Canoe Advice

[rosiedog]

I live near the confluence of the Missouri and the Gasconade and I want to get into canoeing for fishing/bowfishing, camping and floating. There was another thread about a guy with questions about buying a square ended boat. My questions are similar except I want a canoe.

First the most basic, what material? I have heard about fiberglass cracking and aluminum getting holes poked. Which one is more likely to happen first? Is there any other material I should look into?

What about weight? Which materials are the lightest for the best strength?

Almost done. Where am I going to be able to find a decient canoe for a decient price? Ive been scouring the internet and calling outfitters with little luck. I have to be doing something wrong.

Finally like I said, Im way north on the Gasconade. Near the town of Gasconade. But have never actually been on the river. Hows the fishing and bowfishing up there? Any camping spots or is it all private land?

Thanks,

Ryan

[ness]

I live near the confluence of the Missouri and the Gasconade and I want to get into canoeing for fishing/bowfishing, camping and floating. There was another thread about a guy with questions about buying a square ended boat. My questions are similar except I want a canoe.

First the most basic, what material? I have heard about fiberglass cracking and aluminum getting holes poked. Which one is more likely to happen first? Is there any other material I should look into?

What about weight? Which materials are the lightest for the best strength?

Almost done. Where am I going to be able to find a decient canoe for a decient price? Ive been scouring the internet and calling outfitters with little luck. I have to be doing something wrong.

Finally like I said, Im way north on the Gasconade. Near the town of Gasconade. But have never actually been on the river. Hows the fishing and bowfishing up there? Any camping spots or is it all private land?

Thanks,

Ryan

I'd recommend one made of Royalex. It's a plastic laminate with a foam core. It'll slide over rocks, rather than stick to them like aluminum (usually). It's also flexible and will return to the original shape. I wrapped mine around a tree a couple years back. It snapped back with nothing but a couple wrinkles in it. They will scratch and can be cut, but they're easy to repair if you gouge one too deeply. I've got Kevlar skid plates epoxied on the bow and stern. I think it's the ideal solution for Ozark streams, where you're pretty likely to encounter rocks.

My 16-1/2 foot Wenonah weighs in at something like 56 pounds. Their website has a good bit of information about canoe choice, materials and hull designs. Plus, they're excellent boats.

[Al Agnew]

If I'm understanding you right, you want a square-stern canoe so that you can use some kind of motor with it? If so, your choices are limited, especially if light weight is a priority as well.

Such a canoe would work well on the lower 30 miles or so of the Gasconade, but would not be a very good choice for smaller and faster Ozark streams. If you want something a little more versatile, you might consider a double ended canoe rather than a square stern, and use a side motor mount. Several good motor mounts on the market, and they are also easy to make. I made one out of a single 2X4...cut notches in it so that the notches match up to opposite sides of the gunwale where you want the motor to be mounted. Notches should go about halfway through the 2X4. If the gunwales will allow it, and most canoe gunwales do, you then simply drill a hole from the top edge of the 2X4 down through the gunwales, and run bolts with wingnuts in the holes to fasten the board securely (of course, the board should have about 8 inches sticking out the side to mount your motor!)

Aluminum is still a good canoe material if you want durability and acceptable weight, but it's noisy and it grabs rocks, logs, and even gravel. It takes a lot to poke a hole into an aluminum canoe.

Fiberglass is slicker, can be a little lighter, but it's almost as noisy as aluminum. It scratches very easily and is susceptible to destruction if wrapped around anything. Scratches and even holes can be repaired, and it's usable as a canoe material for Ozark streams, but far from optimum.

Old Town makes a lot of canoes out a poly plastic. As heavy or heavier than aluminum, but quite durable, slides over obstacles well, and it's quiet. It isn't easy to repair, however.

Royalex is probably the material of choice for Ozark river canoes. It can be the lightest of the major canoe materials, is reasonably easy to repair, is quiet, and is pretty tough stuff. Unfortunately, it's also one of the more expensive canoe materials.

The plastic that Coleman uses in their cheap canoes is durable enough, but heavy, flimsy (by flimsy I mean that the plastic is so likely to flex that it requires the aluminum pole set-up to stiffen it enough to be usable), and very difficult to repair. Still, if you can put up with the weight and want to use it mostly on the lower end of the Gasconade with a motor, the Coleman square stern Scanoe wouldn't be the worst choice you could make. (It WOULD be the worst choice for an all-around Ozark river canoe, however!)

[rosiedog]

Thanks for the material info. Actually I am looking for a double ended canoe. After much searching for a used one I decided that I will go for whatever is in good shape and I can get a good price for. Still havent found that yet though.

Are there any retailers/wholesalers or just paddling shops that might carry used canoes?

Again thanks for the above info.

[Kutter]

Mr Agnew, I have scoured quite a few websites for info on the pro's & con's of various styles and materials for both canoes and kayaks. They have page after page explaining all. Silly me, all I would have had to do was to have asked you. You did a very good job simplifying it all to make it easy to understand. Thank you.