Aluminum boats work
I had an alumacraft for 50 years and it had no noticeable dents, and didn’t leak when I gave it to my son
Recently while staying at a resort in northern MN with my family we took out a 17 ft. alumacraft. (Hard to get everyone in the magic.) We had a good time in it. Paddled nicely. Handled nicely. Did the job.
I wasn’t arguing w/you gbg …
– Last Updated: Sep-16-10 8:53 AM EST –
...... I made statements , and I fully support every word I said . You can re-write my statements till the cows fly and they will still be exactly what I said , meaning exactly what they say , not what you want them to say or mean .
Curious how it is that many of us started paddling in the ol aluminum Grummans many moons ago but chose/choose to purchase plastic boats , composite boats and never looked back with any desire to purchase and paddle the aluminum canoe again .
As for those paddles I use and you call super cheap ... I guarantee my paddles will either match or blow the doors off anything you think is better for the river enviroment , I guarantee it . You haven't a clue what kind of paddle is needed in the river gbg or you wouldn't have made that statement . The lightest , powerfulest , toughest , meanest rock eating paddle that can be had is the best one in the river , and the ones I use fit the bill perfectly . Not only do they fit the river bill perfectly , they are a pleasure to use and paddle any water with , all day long from first light to solid dark , miles and miles and miles and miles .
I run rivers mostly , rocky mountain and piedmont . I may push up stream 4-5 miles in about as fast of water as a canoe can go , sometimes my paddle nessasarily becomes a pole ... I may run down stream nessasarily jumping rock ledges , skirting skinny streches as they come up , weaving the rock gardens , having a glancing blow off a barely submerged rock , the usual river stuff , etc. ... the river is constantly changing from deep swirling pools , deep channel flows , to light rapids , roaring fast to near still slow , to unavoidable ledges and drops , to suck shallows (sometimes even scrape shallow) ... my OT Expedition 169 shines like a star with 500-600 lb. load and moves like speeding train when the current runs hard and fast (it could handle another 400 lbs. w/o the slightest concern too) ... it manuvers and turns like a champ ... it may be matched or bested by other canoes and canoeist , but not by much ... that's saying something coming from me ... so take it for whatever you think it's worth .
"ANY" canoe can be paddled around on calm flat waters and be pleasant ... not any canoe can take the river enviroment and shine , the OT Expedition 169 can and it shines like a champ , most plastic canoes can ... the ol Grummans (best of the aluminums) ran many a river but they didn't do it well at all , they took the beating better than wood and canvas of the prior generation , plastic boats are far superior in the mountain river enviroment than either of the former generations of canoe materials ... why ?? ... because they take the abuse the river "ALWAYS" dishes out and walk away smiling , not dented and rivit busted leaks , not torn canvas , rib busted and holed .
Plain common sense should see that no seams , one piece hulls , one part instead of 100 parts are much more practical and care free , the mile wide gap in advantage between plastic and aluminum canoes only starts there , the gap gets bigger with every practical consideration about canoes there after .
Not argument , these are statements ... facts .
and I don't even do WW , just "normal" everyday easy river stuff ... this OT Expedition is also a "GREAT" large reservour canoe , when things get rough and the water blows big , it smiles and we paddle on without concern , like I said the only thing I'd trade it for is Royalex 172 Tripper ... I've paddled enough canoes for long enough to know what I'm saying ... I'm not guessing
pp , add 500 lbs. or more and then …
– Last Updated: Sep-16-10 2:14 AM EST –
...... see if it makes any difference if the canoe weighs 64 or 84 pounds .
It does , but maybe not the way you think ... the heavier , sturdier , stronger boat is better .
