Help Selecting a Canoe for Use Around Vancouver

You don't know which boat you should build to suit your personal needs? Please post your questions here and our many contributors will surely have some good advice.
Post Reply
WaVeMaKeR
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 12:44 pm

Help Selecting a Canoe for Use Around Vancouver

Post by WaVeMaKeR »

Greetings

I am planning to build a canoe and plan to use it in the waters around Vancouver. I am not hugely experienced in paddling canoes, but always enjoyed the times I have. The use would be for short-duration outings just to get out on the water. I expect to see the boat used for Solo paddling as well as for taking the kids out, but never on windy or rough days. I think the building of the boat will be more enjoyable than the actual using of it - though I'm not experienced at fine woodworking.

All the references to the Canoes I've seen talk about their suitability for lakes and rivers, never sheltered sea inlets. There was one posting here about a guy in Florida but it gave advice mostly about additional precautions for using the boat in salt water, not so much for stability - which is what I'd like to know more about. So my question is - of course - which boat? I think a Prospector might fill the bill - especially if I can actually pull off the construction successfully. If so, then I'd probably followup with another Canoe or possibly a kayak.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Regards

Rory
User avatar
Glen Smith
Posts: 3719
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 9:08 am
Location: Baie-St-Paul, Quebec, Canada

Post by Glen Smith »

The Prospector should be a good choice. Have you considered the Redbird which has been used in rough water situations?

When you venture out in a canoe or a kayak under calm conditions on a wnd-less day, just remember that the weather can make some drastic and rapid changes to your plans.
WaVeMaKeR
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 12:44 pm

Post by WaVeMaKeR »

Glen,

Thanks for the reply. Lately I've been looking at paddlers here around English bay and you see way more Kayaks than Canoes of course. I should be building a Kayak, but I prefer the look of Canoes. Plus, nobody says this has to be a one-time deal.

Regards

R. F.
Rick
Posts: 727
Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 9:23 am
Location: Bancroft, Ontario

Post by Rick »

Rory,

Freedom 17 again... a faster design, and will cover distance on open water more easily. The high ends on the more traditional designs will catch the wind and could make paddling against the wind more difficult.

The Redbird might make a fine choice but the center depth is only 12" and that worries me if the wind & waves ever come up, although I've never paddled it.... still if the style appeals to you more than the actual paddling, could be the right one, as the speed to cover distance will also be there... good luck.
WaVeMaKeR
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 12:44 pm

Post by WaVeMaKeR »

Hi Rick,

Well your suggestion of the Freedom 17 gave me something to think about. I had been leaning toward the stabler configuration of the Prospector without consideration of the high-ended design. It can get windy around here pretty quiclkly, but I wonder whether the lower profile would really make that much difference.

I've been in canoes on some of the long-narrow lakes in BC and once the wind comes up, you might as well forget going where you want to go - just make your way to the nearest shore and beach the boat. I had to do this once and hike back to where I was staying and go get the canoe later on. I had been paddling along the shore at the time and the wind didn't prevent me from getting to shore, but there was NO WAY I was going to be able to do a 180 and go back to where I'd come from!

But I like the idea of a faster boat, so for that reason the Freedom has some appeal. I think the Redbird would be too much boat for me to handle at this stage. And like I said before, no reason why this has to be the only project!

Thanks for your help.

Cheers

Rory
User avatar
Bryan Hansel
Posts: 678
Joined: Fri May 14, 2004 6:36 pm
Location: Grand Marais, MN
Contact:

Post by Bryan Hansel »

Don't let the numbers fool you into thinking that the Freedom isn't stable. Here I am standing up on mine. :) It's also an easy boat to build. I don't recall any problems with getting the strips to go where I wanted them.

Image

Edit: Man, I was skinny back then. :)
Post Reply