Unless, I have a plan. I hit the first
H2O it come across… If it has water & it is moving, I’ll try it.
I have paddled creeks that have almost 2-3 inches of depth & some thatI have to literally get out of my boat & pick it up to turn it around. I have also paddled open water & rivers wide enough for jetskis… I am not picky & enjoy the challenges. The last voyage with Northman & Longshadow also involved a 1/4 mile hike through brush so thik, that we would use our boats to flatten it out & walk across the deck of the boats.
Not claiming to be "super paddler… Just letting you know the conditions the boat would need to be adaptable to.
Paddle easy,
Coffee
Seriously
for your kind of paddling you should look long and hard at the T-160… yeah its 16’ but its narrow enough to get through some tight places, and you can literally hop out in seconds and drag the boat around over or under any obstacle. I have parked next to big trees, hopped off dragged the boat over the tree and hopped back on. Another bonus is that they are not very TALL I have seen many canoes get stuck as they were to tall to float under a log, or too fat to squeeze between places, although the t-160 has a pretty sizable girth compared to my QCCs. Also when the water gets really shallow you can hang your legs off and un weight the boat and float over stuff… Ask anybody about my “shortcuts” some of them don’t even involve water… The T-160 makes a great go anyplace boat… and when the water opens up it can hold its own against any in the plastic world.
O/T Still water 12
Wide, deep, and easy to manage even by youngsters, the Stillwater 12 is a solid work-horse of a canoe able to carry 15 times its own weight
STILLWATER 12
MATERIAL LENGTH WIDTH DEPTH WEIGHT CAPACITY
Fiberglass 12’ 0" 41" 13" 50 lbs. 750 lbs.
B.G.
String: I sent the link
to Coffee.
Thanks Jem…
Paddle easy,
Coffee
Yes. They are solo-able.
Don’t get rid of your critter. You may wish to keep using it too.
Enjoy the Radisson. It is perfect for you.
Will the T-160 handle two people?
That’s one of the criteria.
I have seen a Disco 119 w/2 people…
They were both sitting on the floor of the canoe. The paddler was in the rear facing forward and the passenger was in the fron facing backwards. They didn’t have any gear because it was just a day paddle on a local lake. It probably didn’t turn very well either since they had it so deep in the water, but they loved it because it was light weight enough that they could get it to the water and he was content to paddle while she enjoyed the view. It is a decent solo, and apparently a tolerable, but not ideal tandem in a pinch.
I had one for one season and didn’t think it turned quick enough for me solo. I weigh 150 lbs.
Another boat I used to have my serve your purposes adequately, even though it weighed 60lbs. It was made by American Fiberlite. It was 12’ long, 32" wide and had two hard bench seats. It was a tolerable solo when paddled from the bow seat facing backwards or from a sling seat just behind the center thwart. It wasn’t very fast. It was flat bottomed with about a 3/4" external keel. It turned reasonably well with a lean and sweeps, but I’d be cautious about leaning it much with two people & gear. Even though it weighed 60lbs, it was quite portageable and loadable with the center thwart resting on the shoulders. Not a great boat, but it was my only boat for about 7 years and I used it mostly on rivers and small lakes. It got used very little after I got a used Perception Keowee I and Keowee II. I finally sold it two years ago after a couple years of not being used.
One of the shorter open cockpit tandem kayaks may serve your purposes better than a shorter tandem canoe, though they usually weigh in about 55 to 60 lbs and aren’t as easy to solo carry as a similar weight canoe with a center thwart.
A boat that’s all your looking for will be challenging to identify. Good luck and happy paddling.
DOH!!
– Last Updated: Jan-04-06 3:44 PM EST –
Didn’t see that one... but that’s just wrong.. Sleep tandem paddle solo!!!
Get the Radisson Prospector
You know more about your paddling preferences, conditions and priorities than anyone.
The only problem asking canoers for advice is that they are eager to give it.
I also take back what I said about trying single blade paddling. The Radisson’s reverse-tumblehome may prefer a double blade.
Radisson
Do they make one with anti-reverse tumblehome? lol
why not a tandem yak
Get a short tandem yak to do the job. Heck you can even sell the critter. I think you’ll be happier with, even tho they can be on the heavy side (tho not that bad in the high 50s - 60s) the tandem kayak that has some performance as opposed to the Sportspal (comments on them below)
Since you don’t like length I’ll start with the longest you may want: I would suggest getting one with sliding seats.
Wilderness Systems:
The pamlicos are a lot easier to turn than the pungos (your comments earlier) and are better suited for river and shallower water.
Pamlico 145t: Great for it’s intended purpose. I’ve had 2 adults in one with some gear. Now I tossed out the phase 3 seats and installed a canoe seat and primarily solo it. 14.5’
Pamlico 135t: a little shorter and wider. More carrying capacity than the 145. 13.5’
Old Town: twin otter. 14’ pretty wide. Same as the Dimension escapade (I think that is the name)
Walden: Out of business (I think) but you still may be able to pick up one of their tandems.
Dagger: Blackwater 13.5, bayou II (discountinued)
Perception: Acadia II, Keowee II, Swifty II (last 2 are discontinued and the swifty has molded seats if I remember right.
Mainstream: Escapade (13.5’)
I have a friend who owns the 11’ version of the Radison/Sportspal/Old Sears birchbark style. Yes its light. Yes it can carry 2 people (not a lot of freeboard left with 2 adults and some gear - sometimes a wet ride in little rapids), but the material reminds me of a pop can - really the stuff dents like no other aluminum I have seen - after a few times down our local semi rocky river the thing looks like a golf ball. And boy is it inefficient - 2 strong paddlers couldn’t begin to keep up with me in a pungo 140.
http://www.buffalocanoes.com/10_foot.htm
You could set one of these up with 2 seats. Not that I would do it, but you could.
OR - sell the coleman and get a more manuverable 14 footer - Like a mad river explorer 14tt - it would carry the same kind of weight as the coleman, you can solo it pretty easy turned around, but it isn’t light.
Gett he fake birch bark
Radison! Its more of a natural camoflage and will blend in well. 
An offer you can’t refuse?
As someone that originally bought not one, but two boats for what I “might” do and to cover a lot of “maybes”, I would support the advice to buy a boat for what it will do 90% of the time, and find alternatives for the other opportunities (maybe the Coleman). With that being said, I would invite you to travel south a bit and meet me at the Pigeon River in NE Indiana near Mongo. I have a Bell Wildfire (Royalex version before the name change to Yellowstone) that I think might me a pretty good fit for your usage. It would not be a good tandem boat, but it is a nice small river solo and they can be found used near your price range. If nothing else, it would at least give you something to compare to the Radisson if you could find one to test paddle. With the warmer weather, the water is open right now, and I am available most Saturdays. Send me an e-mail via P-net if interested.
Check out this link
This is for a Pirogue
http://www.pirogue.com/lahome1.htm
Bobby
Kayak for canoe??
Posted by: coffeeII on Jan-02-06 9:54 AM (EST) Category: unassigned
I am thinking about getting rid of my kayak & getting a solo canoe. Have actually been thinking about this for awhile, but a recent conversation with Longshadow had really brought it into more perspective. The thing he said that really “opened the thought” was:
Something that you can literally “throw your pack in and be on your way”, without “stuffing & stashing”.
What do you all think, is this good logic? I feel it is, especially since I really don’t get out and “paddle/camp” anymore, it is either paddle or camp…
If so, what do you all think about the light weight Raddisson Canoes? Are they “solo-able”.
Paddle easy,
Coffee