hey rpg where did you slough
out from? Just curious? Some of my boat bending occurred on Wassatoquoik Stream and Roll Dam (Slade's Rip Section). It wasn't unusual to unpin a boat below Haskell's Rock Pitch on the East Branch as well. I was always able to retrieve the boats and paddle out. No z drags involved- we would usually strong arm or pull with the flow.
Never happened to me -
but the fear is there and it makes me careful. I like life. I want to come home to my family. If I am in a truly remote place I am cautious. I have wrecked boats in less remote locations. But I have always managed to get the boat off the pin and back in service. There was one time on the Horton River when one of three boats dumped and the thought of getting 6 guys with food and gear for three weeks down an arctic river with two canoes was causing me a bit of stress. Not my idea of a fun trip. When I am in that sort of place I walk around or line a lot of things that I would float in Maine. Maybe I'm a wimp? But, I do get home and I live to travel another river. Royalex in my opinion is the most rugged and functional for trips like that but the real point is you just have to adjust your decision making to the type of boat you have. If its W/C or Kevlar you need to be a bit more careful in my opinion and then you will be fine. You need to be honest with yourself about your abilities and don't take big chances.
Viper 12
I don’t know if you were asking me but I have a Clipper Viper 12 in Kevlar Duraflex. Clipper has molds for 4 full-on solo whitewater hulls previously made by Mohawk Canoe in Royalex but they are not shown on their recently revised website.
The boats are a Probe 11, Probe 12, Viper 11, and Viper 12.
yeah remote is a relative term,
crashed a view times in Maine and it was inconvenient but certainly not a life and death situation. It pays to study the maps and know access points. Freeze Out Trail, IAT, Golden Road, and a host of continuously changing logging roads provide access to lots of places in Maine. Buffer zones around the rivers and lakes so you don’t notice the human impact so much.
OT Prospector vs Tripper
is now what we’re looking at. so it’s me, my son, (330# between us) our 50lb dog and gear for 10 days. Will the prefered lighter Penobscot handle this?
The NC Prospector 17 has some rocker
and they all are in the 70lb range. OT advertises lower than reality and their P17 lacks the rocker. Their(NC) BlueSteel layup should do well. Clipper’s Prospector 17 also looks to have, although not documented with some rocker…I would talk to find out.
May be more…
Yes, for the tripping
you describe my personal preference would be to find a used OT Tripper (royalex) or a NC Prospector (17). These boats are great for trips in moving water. A bit of a weight penalty v. composite for sure. So you could go composite if that is really important to you. If you go composite just be sure to get a heavy lay up if you going to be tripping a lot in moving water.
If money is at all an issue you can’t go wrong with a used OT Tripper. They can be found in good shape in the $400 to $700 range.