So Wifey says we need two(not one, but TWO)Border Collies to help manage the livestock(both domestic and wild)around the Ol’ Homestead. “But I’ve never trained two at once before,” says I “and they gotta be water dogs from the git-go.” Well, we got two pups from a rescue(brother and sister)and they both swim and fetch like dolphin bastards on amphetamines…I’ve taken them on a couple lakes already in a whitewater inflatable kayak(Very slow going for touring, but the soft sided paw-tough material made for easy climb back ins after chucking the ball/frisbee.)
I have seven solo paddle crafts, mostly solo kayaks and a couple canoes. My sixteen foot fiberglass Great Canadian canoe is just too dam heavy to manage/bother with by myself anymore, especially with two frisky mutts tagging along. I intend to take the dogs with me for 4 days cruise down a mellower section of the Delaware in Sept/Oct. Wifey will carry our supplies in a kayak.
Pop question for you more experienced canoe afficianados out there: What’s a good, fairly lighter weigh cruising canoe that I can pick up on-the-fly, preferably with cost not over $1500? I would naturally be paddling Indian style from midships, as the dogs have already made their individual preferences at bow and stern.
Dogs in canoes
I paddle with a 82 lb Yellow lab. I now own 11 canoes.
I use a 16 ft Mad river explorer in rolyex.
16 ft Old town Penobscott in roylex. Both of which are not all that light. In the past 2 years I picked up a used 15 ft Nova craft Prospector in Roylite which has been soloized for poling. And also found a Vermont Encore. The last 2 boats are much lighter than the first 2. The problem You will probably have is getting anything lighter for $1500.
Hemlock canoes also makes several larger and lighter. solo boats but will cost you closer to 3k.
I would say the prospector is the best buy.
Good luck and happy paddling with your dogs.
Dolphin Bastards On Amphetamines
Saw them one night in a South Beach bar called Mirage Image. (Or, so I suppose, for I believe I saw Jesus and Roseanne Barr that night, too, holdin’ hands and skippin’ over the Intracoastal Waterway water like a stone…uh, stoned. Hell of a Cuba Libre, with-a-twist, they served there.) I’m not usually much for Heavy Marine Biological Metal, but they did a killer version of the Flipper Theme Song.
Anyway, Johnny V.‘s the man when it comes to aqueous motivation of canining canoe constituents. Molly can be about a one-point-eight-border-collie handful, especially when she takes to her gunnel and deckplate standing stunts.
My meager voyages with Moby Stick ("That Lil’ Black Snail!"), have mostly been in 70-to-85-pounders, the Explorer and Uberbot, although he will occasionally seat himself into stasis aboard a much lighter Wenonah Voyager. Once or twice, I did have reason (or lack thereof) to take aboard a secondary canine occupant, and, the semi-vee of the beamy Explorer acted as a nice semi-stop indicator, when my eyes were distracted from intra-hull furball shenanigans, as to pitch inclinations requiring attention. I’d think you might find an used Kevlar Explorer in decent shape for about $1 to $1.2K. Hell, not as light, but likely still sturdy and lighter than Royalex, Mr. Curtis has an older fiberglass model you could purchase in the $300 area, with perhaps 2-to-3 hundred in brightwork being needed.
My wife’s Mohawk Odyssey 16 in Royalite also would make a nice 2-dog platform, although that thin vinyl skin has suffered under my steerage when attempting to scale some local bony streams (hence hubby don’t use no more). I believe that hull, too, falls within your price point.
And then, and Steve-in-Idaho would be the best man for such a reply, I’d think, lest the hulls are a bit too rounded for secondary canine stability, one of Mr. Kaz’s boats, the A.C.- D.C. or Coho, might accommodate your herd(ers), and they are both light and perhaps just 50 to 100 dollars over your $1500 figure.
Well, whatever, enjoy those Doggone Crazy Rapids that lie ahead!
dogs
Assuming you want a solo -- border collies aren't very heavy.
How big/heavy are you?
Will you be running any whitewater?
