Looking to buy a canoe, and have no idea what to get. Want it for paddling around on a smallish lake where my mother-in-law has a cabin. Lake has a few coves and such. My son is 13 months, and by next summer hope he will start to go with me.
Would you ever be interested in doing canoe trips/portaging with the canoe, in the future? If so, it is probably worth investing in a canoe that can take a bit more of a beating.
Will it just be you and your son in the canoe? If so, I’d go with a 16’ canoe - that way you can go out with another adult and him if you like and still be comfortable, whereas in a 14’ canoe it would be a bit more squishy and not as stable with more people loaded in. I like the responsiveness of shorter canoes but dislike them with more people. While I love 18’ canoes for trips (extra weight be damned, I like to stretch out and I grew up with them, old habits die hard) I think that would be excessive for you.
Where do you live? Are there any local cottage manufacturers of canoes? Do you have a material preference?
Like anything, much depends on what you want to do and how much you want to spend. Canoes can go for as low as a few hundred up into the thousands for hand made specialty types.
I think what you are looking at is either what is classified a recreational canoe or, if you want to throw some fishing in there, look for a sporting canoe. You really don’t need much beyond a 14-15 foot for day paddlings, and don’t have to get into the carrying capacity etc of the trekking or river canoes.
Check out Old Town - they have been around for a long time, and while not being the state of the art, produce a pretty reliable product in a variety of configurations.
Thanks to both of you. I did browse through the Old Town site. Wife would probably come with us some, but I think for the most part it would just be me and my little man. We are working on baby #2 so there could be as many as 4 one day. Mostly just to paddle around the lake, so yes a recreational canoe for now. Rough River Lake in Kentucky, and the name is a misnomer. There is nothing rough about it.
I grew up in Maryland, moved to CA. I grew up using canoes, not kayaks. Out here, everyone has kayaks. I wanted a canoe, for the same reasons you’ve listed…
day trips to the lake with friends family, with possible camping at “boat in” sites, and the occasional white water when feeling particularly stupid.
So one Christmas, my wife made me stay in the bedroom for one hour, while she went to the neighbor’s garage and pulled out a Mad River Adventure 14, placing it in the front yard with a bow.
It’s…awesome. The reclining, padded seats fore and aft are very comfortable, with an added bench seat in the middle. We’ve used it as aid for a long distance swimmer as well. We lash backpacks to the beams with dry bags inside. Plenty of room, each seat has a velcro pocket. Highly recommend.
Heavy to put on top of your car though. You’ll need a strong partner.
Plus, the logo can’t be beat…
http://www.madrivercanoe.com/product_subcategory/index/products/recreation/adventure_destiny_series/
http://www.madrivercanoe.com/content/madrivercanoe.com/assets/page/the_legend/MR_logo.png
Thanks, I actually was looking at the Adventure. Along with the Old Town Charles River. How many in your family? Just wondering if the 14 is big enough.
We have an alumnacraft and a Wenonah Minnesota II kevlar.
The alumnacraft’s main advantages are it’s built like the proverbial brick shithouse. You can run it aground, crash into stuff, etc etc. It’s great for farting around, or for fishing nearby, or for learning (Oops! TOTALLY did not see that submerged rock). Easy to steer, stable, etc. It’s also relatively inexpensive. OTOH, it’s heavy. We portaged it for many years before we got the Kevlar, so it’s certainly doable…just heavy. But if you’re not portage and paddling, and just farting around, it’s a great option. A lot of times if we’re just going across town to go fishing we just use the alumnacraft. Same thing if we’re lending out our canoe to someone, or if we’re going to the lake cabin or going car camping.
We do love our Minnesota II, though. Lightweight (I can portage it easily), fast, efficient. Nice boat. Kevlars aren’t as durable as aluminum or fiberglass, though. (But honestly, it takes some pretty serious crashing to screw it up. I’ve hit some stuff going at a good clip, and the boat is still fine.) We spend a lot of time in the Boundary Waters, so the Kevlar was a great purchase, def.
If I were you, I would look around for a beater someone is trying to ditch that you won’t feel bad leaving outside/upside down on a couple of 2x4s at the in-laws cabin. I frequently see them for sale in someone’s yard while I’m riding, something like this:
http://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/boa/1732583477.html
If you ever want to upgrade, the thing isn’t going to go down in value unless you break it in half…
If I were you, I would look around for a beater someone is trying to ditch that you won’t feel bad leaving outside/upside down on a couple of 2x4s at the in-laws cabin. I frequently see them for sale in someone’s yard while I’m riding, something like this:
http://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/boa/1732583477.html
If you ever want to upgrade, the thing isn’t going to go down in value unless you break it in half…
Agree somewhat. Some of the cheaper ones have rounded bottoms and aren’t the most stable. Plus, they can be difficult to steer if the nose is buried in water. You want your son to feel comfortable and not worry about tipping over.
You should be able to buy an aluminum or fiberglass canoe (from craigslist) for less than $400. I have a fiberglass canoe, and my dad has a 16 foot aluminum that he bought for $200 - they’re both great and stable as far as canoes go.
+1
We have an old town 17’ that has taken a beating. It is a barge - I would not want it in a race, but for stability it is fantastic. A couple weeks ago my wife and I took our 5 and 2 y.o. boys out on the lake with our australian shepherd. We never came close to tipping, even with speedboats going by us and creating some pretty big waves.
Go for stability…it would stink to go swimming with a two year old in the middle of the lake.
Thanks, I actually was looking at the Adventure. Along with the Old Town Charles River. How many in your family? Just wondering if the 14 is big enough.
the 14 is plenty big enough. We have rocks in our lakes so the molded plastic is ideal for that sort of thing.
And on the used…I mean these things are something like $700 and will definitely last me a lifetime, so I’m glad we bought new because I got the one I really wanted.
They’re heavy though. I have an older friend I take out and putting it on the car is an issue. Of course if you have youth on your side I’m sure you’ll have no problem.
It’s really, really nice. Seriously. I built a wooden platform out of fence boards that slips in the bottom for our Chow. I’ll look for some photos.
and we actually suspend it from our garage beams, over the cars. So storage is pretty sweet. Took some time for me to configure my storage set up but once I got it, it’s a sweet scenario.
That’s what my family has. We’ve used it on trips ranging from week long trips on the Missouri river to smaller rocky creeks in the Ozarks. Stable enough to have a 100lbs fat lab pacing without it flipping…
Thanks to both of you. I did browse through the Old Town site. Wife would probably come with us some, but I think for the most part it would just be me and my little man. ** We are working on baby #2** so there could be as many as 4 one day. Mostly just to paddle around the lake, so yes a recreational canoe for now. Rough River Lake in Kentucky, and the name is a misnomer. There is nothing rough about it.
You mean, like right now, while you’re posting on ST? If so, I’m impressed that your spelling and grammar are still holding together.
Or maybe you mean that this is more of an intermittent, ongoing activity. If so, and the canoe is going to be involved, you’ll want something that’s reasonably roomy and very stable.
She just tells me where/when to point and shoot, so it could come at any time…