Canoe general seat positions

[John Michne]

I haven't built a canoe for some time, preferring to concentrate on building Adirondack guideboats. I am therefore a bit rusty on canoe seat placement. The canoe in question is a 16-foot Bob's Special, being built under my direction by a group of student woodworkers of the Northeastern Woodworkers Association. The hull is stripped and glassed on the outside, and we are currently getting the inside ready for glass. Looking ahead, in order to lay out the seat hangers (similar to the Green Valley seat hangers), I need to know where the seats will be placed. I figure the seats should be mounted about 9-1/2 inches above the bilge, as noted in CanoeCraft. But we have no way of knowing the dimensions of the eventual paddlers, so positioning the seats based on center of gravity of the paddlers is impossible. What is a good average distance of the inboard edge of a seat, measured from the ends of the canoe? This measurement will be different for both the bow and stern seat.

John Michne

[Glen Smith]

If you want to do a bit of extrapolation, for the 15 footer, the bow edge of the bow seat is about 32" from the center of the canoe and the stern seat front edge is about 48" to 50" behind the center.

[John Michne]

Thanks, Glen - It's a good starting point.

John

[sedges]

I highly recommend a bow slider for a canoe that might have a lots of different users. I assume, by the timing of your seat question, that you plan to install your seat frames on blocks that are attached to the hull instead of hanging them from the gunwales. This is ideal in the Bob because you can attach a cross rail to the rear blocks at the level of the seat allowing you to still use the bow seat for solo paddling facing the stern.

A bow slider let you get the most out of your canoe no matter who is paddling by allowing good trim. It is especially nice if you have paddlers with a big weight difference. You can move the slider all the way back and put the heavier paddler in the bow with their weight closer to the center of the boat. We have a one hundred pound difference to deal with in our boat(300 and 200) and the canoe is so much more stable with the big person in the bow with the slider pushed all the way back. We also have the stern seat tucked as far back as possible to help get the trim we desire.

[alick burt]

Hi John
You may remember I read your site some time ago when I was making my first canoe and I like your section on glassing.
On my first canoe I found I wanted to change my front seat position (because I had put it too far forward) so I just added these two battens with holes in to allow for adjustment.I have used the canoe since over the past four or five years and have found that I generally adjust my trim by adjusting the position of my kit in the canoe so haven't had to move the seat since.
I figure this would be a good solution if you are unsure of the weights of two paddlers and need adjustability.
Cheers
Alick

[John Michne]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Being able to adjust trim via a slider or different mounting holes are both interesting suggestions.

All the best, and thanks again,
John

[Jim Dodd]

Hi John
I too would like to compliment you on you great website. I've veiwed it several times in the past.

I found a formula, years back. It stated that the front edge of the bow seat should be the same distance from the center of the canoe as the front edge of the stern seat.

I'd mark my front seat to allow comfortable paddling for the bow paddler and adjust the stern seat accordingly. This of course is a general guide line as weight of the paddler and gear may alter this, as well as canoe design.

Putting a thwart behind the bow seat at such a spot so that I can wedge the paddles for portaging in my opinion is almost as important.

Jim