glad you learned something.
Pack canoes are hard to find in Florida as they are not mass marketed.
They are everywhere in the Adirondacks where people bushwhack to remote ponds.
Guess what… to FISH!
walk
– Last Updated: Feb-10-16 9:05 AM EST –
walking is too simple a word for Florida woods pond fishing tho grazing land fishing is accessible if ponds are public land or remote unposted.
I've met a couple on their way in toting a GPS.
Looking for unfished ponds.
The woods in NYS are logged off woods/lakes with opened access for 100 year so canoe toting is 'normal.' Routing is industrial !
Same for MTB in Sierra gold country. Epic routing on narrow highways.
Take a look at Lakes County or below Lake Placid (FL)
http://goo.gl/o5pJql
OUAT camped at
http://www.topozone.com/florida/lake-fl/lake/dillard-pond/
wonderful. now closed from Orlando/Daytona overabuse. and muh E250 does not go in like the 544 at 4' wide.
The Problem With Light Weight…
– Last Updated: Feb-10-16 10:19 AM EST –
....Pack Boats around here is NOT because we'd drag them around, it's due to the rock bottoms and current. Sometimes these rivers "Shallow out" in fast water or have lots of obstructions to easily "Bang" in to even for "Advanced" paddlers. My friend, Yellowcanoe, will verify this. I love composite boats and have frequently paddled them on Ozark streams (Including paddling a couple Placid Boatworks canoes). But, unless someone is an "Expert" paddler, I would not recommend it.
http://www.pbase.com/ozarkpaddler/image/90551101/large
http://www.pbase.com/ozarkpaddler/image/90551104/large
The problem with light weight…
…pack canoes is that in most places they are scarce - especially on the used market.
Mohawk 14
I’m coming to believe that the Mohawk Solo 14 is one of the best all-around solos for flat water and up to class 2 (or more, for talented paddlers). It isn’t too hard to stand and pole, even.
Rocks
Lots of rocks in New England! What kind you looking for? No smooth bottom streams either, I use boat control to avoid both. I wonder how much a good pack canoe would fetch down south?
The Adirobacks abound
– Last Updated: Feb-10-16 1:21 PM EST –
In beaver dams. And shallow rocky rivers. Not much different than the Ozarks.
The newer Hornbecks do well so do the older. The damage is not from hull but rather from having them fly off the car and break wooden gunwales .
So do all the other good composite pack canoes. Don't equate light with weak.
I can't think of a meaner to the bottom environment than oyster bars in the Glades and my pack canoe is fine. Sure it's scratched but the gel is not scraped away even after 30 loadings unloadings
Composite boats are noisy, also, but
not as noisy as aluminum. Royalex is the most quiet.
Oyster Bars
In New England we have Oyster Bars but those are places to eat oysters and have a drink. I keep reading about these oysters bars in FL as places to avoid at all cost that they will wreck your boat. Can someone explain?
OK, I’ll Say No More About The…
– Last Updated: Feb-10-16 2:21 PM EST –
....fact that ultra light Pack Boats are not the best choice of boat for Ozark Rivers. I would invite someone who is better at directional control than I am to try it for a few years? Just try paddling a day or two a week most weeks of the year on our streams and see how it holds up? It's not just because I'm a poor excuse of a paddler that I would recommend a new paddler something besides a light weight pack canoe. I'm certain some "Experts" would find their expensive pack canoe "Trashed" within two years?
OK, that's it, I'll shut my mouth on the subject, I'm out of here!
your ? key is stuck