It just struck me that everything you said about aluminum canoes seemed to confirm every advantage I mentioned about the OldTown 3 layer linear polyethylene canoes or similar construction canoes .
and if you had an Oldtown or similar …
– Last Updated: Sep-16-10 1:57 AM EST –
...... construction plastic canoe (3 layer linear polyethylene or Royalex) , ogre , you wouldn't have had any problems or repairs to the deteriorated spray foam filled ends , no knocking out rivets and dismantling the metal ... Oldtown and similar are full hull floatation , the center layer is solid floatation that doesn't deteriorate .
sure they work , they are even pretty …
– Last Updated: Sep-16-10 9:05 AM EST –
...... and nice paddlers , just keep them shiney , dent free and use them in calm to easy , non-rocky waters and they can become antiques like the ol wood and canvas canoes , classics in everyway .
Navy Jelly for aluminum shines them up like new every time .
None of which is applicable to the …
…original post.
You are applying an extreme situation…
– Last Updated: Sep-16-10 10:32 AM EST –
... to everyone. Believe me, there are advantages to good paddles and there are advantages to purpose-built canoes. Your response to every question about paddles is to get a cheap rock-basher, and your response to every question about canoes is to get an Old Town. To me, that defies any implication of having all sorts of experience in all sorts of different boats and conditions. Not everyone is crashing around in rivers the way you describe. Lots of people have used aluminum canoes in rocky rivers for years and found them inconvenient at times but usually nothing worse than that, and they are not "wrong" for saying so. This wouldn't have taken off like this if you could take other people's comments in proper context rather than reaching for extremes to insure that you can be right, if you would keep the purposes of the original poster in mind rather than imposing new ruling parameters of your own, and if you'd just "lighten up already". The guy just got a good deal on a boat that will do the job and which will probably never be worth less than he paid for it. I'm happy for him.
most aluminum canoes I’ve seen …
– Last Updated: Sep-16-10 10:52 AM EST –
...... "and paddled" , have that high recurved bow and stern , call it the Indian look if you want .
Great big wind catcher sails that look really neat , but get pushed around by every breeze ... add any significant wind (which is almost "ALWAYS" the case) and you get to enjoy the big fight with the wind to go where you want to go instead of where the wind wants you to go (good muscle building stuff) !!!
What is noise in a canoe ?? It's the sound of things the canoe bumps into , it's the sound everything that's inside the canoe when those things get touched or moved about (picking up & setting down a paddle , grabbing a container or sliding something forward or backward , , it's the sound of the water lapping the canoe , it's the sound of picking up & setting down a fishing rod or anything else , it's the sound of beaching and parking the canoe on shore , it's the sound of the paddle against the gunnel on prys or under canoe strokes , it's the sound of loading and unloading the canoe , it's the sound of dragging the canoe , it's the sound of standing up and sitting down in the canoe , and many more things that have anything to do with a canoe . Clunk , clunk , bang , thunk , echo , echo , scrape , grind , clunk bang thunk !!!
What is quite in a canoe ?? ... it's the same thing that noise is but it's very very quite noise and unabtrusive , pssst , psssst , tip , tap , woosh ... aluminum is LOUD irritating noise !!
Oldtown has a construction they call "3 Layer Superlinear Polyethylene" ... it's not the same as 3 layer linear polyethylene . The Superlinear is quite noticably stiffer (far less prone to oil canning , my Expedition doesn't oil can at all) , it's HDPD and extremely tough also . The Expedition 169 is Superlinear and I believe the Disco 169 and some others are now also .
The polyethylene floatation core in the OT canoes makes them float high and ensures great load carrying capacity . A canoe that floats high smooths across the water and is agile instead of burrying in it and bogging down . A loaded canoe that floats high as loaded canoes go , is better than a laoded canoe that burries itself in the water deeper (load capacity is a big deal even when loaded lightly) .
The reason I purchased the OT Expedition 169 (Disco ??) was not a guess , it wasn't because I didn't have enough experience (butt time to gbg) , it wasn't because I had not paddled enough canoes to know better (I've paddled nice Royalex , single layer polyethylene , aluminum , and FG composite ... I purchased the Oldtown because of what it is , what it does , what it can do , because it's a great canoe and I know the difference .
