best canoe stroke tutorial I have seen, I'm 72, ...I saw beautiful descriptions of strokes that I thought were just my own, developed ion years of my white water, lake and ocean canoing
Some things come naturally to people and some just make sense. Bill is good at making the difficult seem natural. Ocean canoeing? Wow, that must be a wild ride! Thanks for watching.
My parents got a canoe for us in the mid 90s along with this video when I was a boy. We watched this before going out and in between our first trips on the old local river. I learned so much and continue to learn more as I rewatch it. Thank you Jason brown for posting so I don’t have to dig out the old VHS player.
Far out! We used to poke fun at Bill Mason’s short shorts as kids. But boy does he earn them with his skills! Very cool you shared the same experience. Maybe one day I’ll find myself in that same river this was filmed at. Unfortunately, where we were the river was quite old, so it was never nearly as exciting or beautiful as what’s shown in this film. Staggering to think how much work it was to film and put together. Love the music too.
I've been watching hours and hours of different canoe videos just trying to learn how to do the J stroke. In less than 10 minutes this video has taught me so much. I wish this was the first video I had watched.
@@yankee2yankee216 Not so. He got into it, and was recognized, and realized he was low on knowledge, so joined a canoe club, and used his profile to get the message out, for which we are all grateful. But there is so much more to it, and his approach is well rooted in the past. Some of the stuff he exemplified is basically unsafe. It comes, perhaps from the prospecting side of things that was reflected in his chosen canoe. Basically you have a huge sail of a canoe, because you are carrying massive amounts of freight. But all that healing a big canoe with high ends, that will get you killed in the middle of a big cold lake. And having been on several recoveries dating back to the early 70s, you have to be a little less adoring in ideas, and search out the techniques that actually work. When the Path of the Paddle came out, there were multiple other paddling schools, like the one that grew up around marathon canoeing, or freestyle, or hard core white water, and they all have techniques to be learned. If you live in the north, in Ontario as an example, the two things you need to know about are cold and wind. And also be aware of how long after drowning you can resuscitate a person who drowns in cold water. Another good idea is to know when to use a canoe, and when to use a kayak. Hero worship can get you killed.
This WAS the first video I watched, on VHS, in 1992 . . . now I'm using it to teach my Trailmen canoe skills so they can train for wilderness canoeing.
@@HondoTrailside Can you explain some more about the type of canoe he chose and why it would be unsafe for big lakes? Is it the rocker bend that would make it hard to keep straight on a lake in windy conditions or something else?
By watching and rewatching and studying his videos, Bill Mason became the mentor i never knew, and helped me appreciate the art of canoe handling, enjoy it more completely. The canoe is simply more elegant on flat water, and more of a challenge in whitewater than kayaking, which is in total its greater appeal. Thanks for posting these....
i just picked up a cedar strip and canvas canoe, and i watched this film to brush up on my technique. but it has also empowered me to cut a pair of jeans into shorts and match them with a cravat. thank you nfb!
Great film! I was already convinced I needed a canoe when I got here but, I wasn't prepared for the intense craving for Gordon Lightfoot it left me with.
I've been going up LSPP for the past 6 years and always heard about bills name but never dived into his documentaries. It's amazing to see the exact same landscape untouched from his film in the 80s. A very inspiring individual who cares just as much as I do about a certain place. A place stuck in the heart forever.
Greetings from Ireland, This is a Lovely Video, Bought an Old Town Canadian Canoe a couple of years back and did not know there was so many strokes. Gonna try those out soon!
19:20 I learned this the hard way my first day out on my new canoe. Wicked winds, I stumbled around every which way till I finally ended up facing backwards and I could make headway again and got to shore.
Something tells me that an ice-cold Hamm’s and some Marshall Tucker Band on the 8-track were often the rewards at the end of a day’s shooting during this project ...
