new to river canoeing

hi I have a 14 ft great Canadian,fiberglass canoe and looking at buying a old town Penobscot 17 ft,for river camping trips .any advise would be greatly appreciated.i live an hour north of philly,in central bucks county.i mostly have done lake and slow water streams.thank you

A couple of questions and comments
1. Is the Penobscot a new one?

If yes, keep in mind that royalex is no longer available



2. Will you be by yourself ?

If yes why not a 16 footer ?

It would be lighter for portaging and a tad easier on tighter small river turns



Jack L

the Penobscot ?
does it float ? insert flotation and go…

read the dangers
Read-up on the dangers of rivers, like strainers and rapids. Also install painter lines on your canoe.



Also, get a ‘very good’ life jacket and wear it!

river canoe camping
thanks jack,yes I am debating getting the 17 ft new,i would be going with a friend. I really look forward to a 2 or 3 day trip.any advice would be helpful.i am thinking of trying the allagany river,the upper dellaware,and the Juniata rivers.any sugjestions on canoes,or calm water river trips would be great.i have alwase been afraid of putting my 14 ft great Canadian in a river because it rides so low in the water,and it is fiberglass.i am an advid paddler,but wounder if this river trip is somethink I could do with the wife,she is not canoe savy at all.thank you again

river camping trip
thanks for your time.i will research strainers and rapids,i don’t know what painter lines are,if you could explain I would be very greatful.any brand of life jacket that you might recamend would help also.from my research I thought that the pensbcot 17 ft was a good choice,any sugjestions on a canoe for 2 would be great. thank you

In that case, the 17 footer would …
be better.

There are too many good 17 footers to suggest any one.



I like my 17 foot Wenonah Jensen so much that we have two of them.



To me it is the sweetest tandem every built, but then other people have their favorites also.



One is our “beater boat” that we use in shallow rocky rivers, and the other is only used in lakes and deep rivers, and the ocean.



Jack L


you don’t need 17 feet
The rivers are generally wide and 17 feet is less maneuverable than 16 feet.



People have been taking multiweek trips for a long time in 16 foot canoes.



Its true 17 feet will float higher and this makes me wonder since you are floating low in your fiberglass canoe… just what ARE you taking? 14 feet is too tight for a tandem in most cases though.



Nothing wrong with fiberglass on any of those rivers. Its fixable unless you do a total wrap.


painter lines
Painter lines are the ropes attached to the bow and stern by drilling a hole through the hull. Google some pics.



The penobscot would not be my choice for a river. Not solo anyway. From what I understand, the penobscot has a shallow water line unless weighted down.



Of course any canoe can be paddled down a river. Just make sure you can control and manage the canoe as needed.

painters
are sold at Walmart marine…the multicolored rope. There could be Pfd there also. Learn to ferry with your partner and eddy turn. From Utube and the library.

2 man beginners paddling is a cause for divorce.



Utube see: Wenonah Rendezvous Bridge

I have a lot of experience on the Upper
Delaware River. It’s ok for camping if you like established camps. Weekends can be overcrowded. The river has several places with class II rapids when the gauge in Barryville is above 4 feet. Anything below 3 feet and its a rock garden, not good for Fiberglass. It’s run by the National Park Service with many liveries and outfitters along the way.

geeesh
Watched the videos. How do they paddle upstream in that fast of current?

river camping
thanks for the link it was great.i can not find the rendezvous for sale on Wenonahs web site. do you know if it is still being sold new.i am really glad I found this site before I bought a canoe,thanks again

Rendezvous is a solo boat.
There are lots of canoes well suited to your purpose. How much do you want to spend?

Mostly momentum

– Last Updated: Jul-06-15 10:52 AM EST –

That guy was a fast, sit-and-switch paddler, but most of the really high-speed progress against the current was due to "stepping out" into the flow from a calmer location, and the net effect is that the water goes ripping by for the first several seconds that it takes for the boat to begin "catching up" with the flow. There were some nice jet ferries which relied on that technique. Also, if I recall (watched it the other day and can't remember everything), there was a surfing sequence, in which case, going forward against the current is "downhill". The boat coasts downhill every bit as fast as the water flows in the opposite direction. On a good standing wave, little if any forward paddling needs to be done. It's exactly like what a surfer does on an ocean wave, but instead of the wave moving through the water and carrying the boat with it, the water moves through the wave and the wave keeps the boat where it is. In both cases the boat moves rapidly relative to the water itself, driven entirely (on a good wave), or almost entirely (on a not-so-good wave), by gravity.

river camping canoe
I want to stay close to 2000 dollars .I do want to take a friend along so I am looking at tandum canoes,so far I am thinking of the Wenonah 15 ft prospector,what do you think.i can also use it solo too.

Prospector would be a good choice,
but I think you’d find the fifteen foot version a little cramped for two grown guys and their stuff. Looks like the sixteen is close to your $2k bogie. However, before you spend your yankee dollars take a moment to familiarize yourself with the different construction materials and how suitable they are or aren’t to the waters you plan to frequent. Also, be sure to check CL, gear swaps, etc. You should be able to find a really nice tandem well within your price range I’d think. I know you could around here.

My vote is for 17 foot, not 16.
I find 17 foot boats more comfortable for tandem tripping. Gear packs easier. Better all around. I have used both - much prefer 17.

link up n go
https://www.google.com/#q=south+pennsylvania+canoe+clinics

Agree a 17 would be better for tandem
camping, but if memory serves he wants something he can solo in a pinch. A 16 would be the max for that IMO but would still work for tandem camping. Now, if one were to factor out the solo component…