Kayaking down a river, would the current be strongest in the middle or near the shore?

Question

Kayaking down a river, would the current be strongest in the middle or near the shore?

Answer 1

Down the middle my friend.

Answer 2

it all depends on the depth of the water and if it is on a big bend in the river.  generally the current will be strongest in shallow water because the water is moving a little faster. if you are on a straight away..usually the current is about the same in the middle or near the shore.

Answer 3

Typically a river's current will be fastest where the water is deepest - and that is normally in the middle.  

However, if the river is a winding river, the fastest current will be on the outside of the turn.   Here's why.  Water wants to travel in a straight line.  It will do so until it hits an obstacle.  So, let's say the water is traveling straight down the middle of the river, and up ahead is a sharp right turn (say, 60 degrees).  The water will go straight until it hits the river bank on the shore at river left.  It will be deflected along that wall until it hits another obstacle.  

Look at arial shots of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon - the fast water isn't always down the middle.  In addition to turns in the river changing the channel, submerged rocks drastically alter the course of the water too, creating dams and falls, or "pools and drops."  That can happen at river left or at river right.

Another exception - even on slow wide rivers - you can have a channel that meanders from side to side.  Take the Wisconsin River as an example.  The river bottom is all sand, and the the water is continually changing the river bottom as the water levels go up and down with rain fall.  If you were to paddle a kayak straight down the middle, you would soon run into sandbars and shallow water.  If you can read the river, and can stay in the current / channel, you would soon find that you are moving from left the left bank to the right.  At times the deepest water is right along shore, and the shallow/slow water is in the middle.

Answer 4

In the middle.