Am searching for a boat that will fit my need to carry enough supplies/equipment to last for a 10 day trip on the Missouri River. Have researched the net and feel the Cape Horn 170 would provide the necessary space but now question the watertightness of its hatches as well as the quality of WS customer service. From several posts have heard nothing good about WS customer service (in fact I never received information from them about their product line/availability/etc.) Am not looking to spend thousands for a boat which I will probably only use a few times…but do want one that won’t take on as much water as what I’m paddling. Would appreciate a response re: quality and adequacy of the Cape Horn 170 for such a trip. BTW am also planning to add a stability system/sail kit to facilitate speed. Any thoughts on this. Know of two sources for this equipment: Spring Creek and Sailboatstogo.com. Please, please, please…if you’re a “purist” don’t go off on me because of the stabilizer/sail plan. My trip time is limited, my body pretty much beat to hell, and, quite honestly, my last shot at doing something outrageous which has already raised concerns from my family and disdainful/discouraging/doubtful comments from many acquaintances (and a few wistful “wish I were going” quotes from others). The trip was originally from Three Forks, Montana to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri a distance of nearly 2400 miles and some 12 dams but now reduced to about 900 miles and only one lock/dam due to the aforementioned reasons. I’m 6’ and weigh 220 lbs. To do this trip I must lose 20 lbs and quit smoking. The day I order the boat is the day I stop smoking. So please give me some feedback as soon as possible. Will check for replies daily for the next week or so. Can do this as I’m home recovery from surgery…told you my body is shot to hell. But if I have to crawl to the river bank at Yankton, South Dakota I’m damned well going to do this trip. Thanks.
$.02
You might consider a QCC400, buckets of stability, efficient design. For the money you won’t be as afraid to take a drill to it for sailrig mods. Absolutely no worries concerning ordering if you are thinking of ordering a CapeHorn170. Explain your intentions to Phil.
Prijon
Kodiak. Read about it on CoolDoctor1’s threads. He owns two. You won’t be disappointed.
Good luck!
If you’re uncomfortable with quality issues for wilderness systems’ poly boats, consider a Current Designs Sirroco or Storm. The storm is larger, but both are extremely well designed and well made plastic boats with lots of storage capability. My friends who have them have no complaints.
Prijon and Necky also make very good polyethylene models for extended trips.
It’ll DO but you can do much better.
I have posted a review in the reviews section of pnet of the CH170 i used to own. For your purposes, it’ll do fine. If you’re planning to pay the sticker price, you can do MUCH better.
The deficiencies of the Cape Horn 170 Design AND quality come into play in rough water and if you plan to develop/use good technique. in short,CH170 has decent speed,very strong initial stability and plenty of room for gear.Decent hull design(but the “keel” limits manouverability even though the boat has LOTS of rocker),big floppy cockpit with very recreational outfitting,lots of small leak spots and general detail not thought-through before boat went in production. Very newbie friendly in rough water,but you can do much better.I sold mine and bought a necky Elaho.
a Prijon Kodiak will be a WAY better built similar class boat for the same money(here sticker price is actually ~100 less than the wildy boats)
Storm is pretty decent,pretty similar nature to the Cape Horn,Sirocco i think is slower than either but also more manouverable. I tried a sirocco and liked it but wouldn’t wanna do a long trip in it because of the slowness.
responses to cape horn 170 quality
My thanks for your responses to my posting. Will check out the suggested boats. Again, thank you.
Bought QCC 500
Bought a QCC 500 today. From all the reviews and from studying the various construction aspects, I expect the Q will do fine…especially considering the online price. Plus resale should be acceptable.
don’t lose any weight
that's a biggun. So what kind of sail rig are you looking at?
Stop smoking
Check out the new drug “Chantix” for nicotine addiction.
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