For small lakes which boat is better ? Thanks
Look at a Prism
Ever think of a Wenonah Prism. I have been paddling mine all summer and am really sold on it for fishing, touring, wildlife watching, and now hunting. It has been great for me and I have solo
canoed for 25 plus years.
They appear very similar
– Last Updated: Sep-03-08 10:24 AM EST –
From the specs, they look like very similar boats. There's no mention of rocker in the Packer specs, and they DO say that it turns well when leaned, so I expect there is none. If you want nicer turning ability, I expect a composite Vagabond will be more manueverable with its 1.25 inches of rocker (I've yet to see a Royalex Vagabond that has a visible amount of rocker, so if comparing Royalex boats, I doubt there's a difference). Do all Packers come with a tractor seat? The Vagabond's bench-style seat would be easy to set up for kneeling in case you prefer that. I used to have a Royalex Vagabond, and it was a very nice boat. My only complaint (other than the fact that it did not have rocker like the catalog said it would) was that when sitting and using a footbrace, the center thwart was too close to the seat. However, after I raised the seat and provided it with a forward slope for kneeling, I found that sitting and using the footbrace worked even better than before. In that case though, a tractor seat (and therefore the Packer?) might be the way to go.
Oh, regarding the above recommendation to go with the Prism instead, I'd say if you think a 14-foot boat will do the job, and if you are not a really large person, the Prism is almost certainly "too much boat". It's big - designed to carry a really heavy load.
I have a royalex Vagabond and
concur with guideboatguys analysis. The way I solved the center thwart on the Vagabond being to close to the seat (it did bother me) was to remove the thwart, cut an inch or so off of it and move it back a few inches. A very easy fix.
Thanks for the replies
Aparently you can not kneel with the packer and it does have a tracter seat. My budget is around $1200 and I would like to keep the boat at around 40 pounds 14 feet, so it looks like royalex in the Vagabond or fibreglass in the clipper.The clipper guy said the vagabond will be slower but a bit more stable. One other question please? With gate down, my truck box is 10 feet long, I always throw my 15 foot coleman canoe in the box leaving 5 feet hanging out, it always seems fine. Do you think it would hurt the fibreglass Clipper having 4 feet hanging? Thanks
Can’t say
I transport my canoes on a Dakota but I have a cap on the bed and Yakima racks on the cap. My canoes are on top and supported on the rack on their gunwales with gunwale brackets.
I would be concerned about any canoe hanging out 4 feet for any distance travelled regardless of material.
I can’t see why fiberglass would be more of an issue than royalex if you had something to cushion the hull from direct contact with the tailgate/bed.
I have a Vagabond.
It’s a nice little boat–38 lbs. in Royalex by my scale. Reasonably quick, stable, fun to paddle and will handle a reasonable load, although it’s mostly my wife’s boat.
I’ve carried it many times in the back of my Ford 150, although if I have to go more than a couple of miles, I put it up on the rack.
I don’t know the Clipper Packer. It hasn’t made it down to Texas. If you buy one, I’d be interested to know what you think of it.