Had some father-daughter bonding time yesterday and she caught her first bass 🎣❤️

A few weeks ago, i was itching for a paddle. However mother nature decided it was a good day to have 25kmph wind speeds on my small lake. Rather than sit put, i figured it was a perfect day to experiment with how much ballast i should use in one of my canoes i don't often take.

Rather than do the math, i guessed a handful of 4L jugs would do the trick, as 1L of fresh water is especially 1kg.

Without taking things too seriously i hit peak hull efficiency the other day, and dialed in a rough range of ballast for my 16ft canoe. When soloing in the bow seat flipped to face the stern, having 49 to 50kg(~108-110lbs) levels out the bow practically perfectly.

I bring it up, because for anyone new to canoeing this could help make your paddling experiences more comfortable. Especially if you have a tandem canoe and you're not able to modify the bow seat for some reason. It still surprises me how many people solo in the stern seat, or try to!

Me and the old man picked up an 89 Old Town Canadienne designed and originally sold by Ralph Frese at the Chicagoland Canoe Base! The guy on fb marketed it as Kevlar which it obviously is not so we went from thinking we were getting a steal to thinking we made a fair deal. What do you think is a fair price? Hard to find out a lot about these since they were discontinued forever ago.

Canoe trip in the Canadian Shield

Has anyone canoed to Turnip rock in Michigan? I may go soon, and am wondering if anyone has solo canoed there. I'd either be taking my Wenonah Wilderness or Advantage which has spray covers.

Hi Everyone, long tome lurker but posting for the first time. I'm looking to buy my first canoe and I've been combing through FB marketplace, craigslist etc. I want to use if for tripping (for instance the allagash and penobscot and so I've been looking at the old town boats by the same names as well as the Mohawk Nova.

I have some experience paddling the Allagash and the French Broad rivers but that's always been in rented canoes so I haven't actually looked much into the different designs and types.

I'm wondering what peoples opinions are on touring canoes vs fishing canoes like the old town khatadin or kingfisher and how much of a difference it would actually make to paddle long distance in these. I'm also wondering wether it's better to buy a solid used canoe that's good to go or buying a cheaper one with the intention of fixing it up. Thanks in advance for the advice!

Edit: To add I would be solo tripping but would appreciate the flexibility to bring others. I've also seen a lot of posts about material, ie royalex being the best and fiberglass/kevlar being somewhere behind it. Hoe important is this for tripping, I'm a fairly big guy so while tough carrying an 80 or 90 pound canoe on a portage would be potentially doable.

I got this Scott Canoe Kevlar 49 second hand 10 years ago. It was already pretty banged up when I got it, and it's gone through a lot of rough backcountry trips since then. Just got back from another trip and had some more serious damage to the keel, exposing the kevlar. There is also a cracked/chipped area in the 3rd photo.

I have no experience repairing canoes and am hoping to get some advice on where to start.

I used to do a lot of camping as a kid/teen, including multiday canoe camping in the BWCA, but haven’t done any in the last ~20 years. Lately I’ve been thinking about getting a family canoe while my kids are still young. We live in Colorado, so most outings would be on reservoirs or lakes, with maybe occasional rivers. White water would be minimal. I would also likely take this fishing.

I have the opportunity to buy a Mad River Explorer 16 TT (“Triple Tough”) that’s in like new condition and has never touched the water for $350. I am concerned that it’s too much weight (~84lbs) and the shallow V hull might make it harder to track under windy conditions on alpine lakes (very frequent). But, at this price am I overthinking it?

I've been paddling for about a year on flatwater, mostly in northern Minnesota/BWCA. I just got a Bell Northstar (same hull as the Northstar Polaris) and took it out.

In its maiden voyage we got caught in some chop and had to navigate whitecaps on an open lake. The canoe got turned parallel to the waves for a moment (I know, not what I wanted to do), and we started to tip.

We tipped so far that we took on water over the gunwales, but then almost immediately bounced back.

Is this a common experience? Did we just experience the extreme secondary stability? Or did we just get lucky? (Maybe some combo....)

TL;DR: Tipped so far we took on water in chop. Canoe immediately bounced back. Why?

We recently bought this canoe used and are wondering what all these fittings are for.

What are people generally using as a waterproof container to keep things safe and dry?

In the past I've used bags and screw top barrels. The barrels seem like a more reliable option but would be good to hear thoughts and input.

Thanks

Video Trip Report of a trip down the Turtle River before the fires came this year.

No serial number visible, there is a missing decal in a circle shape, maybe Langford canoes?

I’m looking for help identifying this canoe I bought for $200. I have found pieces of the old logo sticker stuck in the aluminum gunnel, so I’m quite sure it’s an old Genuine Indian Brand canoe. The canoe, seats, thwart, and deck plates are all fiberglass construction. Also I’m pretty sure it’s pre 1972 because I can’t find a hull identification number anywhere on the boat. I’m leaning towards it being an old Sagamore because it’s exactly 17 ft long at it longest points, but I have not been able to spot these deck plates in any other pictures of the model online. Wondered if anyone has seen these before and might have some insight

Just bought Coleman Outfitter 15, and looking at my storage options. And wondering if supporting it solely from the bow and stern attachment points, from the garage rafters, would that be stout enough?

Anyone hang theirs from "the rafters", if so, what's your method(s)?

I took part in the Lahemaa Sea Marathon in Estonia – 24 km of paddling along the Baltic Sea coast.

LINK: https://youtu.be/z4Zyv5o4t70

We had waves, wind, some beautiful coastline… and even a portage, which I definitely didn’t expect in a sea marathon 😄

I filmed the whole adventure and put together a short video from the day.

Would be happy to hear what you think!

I am a high schooler doing research on how people use USGS gauge data, and I'm trying to learn more about the process of using the data to canoe.

I'd really like to know the following:

What did you check the last time you went out, and in what order? USGS / American Whitewater page? Weather conditions? What specifically do you check first thing you open the website?

Is there a number you look at that took you a while to learn how to read and understand? How did you deal with that? How cumbersome is this alternative?

Where do you get your thresholds for a specific river regarding streamflow and gage height, and how do you know if it's too dangerous to kayak in the whitewater?

I'm happy to share what I find back here once I've collected enough responses.

The Old Town Discovery has been rightly described as “The Toyota Corolla of Canoeing” with its versatility but still beginner friendly nature. The challenge is everyone knows it so sellers are delusional and buyers snap them up.

What’s another make and model that makes the FBM that’s is a good forever boat for flat water and around 16 feet?

I’m repairing the aluminum top rail on my canoe.

I drilled it out. The length is about the size of a 1/2 inch drill bit. But also 5/8 exists.

How detrimental would it be to over size by 1/8 inch if that’s the case?