Help choosing an Esquif Canoe

Looking for advice on my next boat. I've narrowed it down to Esquif based on the construction, they seem to be sturdy boats and more resilient then Wenonahs or Northstars. This canoe will be used by my wife and I on rivers (class I, maybe II) and flatwater both fully loaded for expeditions and lightly loaded for day trips. Basically an all-around boat to use in a variety of conditions and water. I'm leaning towards the Esquif Avalon. Anyone have experience with this model?

Bootpdx, welcome to site membership! Feel free to ask any questions and post messages, photos and videos in our many canoe-related forums. We look forward to your contributions to our community.

I don't have personal experience with Esquif, but I do know from long experience that there is no perfect all-around canoe but that there are many very reasonable alternatives. The Avalon looks like a reasonable alternative to me, unless you would like a much lighter weight canoe, in which case you would have to spring for a pricier composite canoe. Or search the used market.

Other members with Esquif experience will likely chime in.

Similarly no experience with Esquif, but I think concluding they are more resilient than competitors in a similar layup is a little bit of a stretch. Also, "expedition" and 16 ft canoe don't really go together well in my mind for tandem travel. Maybe take another look at the Wenonah Spirit II. Only slightly less rocker, more capacity, and probably a bit more stability.

Of course, the real question these days is what is in stock.

Esquif makes a very reasonably priced canoe with their royalex layup. They have a great reputation. The avalon or the prospecteur would probably fill your needs, if you are good with carrying 65 pounds.

I've paddled their echo (solo). Liked it except for weight. I portage a lot. I don't think modern composites are at all fragile but they do cost more than t-formax generally.

Thanks everyone for the welcome and the input and perspective. My other boat is a 16' Navarro Otter that we inherited from family. My wife and I live in the pacific northwest and spend most of our time on flatwater with the occasional river run. When we do run rivers, they are class I mainly, maybe the occasional class II. Our "expeditions" are week 4-5 day camping trips. I'm trying to find a boat that will track well on flatwater, not be a sail on lakes in windy days, and will fit our cargo for a 5 day trip. We don't do a ton of portaging, but car loading and carrying certainly makes weight a concern. I plan on taking a closer look at the Northstars and Wenonahs in my hood. If anyone has specific recommendations, I'm all ears. Thanks!

It sounds like you're in Portland. If you have any interest in Wenonah, contact Paddle People (https://paddlepeople.us/). They stock Wenonah, are active in the canoe community, organize local outings, and sell their demos (I've bought two!). Good folks.

bootpdx said:

Thanks everyone for the welcome and the input and perspective. My other boat is a 16' Navarro Otter that we inherited from family. My wife and I live in the pacific northwest and spend most of our time on flatwater with the occasional river run. When we do run rivers, they are class I mainly, maybe the occasional class II. Our "expeditions" are week 4-5 day camping trips. I'm trying to find a boat that will track well on flatwater, not be a sail on lakes in windy days, and will fit our cargo for a 5 day trip. We don't do a ton of portaging, but car loading and carrying certainly makes weight a concern. I plan on taking a closer look at the Northstars and Wenonahs in my hood. If anyone has specific recommendations, I'm all ears. Thanks!

Click to expand...

Welcome to the site and you may get many reasonable alternatives to Esquif that are 2/3 the weight of Esquifs.. Esquif is primarily dedicated to whitewater ( not exclusively though) and T formex is tough. And as expected heavy.. 16 foot is a minimum for a five day trip, Lighter boats do not have to be sails. Lighter boats with a load in them calculate to maybe a tenth of an inch more exposed to wind. People always think thirty pounds with a five hundred pound load makes a difference. It doesn't.

What you are probably looking for is a non Prospector style. Clipper Canoes is based in the Pacific NW ( Kelowna BC) and you probably can find one maybe even on Craigslist. Their Tripper ( Clipper Tripper) has been around since 1983 and is still made. Seems to be popular( almost all the canoes we saw in Bowron Lakes BC were Clipper canoes)

@bootpdx I have no experience with Esquif but I do own a Kevlar Wenonah and a Blacklite Northstar ( and son an IXP Phoenix). I haven’t had a better built boat than either, but I’ve never seen many other makes in person. And there are a lot of great boat builders out there!

If you’re in Portland you’ve got a local Northstar dealer and rental shop so you might be able rent before you buy: https://aldercreek.com/

And you’re only a little over 3 hours from Bend OR and https://happypaddlin.com/ and https://tumalocreek.com/

If you’re worried about an ultralight Kevlar layup being too fragile, Northstar makes their boats in Blacklite which is carbon over Kevlar, and IXP which as I understand it is the composite answer to royalex. Plenty tough options for you!

Some IXP videos: