(Eric Nyre) wrote in
om:

Hi Mike,

Have you paddled a Current Designs Caribou? It is a similar boat, but
it is slightly deeper in the cockpit. The hatches are recessed, unlike
the VCP on the Hawk, and the lines look cleaner.

I've paddled both the Caribou and an Arctic Hawk and didn't find them that
similar. I thought the Hawk tracked better and was faster, while the Caribou
was more manoeverable. The deck on the Caribou is higher, providing more
volume for the knees, but by traditional west Greenland standards even the
Arctic Hawk is high volume.

The last time I paddled a Caribou it felt much bigger than I remembered,
probably because for the last couple of years I've been paddling a much
lower volume boat
(http://caddis.mannlib.cornell.edu/pa.../finished.html)

http://www.cdkayak.com/kayaks/comps/caribous.asp
Unless you feel this is the one and only boat for you, it is not worth
the effort. There are better boats out there, such as the Caribou,
that won't require the work.

The Caribou is better than an Arctic Hawk? That's highly subjective.