Show us your canoe or kayak

[vtl]

Do packrafts count?

My Alpacka Mule, 2021ish model.

View attachment 3926533View attachment 3926534

Well, I'm officially in a wet butt gang... 2024 Alpacka Caribou.

Had buyer's remorse instantly. Had to get a Mule, not Caribou. Caribou is too small for me and my camping gear. I didn't expect the drain holes, they let the raft to get swamped, I was soaked. And it had a QC issue right out of the box. Thankfully, the repair kit has alcohol wipes and glue.

For the money I expected Hilleberg-like immaculate quality.

UPDATE: Alpacka sent a replacement quickly. Don't know if the QC issue is resolved, I perhaps will carry both seats (old patched and new one) for a while.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

For the money I expected Hilleberg-like immaculate quality.

I've been lucky with mine, there may be a couple different thicknesses of the material now, but I have bombed mine through the business end of a lodgepole strainer before without a scratch. My buddy thought we were walking out 30 miles. I've been extremely pleased with the durability of mine.

On the flip side @ZooTownCruiser ripped the bottom fabric on his on one of the first days on our last trip. Hence my thoughts of different calibers of fabric.


Where were your QC issues at?

 

[vtl]

I've been lucky with mine, there may be a couple different thicknesses of the material now, but I have bombed mine through the business end of a lodgepole strainer before without a scratch. My buddy thought we were walking out 30 miles. I've been extremely pleased with the durability of mine.

On the flip side @ZooTownCruiser ripped the bottom fabric on his on one of the first days on our last trip. Hence my thoughts of different calibers of fabric.

Yes, 210d and 420d. I've got 210, since it was ready to ship.

Where were your QC issues at?

See pics 2 and 3. I was able to repair it once crossed the lake.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

Yes, 210d and 420d. I've got 210, since it was ready to ship.

See pics 2 and 3. I was able to repair it once crossed the lake.

Interesting, I'm going to assume mine is the 420d material, based on the torture I've put it through.

 

[vtl]

Interesting, I'm going to assume mine is the 420d material, based on the torture I've put it through.

The raft itself didn't have any problems. I perhaps wouldn't be chatting here if the raft had a problem in the middle of 1.5 miles wide remote cold lake =)

I will also apply Tyvek type on both sides of the floor, to cover up the holes. Having wet butt without much splashes is plain stupid, and I'm not going to take the boat where it can be swamped and in need for self-drainage.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

The raft itself didn't have any problems. I perhaps wouldn't be chatting here if the raft had a problem in the middle of 1.5 miles wide remote cold lake =)

I will also apply Tyvek type on both sides of the floor, to cover up the holes. Having wet butt without much splashes is plain stupid, and I'm not going to take the boat where it can be swamped and in need for self-drainage.

We used some Tenacious tape last year on a tear in the floor of one raft, a layer on both sides, the layer on the bottom was gone the next day.

If I were going to patch the floor, I'd do it with something permanent.

You could also make it a self-bailer, or have Alpacka Raft do it.

 

[vtl]

We used some Tenacious tape last year on a tear in the floor of one raft, a layer on both sides, the layer on the bottom was gone the next day.

If I were going to patch the floor, I'd do it with something permanent.

You could also make it a self-bailer, or have Alpacka Raft do it.

Mine is a self-bailer. It had enough water coming in to soak my legs, butt and back up to kidneys. That system perhaps works better for lighter paddlers, but I'm past 200 lbs

Tyvek tape is what Alpacka recommends for patching. Or I can glue a very long patch, 4 of them... Or leave it alone and use the raft in warmer weather and dress up for a beach day.

 

[schuy2147]

Picked up this Northstar b17 a couple years ago and still haven’t taken it on its maiden voyage yet. Last year a storm rolled through and flung it off the horses and took a solid ding to the rail. Should be able to work that back out. Don’t know much about canoes honestly but seemed like a good deal at the time.

 

[Godwin]

Took boats to the Coosa River today near Wetumpka, AL. Water flow is controlled by Alabama Power and AP usually does 8000 cfs minimum on weekends for paddlers. The section from Jordan Dam downstream is a very popular and easily done in a day. Depending on takeout the run is 5-7 miles long. There are long stretches of flat water then some good mild to Class III whitewater. We went with the Dagger Legend 16' Royalex light that I have come to dislike because the hull is a bit flimsy and it's difficult to steer. The two red Mohawk 15' whitewater boats can run circles around the Dagger. Water today was running 13000+ cfs which made for Moccasin Gap to be fun. Both Mohawks took the right side heavier whitewater. One made it and one went swimming.

 

[Paddler Ed]

Dagger seemed to love using the Royalex Lite; one centre I worked at had 4x that were used for any trips that portages in it, as they were a better boat for that.

I preferred either a full Royalex or TT (Mad River) or PE (Venture) boat, as they tended to bounce a bit more than dent!

 

[Jonathan Case]

My baby — a Cape Falcon F1!

 

[egarda11]

Took the new-used Old Town out for a spin on a local lake with my wife recently. Great boat for how we plan to use it (weekend lake trips, camping floats). Brought a fly rod along in the event we saw carp, pike, or walleye but didn’t have any shots.

