hi there,
I’m now 73, live in Leyland UK and have decided I would like to simply potter about on my local canals and lakes.
being just 5’ 2 and not having the largest car I began looking for small canoes/kayaks and boats …
hopefully with a bit of storage space for camera/food/clothing etc
could anyone please advise me if a boat made out of correx would be up to the task? …
ie: could that material stand up to a slight bump or hitting a submerged rock as all the materials would do?
a local chap makes such boats - one example is on UK ebay, item number 273359578147
I also fancy the Pirhana item number 192604613194
the Pirhana is more sturdy, but because of it’s lightness and storage I prefer the canoe,
but am concerned about it’s possible fragility.
any comments would be really appreciated,
best regards, Kevin
Too bad you are two hours drive from the Malton and Norton Canoe club. They could help you find a boat, plus they have several different types of craft in their clubhouse livery at their dock on the River Derwent that you could try out. I paddled with them when I was visiting from the US last year. Several of them used short whitewater type kayaks and others used small solo canoes. They were very welcoming! Perhaps in your pottering about you could get together with them for an outing and possibly find a member selling a used boat that would suit you. Here is their club web site:
The paddling forum site “Song of the Paddle” is also a great resource for kayak and canoe information and contacts in the UK. That is how I originally located the Malton and Norton folks.
I’m a fairly small paddler and I had brought along my own boat, a 12’ Pakboat Puffin folding kayak that I brought over with me (it packs down in a duffel bag and only weighs about 10 kg.) The Puffins are available in Europe (can be shipped anywhere) and are quite durable and spacious – the lightness and portability are real plusses for us “fogeys” (I’m 68). Here is my Puffin set up in the garden of my Yorkshire rental cottage. Newer versions of the Puffin can be paddled without the removable deck, like an open canoe. They are a nice boat for winding rivers, canals and lakes. Easy to portage if you don’t want to wait at the canal locks.
@willowleaf said:
Too bad you are two hours drive from the Malton and Norton Canoe club. They could help you find a boat, plus they have several different types of craft in their clubhouse livery at their dock on the River Derwent that you could try out. I paddled with them when I was visiting from the US last year. Several of them used short whitewater type kayaks and others used small solo canoes. They were very welcoming! Perhaps in your pottering about you could get together with them for an outing and possibly find a member selling a used boat that would suit you. Here is their club web site:
The paddling forum site “Song of the Paddle” is also a great resource for kayak and canoe information and contacts in the UK. That is how I originally located the Malton and Norton folks.
I’m a fairly small paddler and I had brought along my own boat, a 12’ Pakboat Puffin folding kayak that I brought over with me (it packs down in a duffel bag and only weighs about 10 kg.) The Puffins are available in Europe (can be shipped anywhere) and are quite durable and spacious – the lightness and portability are real plusses for us “fogeys” (I’m 68). Here is my Puffin set up in the garden of my Yorkshire rental cottage. Newer versions of the Puffin can be paddled without the removable deck, like an open canoe. They are a nice boat for winding rivers, canals and lakes. Easy to portage if you don’t want to wait at the canal locks.
I must apologise for not responding to all the comments. I was not getting email notifications, so will try and sort that out.
thanks in particular to willowleaf for all his advice - I could die for a Pakboat!
I envy you mate, but sadly I have a tiny budget and my wife thinks I’m a nutcase, but I did buy the correx canoe one from ebay.
the seller Mike, from near Liverpool seems a great guy and what he built should suit my needs (when I have sorted a roof rack!)
it’s not showing online now, so I have added screenshots and his description
This Single Open Canoe was built of two sheets of CORREX Polypropylene sheet generally in accordance with the free downloadable plans
issued by Paul Elkins. It is 3.6 metres long x 0.85 metres wide and weighs an incredible 16 Kilograms!
It was built last Summer and displayed at the Northern Boat Show in Liverpool in June 2017 before being covered by a heavy duty tarpaulin.
The timber is American Ash and the plywood is WBP Marine grade and Exterior grade.
It has been painted and varnished with several coats of reputable materials.
Suitable for one adult or two children under supervision and can be paddled on sheltered waters of a lake, river or canal.
It is easily car-topped by a single adult.
Interesting boat, Kev! Let us know how it performs.