Aluminum canoes have form ribs (the more the better since it's aluminum) ... those ribs don't allow for sliding things forward and backward as needed between bow and stern paddlers or for any other reason you want to rearrange something . Those ribs are "catch alls" and collect garbage and sometimes thier edges stick up some and can be sharp ... Seamless one piece plastic hulls like OT's have no obtrusive ribs !!!
Did you sleep during science class?
You say
“The polyethylene floatation core in the OT canoes makes them float high and ensures great load carrying capacity . A canoe that floats high smooths across the water and is agile instead of burrying in it and bogging down . A loaded canoe that floats high as loaded canoes go , is better than a laoded canoe that burries itself in the water deeper (load capacity is a big deal even when loaded lightly).”
You don’t understand bouyancy at all. Making the hull out of a material that floats will NOT make the boat float higher if the overall hull is heavier, which an Old Town poly hull is. If you take two boats of identical shape, one made of aluminum and the other of poly, and if the poly boat weighs 15 pounds more, the poly boat float slightly lower in the water simply because the whole boat weighs more. It’s NOT that hard to understand, but of course, differences of 15 pounds won’t make much difference in most cases anyway. You are reaching for extremes again, but this time what you said is totally wrong no matter what situation you apply it to. I think it’s time to quit.
Get The Lowe
– Last Updated: Sep-16-10 11:11 AM EST –
That was our first canoe, 17' Lowe made in Lebanon, MO. It was heavy, hot in the summer, cold in the winter. Aluminum does tend to "Hang" on rocks in shallow water. But I could stand to look for my line, the seats were fairly comfortable, it will definitely paddle more efficiently and easily than the Pelican. We paddled a lot of different Ozark streams and it served us well. I sold it because my wife had difficulty helping me load it (mine was 80 something lbs) and it was too heavy for me to load myself all the time. But that canoe is a very good choice for a "Starter" canoe here in the Ozarks. WW
http://www.pbase.com/ozarkpaddler/image/89928676
what is it about those blow moulded
… plastic Oldtown seats (the new style , not the old flat ones) .
Well , they are contoured and make for very comfortable butt fit , they are filled with extra waterproof floatation (waterproof means the floatation won’t rot , shrink or absorb water) , they are strong (very) , they need zero care , they are structural , they also have adjustable seat backs (but I removed them right away w/o ever even trying them) , they are the type of seat that one can sit in all day long and be happy about it … add a thin pad layer to the contour if you need to , we don’t … they are solid smooth construction from side to side , no holes or gaps to snag on your butt cloths and things in pockets , the shaped contour keeps your butt planted when the canoe starts rocking and rolling , that shaped contour also eliminates the straight edge on the front of a seat that puts unnessasary pressure on the underside of your thighs (like straight front edge wood woven seats , planks , aluminum seats , etc. that “do” pressure the underside of the thigh) . All facts , OT poly seats are good stuff for all the reasons mentioned .
gbg , you must be totally cluesss …
– Last Updated: Sep-16-10 12:44 PM EST –
...... either that or you just want to pick a fight and be argumentative .
Floatation is what "helps" to make the load ride higher (it's called bounyancy) , and in Oldtown's case it's a fantastic ballance in draft-freeboard verses load capacity .
I can run my Expedition 169 through 3" of water (or very shallow water in any case) with a 500 lb. load and it smooths right on through . That bounyancy due to full hull floatation (and hull design) also raises faster when it does touch something below , it's a rebound effect .
I think your problem is gbg , you think too much and come up with inncorrect comprehensions .
A canoe with a given load (call it X lbs.) will displace that amount of water vol. required to equal the exact same weight X as the canoe load . Some will float higher in the water (less draft) , some will float lower (more draft) , but both will displace the same amount of water by weight X .
Let's see , a PFD is filled with floatation , why does it hold you up ??
Why do things that float come "up" to the surface , and things that sink go "down" to the bottom (like aluminum) ??
Why do things that have more bouyancy float higher with a given load X than things with less bouyancy do ??
Why does an ice cube float and a rock sink ??
