Anyone canoe?

[Bryan]

I want to get back out in nature and while the idea of hiking is ok i think i want to take up canoeing. I am not interested in whitewater. The occasional small rapid is fine. I got some good input on a few places to go. Now i am looking for canoe recommendations. I am not interested in kayaks. I want easy in and out and the ability to carry equipment easily.
Other than recommendation having someone to go with would be cool.

 

[CodyW]

I have an Old Town Discovery 158 that was recently kinda handed down to me from my dad, it's an awesome little canoe. He bought it new in 1993 and we used to take it out multiple times a month and it's always been great. Took a good bit of abuse when we used it back when I was a kid (commonly did light rapids on the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers and it saw it's share of rocks) and never gave us any problems. Still doing fine now that it's almost 20 years old too, I took it out for the first time in years last week and had no issues.

I'm no expert and haven't really compared it to many others, but I'm very pleased with mine.

 

[TrentA]

I have a Mad River, adventure 14. Really great canoe. Got it at Dicks sporting goods, they seem to have really good sales on canoes/kayaks.

 

[B. Byrd]

I had a Gruman 17ft. aluminum for 25 years. Used to canoe the Chattahoochee a couple of times a week. Got too old to handle it alone and sold it. ...not handling it in the water, but loading and unloading it onto my trailer rack. Was a great canoe for what you describe. If you are going solo, you might consider 14-15 ft. Easier to handle. With two and maybe a child, the 17 ft is perfect.

 

[Okuma]

mad river makes some awesome canoes that are a lot lighter than a traditional one

 

[Fatal_Bert]

mad river makes some awesome canoes that are a lot lighter than a traditional one

yep. go to dicks and get you a mad river. or if you got the money get you an authentic Old Town. Stay away from the cheap canoes that have the metal pipe running down the center of them.

 

[Bryan]

Being able to ;oad and portage it is important. I think 14' is what I am looking at. I am watching craigslist.

 

[Powerhouse]

Old town and Mad River are good boats.

If you can get one made of Royalex, stay clear of fiberglass and aluminum.

 

[CAMSDADDY]

Not to hijack but would needs change if it was going to be two adults an 8 yr old and 20 month old aboard?

 

[SpeedyR]

a good place to look if you get nearby is Go With The Flow in Roswell.

http://www.gowiththeflow.com/productcart/pc/viewcategories.asp

in the past they have had some of the more knowledgable folks in there, so worth a trip to get things narrowed down. Usually REI will have a couple of experts that work there as well, and usually some good sales. if you are a member you get back usually 10% at the end of the year on purchases, so keep that in mind when looking at prices. I always get nice dividends when I buy a bike or a boat.

typically Mad River is going to be your top of the line boats for most people. they make plastic as well as composite boats. Composite boats will be lighter, stiffer, more expensive and in certain conditions a bit more fragile. it's always a trade off. Royalex and other "plastics" boats are good all around boats, if you are going to be going over rocks, dragging the boat to the riverbank, etc. then look for one of these. But there's something about paddling a nice ultralight fiberglass/kevlar boat with wood trim, etc.

run away from anything metal or with a "stiffener" down the middle.

spend the extra money on a good paddle, flotation and comfortable PFD's.