have asserted themselves during these three years, and now need some attention, are touched upon and illustrated in the Appendix. That the little book may continue to be useful to the fraternity is the fond hope of THE AUTHOR. |