He did a lot of his films/canoeing around the North Shore of Lake Superior. It’s a really beautiful place. When the winds pick up it’s not recommended to canoe due to the cold water and huge waves. There is some really impressive footage in the waterwalker film of him canoeing on a windy day on the lake.
@@jamiepeirce526 I'm from Toronto. Algonquin Park is what I call "north." North of Lake Superior is VERY North. Imagine how untouched that wilderness was in the 1970s.
I appreciate you sharing. I agree theirs is better. I’m sure they had better equipment for transferring to digital. Not much competition. Thanks for watching and thanks for supporting the NFB!
“When young, we mourn for one woman... as we grow old, for women in general. The tragedy of life is that man is never free yet strives for what he can never be. The thing most feared in secret always happens. My life, my loves, where are they now? But the more the pain grows, the more this instinct for life somehow asserts itself. The necessary beauty in life is in giving yourself to it completely. Only later will it clarify itself and become coherent.”
best canoe stroke tutorial I have seen, I'm 72, ...I saw beautiful descriptions of strokes that I thought were just my own, developed ion years of my white water, lake and ocean canoing
Some things come naturally to people and some just make sense. Bill is good at making the difficult seem natural.
Ocean canoeing? Wow, that must be a wild ride! Thanks for watching.
Me too! I invented the Pitch stroke on a long trip years ago-- I had no idea it had a name!
My parents got a canoe for us in the mid 90s along with this video when I was a boy. We watched this before going out and in between our first trips on the old local river. I learned so much and continue to learn more as I rewatch it. Thank you Jason brown for posting so I don’t have to dig out the old VHS player.
That is fantastic! Same here. My parents bought the tape before a big trip and sat us kids down to watch. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Far out! We used to poke fun at Bill Mason’s short shorts as kids. But boy does he earn them with his skills! Very cool you shared the same experience. Maybe one day I’ll find myself in that same river this was filmed at. Unfortunately, where we were the river was quite old, so it was never nearly as exciting or beautiful as what’s shown in this film.
Staggering to think how much work it was to film and put together. Love the music too.
As a beginner this film was a great help understanding the paddle strokes , also a lovely film showing your spectacular country 👌 thanks again Glyn 🇬🇧
Thanks for watching!
Bill Masons books and films were and still are my favorites! I have read it like a bible to learn paddling. Regards from Germany!
Glad to hear it. Thanks for watching.
This film is a ballet on water . Shows what’s possible on a canoe . Fantastic !
Agreed. True artist. Thanks for watching!
Saved and viewed over and over...so beautiful. I have a decades old Path of the Paddle book in my office...what a gift he gave us all.
I’m glad you liked it. Thanks for watching. Happy paddling!
Just picked up my first canoe and have been binge watching canoe videos. This was was so informative and entertaining. Thanks for posting!
That’s spectacular! I am so glad you got something from this. Thanks for watching!
I'm in the exact same boat, no pun intended!
This is the finest thing ever committed to film.
Ha! It’s a classic. Thanks for watching!
I've been watching hours and hours of different canoe videos just trying to learn how to do the J stroke. In less than 10 minutes this video has taught me so much. I wish this was the first video I had watched.
Thanks for watching, Travis. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Bill Mason is, in MHO , THE expert on paddling of all kinds.
@@yankee2yankee216 Not so. He got into it, and was recognized, and realized he was low on knowledge, so joined a canoe club, and used his profile to get the message out, for which we are all grateful. But there is so much more to it, and his approach is well rooted in the past.
Some of the stuff he exemplified is basically unsafe. It comes, perhaps from the prospecting side of things that was reflected in his chosen canoe. Basically you have a huge sail of a canoe, because you are carrying massive amounts of freight. But all that healing a big canoe with high ends, that will get you killed in the middle of a big cold lake. And having been on several recoveries dating back to the early 70s, you have to be a little less adoring in ideas, and search out the techniques that actually work.
When the Path of the Paddle came out, there were multiple other paddling schools, like the one that grew up around marathon canoeing, or freestyle, or hard core white water, and they all have techniques to be learned.
