New canoe

Hi I,m new to canoeing I was looking at different types and am not sure what to buy. I noticed canoes built of a material called Royalex have a tendency to warp there is no strenghthening ribs or gunwales. Canoes built of plastic like the Coleman seem to be bulky ,heavy and too wide. Another one made of fiberglass flipped over immediately as soon as my wife and I entered it very unstable. Can someone guide me in the right direction? TIA.

As you will see when doing research, there are numerous canoes available, but to point you in the right direction you need to give a bit more information. What do you want to use the canoe for? Tripping, portaging, at the cottage etc etc..... Are you going to be packing equipment in it? Lake usage, river usage? Overnight trips or just day usage. Is canoe weight an issue? Just a few of the questions, give us as much info and you can and we can point you in the right direction.

Continuing what was said by William and Roland, it takes one chapter in a book to discuss the pros and cons of various material. Suffice it say here that every popular material has pluses and minuses and the manufacturers have learned how to maximize the former and work around the later.

It takes another chapter to discuss hull design and its effect on boat handling. I am a sponsored boater and regularly use 4 different canoes and three kayaks. I have a canoe in which I can stand up and fly fish (but it is slow and turns like a Great Lakes ore carrier). I have another that only an experienced paddler can keep upright at all (but it is really fast).

In addition to the information mentioned by Roland, an indication of your budget would help. Canoe prices run from $100 for a servicable old beater to several thousand for the newest and lightest. New paddles run from $25 to $450 each; car top carrying systems from $30 to $500.

I think this group is eager to help and even more eager to express opinions, but it would be tedious to have to start with a discussion of hydrodynamics and hull shape. You will use us best if you do some reading and thinking about your uses, then come back with specific questions.

Tommy T.

If you are a beginner don't buy a kevlar rocket. The material you choose will be based on what is important to you. If price is all important and you don't intend to be out to often a Coleman or Pelican gives great bang for the buck. That said I am not fussy about them. I started with loaners , rentals and then my girl friend and I built a stripper. It was a thing of beauty ( from a distance ) it did handle magnificently. It was sort of light but a little large for my sweetheart to paddle. I bought a Cedar / canvas 14 foot canoe and it was a dream. My girlfriend is a skilled and accomplished paddler and she could make it sing. That boat needed more care than I could give it so some 8 or 10 years later we gave it to a friend that refurbishes such and has a collection. Once more the boat sings but for someone else. We still owned the stripper but with the onsaught of childern ( Oh Girl friend became wife through all of this: ) We bought an Old Town Discovery 169. It weighs a lot, 85 lb I would guess. But it carries the kids in safety and on quiet evenings my Girlfriend ( Now Wife ) can take that boat just down the road to a pond with a meandering stream and have a romantic evening paddle lounging back and looking at the stars. That happens too rarely now. It can also lug a dead moose and all the horrible hunting and camping gear involved in that. The Cross Link product sold by Oldtown is heavy , Not a problem for me as I have more of a need for strength than lightness. The same boat in Royalex may be 20 lb lighter $250 More. Fibre glass a little lighter again, faster but less forgiving , Kevlar lighter still and charachteristics are the same as fibre gla$$$. Don't spend a lot of time worrying about it , if you love the sport this canoe won't be your last. Paddling is addictive, an addiction that is progressive in nature and can consume your whole life. Beware: Here is what can happen . I started with a YMCA camp about 1969, a wood canvas canoe and a fibre glass canoe were my home for a week, I rented and borrowed canoes, then we built a stripper canoe when I was pumping gas for ESSO, It got worse, My girlfriend enjoyed solo paddling , now she needed a canoe and I bought one , a native built wood canvas. She took courses,,, Then We took courses. Kids came and we buy an Oldtown; and I always realy wanted one of those indistructable things.... The Kids were just an excuse, Then came kayaking , A friend at the university let me try an R5 on a pond. I loved it and bought a white water boat: Took a course ... I went sea kayaking, in the WW boat. Later I borrowed 2 sea kayaks from The Junior Forest Wardens. More courses. I bought a Sealution, Plastic... Courses. Then a Capella Plastic. Courses... A glass Prijon for the kids in a pond; courses for the kids. Two more kayaks for the kids turned up. They are not mine but no one knows. An NDK Explorer . Gear, more gear more courses.

Escape now ESCAPE WHEN YOU CAN. I can't afford smokes, Can't AFFORD A DRINK. Onlookers think I may be a good Moslim or Christian or some such. No there is no BOOK OF WISDOM Its the boats. Escape RUN WHEN YOU CAN. If its too late Old Town is a cool place to start , or buy used. I never did learn to smoke or drink, Canoeing got me too young.. Save yourself!

Well Rey...

Not too much to add ..I think you got 99% of the info from the other posters. As already stated yoiur answer wil be based on what you want to do with the boats. The lighter Kevlars etc did not flip because of the material used....but more likely due to the design of the boat. Primary stability is nice for getting in and out of a boat....but I'll trade it for secondary stability....the stability required while in more turbulent water... and that;s all based on the design.

Try a bunch out and see how you like them.... btw...I paddle solo boats in WW...we refer to tandems as divorce boats Do your research on paddle techniques as well...it may save your marriage

Best Regards

I see you are a Folbot enthusiast! I owned one of the rigid variety kit years ago. It was great but when it got damaged it was a bugger to fix! Should have bought the folding edition. Has anyone tried the pokeboat that I see in the hunting mags?

The canoe you tried that immediatly tipped was probably designed to handle cross waves. The boat had low primary stability. To compensate it would have high high secondary stability but you were probably already way overbalanced at that point.

Primary stability holds the boat flat to the water. This is good if the water is flat. However if the water tilts (wave from the side) the primary stabilty forces the boat to stay perpendicular to the water. This means the boat rocks side to side with the waves.

Check out this expanation of the various shapes: http://www.adventuresportsonline.com/right-canoe.htm

Consider what you will be doing in the canoe.

Most of the answers you have received have been uninformed hooey, including the moronic advice in the adventuresonline link. Find a local canoe club and take some lessons by certified instructors. In your area this is ORCA.You will learn more about canoes and that people may be unstable but, except for specialized whitewater playboats, the boats are not.

I as well am interested in purchasing a canoe very soon.. my experiences have includes various situations over the years using borrowed, or rented canoes: - camping trips with portages, two people, loads of gear... 17.5 Kevlar light canoe??? - river hunting using an old fiberglass canoe... light gear... 15-16.? foot???? - basic fiberglass canoe, lake paddling for fun... two people, no gear...

I guess I'm looking for something affordable, that would be best to suit the following types of use: (put on top of my truck and strap it down) 1. camping trips, 2 people in the canoe, a bit of portaging, lots of paddling, mandatory camping gear for somewhere like Algonquin park for a weekend 2. fishing trips in a remote lake, one person or two, water may or may not be very calm.. not too rough though.. light fishing gear.. drive to lake, take canoe off, and go out fishing in it. 3. general use around the cottage, paddling one or two people no gear... 4. day trips out on the water , drive somewhere, likely two people, canoe out in the water light gear..

So something that suits this kind of purpose.. no races, etc.. again for my first canoe nothing too expensive as I will likely upgrade in the future to something better as I get more and more use/opportunities.

I'm not sure if a new canoe, or a used one would be a better option.. I suppose it has to meet the purpose, be reliable enough, and moveable...

any ideas? somehow the cdn T.ire ones don't appear to be perhaps the best for my purpose, but I'm not sure...

I've seen canoes for around $1000, but that may be more than I really want to spend..

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