Davis Yost’s Fire series; FlashFire, WildFire and StarFire will now be manufactured by Colden Canoe of Colden NY.
Owner Paul Meyer, a noted FreeStyle paddler, will begin manufacturing hulls this fall. He has retained Charlie Wilson to help develop infusion technology. They will be developing a foam and fabric seat to further reduce hull weight and maintenance.
David Yost has agreed to design more kneeling hulls as needed.
Colden’s web site is http://www.coldencanoe.com
Both items are very cool.
Thanks for keeping us informed, Charlie.
Good news
Good luck to Paul Meyer and Colden Canoe.
The very successful Fire series shouldn’t be lost to the single blade world as so many other fine kneeling canoes have been.
Does this mean that new infusion molds will be built, or can the old ones be satisfactorily repaired?
Molds are fine
The Fire molds needed better gasketing, which they will receive. Star will still need an hour with a buffer to polish out, flash maybe 20 minutes.
After that, design modification with D Yost may well need to new molds over time.
Very cool
Best wishes, looking forward to seeing these boats.
Sure hope
Mr.Yost has a better contract on Royalities
with this company then he had with the others
you have mentioned.
Charlie
WNY is becoming…
– Last Updated: Sep-17-09 1:20 PM EST –
a hotbed for top-notch solo canoes. Hemlock (Curtis)Canoe in Hemlock, Ornstein's Dogpaddle canoe&paddle in Honeoye Falls, Gillespie paddles outside Rochester. And now Colden Canoe in (duh!) Colden. And if that's not enough, nearby we've got Placid, Hornbeck, Vermont, and Swift. Add Oak Orchard Canoe and Baycreek Paddling retailers in the mix. Such riches! (ed. forgot Grasse River Boatworks is also nearby).
Plus ZRE and Foxworx paddles
And Dave Yost lives somewhere near Hemlock.
result of bad gasketing?
In regards to the fire molds needing better gasketing, I received what I’m pretty sure was the last Wildfire built by Bell. It was ordered just before the news that Ted Bell sold the company came out and was built (from what I was told) a month or so following the news release. When I received the boat it looked fine except for the midline along the bottom of the hull. It had what almost amounted to a keel. Maybe not enough to call a keel, but if you were looking at the outside of the hull, it appears that the mold’s seam was lined with scotch tape before the gelcoat was applied. There was also a small void present which I filled with epoxy. The seam hadn’t bothered me enough to remove it, but I’m curious, is this typical or is it the result of bad gasketing?
North Country
– Last Updated: Sep-17-09 6:36 PM EST –
In the interest of full disclosure: "I am not g2d".
However, your geographically challeneged lumping of Onatrio, Canada; Vermont and several other locations at least three hours NORTH of Syracuse, NY and at least four hours plus NORTH of Rochester, NY into "WNY" (aka Western New York) - well, it leaves me sputtering .... sputtering ....
Actually, it's great to see the "craft" of boat building surviving and thriving in the paddle sport "industry" era.
We lucky few be living way UP here - with due apologies to Bob Dylan, in "the North Country fair, where the wind blows heavy on the border line" (i.e. the Northern U.S. - Southern Canadian border)
Mike
That’s right here in WNY!
Best wishes to Paul Meyer and this new endeavor. Now, all you folks who wanted canoes in the Fire series, ante up. 
Swifts are from Western NY
they are not Canadian.
Just a niggle.(they are also from the Rochester area)
Three hours north of Syracuse lands you just west of Ottawa.
Placid unfortunately is a four or five hour drive from Syracuse. Rt 30 is no speedway.
The poster had the facts fine…Did not say all were from Western NY…and there is a qualifier for VT Canoe.
Now my question to you is whats the best way from Syracuse NY to Namaygoosisagagun ON?
Little geography quiz for fun and not get anyones hackles up.
I have my pet peeve too about NY. Folks who say they live Upstate and asked where they live say White Plains.
Hornbeck and Grasse River BW "near"
Western New York not.
And I sit corrected as to Swift’s location in Western New York.
It’s good to hear from you.
My hackles were/are way south of north.
Geography is a slippery subject at best; that means, I have absolutely no clue on how to answer your geography question.
The best of the paddling season on Cranberry Lake is about to begin - as I’m located only about 35 miles from Cranberry, I am optimistic about eventually finding my way there:
http://www.paddling.net/places/showReport.html?1981
If not, I’ll be posting on p-net from the Buffalo area seeking detailed directions to Cranberry Lake, New York.
Mike
I am pretty sure you could lose
me somewhere along St. Lawrence County 27.
Yup. Best paddling season is to come. They are GONE! (thanks for leaving your money!)
Am I missing something here?
Is this an old website?
http://www.swiftcanoe.com/swift/contacts.htm
Mike
no not at all
If you are an old geezer like me, you know that Bill and Wendy Swift are from the Rochester area originally and migrated to Ontario where they built boats in Dwight. Not sure where Bill Jr and Sue were born. Not sure exactly where the hulls are built now either.
Sue Swift Warner (daughter) is in Connecticut.
Guess you just arent an old geezer.
Geography I think is just an accident of residence.
There is a pretty good path trompled between Western NY and Ontario…by at least one designer.
I AM an old geezer. NM
On my bucket list is coming to visit
that area and all those builders.
Dumb question
If all the Fire series boats go to Colden, what is left at Placid Boatworks?
Alive and well
with pack canoes.
SpitFire, RapidFire, and the tandem pack canoe Lightning II.
So my take is if you are looking for a pack canoe stop at Placid and if you are looking for a solo sport tourer that you can paddle sitting or kneeling stop at Colden.
But to be fair I think Joe and co may still be making the RapidFire for kneeling paddlers.