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PostPosted: November 27th, 2018, 10:08 pm 
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Joined: November 27th, 2018, 8:53 pm
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Hi all, new here.

I have a bit of a hard canoe choice to make and I am asking for your help. I know there is no one perfect canoe design.

I camp with my kids 8 and 5. We camp a lot including winter camping and except for the winter stuff we are pretty minimalist.anyhow, I want to start doing some 3 - 4 night canoe trips with the kids over.flat water now that I live on a lake.

For this purpose I want a new canoe that is just big enough for 100lbs of gear, 200lbs of me and 100lbs of kids for the moment totalling 400lbs on the high side. I have to manage this canoe more or less by myself as my 8 year old is good for awhile paddling but not super effective yet. I am looking for a canoe I could manage solo but handle this load (not huge) but I don't want to be soloing my big canoe. I am thinking something in the 16 foot range and made in Canada is important. I am not looking for a price point, but a solid open water canoe with a little cargo room. Don't need tons of freeboard - if it gets that windy we just make camp a little early and wait it out. Kids are well behaved and aren't slipping from one side of the canoe to the other. No whitewater for this one. Used to 17' Prospector and nothing else.

Your thoughts? I am thinking either a 16' Nova Craft Prospector, clipper ranger or maybe the Nova Craft Pal.

Thanks Tim.


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PostPosted: November 28th, 2018, 12:30 am 
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Joined: June 16th, 2011, 2:10 am
Posts: 123
Location: Ontario North
Hello Tim and welcome aboard

Never had a problem collecting canoes in my neck of the woods , added to the collection 2 used Scott wilderness that need some tender loving care from a rental outfitter in exchange for a truckload of topsoil a few summers ago
I once sent a friend to novacraft and years later when they moved out west they dropped the canoe off at our place to keep till they return
They mailed us later and told us they ain't coming back .... ehehe

The biggest problem was always finding good fitting PFD's as the kids outgrew them quickly over the years
Found a good place in Waterloo that was willing to custom fit .... but that was 25 years ago :wink:

Cheers ....... Vinny


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PostPosted: November 28th, 2018, 7:37 am 
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Joined: October 9th, 2009, 9:52 am
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Location: Toronto Beach(es)
N.C. Bob Special?


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PostPosted: November 28th, 2018, 8:38 am 
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Location: St. Catharines, Ontario
I have a 16' N.C. Prospector and two kids (4 and 6) and I can't keep my eyes off the Wenonah Solo Plus.

I really like the Prospector but a bit of wind and I really get pushed around in it by myself.

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PostPosted: November 28th, 2018, 8:44 am 
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Location: Kanata
I'm going to recommend something bigger. With two kids you will likely have lots of gear. I have a 17ft Swift Algonquin and love it when camping with my kids. It's a stable boat that seems to move pretty quickly. When they were younger all four of us could fit in the canoe. And now that they are older the two kids and I can go on extended trips in it and still be comfortable. Granted, for just two people it is likely overkill.

rab


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PostPosted: November 28th, 2018, 8:59 am 
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open_side_up wrote:
N.C. Bob Special?


Thanks, the BS is an option as well. I should say when I say 4 nights with the kids, the actual distance traveled by canoe is only about 25 km in total.

Tim


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PostPosted: November 28th, 2018, 9:02 am 
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rab wrote:
I'm going to recommend something bigger. With two kids you will likely have lots of gear. I have a 17ft Swift Algonquin and love it when camping with my kids. It's a stable boat that seems to move pretty quickly. When they were younger all four of us could fit in the canoe. And now that they are older the two kids and I can go on extended trips in it and still be comfortable. Granted, for just two people it is likely overkill.

rab


Thanks Rob, I will check that out. We are pretty minimal on gear so tons of cargo not such an issue but the extra "leg room" could be nice...


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PostPosted: November 28th, 2018, 9:57 am 
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Joined: August 8th, 2013, 9:53 am
Posts: 166
In the same vein a Swift Kipawa would be fantastic for you.


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PostPosted: November 28th, 2018, 10:16 am 
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Joined: February 12th, 2004, 9:28 am
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Location: Waterloo, ON
Definitely look at the John Winters designed Swift canoes. I have a Temagami, at 17' 6" it is a big canoe but because the hull transitions to a shallow V in the stern portion of the canoe it tracks really well and is very controllable by a single adult paddling with a younger kid in the front. I started doing 1-on-1 trips with each of my kids when they were around 9 years old. Like your's at that age the kids were able to help out when needed but I was really doing most of the paddling.

