Canoe Choice

Check out my wording above

– Last Updated: Jan-26-08 8:32 PM EST –

I said "isn't it true... (?)" in regard to most composite boats being more subject to breakage, because that's what I always hear people say, even on this board. Besides, based on the number of composite canoes I've seen with major patch-jobs, and hearing the stories about what caused the damage, I can only assume that the average composite hull breaks pretty easily on impact in comparison to Royalex. A friend of mine has an old, but extremely well-made (Blackhawk) canoe canoe that has quite a few little mushy spots from rock contacts which were not head-on, but glancing blows (and the boat has never seen anything worse than easy Class I rapids). I just don't see examples of serious damage on Royalex boats from these same sorts of impacts.

In my own experience, I have had just two damage-causing impacts on my composite guideboat (it has either five or seven layers of fiberglass and Kevlar, I can't remember for sure at the moment (Edit: Wrong either way. Actually it has two layers of each, for a total of four layers)). In both cases, the impact was of a sort which would have caused no damage to a Royalex boat at all, other than a little scuff mark, and maybe a little dent in one case.

Come on Eric…
Admit it; you’re a demolition derby basher!



:^)

BOB

Yeah, everyone scatters…
… onto the riverbank when they see me coming.

Me too!

– Last Updated: Jan-26-08 2:18 PM EST –

But my idol is PJC; the king of the "rock bashers".

If I bring my "new to me" Hemlock SRT up there this August, I'm not going let either one of you "bashers" try it out.

BOB

Have you considered gunwale material?
I like low maintenance, so I prefer aluminum on composite boats and vinyl on royalex boats. I don’t want to baby the gunwales when loading/unloading the boat from storage racks and car roof racks.



Wood looks good, but I don’t want to deal with the regular maintenance. Other’s love the look of wood and enjoy the ritual of the maintenance.

canoe demolition derby
All this canoe demolition derby talk has me rethinking being disappointed about not being able to make this year’s Spring Ozark Rendezvous - NOT!



Besides, I’ve bashed my red Freedom Solo around pretty well by myself, and as John Cameron Swayze used to say about those old Timex watches: “It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.”

rocks and gravel
Those two words stuck out for me. And if I was solo paddlings through rocks and gravel I’d take a Mad River Explorer 14 TT and sit backwards in the bow seat.



It is really tough polyethelene ,paddles well, and it only weighs about 72 pounds.



I don;t think royalex is near as tough as poly.

“Only” 72 pounds!

– Last Updated: Jan-27-08 8:41 PM EST –

Even if the original poster hadn't already said his target weight was something less than 50 pounds, 72 pounds is just enormously heavy for a boat used solo. This must be the heaviest 14-foot canoe ever made, outside of a chopper-gun glass boat from the 60s. By the way, how's that beast cruise and maneuver in comparison to the three truely awesome boats he is already considering? Sorry -- can't help but point out the obvious.

Okay, I just looked at the Mad River site and was surprised that this actually is NOT that overgrown rec kayak that Mad River has the gall to call a "canoe". I figured it must have been for it to weigh that much. That boat still needs to go on a diet though, even if it has reasonable specs otherwise.