If you live in the north, in Ontario as an example, the two things you need to know about are cold and wind. And also be aware of how long after drowning you can resuscitate a person who drowns in cold water.
Another good idea is to know when to use a canoe, and when to use a kayak.
Hero worship can get you killed.
This WAS the first video I watched, on VHS, in 1992 . . . now I'm using it to teach my Trailmen canoe skills so they can train for wilderness canoeing.
@@HondoTrailside Can you explain some more about the type of canoe he chose and why it would be unsafe for big lakes? Is it the rocker bend that would make it hard to keep straight on a lake in windy conditions or something else?
By watching and rewatching and studying his videos, Bill Mason became the mentor i never knew, and helped me appreciate the art of canoe handling, enjoy it more completely. The canoe is simply more elegant on flat water, and more of a challenge in whitewater than kayaking, which is in total its greater appeal. Thanks for posting these....
Well said. Thanks for watching.
Fantastic! I learned more about paddling from this old film than most modern videos.
I agree. Thanks for watching!
This is an amazing instructional video. Totally enjoyable viewing. 🛶O Canada 🇨🇦
I agree. Thanks for watching!
i just picked up a cedar strip and canvas canoe, and i watched this film to brush up on my technique. but it has also empowered me to cut a pair of jeans into shorts and match them with a cravat. thank you nfb!
Ha ha! I’m glad you were inspired. Thanks for watching.
Great film! I was already convinced I needed a canoe when I got here but, I wasn't prepared for the intense craving for Gordon Lightfoot it left me with.
Ha! That’s definitely the vibe here. Thanks for watching.
????
Fantastic, Bill Mason is a legend
Pardon my ignorance. I had no idea a canoe could be controlled like that. Very impressive
He’s a master of his craft! thanks for watching!
Very relaxing watching this video. and very informative.
I agree. Thanks for watching!
Big Thank You from Europe! This is really the best film of this topic.
You’re welcome! Thank you for watching.
Nature films from this era are great!
Totally agree. Thanks for watching.
Love the old school film and editing, voice-over and music. Reminds me Dick Proenneke, Alone In The Wilderness.
I agree.
Bill Mason will NEVER be surpassed, as MASTER of Canadian canoeing (including teaching).
I really liked the info as well as just being outdoors for just a little while
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!
Yo the cuts from calm water demonstrating stroke to rough water with the music is 🤌
It’s a work of art for sure! Thanks for watching!
I've been going up LSPP for the past 6 years and always heard about bills name but never dived into his documentaries. It's amazing to see the exact same landscape untouched from his film in the 80s. A very inspiring individual who cares just as much as I do about a certain place. A place stuck in the heart forever.
That’s fantastic! Thanks for watching and commenting.
I can only imagine how much more material he would have been able to put out with modern, compact, camera equipment ... and drones.
That’s an interesting idea. Maybe a GoPro and some editing software too! Thanks for watching.
Greetings from Ireland, This is a Lovely Video, Bought an Old Town Canadian Canoe a couple of years back and did not know there was so many strokes. Gonna try those out soon!
Hello. Have fun paddling! Thanks for watching!
I’ve had this book for 30 years I had no idea that the national film board of Canada did this wow
Yeah. Glad they were able to preserve them. Thanks for watching!
Used to have a vidio tape of this-I wore it out -thanks for uploading this.
My pleasure. Thank you for watching.
The real McCoy. Thanks.
Definitely! Thanks for watching!
Documentaire étonnant !!!
Agreed! Thanks for watching.
Want to learn to paddle WELL? Bill Mason videos are unsurpassed! He will always be "Canadian paddling."
Nicely said. Thanks for watching!
This guy doing the paddling is a stud. Shorts and all! He’s got the strokes down!
He makes it look easy, for sure. Thanks for watching!
Awesome! Great work with transfering the film to digital.
