Anybody here paddle a Dreamweaver?

I’m looking for information on the Superior Canoes Dreamweaver. Anyone here ever paddle one? Any idea of price range? Comparable to Kruger Sea Wind?

www.superiorcanoes.com

Cool looking
While I have never seen one, the construction methods seem sound.



My canoe is Kevlar/Glass composite and I can say it is very tough. They are using a similar layup.


part time builder?
I’m getting the feeling that Superior Canoes is a part time builder. My emails have gone unanswered and my phone messages aren’t being returned. Anybody know anything about the company?



Thanks

Andy

Decked canoes
Just saw them for the first time on a link to decked canoes . It is

a copy of a Sea Wind . The depth is a bit more than the Sea Wind

but the rest looks like a very close copy . I don’t know how they

get away with it . John

Hi Canoedancing. Happy Holidays!!!

– Last Updated: Dec-26-06 9:24 PM EST –

Good to be back. I had an unexpected, but very enjoyable long break. :^) I will try to shed some light on your questions.

I do not know of a "Dreamweaver" canoe made by Superior Canoe or anyone. A web search turned up a horse, a designers chat page, Adobe products, Dreamweaver template, etc. My best guess is you picked up the "Dreamweaver" name from the "Dreamweaver Template" used to make the Superior website page. "Dreamweaver Templa..." shows on the open page index on the bottom of my computer screen. Not a bad name, but probably too close to "DreamCatcher". I am told the name for this expedition boat by Superior Canoes will most likely be "Soaring Eagle".

Scott, the Superior Canoe designer/owner has built expedition canoes from start to finish for many years. He also redesigned and reworked plugs and molds. He understands what is needed in this very specialized area of canoe building.

Scott's "wife jumped the gun a bit", putting the Superior site up before Scott was ready. He does not have a working computer hooked up. Scott does not do the net. He gets work done instead. I have always found him to be good at returning calls. I would suspect you may be experiencing a problem due to the season; family functions, parties, etc. This is party season! Scott is a hard worker, hard paddler, and a hard partier. ;^)

Of course it is a part time company. The Superior Canoe company is just starting up. Starting up is a slow, painful process unless the owner wins the lottery. Scott works full time, has a family, and this affliction to build canoes. ;^) He also just completed the successful acquisition of at least a dozen of the Sawyer Canoe molds. :^)

I do have a prototype plus (half final and half still prototype) finished Soaring Eagle fairly close to you. Contact me and we can paddle at least three of the five expedition canoe sizes I have. Do not worry about the weather much. These DRY canoes were made for this stuff!!! ;^) Paddled just last Sunday in HIGH winds and little whitecaps on the lower Potomac. Not rough enough or cold enough for the spray skirts yet. Also paddled twisty, windy, shallow streams. GREAT!!! Give me a shout Andy.

>:^)

Mick

Talked to Scott last nigh
Scott Smith, the owner of Superior called me back last night and we talked for a good long while about the Dream Weaver, and yes Mick, you’re right about the software name riding over, but in my own defense (rather than sound stupid) if you do a search on Superior Canoes it takes you to Dreamweaver page which has a picture of a decked canoe on it so it’s logical to assume the boat is called the dream weaver, yes?



Scott told me he worked for Verlen Kruger for 7 years and left when Verlen sold his company to the person who’s running it now. During that seven years Scott built over a hundred canoes, most of them Sea Winds, and worked on a bunch more. He feels the lineage for these canoes is the Loon, Monarch, Sea Wind, and now his own design which has several differences from the Sea Wind. Scott showed this model to Verlen and discussed it at length and Verlen said it was a good design, So, according to Scott, his boat even though it looks like a Sea Wind is not a rip off and he had Verlen’s blessings to build it.



The “Dreamweaver” actually called the “Soaring Eagle” wll be on the market sometime next year and will sell in the $3500 range.



