From what I have read this seems like a great canoe and may be exactly what I am looking for. Most seem to say that it fills a niche somewhwere between to the Merlin II and Magic but does a better job than either.
Anyone know where there may be a used one for sale? Long shot I am sure.
thanks
Matt
Watch the classifieds.
About a month ago there were a couple on the P.net classifieds. Also check the Hemlock site. They have a used section, and Dave gets trade-ins occasionally. At the end of the season, he will probably have a demo for sale. That is where I got mine.
Tims description pretty
much is right on.
Wait like an ambush hunter. Sooner or later one will float by. It took me a year.
Daves old canoes often return home… and I bet there will be a Peregrine at the SW PA Solo Canoe Rendezvous.
Curiously I really enjoy applying FreeStyle canoe techniques to the Peregrine. Heeled to the rail that one will spin on a dime.
Premise Not Promising
Bell’s Merlin II was Yost’s redesign of the Curtis Nomad. A half inch wider, more and more differential rocker, waterline 4 inches shorter, but most importantly, DY fixed the Nomad’s over-pinched stern problem.
The Peregrine mold was taken off a Nomad with added stem layout; the process flattening the bottom a little.
Both are very mildly Swede form hulls that respond well to straight and bent paddles, and can be said to be “deep water” hulls; faster in deep water than shallow.
Magic is a completely different design series with a strongly delta shaped hull, and has the predictable handling characteristics of race based hulls: The bow tends to stick and the stern is loose. This is improved immensely by Magic’s significant bow rocker, but the delta hull performs best in shallow water as the wide aft section resists squatting.
Science again
I travelled about fifty miles in less than a foot of water in Peregrine…maybe Magic would have been faster than the five mph I made… But does it really matter?
So much of it boils down to personal perception and the way we load or not load our craft. We have an expectation of what meets our “likes” and are looking for the best match…
Sometimes science only results in a dissatisfied user and hence a used boat in the P net classifieds.
Facts verse Belief
– Last Updated: May-20-09 10:25 AM EST –
Kim;
Belief based positions include the currently vetted position that global warming is a myth and that the world is a few thousand years old.
Fact based systems are generally more accurate because they are based on repeatably measurable data.
Imagine trying to spec, then design, a boat without numbers. How long? "Oh, whatever feels right."
How wide? "Well, you know, comfortable.[For Me.]"
Cross sectional shaping? "Maybe something traditional/sexy/whatever."
Designers and manufacturers focus on numbers when conceiving and building watercraft. In specing ~fifteen hulls with David Yost, I've always used numbers. The paddling community would be without several fine boats if David and I couldn't communicate with numbers. Users are well advised to discover how numbers effect fit and performance to make quicker and better decisions.
For example, let's say 29" wide hulls "fit" a hypothetical paddler. The paddler has intermediate skills so differential rocker will aid tracking.
It's quite easy to peruse C&K or Paddler's canoe spec sheets and find the seven 28.5- 29.5" wide hulls available, evaluate length, rocker, and go try the one[s] that fits best while addressing ones needs.
Selecting one's next watercraft on the basis of attractive exterior or which fondly remembered paddler used what hull is more likely to end in a compromised floating life.
Facts are good but
While my BRAIN tries to grasp all of the fine factual nuances of hull design, my GUT gets in the boat and says YEAH!
Or maybe noooooo.
I don’t disagree that the Perrigrne and the Magic are quite different boats. But for me at least, either would fill the same niche quite well as will (I hope) the Voyager that I now have because it was within range geographicaly and economicaly.
Actualy right now about the Voyager my brain is saying “well, I don’t know, maybe not.” while my gut keeps saying “YEAH!”
Tommy
Spec sheets don’t always use the same
numbers derived the same way. They may have the same names, but be derived differently with from builder to builder.
Rocker, volume and beam / gunwale widths are examples.
It makes the need to actually fit test and paddle a boat important. The spec sheets can be very deceptive.
yup…and not all paddlers paddle
– Last Updated: May-20-09 11:57 AM EST –
alike..
I find myself automatically heeling the boat to turn..so despite a boat having a rep for sticky stems, I have a hard time relating to that. The Souris River Tranquility Solo being the one exception..super sticky.
I also find myself altering paddling style when a boat is a bit twitchy, and might not realize I am doing that.