Canoe Savvy folks present?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

MT-PTK

MT-PTK

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
Threads
95
Messages
676
Location
Washington State
Website
www.youtube.com
So, I've got the rig and the rack for carrying one....just don't have one yet. I would love to wheel into some secluded areas and do some paddling & camping. Can anyone recomend or offer advice for choosing a good canoe? It would be much appreciated. I'm looking for something that I can take the kids in...day tripper sort of model that can easily handle my weight (6' 6" at a lean 260), a few other bodies, and possibly some camping gear. I like speed but not really looking for a racer for what I want to use it for. Used to canoe a lot as a kid but haven't done it for quite a while. Our kids are old enough now, I have a rig to haul it, and it should be getting to be a good time of year to look for one.


Thanks,
William
 
Try and find one with a relatively stiff hull (they have much better speed and take less energy to paddle). No keel is better (far more manouverable and not at all hard to paddle if you know what you're doing) if that is possible. Don't plan to have more than 2-3 folks in one canoe especially if you are going camping. If you are going canoe tripping it's a good idea to have two canoes along in case you have an accident/capsize. With the second canoe you can right the first canoe even in the middle of the lake.

Sign out a book like "Path of the Paddle" or "Song of the Paddle" by Bill Mason if your local library carries them. There is lots of good info in his books to learn about the art of canoeing.
 
i would limit it to 3 ppl, with your size just 2 would be ideal, get a 16 footer with a flat transom and keel for stability and a possible future trolling motor addition.

with the ppl and gear you are talking about you might be happier with a wider boat though, like a flat bottom john boat, they dont paddle as easy but they're not bad at all.
 
I love canoes and have built them and paddled all over.

I would get a 17'..............Wenonah, Clipper or Navarro. Royalex is fine, heavier and of course kevlar is lighter stronger and more expensive.

Have fun.
 
I've got a Mad River Adventure 14, works fine for my son and I but for you I would say 17'.
It'll track easy and carry a bunch along with you and one or two others.
Check out Mad River or Old Town or the names Nat mentioned.
I wouldn't recommend any Coleman/Pelican products
 
You mean like zis?

408176822_c0aa1c83d6_o.jpg


Building your own is fun and you can end up with a much better canoe than you could buy for the same money. No keel, as suggested above, will mean better turning but you will hate it the wind as your constantly paddling to stay on course.

The canoe above is not a traditional sit on thwart canoe, it's a double paddle canoe, where you sit on the floor of the canoe and use a kayak paddle. It has lower free board for less windage and slices through small chop. Lots of fun to take camping. If your at all interested in building your own check out the "Wooden Boat Forum" for more ideas and support.
 
They are Quick N Easy mounts. Those are my old 6" ones, with Ipe wood cross bars. I now use 3 pairs of 4" Quick N Easy mounts with 1.25" x 1.25" aluminum cross bars. I changed up when I put my Auto Home tent on the roof.

I love em, great product, a litte spendy but will never rust.
 
dmede808 said:
They are Quick N Easy mounts. Those are my old 6" ones, with Ipe wood cross bars. I now use 3 pairs of 4" Quick N Easy mounts with 1.25" x 1.25" aluminum cross bars. I changed up when I put my Auto Home tent on the roof.

I love em, great product, a litte spendy but will never rust.
Click to expand...

I've got the 6" on mine but using the ash wood cross bars from NRS. They are a little too flexible for my taste (the ash bars), love the mounts though.
Where did you get the alum. cross bars?

Sorry for the hijack-
 
JohnQ said:
I've got the 6" on mine but using the ash wood cross bars from NRS. They are a little too flexible for my taste (the ash bars), love the mounts though.
Where did you get the alum. cross bars?

Sorry for the hijack-
Click to expand...

Metal super markets. But any metal supply shop near-by should have them in various dimensions. I switched to metal because of the same problem with flexing. Event he Ipe (which is very strong and rigid) moved too much with the boat ontop. I actually had steel on there at one point as well but it moved too much as well, probably needed a thicker wall but then it would have been much heavier than the aluminum for the same strength.
 
There's pictures of the remains of one of my canoes in this thread! https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=109465

NO keel, stiff bottom and easy to paddle. The remaining canoe is a similar style and is 19' long. If you know how to paddle the lack of a keel is pure pleasure! If you get on a river when you need to turn NOW you'll be glad there's no keel!

I'll echo the negative comments on the Coleman canoe. They are VERY flexy which translates to slow and need alot of energy to paddle.
 
'course there are row boats too.....

adirondack guideboats carry alot and are very fast

royalex = very durable

wind and the willows = messing around in boats
 
Last edited:
I built an 18' 2" strip boat years ago, and it is still going strong. Weigh about 65 lbs. Also carries a small electric trolling motor for fishing and lake cruising.

You did not say where you are going to be using the canoe - lake, stream, whatever? This will have a major impact on what you choose. A whitewater boat will have more rocker for manoveurability, and flatwatter boat a straight run to aid in tracking. For any serious flatwater tripping, I would recommend an 18' or longer boat.
 
Keel is a matter of what waters you are paddling and how big a canoe you are using. Large open water usually benefit from a keel. White water canoeing is obviously a different creature. The original poster is asking about a camp canoe for himself (on the large side ; ) ) his kids and some gear. That’s not going to be a swift water canoe, it’s going to be something a bit larger with lots of windage and will benefit from the added tracking a keel provides. I LOVE having the small keel on my canoe, I never have claw into the wind on long river stretches or across big lakes (or the SF Bay). And it’s not a trick canoe anyway so you really don’t miss any turning ability. Bottom line is a long canoe like the one he’s probably going to need won’t turn much worse for having a modest keel.
 
If you have kids, I'd suggest an Old Town Camper 16'. Easy maintenance. Lighter than the crosslink material, which is heavier with no other benfit, very stable in all but serious whitewater.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions folks!

At this point in time, use will be mainly lake/pond, and slow river paddling. I'm not looking to do whitewater with the kids just yet. I did get an offer of a hand built Micmac strip canoe from a member of another forum. They have built nine by hand so far and are offering up one of the earlier versions that just needs a little TLC. Also another person is offering to let me barrow a kevlar canoe that he is selling to let me try it out. This one comes from http://www.rangercanoe.com/canoes.htm

It's a good idea to try one out I'm sure. The strip canoe I wouldn't likely get to try out first, but I know the person from a number of forum gatherings so I'm not worried about it being junk, I'd just have to do some driving to pick it up.



William
 
My friends have a Wenonah. Never underestimate the value of a light canoe. I love it
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom