Cottage Crusier???

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tptbum

Cottage Crusier???

Post by tptbum »

Hi all,

i thougt I posted this a couple of days ago, but I must have done something wrong, can't find it anywhere!!!

I am about ready to start my project (finally), but actually choosing a set of plans is harder than I thought. I am leaning toward the Cottage Cruiser, wonder what your thoughts are.

I imagine one child and one adult in the boat most of the time. When the kids grow we will probably stick them in our tandem kayak and put both adults in the canoe.

We usually paddle on small quiet lakes, once or twice a year we go down some gentle rivers, occasionaly encountering something you might call mild rapids.

I am looking for a canoe that will work for two adults and a picnic lunch, or one adult paddling alone, with one or two kids as passengers.

Any thoughts???

John
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Its Me
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Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2004 12:21 pm

Post by Its Me »

I have looked at that Cottage Cruiser and it really strikes as a good boat. It's a nice size for day trips and could even handle an over night trip for two.
Rick
Posts: 727
Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 9:23 am
Location: Bancroft, Ontario

Post by Rick »

Looks like a good all-round canoe, small enough for solo trips and with enough capacity for tandem. IIRC, cruisers were traditionally designed to be faster lake canoes, good for day trips, afternoon paddles. There's no mention of rocker in the CC page, but if this is the typical lake cruiser type, it probably won't have much and will track straightline on a lake very well, but won't turn as easily on a twisting stream or in rapids like a more highly-rockered design (eg. Ranger).

My Huron Cruiser also doesn't have much rocker and while it's great on lakes, on a tight meandering stream it can take some effort to turn hard while moving along. If you're planning on running rapids, easy-turning characteristics and manouverabilty can be a definite plus. OTOH, you might avoid any more difficult whitewater with hard turns and just portage around, so maybe the CC will do.

The CC seems to be more of a lake boat than a river boat from what I can see on the page, it might be worth checking how much rocker it actually has, if that's important. The Ranger will be the more stable boat, sometimes worth having since kids might move around at times, but otherwise the CC looks like a versatile, light canoe.

My $0.02 anyway, good luck!
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