http://www.newfound.com/weelassie.htm vs other Wee Lassie designs of similar size? Here’s the photo gallery that’s linked on that page that shows some variations on the build http://www.newfound.com/weelassiegallery.htm. My variation isn’t in that gallery.
I’m completely unfamiliar with these Wee Lassie type boats, but bought a beautiful one on ebay today an am wondering if anyone here is familiar with this design and how it compares with other Wee Lassie models of similar dimensions.
I didn’t find much info when I did a google search.
Yes, I know that I should have test paddled first, but they wanted $100 to do so and it’s a 360 mile round trip to get it.
The one I bought also has extended decks with waterproof bow and stern bulkheads with top hatches and adjustable angle seat back.
I’m 5’6" and 155 lbs and my wife is shorter and lighter. This will be mostly for my wife to use. She enjoys our QCC 400X, but this might be more fun for her to just mess around in and hopefully more comfortable. She only paddles a few times a year. It will also be 15 lbs lighter than the kevlar 400X
I plan on paddling it with a 240cm carbon Werner Camano until I can afford something more appropriate.
This will also be my first wood strip canoe, so hopefully maintenance won’t be too much of a pain. It will be primarily my wife’s, so maintenance will be mostly her responsibility. She’s better at painting and varnishing than I am anyway.
Thanks in advance for any feedback.
P.S. Somebody please buy one or more of my boats for sale (Blackhawk Zephyr, Sawyer Summersong with rudder, Phoenix Pokeboat) so I’ll have space for the new boat and money to pay off Paypal.
What a perfectly beautiful boat!
Your wife is a lucky, lucky girl, and I bet she’s going to love that canoe. I paddle a pack canoe, the Vermont Tupper, and it is so much fun.
Congratulations! Please let us know how she likes it.
I’m glad “the bride”
doesn't look at P-net.
She would be wanting one.
We both rowed boats as kids, and everytime she sees a rowing shell she says we should get one.
that would be just the ticket.
Way back before most here were born, I used to paddle an ancient Old town canvas and wood ribbed canoe on Newfound Lake
Cheers,
jackl
Any experience w/ McCarthy Wee Lassie?
Anybody here paddled one?
Thanks sissy103 and JackL.
Picked up the Wee Lassie yesterday
and tried it out today, along with the home made paddle made from the same wood as the boat and by the boat builder (purchased separately).
First impressions from my wife and I are that we like the boat and the paddle. Stability isn’t an issue once you’re in the seat. Getting out also has potential to be eventful. Tracking is quite good, even with the long paddle (99", I believe). Turns quite nicely with a bit of a lean.
Top speed isn’t much to brag about, as you might expect for such a short, wide boat, but my wife perceives it to paddle “effortlessly” at her pace, and that’s what matters for this boat.
My wife says it’s a definate keeper for the fleet. It’s very pretty and she looks good in it.
I did try the 47.75" Zaveral bent shaft in it and it worked pretty well.
The varnish seems to scratch easy,
at least when compared to gel coat.
Any suggestions for care & maintenance of a wood stripper?
Store inside year round
Nessmuk and Rushton
Wee Lassie was one of the ultra-light canoes that J. Henry Rushton designed & built for George Washington Sears, aka Nessmuk. Integral part of Adironcack history. If you do a web search you’ll find tons of info.
For a number of years Compass Cayaks of Little Compton, RI, produced some wonderful ultralight fiberglass & kevlar canoes from Rushton molds.
Not much info on this Wee Lassie version
though. Go ahead, try a search.
My understanding, which could be flawed, is that different designer’s versions of Wee Lassies can be quite different, hence people’s preference for one over another.
Wee Lassie is a concept?
Yanoer, I agree with you that many pack canoes called Wee Lassie (or other names used by Rushton, Nessmuk, etc.) are similar in concept more than they are in actual dimensions. For instance, compare my Hornbeck Lost Pond to my wife’s Hemlock Nessmuk: both are 10’6" long, but the Hemlock is shallower and slimmer. Your wife’s new Wee Lassie appears still longer and asymmetric. But the paddling description you provided is remarkably similar to my own perception. Probably the differences in design would be most apparent at extremes of conditions and paddler size/skill. Hope your wife enjoys hers – it’s lovely.
230cm AT Xception SL works great
in this canoe, if you don’t mind the paddle drip on your legs. With this paddle, this Wee Lassie does seem to move along nearly effortlessly. With the wooden paddle that we bought with it (101" (254cm) w/ 25"x5" spoon blade), the large blades were much harder on the shoulders and elbows at the cadence that I wanted to keep - a much higher gear than the AT.
I did one 3.5 mile circuit with the large bladed wooden paddle and was in pain before I was even half way around.
I changed to the Xception SL and did another circuit with higher cadence and no pain. That large bladed wood paddle is just too high of a gear for for this paddler in this boat.
It still amazes me how important the right paddle is for my paddling pleasure in any particular boat. Too large of a paddle blade or the wrong length paddle greatly diminishes my paddling pleasure and increases my pain.
Until I switched to the smaller paddle, I was beginning to think that the boat was quite inefficient and was the problem. I’m glad that I swapped paddles.