Who's Using Canoes Here?

[Brian Sloss]

Try going to www.paddlingcenter.com. They are located in Cape Fair, Mo, near Branson. They sell Old Town canoes (used to be Ozark River Campany here in Alton). They do demos and ussually have pretty good deals.

[Danoinark]

Brian did my buddy from Harrison ever contact you about the canoes for sale?

Dano

[Brian Sloss]

I'm pretty sure he did. If the guys I think you know contacted me they got 3 older canoes. We are sold out of anything we are selling. Thanks for sending them.

[Danoinark]

I bet it was...he said he was very interested and would call the same day I gave him the info.

I will run into him one of these days and ask. Thanks.

[jwarren]

Many thanks for your comments and insights. I agree with all of the comments above as I've researched and read countless articles. I recognize I'm looking for a quality "crossover" that does several things fairly well, but not any one thing real well. I don't want a high bow and stern or a keel design. 35-38" is fine for beam width as I'll probably put in a center seat for better position to solo paddle. A slight rocker is fine and a shallow arch hull that provides a nice blend of initial and secondary stability. Weight wise I'd like to stay under 70 lbs.

$1000 for a quality canoe is still a lot of discretionary money these days and I don't want to get something I'm unhappy with and then unload it for half price.

So far the best crossovers I've researched across many forums and reviews are the Bell Morningstar, OT Osprey 155, Novacraft Prospector 16 or Pal, Mohawk Nova 16, Wenonah Heron/ Aurora. The biggest problem in all of this is like what one of you said....very few, if any dealers, offer demos or inventory for paddling. There are none here in Memphis and I have to driver 3-5 hours to try one brand with one dealer and another couple hours to try another somewhere else. I value your opinions because you're using the canoes in the same manner I intend to.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Try going to www.paddlingcenter.com. They are located in Cape Fair, Mo, near Branson. They sell Old Town canoes (used to be Ozark River Campany here in Alton). They do demos and ussually have pretty good deals.

If this is the place that was on the square, I bought my Penobscot from them a few years back. They do have some good prices on seconds. The seconds are cosmetic, not structural. I saved about $400 if I remember right.

[Gavin]

My tandem canoe is a 17' Wenonah Spirit II..weighs around 75lbs or so...Great for a ton of gear, easy to fish out of, and it handles as well as shorter canoes...Very stable...No problem standing in the bow and fly casting if you have a decent paddler in the back.A bit higher in the bow than I'd like and I dont think Wenonah's royalex boats are as durable as the ones from Old Town..Dont know how much you plan to use yours, but I wore a hole in my Wenonah in 4 seasons...Probably 200-250 days on the river.....Patched up fine though.

Will probably get another tandem in the next year or two..When I do I'll be looking at an Old Town Penobscot 17 and the Bell Alaskan..The shorter 16' boats are OK, I like the extra length for when I'm fishing with a partner, and I also appreciate the extra gear capacity when I'm headed out for more than 2 nights on the river. 17' boats arent that difficult to handle..I routinely fill if full of gear and paddle it solo on cold weather camping trips. I usually solo it from the rear...trim the boat right and its no big deal.

I also have a solo canoe.. a Wenonah Vagabond...great solo boat for short trips...but not one you'll stand in for long. I'd get a dedicated solo boat if your going to do a lot of short solo trips. Think it weighs about 45lbs..easy to toss on the car..carries enough gear for a couple days. Works well with a kayak paddle or a long regular paddle.

Most of the boats your looking at are very good boats..but I've gotten used to paddling a 17' and I wouldnt want a smaller canoe..Think youll be happy with whatever you decide on. Cheers.

[Al Agnew]

Listen to Gavin re shorter vs. longer boats. Short tandem canoes, under 16 feet especially, will give you problems with stowing rods safely and with possible snagging of your partner on the backcast. Plus, all other things being equal, the shorter the canoe is, the poorer it is in tracking ability.

[jwarren]

Can anyone else here suggest other retailers in the area for canoe sales for Wenonah, Bell, or Novacraft? I plan on visiting Paddling Center to try Old Town models but would like to try a couple other models before buying. THanks.