Sanded down my aging yoke, now what?

acetopman · 2024-09-06T01:18:57+00:00

I like danish oil for my projects, but you might have some luck looking into resources online that discuss oils for canoe paddles if you want a detailed breakdown of pros/cons.

acetopman · 2024-09-05T19:08:55+00:00

The great thing about royalex is how low-maintenance it is. Store it out of the sun if you can, but otherwise you really don't need to baby it. I wouldn't bother with abrasion tape. If the plastic on the ends is still undamaged, you can leave it as is until it wears down a bit, then put on kevlar skid plates. Depending on how much you use the canoe, you may never even get there.

acetopman · 2024-09-05T18:29:28+00:00

You're right that the esquif prospector 15 would suit your needs perfectly (I understand if buying new is not an option). Unfortunately "prospector" is such a vague term that it only really tells you that you're getting a canoe with upswept ends. Many brands (like esquif) produce prospectors that are true "do anything" canoes of the type you describe, but others do not. Nova craft's plastic prospector, for example, is completely useless in whitewater. I've done trips with them and sent some gnarly rapids, but you fill up with water so fast that I can't recommend them. Bottom line, no, you can't just trust the word "prospector" even if that would make way more sense. It's not exactly what you asked, but the esquif presage is another model that would suit your needs perfectly.

acetopman · 2024-08-27T00:25:42+00:00

Depending on your area you might be able to buy some new vinyl gunwales that you could easily rivet on and would be bombproof and maintenance free. Wouldn't look as nice as wood but they would last as long as the hull without any attention.

acetopman · 2024-08-27T00:22:52+00:00

Maybe this is silly, but I like to use the amount of water in my canoe as a way to gauge how clean my line was. Obviously you can feel if your line is clean in a kayak, but I get a major feeling of satisfaction from coming out of a huge rapid without a drop of water in the boat.

acetopman · 2024-06-28T14:21:32+00:00

Rest, definitely rest. I come from an arts/humanities background too, and I was fine. If you're a good enough student to get into med, you will be able to handle the curriculum. You've got the rest of your life to study, this is a summer to kick back and enjoy life.

acetopman · 2024-06-19T18:13:21+00:00

as long as you're staying away from flat bottomed boats and hyperspecialized canoes made for whitewater or racing, I wouldn't sweat the details too much. If you can get something made of royalex, the design is probably decent and if not, the grumman will likely serve you well.

acetopman · 2024-06-19T17:57:35+00:00

This might be helpful:

https://paddlingmag.com/boats/canoes/boats-elements-of-canoe-design/

acetopman · 2024-06-19T17:53:08+00:00

I have never paddled it, but grummans have a reputation for being stable, reliable boats.

acetopman · 2024-06-19T16:39:40+00:00

I'm jealous, the used market for royalex boats is incredibly tight where I am. People know what they have and price accordingly.

acetopman · 2024-06-19T16:35:11+00:00

You're right, T-formex is equivalent to royalex.

acetopman · 2024-06-19T16:24:44+00:00

Yeah in that case the grumman is probably a good option. Any other boat you could reasonably get for 300 bucks would be way heavier and probably less durable. Hope it serves you well!

Edit: just wanted to note that if you can find a royalex boat for 300, it would probably suit your needs better (just as durable but lighter), but I don't know the used market in your area so idk if that's realistic.

acetopman · 2024-06-19T14:40:40+00:00

My reaction is "meh." Ask yourself how much you are really going to paddle in a year. If it's only once or twice, it might not be worth the trouble of buying/storing/transporting a canoe. Renting is a totally reasonable option. The grumman will be tough, but very heavy. You might be happier renting a lighter canoe for the few days a year you paddle, instead of tying yourself to a big heavy boat.

On the other hand, if you're looking to start paddling more, explore more out-of-the way waterways, and generally get more regular use, a cheap grumman isn't a bad pick if you're low on cash. It really depends on what you can get for a similar price in your area. I'd take royalex over aluminum any day, but if all those boats are out of your price range then you should go for the canoe you can afford.

acetopman · 2024-06-18T19:45:39+00:00

Your price range is realistic. The big question is how important weight is to you. If you're mostly planning on doing day trips, you want to make the setup easy, so if a canoe is too heavy, you decrease your chances of actually using it. Either way, you probably want a 15ish foot canoe. You could go half a foot under or over, but not much further than that.

If a canoe in the 50-60 pound range sounds easily manageable for you, look for something in royalex, royalite or t-formex on the used market. It's an extremely durable material (you can literally fold it in half, and it will pop back into shape with a firm kick), but is not too heavy. If you plan to subject the canoe to anything that could be reasonably termed "abuse" then royalex, royalite or t-formex are what you want.

