Looking for a good solo canoe.

[SteveS]

I am a long time kayaker looking for a good solo canoe. Would be used mostly on Glades trips and other camping expeditions. I've looked around on craigslist and other forums without much luck. Anyone know of anyone looking to sell a good lightweight boat? Would prefer Kevlar or similar material but would consider a plastic or fiberglass model. I'm located in West Central FL but would be willing to drive for the right boat.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Steve

[vivian]

Kim, we have done Charley creek with others in Krugers and touring kayaks 17-18 long.

[SteveS]

Aside from loading/unloading, are there any performance benefits from going with a lightweight material like Kevlar vs a material like Royalex especially considering on most trips it will be loaded down with gear?

[Kim Gass]

Not at all. Some materials lend themselves to finer end shaping..ie composites. Its harder to make a fine end in Royalex.

 Royalex won't be easily available in 2014, production has  apparently ceased.  In the Glades the boat weight is not important.( you got it with that water load)  Durability is. Composites with a gel coat  seem to survive well (the gel coat is a sacrificial layer).

I have gone with gel coat as the external layer simply because in my limited Northerner experience , oyster bars are my unloading friend, but my canoe HATES them.  I did bring Royalex one year and Mr. Oyster dug in..  

Thanks Vivian.. I have my waypoints plotted for Charley Creek!

The wear on both though was really the same.

[yakmaster]

Here's an excerpt from Mad River's 1993 catalog,  http://www.madrivercanoe.com/content/madrivercanoe.com/assets/page/....  

That's the last reference on their website.

Here's the 1988 version:  http://www.madrivercanoe.com/content/madrivercanoe.com/assets/page/...

Times have changed, but good is still good. And DAMN GOOD, is still DAMN GOOD!

vivian said:

I would love to have a mad river monarch but can't seem to find any. How old would you say one could be in the used market? They were manufactured by mad river many years ago. Kim your recomendations are very good. I will be selling my Hemlock Kestrel after season is over if anyone is interested. It does have the usual gel coat scratches but is structurally sound, used spray deck is included it is in the premium layup, weighs 29lbs.

I weigh 160 and load that boat for 10 day trips no problem. It was designed for smaller paddlers.

[Kim Gass]

LOL..I guess I better padlock my boat!!  The nice thing about the Kestrel and the Peregrine is that you actually can pick them up for an Everglades portage without getting sunk in the mire from canoe weight.

[Gary M]

Steve,

In the 'glades (or S. Florida in general) I have found that I much prefer a material that has a gel coat exterior. As Kim said, it gets sacrificed... but it is easily repaired. Plastics and Royalex get chewed up really quickly and despite what some manufacturers might want you to believe, there are no real ways to repair them.

SteveS said:

Aside from loading/unloading, are there any performance benefits from going with a lightweight material like Kevlar vs a material like Royalex especially considering on most trips it will be loaded down with gear?

[vivian]

I agree 100%. I thought otherwise after many years of paddling plastic SOT and touring kayaks. So I bought a wenonah vagabond in Royalex as my first solo canoe. After one season of fishing near those oyster bars, I got deep gauges all through the bottom of the hull that was not repairable. Fast forward many years later now only buy Kevlar or carbon composites with a gelcoat layer NOT a skin coat. Easy to repair, lighter to carry and easier to paddle.

[vivian]

Mad River classic:

that just looks like Kruger Sea Wind but lighter and cheaper. Too bad they stopped making solo decked canoes, wenonah has the Canak but I don't like the neoprene hatches (coon chew toy), closed paddling station and the fact that they don't offer a rudder option. I don't know if I would buy a 20 year old hull, am I wrong?

[vivian]

No problem, I will contact him for you. Go ahead and send me a friend request so we can talk offline. I will need your contact info to share with Pete.

[Gary M]

Vivian, 

I have a beautiful old Stowe Mansfield (imagine a Merimac, which is a Stowe knock-off) that I think was the best fishing canoe made. Its my second one, I bought it just as they were going out of business (late 1980s) to replace my first. I'm not sure if it is the same for all older hulls, but the problem with both of my Stowes was, after about 20 years, the gel coat layer becomes brittle and spider cracks every time the hull flexes. The glass then is no longer water protected and soaks it up. The only way to restore is to completely remove and replace the gel coat. Ask Hank if it is worth it, either financially or man-hours wise. Unless you are retired and completely smitten, probably not.

vivian said:

Mad River classic:

that just looks like Kruger Sea Wind but lighter and cheaper. Too bad they stopped making solo decked canoes, wenonah has the Canak but I don't like the neoprene hatches (coon chew toy), closed paddling station and the fact that they don't offer a rudder option. I don't know if I would buy a 20 year old hull, am I wrong?

[Kim Gass]

Glass cannot soak up water. Plenty of wood strip boats have external fiberglass( no gel coat) and they consistently weigh 30 lbs..comparable to a kevlar boat.  Gel coat isn't structural; its just a sacrificial layer.  You can fill in the gouges with clear gel and just paint the whole boat.  Its done quite a bit.  If you have soft spots that flex, gel coat is not your problem. The resin has cracked and the glass fibres have separated and it needs reinforcement with another layer of glass.

Merrimack Canoes have been around a long time( since 1960). Not Stowe knockoffs.  Stowe Canoe was in business from the 1970's to 1991.  It seems the knockoff was the other way around.. Fixing these hulls is not easy due to the interior wood.

Decked canoes are still made today. Check out Superior canoes.

http://forums.wcha.org/archive/index.php/t-38.html  for more info on Stowe canoes. A solo that is 39 inches wide would make for a stable fishing platform but  not very good for paddling distances in wind!

[SteveS]

Ended up finding a used Shearwater in great condition for a reasonable price. While it might be a little large in volume, it will give me incentive to load it up with some luxury items I might have otherwise left at home with a kayak. Gonna do some wood work and do some work on the seat and hopefully it will be ready for a solo trip in the next two weeks.

Thanks for the help everyone.