The Outrage at 18’
long and with a fiberglass/kevlar see through hull was one of the best tandem flatwater canoes ever made! I miss it, but am sure that it is still in service on the big lakes.
mickjetblue
yup
As long as they are put together really nicely 
Sawyer Shockwave on ebay
There is a used Sawyer Shockwave on ebay right now. FYI.
There is also an 18’6" Sawyer on Ebay,
but WHICH 18’6" IS IT???
According to one well known designer the Legend was an ok boat, but the 222 was a much better one.
Happy Paddl’n!
:^)
Mick
190
It doesnt get paddled much anymore. While its fast it lacks the capacity we need for tandem trips. Its OK for freestyle but the constant flare makes it hard to judge when the rail is on the water.
Tis a shame…
We-NO-nah makes good canoes, I just
– Last Updated: May-30-05 10:29 PM EST –
have no use for them.
Look over their product line? Have done so many-many times. Tried and tried them. A man that was a friend in my home town had a livery and was a We-NO-nah dealer until last season. (BTW: He was a racer and long fast rec paddler all his life who preferred Sea Winds to We-NO-nahs too. He had the ONLY Kruger dealership that ever existed.) I could have any We-NO-nah I wanted at cost at any time for the last 25 or more years. Never found one I wanted to pay that much for.
As far as the "We-NO-nah" thing I do, well, it is just fun! I have never said that no one should buy a We-NO-nah. I have recommended them (Notice I did not say "We-NO-nah"?) to several paddlers who I thought were a good match for them. You and I went to scout one out for Jill. I recommended it in her case primarily due to it's unusually more stable hull and the placement of the seat which made it handle more Bell like then **-NO-*** like. (Was that a We-NO-nah with it's bow and stern covered with snow flakes?!) It has worked out well for her.
I do like some We-NO-nah accessories/parts. You may well find out just how well in the near future. ;^) Yes, I have always heard their customer service is great! I'll bet I can get that aluminum thwart from their racing site that Souris River has never sent! Good idea c2g!
As for Kruger Canoe Company canoes ... Hummm .... You may find this hard to believe, but I try to talk more people out of them than I recommend them to! :^) If the people who do not need them do not buy them, then the ones that can actually use their unique features can get them quicker. Sometimes the 10 month or so wait is a killer for someone that could really use one to it's fullest. Kruger canoes built by the Kruger Canoe Company are old technology, extremely overbuilt to do a job no other canoe or kayak can do very well. The company sticks to doing it one way and it's share will continue to remain small and provide little profit for the company owner if it does not eventually modernize and add the variety to it's line the paddling public has been asking for over the years. Because of this refusal to provide variety there are no less than six variations of the Sea Wind being designed and built by various paddlers around the country. One or two of these have developed into more efficient kayak designs. I stumbled onto an additional two in just the past few weeks. I still think they are the best canoe made for me and many other paddlers!!!!!!!!!
I also recommended Souris River (still a very good canoe, but now a bad service company), Bell (love their boats, but hate the direction the company had taken, box stores - stabbing their dealers in the backs and hurting the paddler's service, down grading the fire boats and others, and so no ...), Merimac (great boats!), Mohawk (probably recommend more of these than any other Royalex boat), Charlie Wilson with his Placid BoatsWorks is saving and bettering the FireBoats (get my new RapidFire next month!!! can't wait!!!! want a test paddle c2g?), and now that Sawyer is back and I have gotten the opportunity to paddle some - WOW!!! (A long straight and narrow Sawyer Summer Song handled just like the We-NO-nahs claimed they could but failed to deliver for me. Thank-you David Yost!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can not wait to get my hands on more Sawyer models and try them out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).
Happy Paddl'n!
>:^)
Mick
We-NO-nah makes good canoes, I just have
no use for them.
Seems I posted to the wrong place the first time. Please look on down the thread to fine the “We-NO-nah makes good canoes, I just” complete post there.
Mick
Just paddled my new (to me) Summersong
with feathercraft rudder in the golden glass layup. It’s a very nice looking cherry red 1983 model that’s been garaged and has very few scratches. I’ve only been in it about an hour and a half, but I like this boat alot.
I blame your glowing reviews for this investment, wildwater. I’ll probably be selling my Mad River Slipper now.
This is the first canoe I’ve paddled where I actually prefer using a canoe paddle rather than a kayak paddle. I enjoyed using the rudder rather than using corrective strokes.
The boat is very heavy, though. I’m used to the 45lb Slipper and this much heavier (with rudder and other fittings of unknown function) Summersong will take some new technique for carrying and portaging without hurting myself.
The summersong appears to have very good glide. I felt like I could paddle several hours without being too wiped out. Now I need (want) a better paddle.
Which Sawyer 18’6" hull is it?!
Update!
Took a lot of e-mails, checking old catalogs, remeasuring, weighing, re-weighing, and finally a few fon calls exchanging info back and forth, but finally found out. It is a Legend in Superlite lay up… 18’6" long X 33" wide. 10" midship depth. 30# hull, 37# with seats. Have never seen one and it is not in my '85 catalog, but is on the '85 price sheet with a few, very few measurements. Can you imaging doing the BWCA in a hull with 10" sides?! Apparently it was for racing where the 222 Cruiser at 14" and 52# was an all around hull. I’ll bet it did well at 37# for 18’6" of slippery hull!
Just may get to paddle it. If I do will let you know what I find if I do.
Mick
Don’t Sell Slipper on My Account
Did you buy the Kankeekee Sawyer Summersong?
