Recent content by tketcham

Looks like fun. I remember paddling on the Huzzah River decades ago in a tandem Grumman. Beautiful country and clear water. If I didn't have a bunch of other commitments that time of year I might take a road trip.

Our Swift Prospector 13, with the expoy finish, hasn't been bumped down through a boney stretch of stream yet but in the times we've had it out and hit (or dragged over) a few things, it's been surprisingly tough. Gelcoat, in my opinion, is good for hiding scratches and dings but a tough skin...

It's not just Swift, take a look at what Wenonah's selection looks like these days. And all the models they've put into retirement. Gotta sell what the people wanna buy. Or is it: People gotta buy what's sold to them? I think it's great that canoe builders are offering interesting adaptations of...

Looks like a fast touring tandem for light gear haulers. I'm not a fan of recurved stems on modern canoes but I could enjoy paddling this canoe. But I might be happier with this one... Wenonah Jensen 2 Two inches of rocker, 37.5" max width is at the gunnels with a 32.5" waterline so...

"It's like deja vu all over again." (Thanks, Yoggi.) https://www.canoetripping.net/threads/what-is-a-canoe.128510/ And if it's not the boat, how about the paddle: Double-blade or single-blade? 😂

First thing I thought of when they set out was that Ken needed some extra weight in the canoe to help with tracking. Still, paddling in a heavy wind isn't much fun in a bouyant solo.

When I was looking for a durable expedition tandem I didn't start out considering Clipper's Prospector 17, mainly because I considered any "Prospector" to be more about tradition than function. But taking a second look at Clipper's canoe, it doesn't really look like a Prospector, and it had the...

No worries. :) The main reason I ended up with three Western Canoe/Clipper canoes over the years is that I lived in Washington state for some time and had friends with a Clipper Tripper 17' 6" that they really enjoyed. They let me (us) try it out a couple of times and I was impressed with how...

Here's a post (in the thread link below) by Rubbaboo about the Clipper Prospector 14 being used as a whitewater play boat... I’m comparing three boats: the Clipper Prospector 14, Clipper Caribou S, and the Nova Craft Prospector 15.

I agree. I put the Clipper Prospector 14 up as a candidate for a solo canoe only as a suggestion. And I was careful to say it wasn't a whitewater playboat and would require a splash cover to keep dry. Also, additional floatation or dry bag floatation (or both) would be needed in case of a tip...

I agree. I use stainless steel thermos bottles now (Hydroflask) instead of Nalgene bottles. The drawback to the thermos bottles is they don't hold as much water for the same size bottle, so you have to carry more bottles or use larger bottles. I suppose I could find uninsulated metal bottles but...

It'd be interesting comparing the Clipper and Swift versions of the P14 in a range of water conditions. And I wonder if James van Nostrand and David Yost ever got to talk about canoes? Clipper builds solid canoes that last; they can be just a bit heavier for it though.

I don't know anyone personally but I've heard it's fairly capable in whitewater. It's not a playboat though, it's intended for handling fast moving sections of river carrying a load. It's an all-around canoe, designed to be able to cover long stretches of flat water and not have to portage...

I wasn't going to post anything because the OP is such an open-ended question, especially the "of all time" factor. And did it mean a canoe that can do both lakes and rivers or are they separate categories? Anyway, after RBourg's comment I thought about having one canoe that could do both. I...

What are the best river and inland lake canoes of all time? [Assuming you're including some whitewater capability but not difficult whitewater, Class 3+ and up.] Tandem: Clipper Prospector 17 for a combination of rivers and lakes. Why? I've paddled this canoe in all kinds of conditions and it...