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Is Nova Craft's PAL sill relevant or just a nostalgic boat?

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Camden, Maine
I'm considering buying a PAL in Tuffstuff for both short trips with my wife and longer solo trips on rivers. But its recurve ends are giving me pause when I compare it to the Northstar Polaris and the Hemlock Eagle, my other two considerations. Do these more modern designs make the PAL just a nostalgic choice? I've paddled the PAL and Polaris and like them both, but I may not be a good enough paddler yet to tell the difference.
 
Art,

I have tripped in both boats, however my experience is nearly 100 percent solo.

NorthStar Polaris, compared to the Pal. Mine is made to be a humongous solo. Both seats have been removed and a seat added where the kneeling thwart belongs. The seat is mounted pretty Low. I find the Polaris to be a slight bit faster than the Pal. As a narrower canoe, it is easy to paddle solo on one side. I can sit and paddle with a guide stroke with good speed and control very easily, even with a dog and full tripping load. Interestingly, I find it less tender than the slightly wider Pal. Lastly, in my opinion, the Polaris is less trim sensitive than the Pal.

Nova Craft Pal, compared to the Polaris. I can not comment on the Tuff Stuff layup as mine is Kev Spec. The symmetrical hull ( in my opinion ) is very intuitive and reassuring when paddling in high winds, big waves ( solely a personal opinion ). Also, I have only tripped in mine as a solo. When paddled tandem, the bow station is narrow and I think should be moved aft a bit and lower the seat to be more comfortable to sitters ( kneelers in bow likely have no issues ).

As a solo for me, the Pal is more maneuverable than the Polaris and easier to negotiate narrow twisties, and control the canoe when fishing over windy reefs, or making any maneuver on one side, the canoe just seems to know what the paddler wants it to do and it happens elegantly with minimal effort, even when fully loaded with a 65 pound dog. My Pal, like my Polaris, is set up currently to be a solo tripper on the huge side. I have one seat, a bit aft of where the kneeler would go. I have a lot of time in my Pal, my longest trip in it was a 32 day trip in WCPP.

I love to paddle them both, especially since I am a dedicated solo tripper and put a lot of thought into what canoe fits my needs the best. NorthStar advocates the Polaris to be a canoeists canoe. I never really got what they were getting at … until this summer. After a 10 day trip in the BWCA, high winds, driving rain, heavy load and a miserable cold wet fidgety dog, I get it. I paddled my beloved Pal next to my Polaris after I returned from my trip. Turns out I paddle the Polaris better and like it more as a tripper, even though I lean more towards traditional designs.

Both are easily paddled tandem and solo. Both offer terrific solo capacities for extended trips. Both are very well mannered in the wind ( Pal is better by a bit ). I think both are really solid canoes.

Good luck with your search 😎

Bob.
 
You might find the Pal a bit small for tandem tripping. I ran two of them with the school club, we built one at 16 and one at 17. Both were not great in white water when fully loaded, and we tended to put smaller paddlers in them. If you compared sea worthiness with a big load to the nova craft prospector, the prospector was a much better heavy tripping canoe. On the other hand, if you trip without the kitchen sink, and aren't 200 pounders, the Pal would be fine.

I am seriously considering building a 15 foot version for my new solo canoe, I might bring the stems down a bit, but I have solo tripped in a full size Pal, and it was fine.
 
Ended up buying the PAL and I am in love. Logged a couple of solo trips in November and found instant comfort heeling it over and weaving through the islands of Crawford Lake and Nicatous Lake (Maine). Got the blue one because, well, I have too many green canoes. I also bought an Esquif Echo (green) for a specific trip earlier this year and very much like it, too. Now I'm stuck with two canoes I really like.
 
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