I have the Kevlar version of same, if it is the same…
Glenn
I sure did.
– Last Updated: May-30-05 11:44 PM EST –
So you bought the kevlar boat from Shane in Kankakee? So far, I like everything about this boat except the weight. Do you know what all those brackets on this boat are for? Some look like they could be used for mounting deck covers or something - I'll be looking in to that.
I'll also be interested in any suggestions for the care and feeding of this fine boat. I don't have indoor storage and I'd like to keep the finish/paint as nice as I can.
So far, I'm quite pleased.
Oh, I wouldn't sell the Slipper on your account, but because the Summersong will probably serve the same rolls as the Slipper well enough that I no longer need it. I'm out of boat storage space and now I need money to pay off the Summersong loan :)
Summersong - AHHHHHH
Those L-shaped aluminum dealy-hoos were added by the original owner. I think he used them to fasten the boat to his roof rack system. I removed the ones that came on the Summersong I purchased from Shane.
As far as use, I set the front seat adjustment to its lowest position and set the rear one to its highest position. I used radiator hose automotive clamps behind the seat to keep the seat from sliding back any further than I want it. I hated the seat moving back further than I wanted it…
I kneel in the boat. I use automotive mats under my knees and feet. I replaced the weak bungies with stronger ones to keep the peddles for the rudder in a neutral position. I keep the rudder up most of the time, but when I tire of kneeling, I drop the rudder.
I’m a hit-and-switch paddler, so I keep the rudder up most of the time and stay in the kneeling position, which gives me more control and stability. When I am sitting, I don’t feel as comfortable with the stability, which is why I keep the rudder down, I think…
More later. Love my boat. Yes, yours is heavy…
Glenn
Confused!
I’m way confused here. I have an '83 Summersong, but no rudder, and it’s hard to imagine this boat needing one. Was the rudder a factory thing or was it added at some time later? Mine tracks like a locomotive; is the rudder used for turning?
Also, mine has no flotation tanks, just what looks like Ethafoam 2x4’s glued up just under the gunwales. Was that how they came from the factory, or was that added (I’ve only had mine a year)?
Inquiring minds want to know…
Pete in Atlanta
I think my rudder was added by original
owner, but I’m not sure. They used it for tripping in the BWCA. My '83 Summersong has factory flotation tanks. I just got the boat yesterday, but I have been using the rudder to assist with turning. I like it so far.
David
wildwater, you owe me $200 in paddling
– Last Updated: May-31-05 1:02 PM EST –
lessons or something of equal value (a tour around your favorite haunts in Michiana?), because Shane took your advice to raise the price of the Summersong I bought by $200. Of course, you didn't tell him his prices were too low until after you'd paid for yours. You sly dog. Shane made a tidy profit, I'm sure, because he bought them from the widow of the original owner after her husband died and she probably asked less than the original price they paid 22 years ago. More power to Shane. We all look for deals like that.
How did you raise the back of your seat to the highest position? My rudder lines run through the top holes of the seat adjustment. I hadn't thought of kneeling in this boat yet. It feels very stable to me sitting with the seat in the lowest position. At least as stable as my MR Slipper with it's hight seat position. I'll have to recheck that.
I hope to paddle our Summersongs together sometime. You can help me carry mine.
I started another thread titled "How do you use your Sawyer Summersong" to learn more about this boat. I hope to get some good postings there.
David
To Answer the Rudder Question
The rudders on Shane’s two Summersongs were installed by the original owner.
No, they are NOT for turning. Rather, they make it easy to hold course if you want to take, say, ten or so paddle strokes on one side of the canoe while in a “sitting” position.
Actually, I think the primary reason the original owner installed these very nice rudder systems was to help when the wind blows. Some p.net posters have said the Summersong gets blown around a bit in strong winds…
Again, I prefer a kneeling position. I reach well forward when I want to move fast, using powerful forward strokes, perhaps five on each side. Yes, tracks like a train…
From a kneeling position, to turn, use your knee for lift on the side you wish to turn. I keep my upper body straight, but shift my lower body to lift the side of the bow in the direction I want to turn. It is a common kayaking technique - many call it a “knee” turn because kayakers are in a sitting position, so they lift their knee on the side of cockpit, lifting the bow of the kayak on that side. These boats turn OPPOSITE of how a NASCAR racer goes around the track…
Glenn
sawyers paddled
summersong; i’m way overweight and i carry a boatload of gear. i love it although it took some getting comfortable with its stability. handling in a high wind boundary waters trip was excellent. did wrap it around a rock on the niobara river in nebraska. took it into the old plant in oscoda to repair the gunnel trim. while they repaired it, i rented an autumn mist and ran it from grayling to oscoda. it too is a great boat. looks like superior in portland michigan has the license now. good to see them back. i’ve had my summersong for almost 30 years – still going strong
Talk about a trip down memory lane! I was trying to remember the name of the Sawyer Shockwave, searched Google, and up pops this old thread with some old, familiar paddling friends, one whom is no longer with us. Since that thread I’ve become enamored with a couple Sawyer boats, the Autumn Mist and the Shockwave. Indeed, a Sawyer Solo 13 is one of the 3 canoes my wife and I have left. Too bad Mick and friends couldn’t resurrect Sawyer from the ashes nor could Superior Canoes. I just hope someone gets those old molds out and produces them once again. And “Mick,” William Wood, I’ve lost your phone number and address old friend, but I think of you often. I hope you and Sandy are well!
Some old familiar names here. I have a Summersong and it suits my paddling style, straight ahead and at speed.