Going smaller is not a bad idea - we already had a 16' cedarstrip Prospector and when we got the Temagami it was to fit the whole family - 2 adults, 3 kids and the dog - in one canoe for our first family canoe trips.

I would second the suggestion to look at the Kipawa and you should also look at the Mattawa which is about 15'8".

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PostPosted: November 28th, 2018, 11:39 am 
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Location: Toronto
Hi Marlowe! A couple of questions that might help with advice and options from folks here: where are you located to help find boats (i.e. Ontario, out West, etc...), and do you have a budget in mind?

Found these: Swift Algonquin 17 and Nahanni 16.5...two different boats but which may be good options:
http://langfordcanoe.com/category/clearance/page/3/

With small children, something with a sliding bow seat may allow you to better set up and trim your load, and help the small humans paddling in the front get better positions for whatever help they may provide :wink:

I haven't paddled either of these myself, but reviews on both boats seem very good (rab's comments above), and others here may be able to give you a better indication of the relative value of these two...


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PostPosted: November 28th, 2018, 2:25 pm 
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Joined: January 11th, 2005, 4:58 pm
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Location: Manitoba
For now, if you need to get in a few miles and the kids are done in terms of any real paddling, you could consider paddling from the canoe from bow seat (paddling forward but with the stern leading). This kinda makes a longer canoe easier to control i.e. moves you closer to the pivot point.

Also, before you know it, your eight year old maybe old enough to be a decent paddler.

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PostPosted: November 28th, 2018, 9:50 pm 
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Joined: November 27th, 2018, 8:53 pm
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Corbeau wrote:
Hi Marlowe! A couple of questions that might help with advice and options from folks here: where are you located to help find boats (i.e. Ontario, out West, etc...), and do you have a budget in mind?

Found these: Swift Algonquin 17 and Nahanni 16.5...two different boats but which may be good options:
http://langfordcanoe.com/category/clearance/page/3/

With small children, something with a sliding bow seat may allow you to better set up and trim your load, and help the small humans paddling in the front get better positions for whatever help they may provide :wink:

I haven't paddled either of these myself, but reviews on both boats seem very good (rab's comments above), and others here may be able to give you a better indication of the relative value of these two...


Hey thanks. I live in the Okanagan valley in B.C. brands available here are hellman, clipper and Nova Craft generally - haven't seen Swift out here yet. Budget is kind of what it needs to be, but under $4000 which encompasses a lot of canoes. Not interested in fiberglass - nothing wrong with it, just don't want to carry it

Thanks,

Tim


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PostPosted: November 29th, 2018, 5:37 pm 
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Location: Back to Winnipeg
I've been after a NC Bob Special for similar purposes. Picked up an interesting 14' tandem in the meantime. I was going for a smaller boat because we already have a big tripper (17'9"), so that's covered. What I also like about a 14'-15' boat is that the kids will be able to paddle it by themselves nicely.

If I didn't have a small canoe plus a big canoe though, I'd go for something like the all-purpose 16' Prospector for you and the kids. You can handle it alone, especially facing backwards with a load, and the kids will be paddling soon enough.

P.

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PostPosted: December 2nd, 2018, 12:15 pm 
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Joined: June 28th, 2001, 7:00 pm
Posts: 2900
Location: Freeland, Maryland USA
Marlowethelazydog wrote:
I have a bit of a hard canoe choice to make and I am asking for your help. I know there is no one perfect canoe design.

I camp with my kids 8 and 5. We camp a lot including winter camping and except for the winter stuff we are pretty minimalist.anyhow, I want to start doing some 3 - 4 night canoe trips with the kids over.flat water now that I live on a lake.


I’ll second Rab, especially for future considerations.

rab wrote:
I'm going to recommend something bigger. With two kids you will likely have lots of gear.


The kids are 8 and 5 today. And today only; in a few years sized 10 & 7. . . . .12 & 9. . . .

There is no perfect canoe design for a growing family. A 16 footer that accommodates you, 5 & 8 and tripping gear today will quickly become growing-kids more cramped. A Titanic canoe big enough for you, 12 & 9 and growing gear load in future days would be, well:

rab wrote:
for just two people it is likely overkill.


