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Thoughts on an Esquif Heron 15

CaptainOllieWest

CaptainOllieWest

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It is very dangerous to look through the facepage marketplace.
An Esquif Heron 15 popped up within a reasonable driving distance and what appears to be a great price.
It seams that it is a cut down version of their Prospecteur 15.
Does anyone have any experience with this canoe?
I am 6'-1", 225lbs. I assume it will work well as a solo, paddled backwards, but how will it work as a tandem?
 
CaptainOllieWest said:
It is very dangerous to look through the facepage marketplace.
An Esquif Heron 15 popped up within a reasonable driving distance and what appears to be a great price.
It seams that it is a cut down version of their Prospecteur 15.
Does anyone have any experience with this canoe?
I am 6'-1", 225lbs. I assume it will work well as a solo, paddled backwards, but how will it work as a tandem?
Click to expand...

Be sure not to mix up the Huron with the Heron - the Huron is the cut-down 15' Prospecteur - a boat I personally have not paddled, but about which I am also very curious. It is a fantastic option to paddle backwards as a solo - MANY do. With two people you will not have a ton of potential for gear, but for day trips (or lightly-packed overnight trips) the Huron will work just fine - very much like the Swift Prospector 15 or Old Town Pathfinder / Camper 15. While Esquif markets the Huron as more of a cottage boat, it is still over 13" high at midship, taller than the Camper and Pathfinder, both of which have been used for backcountry trips for a very long time. Plus the Huron is lighter than the Prospecteur, meaning it will save your back a bit when portaging or loading onto your car. Esquif now makes the boat in T-Formex Lite, and I must say that is a MIGHTY alluring canoe.

The Heron is a square-stem boat set up to accept a small motor. It is great for fishing or hunting, but not ideal for any sort of backcountry canoe trip...
 
NikonF5user said:
Be sure not to mix up the Huron with the Heron - the Huron is the cut-down 15' Prospecteur - a boat I personally have not paddled, but about which I am also very curious. It is a fantastic option to paddle backwards as a solo - MANY do. With two people you will not have a ton of potential for gear, but for day trips (or lightly-packed overnight trips) the Huron will work just fine - very much like the Swift Prospector 15 or Old Town Pathfinder / Camper 15. While Esquif markets the Huron as more of a cottage boat, it is still over 13" high at midship, taller than the Camper and Pathfinder, both of which have been used for backcountry trips for a very long time. Plus the Huron is lighter than the Prospecteur, meaning it will save your back a bit when portaging or loading onto your car. Esquif now makes the boat in T-Formex Lite, and I must say that is a MIGHTY alluring canoe.

The Heron is a square-stem boat set up to accept a small motor. It is great for fishing or hunting, but not ideal for any sort of backcountry canoe trip...
Click to expand...
I think I am wrong about the depth of the Huron - there is a mistake on the Esquif website. It is 12.5" tall (not 14.5 as it says on the Esquif website), so about a half-inch shorter than the Camper and Pathfinder. I personally probably would still use it for backcountry trips, but at that height the use of a splash cover would be helpful...
 
NikonF5user said:
I think I am wrong about the depth of the Huron - there is a mistake on the Esquif website. It is 12.5" tall (not 14.5 as it says on the Esquif website), so about a half-inch shorter than the Camper and Pathfinder. I personally probably would still use it for backcountry trips, but at that height the use of a splash cover would be helpful...
Click to expand...
Thank you for the information. It was the Huron. It sold fast.
 
Why can’t Esquif get things right on their website? Last year they switched the weights if the Echo and the Adirondack.
 
OxbowJay said:
Why can’t Esquif get things right on their website? Last year they switched the weights if the Echo and the Adirondack.
Click to expand...
I have strong feelings about this - I think many companies fail to recognize how empowering a productive combination of social media and web presence can be - Bill Swift is pretty good at it - but a coordinated Facebook / YouTube / Instagram / Website presence is lacking for most manufacturers. If it's not a priority with regular checks, then small mistakes are easy to miss (like the ones described above). Granted, I do not know how many manufacturers are at their production limit already - maybe they do not want to incite too much more business! Also, it's hard to know just how large a market there is for canoes. But regardless, it does seem that web presence and accuracy is a relatively low priority for most canoe makers...
 
