Seriously considering buying a Ranger Canoe from New Hampshire. They only make about 150 a year. Looking for a relatively stable canoe for fishing and camping. Have only heard good things about these canoes. Are there any Ranger Canoe paddlers out there who have any experience (good or bad) or opinions?
Thanks,
Bill (NJ)
Yup
– Last Updated: Aug-29-06 4:44 PM EST –
I owned one for a while. Sweet boat, handled well, pretty stable, had a shallow V if I recall which made tracking good and weight wasn't that bad either. The ones I've seen have had wood gunwales but you can get them in vinyl. They are in Ashland, about a half hour drive from my abode. If this is the type of boat you're looking for I would recommend it. Also, nice folks.
dougd
Yup, Got One
The hull’s kind of a shallow arch/shallow vee combination. I have a pic of it next to my old Wenonah Adirondack and it’s shallow arch hull. I’ll put a link here so you can see the difference. I have a 'glass one, but the inside is dyed yellow so it looks like a kevlar boat. I’d say the weight is pretty accurate. The gunnels are well made, the decks are vinyl and not crazy about them, but they’re o.k. The contoured seats were very well made, but my wife didn’t care for them and so I switched them with some in my Mad River Explorer. Works solo with the canoe turned arround and sitting in bow seat with a bit of weight in front of you (A large cooler works well). Tandem, comfortable for both paddlers. I like the lower stems, about 19" since they don’t catch the wind very badly. It’s not particularly fast, but faster than the similar sized Mad River Explorer and Wenonah Adirondack. We both feel it has excellent primary and secondary stability. It is plenty comfortable to fish from in IMHO. Here’s some pics, the last has the view of the Ranger’s hull in comparison to a shallow arch. I should have thought and put one of my Mad River’s in the pic to show the difference in the deeper vee hull it has in comparison. WW
http://www.pbase.com/ozarkpaddler/ranger_canoe&page=all
I have one
– Last Updated: Aug-30-06 1:48 AM EST –
Love it. Pretty much what the others above say. I've had it for 2 seasons now. Paddles nice, feels good in most types of water/weather. For solo I put in a kneeling thwart so you don't have to always be going in reverse like WW there. Ballast does help for solo on windy days. A couple of 5 gallon water jugs work nice. Have since replaced the kneeling thwart with a center seat, but I'm thinking I like the thwart better at this point.
The contoured seats work fine for me.
It's a well made, good looking boat for the money.
P.S. Mine looks just like WW's except it's green with a grey interior... ;)
Thanks.
Thanks for the information. Much appreciated.
Bill