I work in North Bay. I live in Ottawa. Usually, the queen rents me a car to commute, but I’m thinking of trying it by canoe.
What I want to know is, how fast can I expect to travel?
A general idea of cross-country canoe speeds would be helpful, but I’m having trouble finding much. I’ve found a lot of sites that describe trips that are very leisurely, with fishing and camping and gawking at things on the way. About the best I’ve got so far is this page, where they report averaging a little over 10 km/h for the last part of the trip where they were less lolligaggy. I also have second-hand anecdotal testimony that you can get from Montreal to Chapleau in 9 days with three guys in one canoe (that’s 1100 km by road). Here are some details of the proposed mission:
The route: a short distance along the Rideau Canal from my school to the Ottawa river; Ottawa river to Mattawa; Mattawa river to Trout Lake in North Bay. It’s almost entirely upstream, and there are some big dams and rapids to be portaged around.
It would likely either be between 1 April and 15 June, or 25 August and 4 November. (Clearly, the farther from winter the better.) Probably a single canoe with two crew. I’d like to do it in four days, if I can.
So, how about it? How fast can you go cross-country by canoe?
10kph is near sprint speed for a canoe in the absence of a good following current. 5kph is not a bad sustained average speed on flat water. Portages will slow you down, in some cases significantly.
Yeah… hmm. A four-day trip at ten hours a day works out to 10 km/h, average. I’d really like this to be feasible, but maybe it’s not. Considering it’s all upstream, should I expect slower than 5 km/h? At 3 km/h, it would take about two weeks each way.
Wait, are you sure it would take that long? I mean, Mattawa is about the three-quarters mark, and this site suggests a shorter transit time is possible.
In my experience, travelling in a loaded canoe on flat water roughly corresponds to walking speeds. Leisurely paddling should get you about 3/mph whereas really working it can easily double your speed. Sorry I don’t know the km conversions.
There are so many variables involved: you say upstream, but how fast is the current? Unless it’s a “lazy” river, it sounds like it might be a miserable paddel. How many portages and how long are they? You can do a quarter-mile portage in half an hour, but a five mile portage can take the better part of a day.
I’m intrigued by this idea. I hope you make this trip and report about it here. Wouldn’t it be easier to canoe home?
Btw, North Bay is about 40 miles south of lake Wakimika.
Agreed, there are many variables, and in fact, I don’t know the whole river well. The route is entirely in water; the only portages are to get around rapids and dams. Trout Lake flows right into the Mattawa flows right into the Ottawa. That said, there could still be significant portaging because of the rapids and dams.
I’d really like to do it. In fact, since I don’t have any way to transport the canoe else than paddling it, it would be a two-way trip. Coming back would be much easier. Especially because I wouldn’t be at risk of being late for work on Saturday morning.
Yeah, YWalker, they probably are swifter. Can I carry food and provisions for the trip in one, though?
Pictures here suggest they’re not as useful as an open-hulled canoe.
A good suggestion, though. Mind you, I have only very limited experience with kayaks, but am pretty comfortable with canoes. And canoes are a little easier to find around here.
I’d still go with the kayak option if I can bring with me what I need. Good idea.
I do some river canoeing carrying food and gear. This is in the Ozarks, where portaging is rarely needed. I always figured 2 mph as a paddling speed that could be sustained over a day’s time without undue effort. We always go downstream, so the current’s speed can be added to that.
3 mph is not an unreasonable paddling speed, but…keeping it up for most of a day could be arduous. Going upstream, the current speed would be subtracted from the paddling speed. A headwind, or strong sidewind, can be devastating to forward progress.
If you do find descriptions of speed, such as 10 km/h mentioned in the OP, you really need to determine whether that’s paddling speed or total speed with the current. It can make a significant difference.
“Big Joe Mufferaw
paddled up the Ottawa
all the way to Mattawa
in just one daaay”
Canadian recording artist Stompin Tom Conners singing about the Ottawa Valley version of Paul Bunyon
I lived in that region for quite a few years, done a lot of canoeing, never canoed that route but my opinion…
You’re going to be going upstream against the current on a very big strong river with a powerful current. You’re right, there are several portages because of dams, and I think there’s huge rapids and whitewater in the Pembroke/Portage du Fort vicinity.
Your route bears northwest, into the prevailing winds.
conclusion - prepare yourself for a major struggle, a grueling epic, a frustrating constant struggle against the forces of nature. Along the way, you’re going to have to source potable water, I wouldn’t brush my teeth in the Ottawa river. If you were doing it the other direction it would be a completely different story.
final comment-a major struggle, a grueling epic like this is good for you, you’ll be lean and hard when it’s over, but just don’t go into it without an appreciation of how tough it’s going to be. There will be times when you will swear at your mother that you were born (an old Ottawa Valley expression).