In the Woods with Bigfoot Thanks. It took a few tries, but I got it.
After watching this burn-out Hippie do his thing, I'm convinced as to how they came up with the name
"J-Stroke"! Blahahaha 😆
Ha ha! Thanks for watching.
Amazing example of man and canoe
Absolutely. Thanks for watching.
19:20 I learned this the hard way my first day out on my new canoe. Wicked winds, I stumbled around every which way till I finally ended up facing backwards and I could make headway again and got to shore.
Sounds like a stressful first day. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Something tells me that an ice-cold Hamm’s and some Marshall Tucker Band on the 8-track were often the rewards at the end of a day’s shooting during this project ...
Surely! 😄
Mason was Canadian. So, not Hamm's. Canadian beer, IF he drank beer at all. LaBlatts. Or Molson.
PS...I think you might be doing a tiny bit of projecting.
Thanks. I have the old videos that were outdated some years back.
Thank you for watching. My tape has aged too, so I put it here.
This man does things with a big canoe I did not think possible with a small kayak... :-O
:) He makes it look easy! Thanks for watching.
this is so awesome. tHa k u for uploading
Should be called “hot rodding on the river”
Ha! Probably. Thanks for watching.
Wow! Ever nice!
Thanks for watching!
@@Jakespark729 Thank you!
This is great. Impressive.
I agree. Thanks for watching.
Just great thanks 👍🇨🇦
You bet! Thanks for watching.
I grew up paddling but only jidt bought a canoe for the first time. I had no idea that was called a j stroke
Thanks for watching and commenting. Have fun with your new canoe. Hopefully, it’s a good season this year.
very interesting.
I agree. Thanks for watching!
bOARDs of cANADa
Yup
amazing
I've heard of the Canadian stroke.....but it had nothing to do with paddling a canoe
Looks like Northern Ontario--but which provincial park? The canoe is made of wood and the man is not wearing a life jacket. Definitely retro!
They are wearing some kind of life jackets
He did a lot of his films/canoeing around the North Shore of Lake Superior. It’s a really beautiful place. When the winds pick up it’s not recommended to canoe due to the cold water and huge waves. There is some really impressive footage in the waterwalker film of him canoeing on a windy day on the lake.
@@jamiepeirce526 I'm from Toronto. Algonquin Park is what I call "north." North of Lake Superior is VERY North. Imagine how untouched that wilderness was in the 1970s.
The original copy of this in better quality is available on RUclips ruclips.net/video/dA-YWAeLkIM/видео.html
I appreciate you sharing. I agree theirs is better. I’m sure they had better equipment for transferring to digital. Not much competition. Thanks for watching and thanks for supporting the NFB!
Seeing how the man uses only half of the boat, would he not be better off in a kayak?
I’m not sure. I don’t see a lot of canoeists shift like this, but his canoe looks wider than the modern prospector style. Anyway, thanks for watching.
@@Jakespark729, thank you, too, for sharing and replying!
Have a great week!
Can 1 do all those moves with a keeled canoe ???
I am not the expert, so I can’t answer. But, maybe someone else can answer your question in these here comments.
Anyway, thanks for watching.
prachtig
True! Thanks for watching.
how did i end up here?
Christian Bryan Smith lmao
“When young, we mourn for one woman... as we grow old, for women in general. The tragedy of life is that man is never free yet strives for what he can never be. The thing most feared in secret always happens. My life, my loves, where are they now? But the more the pain grows, the more this instinct for life somehow asserts itself. The necessary beauty in life is in giving yourself to it completely. Only later will it clarify itself and become coherent.”
any info on the "next video" about reading rivers? referenced when he started paddling in river rapids?
Good question! This is a compilation video, so if it’s not here, you can probably find it here:
www.nfb.ca/directors/bill-mason
Had to ruin it with music!
Music makes everything better! Agree to disagree? I’m glad you watched and enjoyed it, otherwise. Thank you! 🙂