I've paddled a Bell Morningstar(small tandem) with two 75-pound dogs, and found it to be very stable, but not exactly speedy.
Old shot: http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2101526350087581313pZzkzX
The Wenonah Vagabond is reasonably light even in Royalex. I happen to have one for sale...;-)
This is a stitch & glue attempt at duplicating a Swift Osprey: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2097288330087581313LdMEIc
The Swift solos might be worth a look. The Wenonah tripping solos are out of your price range new, but a fair number pop up used.
Just saw these in the classifieds here:
(NY) '99 Swift Shearwater solo VG condition. Ivory Expedition Kevlar w/ Cherry trim & slider. Stored indoors. $900/BO Rochester, NY
(CT) 2007 Bell Northstar kevlar, 40-45#,16'6", tandem, cane seats; excellent condition; inc. wood paddles, 4 vests, hanging storage system, wood treatment products. $1750, all.
SOT tandem
Hi, try a Sit On Top tandem kayak. Tandems tend to end up on craigslist and ebay frequently.
I use a Wilderness Systems Tarpon 130T for water rescue training my large Newfoundland service dog Orka. Tried many types of watercraft and found the Tarpon the only one with good enough footwells, stability, weight bearing capacity and movement. My Newf is 138 pounds and able to dive off the platform we created by removing the front seat, putting in a carved mini cell foam flat surface in the front footwell, covered by dog turf and a wet fatigue mat for traction.
This kayak just accommodated Orka and 2 other good sized dogs. Uploaded the picture but it isn’t appearing yet so here’s one of me & Orka on the Tarpon:
picture
Try a cat.
catamaran.
Fabulous photo!
The dog looks way bigger than you, though. Sure the dog isn’t 238? 
G in NC
That’s not a dog
it’s a bear! Great pic.
Thanks for the tips.
You always have such a way with words
that I admire greatly.
But how does one measure "1.8" border collie or any other muttation?
I do like the Mohawk line, and have sampled a couple locally. Will look seriously at the Odyssey.
Your dogs are beautiful, Angs.
Great suggestions. An Osprey always been on my wish list, even without hounds.
For what its worth, I'm 180lbs. The dogs are medium sized(I think both together are lighter than the Newfie pictured above.) And as I said, wifey gets to schlep the provisions cause she picked out the dogs.
Fantastic Newfie.
almost looks like Washington crossing the Delaware;-
(A tandem sot, would probably be just as heavy as my existing fiberglass canoe, though.)
Thanks for the feedback and pic.
And which catamarans have you paddled?
Woof-woof. Bow-wow for now.
Thanks for all the replies and
cheers, mates!
Osprey
The sorta-Osprey has a few quirks, but has been a great dog boat. I positioned the seat a bit aft so it’s trim with one big dog in front of me. They like the low freeboard because they can see out while lying down.
dogboat
I would definitely have the Mad River Kevlar Explorer on my watch list. Very forgiving of moving passengers and not too wind-blown with 100 lbs of live ballast.
two is the maximum
for daytime paddling
two Dog
I like border collies in boats. Your question is broad. I like large canoes for down river touring for their speed and room with some rocker. Old Town Guide 18 cedar and canvas, Bell North Wind. Sawyer Cruiser, and Sawyer Charger are great boats. Put the dogs where you want them, not where they want to be.
You don’t need a lighter canoe
I think your current canoe will work just fine. You just need an easier way to move it. I use a sea tug and roll it up to the racks from the hood. Once it is on the racks I flip the canoe over and strap it down.
It is shown on the video at about 3:20:
http://youtu.be/V0ijJCIuXyM
Wow, what a creative rationalization …
… for a canoe buying feeding frenzy: I need a new one for dogs. I’ll steal that line and maybe blow a few more hulls past the Secretary of War.
Thing is, and to make it all perfectly easy, for two dogs you need exactly the same kind of canoe that you need for two small kids.
And this forum has, over years of refined discussion and scientific experimentation, narrowed the two-kid scenario to a mere 67 recommended hulls.
You can take that as your starting point with confidence.