which canoe is right for me??????

[patrick p]

Thanks, my dad and i came to the hsame conclusion but wanted to check how you had done it. thanks again, Patrick pfeifer

[Guest]

Do you know how much weight it takes to get your 16.5 redbird down to the waterline? I assume it would be less than the 17.5 redbird, and how much weight does it take to bring it down every aditional inch past the 4 inch waterline? --mitch

[ropegun]

I built a 16 foot Champlain two years ago without doing much research into the design. After completing it, I discovered how low the initial stability is (oops!). I love it for solo paddling but it can be really sketchy with kids in the boat. I ocassionaly padlle with a friend and his two children - 7 and 12. The 12 year old is fine, but the 7 year old can't sit still to save his life. Even after threatening to throw him in, he fidgetting again in a few minutes. Every time he slides to the opposite side of the boat to have a look over the gunwale, it feels like we're all going swimming.

This year I built a 17'7" Redbird. I've only had it out twice for trials (its a wedding gift for my sister). Its phenomenally more stable. Also seems really fast. With maple gunwales and seat frames and two layers of 6 oz glass on the outside of the hull it came in at 67 pounds. I'm 6'2" and don't have too much trouble putting it on top of my VW Westfalia.
You might consider a side loader for the rack to make it easier, although they can be kind of pricey.

In the end you might just take a "best guess" and start building. You can always build another (they're kind of addictive).