Why does a cu. vol. of salt water weigh less than an equal cu. vol. of fresh water ??
sure it is gbg …
– Last Updated: Sep-16-10 1:13 PM EST –
...... everything I've said is apllicable to the OP .
OP is purchasing a canoe for the very first time , he has choices/options that are not Pelicans or Aluminums and I am encouraging him to weigh those choices , consider the advantages/disadvantages by providing information , explanations and reasoning .
Why don't you go out and purchase an aluminum canoe gbg , it's your boat of facination , why paddle anything else ... your such a knucklehead sometimes , gbg !!
The OP has far better choices available to him ... every one here has litterally confirmed most all of what I've said , but say to OP , get the aluminum .
The OP lives in AR and intends to see rivers ... AR has great mountains and rocky rivers ... he will most likely desire to expand to those rivers after day one and see what they are all about ... everyone "loves" the rivers and quickly feels comfortable with them , and then it starts to get more interesting and fun , quiter , more serene , less people , more wildlife critters ... great fishing , adventure , explore , possible camp !!
This fella will love the rivers , he lives in AR , it's in his blood . Geesh , this fella is going to take his kid into the great unknown and show him that life is not all concrete and asphalt , but things of great amazement and beauty exist beyond the manmade habitats , things that build character and wisdom and give ballance and understanding to life ... the mountains and rivers that run through them draw us all if we but dare go and seek ... he will , I'm certain of it , and a canoe that will serve him tons better there is where I'm coming from . he'll find his way to the mountain rivers as all who have gone before have , I'd bet money on it ... it's in his blood , and his kid's too !!
But for the OP's sake I will say , "an aluminum canoe will get you out there on the water too , it will just have "all" the disadvantages I've mentioned here" , and if you can avoid them , then why not do so ... that's all , not more , not less .
if a plastic boat gets a burr …
… a gouge that has peel stick up , and can draw blood (especially on wet hands/skin) … an aluminum boat can draw much more blood .
Sure , file them both down … after the fact !!
This isn’t worth it, but it is you who .
– Last Updated: Sep-16-10 1:29 PM EST –
...doesn't get it. Bouyancy is controlled by the overall weight of an object compared to its overall volume which is available for the displacement of water. The "density" of a floating boat is the overall weight divided by the overall volume as determined by the dimensions of the portion of the hull that is in contact with the water. What the boat is made of, or what it is carrying only contribute to the overall weight, not the volume, and thus only affect the overall density. Only when the boat becomes swamped does the density of the hull material or cargo become important, because in that case the volume of material bouyed up by water is only the volume of the hull material and cargo itself, not the empty space within the hull. Don't hurl insults when you don't understand this. It is very easy to come up with examples if you'd like. Do you think a 200-pound dugout canoe floats higher in the water than a 70-pound aluminum canoe just because aluminum sinks in water and wood floats? That's just a more extreme example of the same principle I illustrated when comparing a poly boat to a slightly ligher aluminum one.
All of your examples miss the point completely and shows your lack of understanding. If you put 100 pounds of PFDs in the water, they will provide tremendous floatation for whatever object you care to attach to them. If you put 100 pounds of PFDs in your canoe, it becomes nothing more than 100 pounds of cargo (except that it is much more bulky cargo than normal), and they will make the boat sink deeper into the water exactly the same as 100 pounds of any other cargo. They will do nothing to help the boat float higher UNTILL the boat becomes swamped, because only then do all those PFDs displace water with their own volume rather than by means of the boat's hull. Again, when in a floating boat, 100 pounds of PFDs displace 100 pounds of water by sinking the hull more deeply into the water.
A rock would float if you could make it hollow, showing that it's the volume as determined by external dimensions that matters, not the material itself. You nearly showed a glimmer of understanding when you said that the same weight of water is displaced as the weight of the floating object, but everything else shows that the true concept eludes you. This really shouldn't be so difficult. Maybe if I get time later on, I'll try to find a link to some site that explains this on an elementary-school level, but until then, don't be so sure of yourself. You truely do not understand bouyancy. Let's leave hull shape alone for now too, but that's actually the most important thing controlling how a boat rides in rough water.
