I most often, as in always try to have two poles with me when out in my canoe, one is the standard pole for rocky gravely shallow water, shore line travel and up and down river travel.  My second pole has a Y on the end for softer bottoms and comes in super handy at these beaver dam crossings.  Both poles are in the 10-12 foot long grange.  The back boat style canoes can be a bit more of a challenge to stand in and pole.  I did see a fellow in video utilizing two walking sticks for poles while on the Norther Forest Canoe Trail.  Great to see canoes out and about with single blades.  Can you tell the three different canoes you all had?

Is your companion in a Penobscot 15???