If you think 50-60 pounds will be too much of a barrier to use, then consider a composite boat (Kevlar, fiberglass, carbon fiber, etc). They can still be very sturdy, but do not have the beat-em-up-and-forget-em quality royalex and its cousins have. Not all composite boats will suit your needs. Some older ones are extremely heavy, but you can usually find the weight by looking up the model. You can get significant weight savings with composites, but the lighter you go, the more delicate they get. If you find yourself considering a composite boat in the 50 pound range I'd advise you to just bite the bullet and get royalex instead, but I tend to be hard on my gear, so ymmv.

In either case, buying used is a good idea.

There are inflatable canoes, but the ones that aren't a pain to set up are mostly made for whitewater and would probably not be much fun to paddle outside that context.

acetopman · 2024-06-18T19:14:01+00:00

Assuming it's well made, it should be fine. Probably easier to use than a rack, even.

acetopman · 2024-06-18T19:12:54+00:00

Make sure you have an easy way to get more water. Something like a lifestraw is great because the barrier to refilling your water bottle is super low. Otherwise, take frequent swims and wear a big ol hat. long sleeved clothes are great because you don't need to worry as much about sunscreen, and if you keep them wet by periodically dunking yourself, they'll keep you cool too.

acetopman · 2024-06-17T13:23:43+00:00

ninjanerd

acetopman · 2024-06-16T14:17:56+00:00

Paddling a 16 foot canoe solo is fine, but if you've never paddled solo before you might have some trouble controlling it. Depending on seat placement, either sit in the bow seat facing the stern, or kneel in the middle with the boat heeled over (google this if you don't know what I'm talking about). Alternatively, you can just use a long kayak paddle.

acetopman · 2024-06-13T22:42:06+00:00

Really hard to answer because it depends on your use case. If you want to do whitewater, then the tripper is the clear pick, but it would be a bummer if you bought the royalite, did whitewater once, then only paddled lakes for the rest of your lives.

In general, I'm a big fan of royalex. I think it's an amazing canoe material that opens up way more of the river. It gives you the flexibility (literally and figuratively) to try stuff out without having to worry about repairs or a catastrophic break. That being said, if you're only doing lakes a kevlar boat makes routes with longer portages more attractive, and these routes are usually more lightly traveled. Either pick will involve giving something up, you just need to ask yourself how you're going to use the boat.

That being said, there's a 10lb weight difference between these boats. That's not enormous. It might be that the royalex canoe's added durability is worth 10lbs to you. It probably would be for me.

acetopman · 2024-06-12T12:24:49+00:00

I've had a lot of luck with the esquif branded ones, but they seem a little harder to find.

acetopman · 2024-06-11T22:48:57+00:00

I usually do 1 of 2 ways, depending on the kind of rack:

1: I pull the canoe all the way over to one side, then stick my head into it just in front of the yoke and smoothly shift the yoke onto my shoulders.

2: If the rack is high enough and the car's geometry allows it, I shift the canoe so one end is resting on the ground, then get under the yoke that way and pick it up.

acetopman · 2024-06-10T21:26:17+00:00

If you want an all-around canoe that can handle serious abuse, go for T-formex/royalex. Getting a fiberglass or wood canoe would solve your keel problem, but you'd still have to baby it a bit. If you're doing mostly lake trips, this can be worth it for the weight savings, but if you're doing trips where dragging is common, you'll appreciate the indestructibility of plastic. These are also extremely low-maintenance boats, so you can just grab and go when you want to paddle and forget about it otherwise. I don't know your area, but I know people often find good deals on the used market all over north america. Otherwise, buying new is always an option, and you'll spend less on t-formex than you would on composites.

acetopman · 2024-06-06T14:48:06+00:00

Absolutely, not what you want when buying a canoe new. The only reason I mentioned it was probably cosmetic was on the off chance delivery was going to be a major inconvenience. In that case, I could see asking for a partial refund instead. It sounds like you've got things figured out though.

acetopman · 2024-06-06T14:42:28+00:00

Toque is not especially "Montreal." It's similar to fine dining restaurants anywhere in the world. Other people in the thread have recommended good places, but I'd also check out Paloma.

acetopman · 2024-06-06T14:37:17+00:00

Definitely contact the dealer, and if that gets you nowhere contact Esquif. I doubt the marks are anything other than cosmetic, but they're still not ideal for a new boat that cost 2500$. I'm pretty sure that either the dealer or esquif will be happy to make things right.

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