One warning: polypropolene is VERY flammable. The British Navy discovered this to their great distress when sailors provided with polypro thermal underwear during the Falklands war were badly burned by the melting plastic fiber during combat exposure to explosions. I can testify to that myself as I was wearing that same material on my sleeves while I was working as a construction electrician and red hot shavings from hole-drilling inside a steel enclosure fell on my arm and melted the fabric to my skin. Keep your boat well away from any source of spark or flame.
By the way, despite my previous “hard hat” work experience and adventuresome tales, I am a she, not a he! Photo attached is me paddling in the bow of a tandem canoe on the Derwent with one of the Malton-Norton club members. The River Derwent is a fine trip I highly recommend - the portions we paddled passed through lovely woods and farm fields (I almost expected to see Ratty and Mole from “Wind in the Willows” float by). Our second outing ended at Kirkham Abbey and the wonderful restored medieval Howsham Mill which has a white water kayak slalom course built into the millrace rapids. Some of the club members had been on the board that oversaw the reconstruction of the mill that turned it into a functioning mini hydro generating station with a turbine in the original wheel drive position and a set of Archimedes screws producing enough “green” power for 50 homes. They did the work using real horses since the island where the mill sits is not accessable to motor vehicles.
We did have to pull ourselves over some snags on the Derwent. But it was cool that all the weirs were built with a central “tongue” spillway to allow boats to slide over them… I have a photo of a weir somewhere but couldn’t immediately find it.:
a great post and photos willowleaf … you seem have covered more water in the UK than I
and could make a few bob out of being a tourist writer for poor old Blighty!
methinks I should not have gone for polypropylene given that I still smoke and have visions of pottering about and reaching down for a Senior Service ciggy and a and a wee glass of Malt?
everyone remembers a border collie’s name, and rarely the owner’s - Ira seems a fine dog (the spitting image of my old girl Lady) that photo you showed brought a tear to my eyes.
Lady was 18 when I had to put her down and had done more Munro’s in Scotland with me than many humans have. She was a real show stopper and I never had another dog afterwards.
@KevBro said:
a great post and photos willowleaf … you seem have covered more water in the UK than I
and could make a few bob out of being a tourist writer for poor old Blighty!
methinks I should not have gone for polypropylene given that I still smoke and have visions of pottering about and reaching down for a Senior Service ciggy and a and a wee glass of Malt?
everyone remembers a border collie’s name, and rarely the owner’s - Ira seems a fine dog (the spitting image of my old girl Lady) that photo you showed brought a tear to my eyes.
Lady was 18 when I had to put her down and had done more Munro’s in Scotland with me than many humans have. She was a real show stopper and I never had another dog afterwards.
It’s a shame you haven’t had another dog. Mine is 14 and really showing her age. I don’t know if I will replace her when the time comes.
What’s a Munro?
Lady was irreplaceable.
a Munro is any mountain in Scotland over 3000 feet - a guy named Hugo Munro first cataloged them - Google “Munro Bagging” (and yes, 3000 feet is a pimple in the USA, but it’s a big deal over here in the UK)
Lady was certainly a beauty. As hard as it is to lose such old and dear companions, I have always felt the best way to honor their memory is to open my heart to another one.
Here’s a better shot of Ira, who was just a yearling pup at the time. He clearly loved to canoe. When we stopped ashore for lunch he decided after about 15 minutes that we had taken quite long enough and jumped in the boat and barked until we wrapped up our picnic and joined him.
Memories of my Jake. He was a decent canoe dog and at 18 we had to put him down… Deaf blind, doggy Alzheimer and decidedly not his herding old self. Not sure if another border collie will be in our future. As we are 72 we are past chasing misbehaving border collies and are more into mellow Goldens! We had a old Lab for 10 months that we got from Labrador Rescue in Mass but she was so old that despite our helping her lose 40 lbs she still could not walk well and had a stroke after 10 months. We don’t know how old she was but think about 12.
I’ve taken to adopting older pets – no telling how long I’ll be around myself! And a mature animal already has its habits and personality established. The cuteness of a young’un fades quickly and you never know how they are going to turn out, despite your best efforts. I’ve had great luck with older companions. It does mean I have to lose them sooner rather than later, but I can give them happy dotages. And they have all been great buddies.
