Canoes

[Too Tall]

We spent a few days paddling friends Kayaks and Paddle Boards. The bug has bitten we are headed twords a canoe purchase.

Our preference is a very light traditional canoe paddled with single blades. Lightweight because I'm tall enough to stuff a 40lbs canoe ontop the truck cap load bars and I do love me a portage' :)

Upon strong recommend and chatting with Swift Canoe I'm pretty well set on the Prospector 16' This is going to do many things including putting Isaac the wonder dog in the middle.

I've done quite alot of paddling in the Boundary Waters and Quatico plus some white water soooooo I'm pretty comfortable with how this works. The tech. of these uber light weight boats is new to me,

Talk at me.

Prospector16Combi-1536x535-1.jpg

[mowens]

We spent a few days paddling friends Kayaks and Paddle Boards. The bug has bitten we are headed twords a canoe purchase.

Our preference is a very light traditional canoe paddled with single blades. Lightweight because I'm tall enough to stuff a 40lbs canoe ontop the truck cap load bars and I do love me a portage' :)

Upon strong recommend and chatting with Swift Canoe I'm pretty well set on the Prospector 16' This is going to do many things including putting Isaac the wonder dog in the middle.

I've done quite alot of paddling in the Boundary Waters and Quatico plus some white water soooooo I'm pretty comfortable with how this works. The tech. of these uber light weight boats is new to me,

Talk at me.


Prospector16Combi-1536x535-1.jpg

unnamed.jpg
My son got very sick when he was 10 and I bought an aramid/Kevlar Wenonah Fisherman (14 foot length, very wide and stable, 38 lbs) that I could handle alone or he could be an easy help with. He must have caught 500 bass out of this thing. I can still manage it myself 20 years later but it is easy for two older people to fill with gear and portage. Just be careful to put in on mud or sand rather than a rocky base or concrete. Enjoy yours.
-Mike

[htwoopup]

A boat made out of Kevlar is fabulous IME. The weight/ durability ratio are fantastic. I had a 21 foot center console (shudder shudder. But it is how we got to the island beach cottage. And that boat could go in any weather) made of Kevlar. A canoe made out of it for unknown banging into stuff (it doesn’t crack/chip the same way as fiberglass) and ease of humping it over the ground is brilliant.

[open roader]

To me a 16 footer Canadian is the benchmark for day trips for 2 x paddlers + 1 dog + waterproof sacks.

It's also very roof topping friendly at those dimentions.

I'd opt for the carbon/kevlar option. We have kayaks made of this stuff and they are a vast improvement weight wise over fiberglass kayaks.

Our one remaining canoe is a fiberglass 16 footer, similar symmetrical design and beam - rock steady in flowing water.

Tip :- buy cheaper paddles, wear gloves if necessary and buy a third paddle to avoid Murphy's Law.............

Having the pet with you is the best part.

[vertical_doug]

We spent a few days paddling friends Kayaks and Paddle Boards. The bug has bitten we are headed twords a canoe purchase.

Our preference is a very light traditional canoe paddled with single blades. Lightweight because I'm tall enough to stuff a 40lbs canoe ontop the truck cap load bars and I do love me a portage' :)

Upon strong recommend and chatting with Swift Canoe I'm pretty well set on the Prospector 16' This is going to do many things including putting Isaac the wonder dog in the middle.

I've done quite alot of paddling in the Boundary Waters and Quatico plus some white water soooooo I'm pretty comfortable with how this works. The tech. of these uber light weight boats is new to me,

Talk at me.

Prospector16Combi-1536x535-1.jpg

A man your age should be living in a retirement marina with a duffy boat

https://duffyboats.com/18-snug-harbor/



Where's your pina colada?
I see this as your Escape with Rupert Holmes...

[Too Tall]

To me a 16 footer Canadian is the benchmark for day trips for 2 x paddlers + 1 dog + waterproof sacks.

It's also very roof topping friendly at those dimentions.

I'd opt for the carbon/kevlar option. We have kayaks made of this stuff and they are a vast improvement weight wise over fiberglass kayaks.

Our one remaining canoe is a fiberglass 16 footer, similar symmetrical design and beam - rock steady in flowing water.

Tip :- buy cheaper paddles, wear gloves if necessary and buy a third paddle to avoid Murphy's Law.............

Having the pet with you is the best part.

This is reassuring, I've heard the same from a number of experienced people. LOL Cheaper paddles, you know it!!!

Doug Doug Doug you are killing me man ;)

[bigbill]

I made a week-long canoe trip through Labyrinth Canyon in Utah a few years ago. We put in the Green River south of I-70 and took out at Mineral Bottom near Moab. No whitewater or rapids, just a wide river with no sandbars. About half our campsites had nowhere to beach the canoes; we had to tie up along the bank and unload. About day 3, I was pretty certain I wouldn't just randomly flip over.

[caleb]

I suspect you're going to really like that boat, @Too Tall. A 16' flattened (2" of rocker instead of 4), thinned (34" wide instead of 36+) version of the old Chestnut Prospector is a great jackknife of a boat. It should still be stable enough to dive out of and haul a dog over the gunnel.

Looking forward to the paddling reports!