NikonF5user said:
I have strong feelings about this - I think many companies fail to recognize how empowering a productive combination of social media and web presence can be - Bill Swift is pretty good at it - but a coordinated Facebook / YouTube / Instagram / Website presence is lacking for most manufacturers. If it's not a priority with regular checks, then small mistakes are easy to miss (like the ones described above). Granted, I do not know how many manufacturers are at their production limit already - maybe they do not want to incite too much more business! Also, it's hard to know just how large a market there is for canoes. But regardless, it does seem that web presence and accuracy is a relatively low priority for most canoe makers...
Click to expand...
I think it's still very much a buyer beware situation. Specs are not standardized (!) so one doesn't know how rocker is measured or the weight in the boat for the waterline measurement. I'm a big fan of Swift and Bill Swift but just look at my Osprey which was listed at 1.5/1 rocker; it has more than twice that! As Tryin pointed out the center depth of the new P15S was off by 2 inches! When I spoke to Swift about rocker I was told they don't worry much about precise specs. I think you can mostly trust the specs on the Swift site now because almost all Swifts are now Yost designs and the specs from Yost seem accurate and comparable.
20250530_165821.jpg
 
Regardless of what a company produces and sells, if the quality of they don't get the small stuff right I wonder about the quality of their goods.

How well made are Esquif canoes? How do they compare to those of MR back in their prime and those made by today by companies like Nova Craft and Winnonah?
 
Quality in the t formex was as far as i know never.much of a problem.. thier main focis has.been to build boats that last in a ww enviroment where as for example wenonah is more fociused on flatwater and portage weight. Mad river was mainly good beofre the merge into confluence..
 
Depth is 12.5”?The specs on their website say depth is 14.5”.
 

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If I’m going to pay premium for a sub 50 lb, it better be under 50, not over.
 
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As mentioned about Esquif's specs on this boat, there are inconsistencies on their site.
The depth is indeed 12.5" and my canoe weighs in at a tad over 49lbs. Could be 50lbs with scale varience but 49-51lbs would be a safe bet. Not a bad weight for a 15' canoe in T Formex Lite and a capacity of 750lbs. It is the same mold as the Prospecteur 15 but cut down to 12.5" depth to save weight and help with wind resistance.
Esquif needs to get their specs correct for sure! Since I live very close to a few big lakes, I chose the Huron for the shallower depth to help on windy days.
It is a solid canoe and is perfect for my uses.
 

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gumpus said:
but just look at my Osprey which was listed at 1.5/1 rocker; it has more than twice that! As Tryin pointed out the center depth of the new P15S was off by 2 inches! When I spoke to Swift about rocker I was told they don't worry much about precise specs.
Click to expand...

A complication with rocker is that there is no industry standard for the measurement. Is it the difference in "height" from 12" from the stem, difference from the lowest point on the hull, or difference from some other point? Any of them can count as a rocker measurement - so comparing rocker between brands and designers is almost pointless. I generally feel you can compare between boats from the same manufacturer, but as you suggest above, there may not even be a standard of measurement from the same shop!
 
Black_Fly said:
I heard there is tformex lite now.
Click to expand...

From what I have read, the T-Formex lite is not only a thinner material, but also lighter parts as well. So it is a full package and not just a difference in layup. Apparently this is why you can only get T-Formex lite in some models, Esquif apparently needs to structure the lighter components for each individual model (as opposed to the older thinner Royalex which was just a lighter/thinner layup)...
 
NikonF5user said:
A complication with rocker is that there is no industry standard for the measurement. Is it the difference in "height" from 12" from the stem, difference from the lowest point on the hull, or difference from some other point? Any of them can count as a rocker measurement - so comparing rocker between brands and designers is almost pointless. I generally feel you can compare between boats from the same manufacturer, but as you suggest above, there may not even be a standard of measurement from the same shop!
Click to expand...
Yes, I agree. Kind of related comment; one thing I think Swift does very well is the word descriptions of their boats. Even though they listed the rocker of an Osprey as 1.5/1, I remember that it was the only solo where they highlighted maneuverability.
 
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