Open to any wooden paddle recommendations. Looking at Bending Branches and Sawyer primarily. Thought it would make a good 5-yr anniversary present (5 yrs is the traditional “wood” anniversary) with some special engraving.

 

[Godwin]

Upper Pea River near Elba, AL. Put in was at Weeks Bridge, river distance to take out at Elba was 9 miles. I used the Mad River 14' solo Freedom. We had a random chocolate Lab hanging out at the ramp. Massive cypress along the river. The river was a long series of rocky shoals, runs over bedrock, and pools. Fun run, would like to do it again with higher water.

 

[vtl]

13' Sportspal S-13 canoe w/ 12' Expandacraft outriggers kit and Sailboatstogo 45 sq.ft sail. Good wind gust picks the boat up to 4kt easily. But I want a bigger sail now, 'coz the rig is so overbuilt and super-stable: 160 lbs displacement outriggers on 8' stainless steel beams, everything bolted together, mast is a heavy duty 1.5" alu tube, its base is suspended in air in front of the boat and distributed via beams to 3 points in the strongest parts of the hull. Even 4kn with zero gasoline used is a serious advantage in wilderness where wind is plenty, but gas is not.

New unbroken 6HP Tohatsu SailPro was able to push it to only 7kt The trim was a bit wrong, need to modify my DIY raiser brackets to access more trimming holes.

Also that clamp-on paddle-style rudder is totally inadequate for the rig. I'll fabricate my own rudder bolted to the outboard. And leeboards. Those ones from the kit are too small.

Sailing is fun!

 

[vtl]

Well, I'm officially in a wet butt gang... 2024 Alpacka Caribou.

View attachment 4146449

Had buyer's remorse instantly. Had to get a Mule, not Caribou. Caribou is too small for me and my camping gear. I didn't expect the drain holes, they let the raft to get swamped, I was soaked. And it had a QC issue right out of the box. Thankfully, the repair kit has alcohol wipes and glue.

View attachment 4146450

View attachment 4146452

View attachment 4146453

For the money I expected Hilleberg-like immaculate quality.

UPDATE: Alpacka sent a replacement quickly. Don't know if the QC issue is resolved, I perhaps will carry both seats (old patched and new one) for a while.

Update: Alpacka sent me a new seat for free. My repair also holds up well. And I took it to the ocean beach with high waves, it was a blast! Self-bailing holes definitely do their job, you just need a different weather for wanting a self-bailing raft Going to this beach for as long as I live in the area, it was the first time I've got thumb ups from like five lifeguards looking over other surfers when the raft caught up the wave and drove me effortlessly a long way right to the beach, he-he.

 

[Godwin]

We picked up two more canoes recently, A 16' tandem Mad River Legend and a Mohawk 11' Probe The Legend is a good general use boat while the Probe is for white water. We took those and a pair of Mohawk Rogues down the Coosa River yesterday. The 3 Mohawk boats ran the right side of Moccasin Gap with the hot waves, we took the Legend down the left side where the white water was class II, handled it well but took on some water.

 

[cruisintheland]

This is ours. Carved last year

 

[cruisintheland]

I don't know how to post. trying to edit

 

[egarda11]

26mi float and camping trip down the Jefferson, through the confluence with the Madison, making the Missouri, and eventually picked up the Gallatin. The Northern Lights put on a show for us.

 

[Godwin]

We made long weekend trip to NC and planned on running a easy section of the Chattooga River on Friday. Our plan was to drop off boats on the SC side just off hwy 28 and leave the FJ60 at Earl's Ford on the GA side. Access to Earl's Ford requires a creek crossing, mild rock climbing and another 4WD obstacle or two. Downed trees were blocking the road to Earl's Ford. So we went looking for another river to run.

LX450 and FJ60 loaded up with 16' Mad River Legend and 14' Mad River TT boat.

We settled on a 5.5 mile run on the Tuckasagee River. Put in was below a bridge in Dillsboro, NC with the takeout in an established site along US 74. This was nice river, good flow (probably TVA controlled) with a frequent series of shoals and class II water. I paddled the Mad River Legend, a solid Royalex boat, while @cruiserinsanity and his girlfriend were in the 14' Triple Tough boat, heavy and flexy. The left the river with a hatred for this boat.

In our drive to the Tuckasegee we passed through the Nantahala Gorge and we saw where there were a couple trailers of whitewater canoes for sale. On our return we stopped off to check out the boats. The for sale sign had call Nolan and a phone number. So we called. Gavin was interested in a canoe saddle seat and that opened the conversation with Nolan. I asked if Nolan would be interested in trade, the 14 Mad River tandem for a one of his canoes. He said yes. We picked out a boat and did the swap. On the side of a barn was Whitesell Canoe sign. The boat we selected was a Whitesell Descender.

Back at the Air BnN Gavin looks up Whitesell boats and, as it turned out, we were talking with, and did a canoe swap with Nolan Whitesell, the designer and manufacterer of these whitewater boats. He did some very amazing white water runs when he was active.