There are lots of good suggestions above, and unknowns to consider. My sons went into small solo canoes at an early age, a few years apart, so it was nice have a symmetrical tandem that flipped around bow backwards with just the younger kid as bowman, and later bow forward. That design bought us a decade’s use with that canoe.

That is a long winded way of saying I would look for a bow backwards-able used canoe, something appropriate for now and some years hence, and figure another canoe is in your future.

Maybe a used kid-sized solo, a used Pack-type canoe (or, gasp, kid-sized kayak). My sons paddled a 70’s composite Old Town Rushton (10’, 18 lbs), a Rolayex (lite) Dagger Tupelo (10’ 6”, 29 lbs) and a Wilderness Systems Piccolo (13’ 6” kid sized mini sea kayak, 42 lbs). They have long outgrown those wee craft, but all of those boats are still in use with friend’s kids.

Those kid-sized boats are harder to find used than a family sized tandem. Kid appropriate width especially, no short fat pumpkinseed rec kayaks that appear to have swallowed a child desperately holding a paddle at chest level. Maybe start looking now; 10 is a good age to start soloing on easy daytrips.

As much as anything that early “Captain of their own boat” is likely to elicit a kids love of paddling, and it’s a lot more family fun when they’re into it.

OK, it was a lotlot more fun when I could go back into a solo canoe myownself. For starters we could finally paddle alongside each other, and I could actually hear what the boys were saying instead of:

“Mumblemumblesomething”

“What?”

“Mumblesomethingmumble”

“What?”

“Never mind!”


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PostPosted: December 4th, 2018, 8:25 am 
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Joined: November 27th, 2018, 8:53 pm
Posts: 5
Mike McCrea wrote:
Marlowethelazydog wrote:
I have a bit of a hard canoe choice to make and I am asking for your help. I know there is no one perfect canoe design.

I camp with my kids 8 and 5. We camp a lot including winter camping and except for the winter stuff we are pretty minimalist.anyhow, I want to start doing some 3 - 4 night canoe trips with the kids over.flat water now that I live on a lake.


I’ll second Rab, especially for future considerations.

rab wrote:
I'm going to recommend something bigger. With two kids you will likely have lots of gear.


The kids are 8 and 5 today. And today only; in a few years sized 10 & 7. . . . .12 & 9. . . .

There is no perfect canoe design for a growing family. A 16 footer that accommodates you, 5 & 8 and tripping gear today will quickly become growing-kids more cramped. A Titanic canoe big enough for you, 12 & 9 and growing gear load in future days would be, well:

rab wrote:
for just two people it is likely overkill.


There are lots of good suggestions above, and unknowns to consider. My sons went into small solo canoes at an early age, a few years apart, so it was nice have a symmetrical tandem that flipped around bow backwards with just the younger kid as bowman, and later bow forward. That design bought us a decade’s use with that canoe.

That is a long winded way of saying I would look for a bow backwards-able used canoe, something appropriate for now and some years hence, and figure another canoe is in your future.

Maybe a used kid-sized solo, a used Pack-type canoe (or, gasp, kid-sized kayak). My sons paddled a 70’s composite Old Town Rushton (10’, 18 lbs), a Rolayex (lite) Dagger Tupelo (10’ 6”, 29 lbs) and a Wilderness Systems Piccolo (13’ 6” kid sized mini sea kayak, 42 lbs). They have long outgrown those wee craft, but all of those boats are still in use with friend’s kids.

Those kid-sized boats are harder to find used than a family sized tandem. Kid appropriate width especially, no short fat pumpkinseed rec kayaks that appear to have swallowed a child desperately holding a paddle at chest level. Maybe start looking now; 10 is a good age to start soloing on easy daytrips.

Thank you. Lots to think about here.

As much as anything that early “Captain of their own boat” is likely to elicit a kids love of paddling, and it’s a lot more family fun when they’re into it.

OK, it was a lotlot more fun when I could go back into a solo canoe myownself. For starters we could finally paddle alongside each other, and I could actually hear what the boys were saying instead of:

“Mumblemumblesomething”

“What?”

“Mumblesomethingmumble”

“What?”

“Never mind!”


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