WW Solo Openboat in the New England

hey folks



looking to get back into paddling after some years hiatus. have a decent amount of WW/tripping tandem experience, no solo WW though.



looking for groups or clubs perhaps- anyone who’s into open boat whitewater really. there’s not a lot of solo canoe folks in general- a lot more kayaks obviously- so the market for buying a boat is small.



a guy a couple hours from me had a couple 14’ solo boats outfitted- a genesis and a rogue- that’s all i’ve found for a cheap starter ($300=student budget, sadly). if anyone has any info about where meetups and stuff happen for the uninitiated, i’m interested.



a lot of folks say get a kayak, it’s just easier overall to get started (more boats for sale, people doing it, etc) but i’m an openboat guy, damn it!

What’s an open canoe?
Once upon a time the WW question was: What’s a kayak?



The Genesis is a decent boat. Can’t recall much about the Rogue. Is that a Mohawk?



You might try the Northeast Paddlers board in addition to this one:



http://www.npmb.com/cms2/e107_plugins/forum/forum.php



Good luck in finding an open boat and a paddling group. The world needs more single stickers.

OC-1 or whatever
under the impression that you can have those more kayak-like playboat canoes, esquif makes a few i know that. closed/have decks like a kayak. maybe i’m confusing things.



the rogue is a 14’ mohawk boat. both are definitely bigger than i need- probably more like 12’ for general river running/messing around. haven’t done any playboating before, surfed a little in a tandem (18’ expedition boat- not easy at all!) would try some playboating, but want versatility/river running first.


There are some good New England
open boaters on pnet. You might also check out cboats.net.



Esquif certainly has the best variety. If you are more of a ww cruiser like me, rather than a playboater, you probably don’t want an Esquif L’edge, although it will cruise better than other boats of its short length.



I might have recommended the Dagger Rival, but Dagger’s out, and the only Rival available is Millbrook’s S-glass/Kevlar version. (millbrookboats.com) The Mad River Outrage is a conservative option. And I might have pointed you toward the Bell Prodigy, but Bell’s not producing now, waiting for investors.

Genesis and Rogue

– Last Updated: May-02-11 12:43 AM EST –

The Mohawk Rogue is basically a Whitesell Piranha with a different badge, a large but very capable whitewater river runner.

The Dagger Genesis is almost as large, but not quite. I heard it described as a "big guy's Encore" but it paddled nothing like the Encore, in my opinion.

Either would certainly get you started in whitewater, but would be bigger than desirable for "play boating".

There is an Old Town H2Pro listed in the pnet classified ads for sale in upstate New York for $400. It is about the same overall length as the Genesis and considered a decent whitewater OC-1 starter boat.

Post your question on cboats.net
You’ll get good response if you post over on the forum at http://cboats.net/cforum/

OC-1 by WWW

– Last Updated: May-02-11 11:31 AM EST –

C-Boats, as mentioned, is a good landing strip. Well designed site, but I don't think they've linked Blackfly Canoe yet. There seems to be a healthy cadre of used boats out there as well...filter boatertalk.com's Swap forum for OC-1 and you can get some pretty good used boats/prices...hull pics are a priority!
To demo is a task, Minuteman is going towards the recreational end(as most shops are). ZoarOutdoors's shop carries as does NOC. There are more than a few kayak shops around NewEngland that either seem don't have websites or don't have up & running sites 24x7...
$.01

budget boats
If you are looking to acquire a functional and fully-outfitted whitewater OC-1 for only $300 or so, you are not going to be able to be choosy regarding makes and models, and the latest models (like the Blackflys and the Esquif L’Edge) will be well above your budget, even used.



If you check the craigslist listings for the major cities within reasonable driving distance of your location on a regular basis, and check cboats.net regularly, you will find something suitable, but you may need to be patient. Some of the folks who are regulars at cboats.net will post used whitewater canoes they come across in such listings. Decent used OC-1s being sold at bargain basement prices go fast, so you should check at least several times a week.



Some models you might consider include the Mad River Outrage or Outrage X, the Bell Prodigy and Prodigy X, Mohawk Probes or possibly a Mohawk XL 13, Old Town H2Pros, many Dagger models including Encores, Impulses, Rivals, Ovations, or Prophets.



Somewhat more advanced models that you might give consideration to if you find one at a good price include Bell or Dagger Ocoees, Mohawk Vipers, or many Esquif models including the Detonator, Nitro, Raven, or Zephyr.

Are you looking at these?

– Last Updated: May-03-11 7:34 AM EST –

http://providence.craigslist.org/boa/2340066025.html

That’s down my neck of the woods. I’ve never paddled with the owner, but we have exchanged emails. Seem like fair prices, and about what you will get for $300 unless you are really lucky.

My first boat was a Dagger Impluse. I paid $450 for it on Ebay. I overpaid, but I really wanted a boat, and that’s all I could find at the time. It’s a bit of a barge, but not a bad starter boat. In fact, I’ve been paddling it again since last fall when my second boat – a Dagger Encore – got stolen. I bought the Encore for $200 as an empty hull, and spent $600 outfitting it. I just bought another Encore for $250 without bags. The outfitting was in decent shape, but it was a little too small for me, so I am in the process of replacing it.

Open boaters are definitely outnumbered around here. I was one of 2 canoes paddling last Saturday with 14 kayaks on the Quaboag. Having said that, there are still plenty of open boaters around New England. NHAMC has a good contingent, and has a great spring whitewater OC1 training class – that’s how I got started. There are a bunch around Boston that paddle with the AMC, MVP and neriverrunners. I’m in RI and we have a small group (RICKA). There’s also a bunch of lone wolf independents (like our own Daggermat) in CT. I'm sure that there are others that I haven't bumped into yet.

My advice, just buy a boat and get started. You’ll have lots of opportunities to upgrade later. Let me know if you want to paddle sometime.

beedeben ? is that you?
Looks like you found NERiverrunners OK.



As Barry said the Berkshire chapter of the AMC is local to you. They have some pretty good and helpful single bladers.



NHAMC has some as well. They have the spring school if you are looking for intro level WW OC1 instruction next April. They also are running trips now for the students of this Aprils school which ain’t a bad way for someone with your experience get a leg up.



AMC trip listings are here.

http://trips.outdoors.org/