Try reading
This guy has no plans to carry 500 pounds of gear, and thus plaidpaddler’s statement is quite relevant. The statement was probably relevant even with that load, but that isn’t what he was talking about.
You really need to read what people write, and that includes what I write. I am not enamored of aluminum canoes, but you insist that I am, not because I have said so, but because it makes it easy for you to villify my position that aluminum canoes are “okay” for what the OP describes. Lighten up. Really.
Can you adjust them? Can you put …
…your feet under them? Seriously, you are sounding more like Pamlico_14 all the time.
gbg , the OT hull that has the …
… full floatation core is in contact with the water (it’s not inside the canoe being payload like persons , gear etc. … it’s floatation is reacting to the water , it’s floatation is resisting the desire to sink , it’s floatation is floating up (called bouyancy) … it helps the canoe hold up a greater payload , it floats higher for x payload . it’s all those gazzilions of tiny tiny air bubbles trapped in the floatation core . The poly and floatation core poly are lighter than water , they float “up” , and can carry a greater payload x than a single sheet aluminum boat .
You said it yourself with the 200 lb. wooden dugout canoe comparing it to the 70 lb. alumi,um canoe . The 200 lb. wooden dugout canoe floats that 200 lbs. up high like the 70 lb. alum. canoe … why is that ??
Because the wooden canoe is more bouyant . Now take a floatation core in an Oldtown , it doesn’t weigh 200 lbs. but has much greater bouyancy per pound than an aluminum canoe , so the floatation core has a reserve of bouyancy to carry a greater payload higher in the water than the aluminum canoe .
200 lbs. of PFD inside a canoe are 200 lbs. of payload … 200 lbs. of PFD in contact with the water are 200 lbs. of floatation bouyancy , resistence to sinking .
I give up.
– Last Updated: Sep-16-10 2:01 PM EST –
Got kids in school? Go see their science teacher. The floatation must DISPLACE water with its OWN VOLUME to aid floatation. Inside a floating hull, it's just weight.
I didn't say what you say I did about the dugout canoe. You incorrectly assumed the nature of how such a boat will float.
Any floatation material that cannot be surrounded by water is just weight. Build the hull out of it, and all the material on the opposite side of the surface that contacts the water is just weight, unless the boat is swamped. In that case, a hull made of a floating material will float and a hull made of metal will sink. Do you think the air bags in whitewater boats make them float higher when they are dry and upright? Any interior floatation, whether tied in, glued in, or built into the hull won't provide "its own" floatation unil its own volume is displacing water, rather than displacing water with an air-filled hull. Using your reasoning, filling the entire interior volume of a dugout canoe with the wood that was originally carved out of there would make if float higher than if it were empty (it will do the opposite). You still don't see what's going on here?
you vilify yourself gbg , i have no …
… desire or intention to act such a way toward you .
You ask ask for it repeatedly by your insults and put downs , that’s why you are a knucklehead sometimes in my book .
I read all of what others post , I consider well and long what they are saying , I respect what they say and thier reasons for speaking it … I offer my insights , experience , explain them , and leave to others to consider my words and ponder them for validity , usefullness .
You gbg , call names , make personal put down coments … in return I declare you a knucklehead for doing such .
You won’t verify anything I’ve stated in this post referencing comparisons of advantage - disadvantage thoughts or opinion between an OT Expedition 169 (or any other similar plastic boat , high end , low end , whatever) , and the aluminum canoes … a thousand times the same things I have referenced to plastic boats as advantage have been repeated , paraphrased , expounded on and upheld throughout this site , year after year , after year by so many others .
I speak and write as simply and clearly as I am able . I don’t mince words or play silly mind games games … my words speak what you here and I believe are very understandable and hopefully informative .
If anything I say is in error , then it should be challenged and corrected in a constructive manner … my intentions to you gbg , are to show me what I have stated in error and “explain” why you feel it so … then we can talk about and see how it works out , boils down .