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#1
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I have 2 touring kayaks and I'm thinking about trading them for a
canoe. I like the speed of the kayaks but they are a pain to get in and out of and it's hard to carry anything in them. Bottom line is I don't use them anymore. My question is what should I look for in a canoe? I'll be canoeing in rivers and lakes in north alabama. They are generally fairly small rivers with easy conditions. What material is best? Also what size and shape? I'm assuming if you get a stable canoe you will lose some speed, is that correct? Any info is appreciated! Chuck. |
#2
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If you're not running whitewater, kevlar canoes are light but strong.
They're easy to portage and usually found in designs that are optimized for tripping and lake canoeing, rather than white water. Kevlar will tolerate rocks, but not as well as Royalex. Royalex canoes are much heavier, but more forgiving as they repeatedly slide over rocks in rapids. Stability and speed are not exactly connected. Tripping/lake canoes will have a sharper/tapered bow that slices the water to help tracking and speed versus the more rounded bow/stern of boats, usually made of royalex, for bigger water/whitewater trips. The rounded bow stern make it easier to turn in whitewater and make for a drier ride through big waves, but that slows you down on flat water. Canoes with flatter bottoms tend to have good initial stability (feels stable when you climb in), but if tipped up on edge, as happens in whitewater or bigger water, they have poor secondary stability and easily go over. Canoes with a more rounded profile and tumblehomes (below the gunnels) feel tippy at first but have tremendous secondary stability - you can tip them on edge to the gunnels with ease and straighten them back out (with practice!). A prospector design (many manufacturers make it) is probably a good compromise. Are you paddling solo or tandem? "CR" wrote in message om... I have 2 touring kayaks and I'm thinking about trading them for a canoe. I like the speed of the kayaks but they are a pain to get in and out of and it's hard to carry anything in them. Bottom line is I don't use them anymore. My question is what should I look for in a canoe? I'll be canoeing in rivers and lakes in north alabama. They are generally fairly small rivers with easy conditions. What material is best? Also what size and shape? I'm assuming if you get a stable canoe you will lose some speed, is that correct? Any info is appreciated! Chuck. |
#3
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I have 2 touring kayaks and I'm thinking about trading them for a
canoe. I like the speed of the kayaks but they are a pain to get in and out of and it's hard to carry anything in them. Bottom line is I don't use them anymore. My question is what should I look for in a canoe? I'll be canoeing in rivers and lakes in north alabama. They are generally fairly small rivers with easy conditions. What material is best? Also what size and shape? I'm assuming if you get a stable canoe you will lose some speed, is that correct? Any info is appreciated! Chuck. Hi, Chuck, I agree with everything Leslie has mentioned. I my case, my problems are pretty much what yours are, hard to get out of Kayaks. I have found, in that I solo all the time, that I needed a canoe that would help keep up with the kayakers on day trips, After much research I opted to buy the Dagger Sojourn (solo), it tracks very nicely, it is 30" wide, it has 1.5 rocker at the bow and none at the stern, it is harder to turn, but for the paddling you and I do, that is not a factor. Also another canoe which I also own for tandem paddling/tripping is the Old Town Penobscot 16, Roylex covered, this canoe can also be soloed easily, replace thward with third seat. Well that's my two cents worth, go out and try these canoes or many others. CanoeArt "Keep a Paddle in the Water at All Times" |
#4
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Hi, Chuck, I forgot to mention that I solo with a double paddle, great way to
paddle in the wind and chopping waters. CanoeArt "Keep a Paddle in the Water at All Times" |
#5
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Why don't you rent a few canoes, and see what you like.
The price sounds good on the discovery, but they are a little heavy. Paddle it, or one like it. It's probably a real good general purpose boat. I consider the discover on the bottom end of quality boats, avoid Coleman at all costs. You can always get most of your money back out of the discovery, if you become an "enthusiast" and want to upgrade. Oldtown also has higher end boats, as do We-No-Nah, Mad River, Dagger, Bell, etc. For rivers I prefer a boat with a little rocker. You trade awat some tracking for manuverability. Again, paddeling several designs is the best way to determine what you like and don't. Another approach is to join a canoe club. You will run into a vast selection of boats, and many folks will let you try their boats. A comment was made about tunblehome, adding to stability. Sorry, no. TH subtracts from terminal stability, but makes it easier to reach the water with the paddle. Again a tradeoff. Dan On 6 Aug 2003 07:48:37 -0700, (CR) wrote: "Leslie" wrote in message ... I just called a rental place that sells used Old Town Discovery 169s for $475. Is that a good canoe, good price (assuming they are in good shape)? Colorado Springs, CO My advice may be worth what you paid for it. |
#6
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longer canoes are faster. it has to do with the way water flows around a
hull. but they are also heavier. narrower canoes are faster too but more tippy. racing canoes are only about 8" wide on the waterline and when the racers aren't moving they have to brace with their paddles to keep from falling over. its all about tradeoffs. expect the canoe to weight more than one of your solo kayaks. will the wife help carry the canoe as well as help paddle it? ![]() I don't like the kevlar canoes because they put a lot of big foam core ribs in them close together and it wrecks my knees when I try to find a spot to kneel comfortably. They have to do that becuase they use a skin so thin it needs lots of reinforcing. a few ribs spaced a couple feet apart in non-kevlar canoes aren't a problem for me. I also find sand and grit painfull on the knees in really smooth bottom boats. You need a pad of some sort to kneel on, or maybe a piar of knee pads like skate boarders wear. You might not enjoy sharing a canoe, or as some people say, "paddle tandem, sleep solo". If you find the quiet broken by animated disputes you might want to go back to kayaks but more open ones with cockpits easier to get in and out of. On kayaks with big cockpits you have can carry stuff in the cockpit like a knapsack or "dry bags" which I beleive are rubberized nylon bags kayakers put things in to keep them relatively dry. Sit on top kayaks would be the easiest to get in and out of but the one's I've tried don't have a dry place to carry stuff. Canoes don't offer any more protection from the sun and wind than sit on top kayaks do. good luck -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm warning: non-freenet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned |
#7
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#8
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"Michael Daly" wrote in message
Longer kayaks/canoes have a higher potential speed, but you have to work for it. Only when you are comparing powerful paddlers who always go fast is the length statement above true. I think I get what you are saying. Suppose a 20 foot canoe has a max hull speed of 5 knots and a 16 footer has a max hull speed of 3 knots. Suppose that a certain paddling force will drive the 20 footer at 1 knot. Are you saying that if you paddle with the same force on the 16 footer you would go faster than 1 knot? |
#9
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#10
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