[Too Tall]

I suspect you're going to really like that boat, @Too Tall. A 16' flattened (2" of rocker instead of 4), thinned (34" wide instead of 36+) version of the old Chestnut Prospector is a great jackknife of a boat. It should still be stable enough to dive out of and haul a dog over the gunnel.

Looking forward to the paddling reports!

Thanks, that is a solid recommend :)

We are locked and loaded. Delivery is expected late July.

[PaMtbRider]

This is reassuring, I've heard the same from a number of experienced people. LOL Cheaper paddles, you know it!!!

Doug Doug Doug you are killing me man ;)

Oh hell no! You are getting a carbon fiber / kevlar wonder canoe. You need matching paddles. Would you buy a Crumpton and put shitty ass Continental gatorskins on it. I don't think so. This is what you will need.

https://www.rei.com/product/173403/w...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

[j44ke]

Oh hell no! You are getting a carbon fiber / kevlar wonder canoe. You need matching paddles. Would you buy a Crumpton and put shitty ass Continental gatorskins on it. I don't think so. This is what you will need.

https://www.rei.com/product/173403/w...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

Yeah I was going to say - Werner or just get a Grumman alumalog and paddle with sticks.

[j44ke]

Additional knowledge from Caleb et al available here in the Paddling Updates thread.

[j44ke]

I suspect you're going to really like that boat, @Too Tall. A 16' flattened (2" of rocker instead of 4), thinned (34" wide instead of 36+) version of the old Chestnut Prospector is a great jackknife of a boat. It should still be stable enough to dive out of and haul a dog over the gunnel.

Looking forward to the paddling reports!

Is Toots going to need a keel on his canoe to compensate for the mast of a man he is?

[randonneur]

Like with bikes, a test ride would do wonders. We have an amazing local canoe builder here, and when we were looking to replace our hand-me-down, decades-old insanely heavy fibreglass Chestnut a couple years ago, we were lucky enough to be able to try a few out. It doesn't hurt that you can just walk a canoe across the street from the shop right into Kootenay Lake.

We ended up comparing a Hellman Kootenay vs Prospector, which I think in Swift parlance would be similar to comparing a Swift Prospector vs Keewaydin. The difference was pretty eye-opening, even for a short paddle. The narrower boat felt a lot faster and more pleasant to me. YMMV.

Hellman offered us a great deal on a demo Kevlar Prospector and it's been amazing for us. Ours is 17', which is great since it's usually 2 adults and a kid in the canoe. When we were shopping, I'd hummed and hawed about the added cost for a kevlar or carbon canoe, but if I had to do it over, I'd buy the lighter canoe every time.

canoe-.jpg

[Too Tall]

After the credit card cools off I'll think about paddles....pal ;)

The Prospector is probably right for us with the dog waddling about.

[caleb]

After the credit card cools off I'll think about paddles....pal ;)

If/when you end up going down the carbon paddle route, ZRE up on the north side of the Catskills sells factory seconds with cosmetic blems and you can get more or less any length you want: https://zre.com/carbon-fiber-paddles/flatwater-paddles/

I see carbon paddles all over in the BWCA and Quetico now. I think they're sort of like carbon wheels in that they used to be thought of as fragile equipment for race day only, and now people use them all the time in all sorts of conditions without issue.

[caleb]

Is Toots going to need a keel on his canoe to compensate for the mast of a man he is?

Keels just encourage the orcas to attack.

[Too Tall]

If/when you end up going down the carbon paddle route, ZRE up on the north side of the Catskills sells factory seconds with cosmetic blems and you can get more or less any length you want: https://zre.com/carbon-fiber-paddles/flatwater-paddles/

I see carbon paddles all over in the BWCA and Quetico now. I think they're sort of like carbon wheels in that they used to be thought of as fragile equipment for race day only, and now people use them all the time in all sorts of conditions without issue.

Thanks for that. It is easy to admit I hang onto these romantic notions of the past. Wood canoe paddles, that is the image and it's burned in. ZRE looks great I'm in agreement, carbon paddles are durable. I used them for many yrs. sculling the Potomac.

[Ras72]

Seems I’m a little late to this party to recommend building your own boat.
I wouldn’t trade the experience for nada - the build was memorialized here on Vsalon.

2DBC8A68-0335-4549-A921-5CB4FF0E39F9.jpg

It’s a 17 footer, weighing in just over your avg E-MTB.

Bought those water sticks from https://sanborncanoe.com one was their Gillis model and the other was from their artisan collection - Gitchi Gummi. Extremely happy with both.

[TonyP]

Seems I’m a little late to this party to recommend building your own boat.
I wouldn’t trade the experience for nada - the build was memorialized here on Vsalon.

2DBC8A68-0335-4549-A921-5CB4FF0E39F9.jpg

It’s a 17 footer, weighing in just over your avg E-MTB.

Bought those water sticks from https://sanborncanoe.com one was their Gillis model and the other was from their artisan collection - Gitchi Gummi. Extremely happy with both.

That's a good looking canoe you built. I've had it in my head, for years, that I'd like to build a canoe or kayak.

It gotta be pretty swell paddling a canoe you built yourownself.