I’ve decided to move away from the Decked Canoes because they are so expensive. One element of the upcoming James River 400 is to promote paddle sports, which means we’ll be appealing to entry level paddlers. A $3500 boat is not a way to encourage beginners. Rather I should be paddling a $1000 boat, or several boats, to demonstrate how much fun one can have on the river without breaking the bank.



Mick, thanks for your invite to paddle the Sea Wind and the Soaring Eagle. Maybe someday, but for now I’m back to focusing on a less expensive canoe with a Cooke spray skirt, even though it won’t be as well suited as the decked canoes would be.



Regards,

Andy

Sorry Andy, I did not mean to imply
anything negative.



I also thought DreamWeaver was a model name the first time I looked the site over. In my reply to you I merely thought I was shedding light on where the mistaken name probably came from. Your thought line logical? Yes, I thought so. And I like the name too. I alerted Scott about the confusion. He said he has not made a final decision on the name yet. Still kicking a few around.



Thanks for relaying the background info about the “Soaring Eagle”. I had not heard that story as yet. Having paddled the prototype and now owning a “prototype plus” I knew it was a different hull than a Sea Wind. It definitely handles differently than a Sea Wind. It is longer. It is wider in the right places. It should be faster and I in my opinion is dryer.



If I can be of any help let me know. I have both Bell and Sawyer canoes you might be interested in test paddling. Bell: Merlin II, FlashFire, and WildFire in Royalex (now YellowStone solo). Sawyer: SummerSong, ShockWave, 190 (16’x31" tandem/solo), and a couple of 13 footers I need to ID yet as they came without model name decals. Also have a 15’ RapidFire solo by Placid BoatWorks, and a 16’ Quetico solo/tandem by Souris River. Do you like larger more comfortable or smaller more responsive canoes?



You looking at composite, Royalex, or plastic? A few years ago there were a lot of composite canoes at $1,000 and less. Harder to find now the way prices have gone up. ie: My Souris 16’ Quetico was $950 when I bought it five-six years ago, but now $1,950 (one of the bigger increases).


:^)



Mick

Thanks Mick

– Last Updated: Dec-28-06 5:22 PM EST –

I knew you were'nt being disagreeable, my wording could have been a little smoother, and I actually like the Dreamweaver name for a canoe. I have one named Whisper, maybe I'll have a Dreamweaver soon too, who knows.

I'm looking at Royalex and Expedition Kevlar now, because of the 200 miles of rock gardens and ledges in the James River 400. For my own use I prefer a 14-15' solo for white water tripping and a 12' solo for whitewater play. I have the Bell Prodigy X, my second one (I sold the first in a moment of pique) and the Esquif Vertige.

The PX is stable enough to stand up and pole, excellent whitewater learning platform, doesn't carve as well as some, and its slow, but not as slow as the Dagger Impulse I started out in several years ago. The Esquif Vertige is stable, a lot faster than the PX and carves better and it carries more gear for canoe camping.

I have these boats on the market; Swift Osprey kev light, Dagger Sojourn Royalite, Loonworks Aria wood and canvas.

I'm keeping (for now anyway), Liquid Logic 14' Pisgah, Wavesport Diesel 75 ww, two Manitou Sports (for guest boats), the Nova Craft Supernova Blue Steel, Mad River Horizon 17 and I'm looking at a Wenonah Argosy tomorrow.

In the meantime I'm lusting after; Sea Wind or Dreamweaver, Mad River Malecite Kx with IQ, Nova Craft Bobs Special blue steel, Liquid Logic MFT Sojourn kayak, Wilderness Systems Pamlico 145Tandem to use for solo river tripping. And, of all things, I'm looking at a Pungo 160 duralite this weekend because it has a big cockpit for canoe style river tripping.

I used to think I was obsessive-compulsive till a fellow asked me if I am a Collector. Yep, I'm a collector (and sometimes used boat dealer).

If you take a notion to try any of my boats just give me a yell, and thanks for the invite to paddle yours, might take you up on it in the Spring.