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Any reviews on Borquin or Stewart River?

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I am wondering if anyone has paddled these boats solo - Bourquin Lutre or Alex's Pal. I am looking at one of those for another tripping boat and was curious if anyone out there has paddled them. Lastly, I am intrigued by Alex's Traveler, a 14 ft. solo that has a lot of volume. I believe the lines under water are basically the same as the old Wildfire. It looks interesting and at 40 pounds sure gets my attention, but I am 225 and usually trip with about 75 pounds of gear and food. I wonder if that load is pushing it for a 14 foot boat. Also, I trip flat water, not sure how that hull would do. I welcome any info you folks on the board may have.

Bob.
 
I am wondering if anyone has paddled these boats solo - Bourquin Lutre or Alex's Pal. I am looking at one of those for another tripping boat and was curious if anyone out there has paddled them. Lastly, I am intrigued by Alex's Traveler, a 14 ft. solo that has a lot of volume. I believe the lines under water are basically the same as the old Wildfire. It looks interesting and at 40 pounds sure gets my attention, but I am 225 and usually trip with about 75 pounds of gear and food. I wonder if that load is pushing it for a 14 foot boat. Also, I trip flat water, not sure how that hull would do. I welcome any info you folks on the board may have.

Bob.

Bob, I haven't paddled any Stewart Rivers but have frequently lusted after them when looking at the site. I'm just posting to ask whether you really meant the Traveler. That's not a 14' boat, but a 15.5" one. The 14 footer is the Solitude.

I've always been fascinated by the 15' Ami myself, which is a shortened Pal that can be paddled solo with an ingenious sliding bow seat or as a small tandem. It's wide and should carry a heavy load when solo.
 
Bob,

I paddle the Stewart River 16' Prospector solo and a half. I paddle with my dog up front. It's a great boat if not the most efficient. I have a black gold solo but rarely paddle it in favor of the prospector. Mine has epoxy/graphite bottom that is holding up better then any of my composite boats. I'm not gentle with the boat. Mine is Dacron and comes in 7lbs lighter then canvas, so that is an option (as is the epoxy graphite bottom) to consider. The only thing that I would consider adding the next time or when it needs a full repair will be half ribs.

I'm roughly your size at 6'-1"/220lbs and am strongly considering the 15'-6" Traveler in Dacron and same bottom treatment (probably be close to 40 lbs) as my next purchase. I would have put a build order in already if I had space for one more canoe.

I've seen the Bourquin boats in person, and her boats too are top notch.

Barry
 
Glen, you are correct, than you for pointing out my error. Alex had his Solitude at the show and I was amazed at how much volume the boat had for being only 14 feet. Alex said he loves paddling the boat and it is a jack of all trades type do deal. I am intrigued, but have a hard time accepting my size weight and tripping gear would not take most of the nimbleness out of that boat. So, anyone paddle a Yellowstone solo / Wildfire? How is this boat in a stiff wind on your stern - stern quarter ... Does it want to weather cock? Is 300 pounds pushing it in his boat?

Bob.
 
gotta untangle the boats again. The Solitude rocker is asymmetrical. Less rocker in the stern than the WildFire which has 2.5 inches of symmetrical rocker. It is not terribly prone to weathecocking especially with a load. 260 is the most I want to put in the Wild, though have done more with the dog on day trips (pushing 300), With a length to width ratio of about 5.8 Wild isnt a fast tourer.

The Solitude ought to handle more like the Yellowstone Solo, which is not the Royalex version of the WildFire.
But I have not paddled it.

I personally would tend to gravitate to the Traveler, which looks like a Loon Works Mistral.. which I believe was inspired by the DY Solo Tripper line. Its got a little longer L/ W ratio for cruising, and it appears to have a finer entry than the Solitude.
 
Bob,

I have a Yellowstone solo, but I don't consider it a tripper at the weights we are talking about. You'd be close but would lose some of the paddling characteristics. I tried it once on a 4 day and didn't enjoy the paddling much.
 
Bob,

I responded to your PM. This picture is my Bell Rockstar. Certainly not the topic of the thread, but I have done trips in this boat which is listed at 15'-6' x 27". It is fairly deep. (specs still available on line at Bell's website). It carries myself and tripping load well, so I'm basing my preferences for a dedicated wood/canvas solo on these specs.



Barry
 
I own a composite Bell Wildfire, a 14' hull that is 12.5" deep. I'd say it begins to bog down at a total load of about 250 lbs. By bog down, I mean it loses much of it's nifty turning characteristics because the rocker is buried, it begins to slow because the bubble sides are down further in the water making the waterline beamier, and there's not enough freeboard for my liking. I'm sure one could trip in a Wilfire with a total load of 300 pounds, but I don't think it's the optimal canoe for that.

My guess is the Bell Royalex Wildfire/Yellowstone would perform similarly under load.

I like a 15' canoe with at least 13.5" depth for solo tripping. Part of that is simply a psychological preference for a larger hull. I use my 15' Hemlock SRT for tripping, but it may be too tippy for some paddlers. The Bell/Colden Starfire does a nice job as a very maneuverable but wider 15' hull with reasonable speed. A 15' "Prospector" could also do the job depending on how fat it is. Some are too fat at 35"-36".
 
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