PaddleDog Talk
Canoeing and Kayaking Discussion Boards

     Trim is the leveling of the canoe.  When in the canoe you should be in the center of the canoe. You don't want one end higher than the other. Solo canoes don't like wind. If one end is higher than the other the wind will move the canoe around a lot more. Making it harder to control. Some canoes have a slidding seat to adjust trim. Others have a fixed seat.
    
     There are a number of ways to get the trim just right. One way is to use a golf ball. Put the golf ball in the canoe and adjust the seat till
the ball is just below you. Another way to do this is to put a gallon of water in the canoe and adjust the seat till the water is just below you.

     Adjustable trim is more important in tripping canoes. When carrying a load of gear you still want the canoe to be level. This is were the slidding seat comes in. When you load your canoe you will have one or more packs. So, the trim will change upon placement of the packs. Move your seat to get the trim just right. Some people use a small bubble level to help with this.

    My Argosy has a fixed seat. So I can't adjust trim on this canoe. But I should already be at the pivot point of the canoe. So, tripping with this canoe I need to adjust my packs correctly. And just deal with the wind. The canoe works very well in mixed water conditions. So I would deal with whatever wind came up.

    The Prism is a tripping canoe. It has a adjustable seat for that reason. So when loading the Prism I can adjust the trim to get it just right. The Prism is good on flat water. Don't think I would use this canoe on anything bigger than class I.