choosing a canoe

[holleybob]

So I am planning a  trip down the Buffalo. Family (kids, wife, brother) may join me for sections of the trip but the majority will be solo. Especially the last 50 miles or so.  The plan is to do the full 135 miles but we'll see how much water is there in the 3rd week of May. I have 3 weeks and should not need half that even if I hike the first leg. I have a couple of fishing kayaks and 2 Pelican 15.5 canoes. They are not what I want to float the Buffalo in although I have floated sections of it in them.  I love the kayaks for agility and handling in class ii, class iii but lack cargo space for such a trip. Also I really prefer to fish from a canoe. The pelicans are fine for short day trips but for a 10-11 day trip I need something sturdy, efficient and reliable. Bottom line is I need a new canoe.  I missed an opportunity at a Mad River Explorer. It was on Craigslist for less than a day at $550.  I'm thinking it would have been perfect. I now have the opportunity to purchase a Wenonah Adirondak in Tuffweave for $450. I have never paddled one and the lack of rocker on the Adirondak is concerning with the potential for class ii but it's tracking ability and efficiency seems attractive for the last 50 miles. Does anyone have any experience with an Adirondak?  Also would you take this boat on a 10-12 day trip down the Buffalo in late May ? Is $450 a fair price ?

I should mention the boat has not been paddled in 6-7 years, has been kept inside during that time and has 2 spider cracks on the bottom that will need to be dealt with. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Jeff

 

 

[Terrierman]

Maybe it's just me, but I'd keep looking for something that is more of a river boat.  The price seems fair enough.

[snagged in outlet 3]

I don't know if you could make it work from Springfield but St Louis craigslist always has a bunch of canoes listed.

https://stlouis.craigslist.org/search/boo?query=canoe

[holleybob]

4 hours ago, Terrierman said:

Maybe it's just me, but I'd keep looking for something that is more of a river boat.  The price seems fair enough.

Thanks Terrierman,  I don't want to rush into anything.

I don't know if you could make it work from Springfield but St Louis craigslist always has a bunch of canoes listed.

https://stlouis.craigslist.org/search/boo?query=canoe

Good advice Snagged. I bought my last boat in St Louis. There is a nice Vagabond for sale now. The price is a bit too high for me though. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

Nothing more fun than dickering.   You never know till you try. 

 

[Al Agnew]

Well, as you probably realize, you are looking for some sort of compromise that doesn't exist.  The Adirondack would be big enough to carry all the stuff you need for a trip of that length if you're going solo, and would be very good for most of the Buffalo, but for a solo paddler, not anywhere close to optimal for the upper end.  Anything that WOULD be very good for the upper end would not be good for the rest of it.  You can make it work no matter which way you go, though, so you need to think about how you'll be using this canoe the MOST, looking past the Buffalo trip.  Do you want a true solo canoe, which is a whole lot more fun to paddle solo, or do you want one that can be used tandem or solo?  Do you want one for small stream mild whitewater like the upper Buffalo more than you want one for the typical Ozark stream paddling?

[holleybob]

Correct on the compromise. I started off wanting to use 2 canoes. One for the more technical upper end and a more efficient canoe for hauling the load through the deeper pools of the lower end. I pitched the idea to my wife. When she stopped laughing I fell back to earth and realized that I (we) won't be buying 2 canoes this year.  The question is what to sacrifice. That answer is the technical, maneuverable abilities.  The efficiency is more important to me although some agility will be required to make the upper end work. I should mention I will be making this trip with a torn rotator cuff so each stroke needs to be fairly efficient for me to put on the miles I need. Also, I figure if the upper end is rocking with high water I'm comfortable waiting it out. Plus, as you mentioned my usual trips will be on the Jack's Fork, Eleven point, James and Finley. 

I almost pulled the trigger on a Discovery 158 but I can't get over the weight of the thing!

Any suggestions ?

[Al Agnew]

Disco 158 isn't the most efficient paddling design...tracks okay, maneuvers okay, decent compromise other than the weight, but it's pretty slow.  It would be work covering a lot of miles with it.  If paddling solo it would really be work.  If paddling efficiency is of paramount importance, you need something narrower.  MOST plastic canoes are slow to varying degrees, because their entry lines are too blunt if for no other reason.  You can't shape plastic into really sharp, efficient entry lines.  Probably the best Royalex canoe ever made as far as paddling efficiency was the Old Town Penobscot (it's what I own in tandem canoes).  The Penobscot 16 is a pretty good canoe for soloing, maybe the best tandem canoe I've ever paddled solo.  If you ever stumble onto one at a price you can afford you should snatch it.

Other than that...don't automatically rule out glass canoes.  There are plenty of good glass (or Kevlar or composites) solos out there, though seldom sold in the Ozarks.  While the glass scratches easily, the scratches are easily fixable if they get too deep.  And while the fiberglass and composite canoes can't take wrapping around a rock or crashing into one in the middle of a wicked rapid, a decent paddler can go a lifetime without that happening in the Ozarks.

[holleybob]

Al, how do you feel about the new penobscot boats with the 3 layer poly?  I know they are heavier but would the handling characteristics be the same as a royalex boat?

Also, does anyone know anything about wenonah sothforks? I can't  find a single review of them. There is one for sale near me. It is n to a royalex either.

 

Jeff

[GloryDaze]

Easy- rent a kayak to get you to the Ponca low water bridge.... then use your own the rest of the way.