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Best Places to Shop for Canoes Near Pittsburgh, PA?

I resent the the statement of you being the youngest guy there by 20 years. I’m 42 thank you very much. Lol.
To quote myself,
I might have seen another guy in his 30’s right before leaving,
I was talking about you here. You should be happy I thought you were late 30’s.

And sounds great! I’ll post some pictures when I get the canoe and take it out. Maybe we can plan a day trip somewhere.
 
To quote myself,

I was talking about you here. You should be happy I thought you were late 30’s.

And sounds great! I’ll post some pictures when I get the canoe and take it out. Maybe we can plan a day trip somewhere.
Talk about putting my foot in my own mouth. I should have enjoyed the late 30’s. Have fun with that boat. My family was all up at Dave’s last Tuesday for demo night it was so much fun. His shop is so interesting.
 
I paddle a tandem from the bow seat and it works great for me. I am kind of an unorthodox Cretan and would receive no style points while paddling. That said when solo tripping (lakes) I adjust trim with gear. I have to do that anyway to compensate for wind direction. With a solo seat in the middle you will still have to trim your gear one way or another. When on day trips, I put some water in a dry bag for bow ballast. You might try it before worrying about modifying your boat. If you don't like it you can always mod it later. Modifying also feels very rewarding as you get that custom "just right for me and my tastes" satisfaction. Congratulations on your new boat and happy paddling.
 
After paddling a few canoes I went back to the Hemlock tent and spoke with Steve and Dave Curtis about a used Curtis Northstar fiberglass they have at their shop. I pulled the trigger and had them put my name on it to pick up in a few weeks.
Great choice at a good price. The Curtis Northstar is a stable canoe but still moves along, and although only 16 feet in length holds plenty of gear and growing kids. Fiberglass weighs more than Kevlar but that Northstar is a reasonable 65 lbs. And you're still young. :)

My spouse and I really enjoy our Northstar. We bought a used one from Dave. It's the sunset orange one Glenn posted. We had him pull the center seat and we installed new Conk seats as the old webbing was wearing out; we kept the old seats to make yard furniture. Your canoe appears to have good seats and a good hull so you'll get a lot of use out of that boat. Have fun!
 
We bought a used one from Dave. It's the sunset orange one Glenn posted.

Interesting.

I was looking for a tandem canoe to give to my daughter in Florida. I called Dave about that orange Northstar to ask few questions and for more pictures. Dave said it was already stored for the winter in his warehouse, and he couldn't get it down until his nephew or someone was available to help. He never got back to me—maybe because you grabbed it in the meantime—and I eventually bought something else in the spring.

Small world.
 
It's a small canoeing world, that's for sure.

He must have posted it for sale again in the spring of 2021 and I called him right away and said I'd buy it. Drove over a couple of days later, about a six hour drive. I helped him get it down off the racks in the barn. I've purchased three used canoes from him and it's interesting to see which canoes sell right away and which canoes sit for a while.
 
Hello, so glad you came and had a great time. I was sitting in Dave’s tent and talked to you about my Curtis Northstar my wife and I paddle. I resent the the statement of you being the youngest guy there by 20 years. I’m 42 thank you very much. Lol. This is the 3rd year my wife, my 5 daughters and I have attended. Hope we can paddle our Northstar’s with our families together some time. Enjoy.
Hello, I see the Northstar is gone from Dave’s website. Hope you picked it up and got out on the water. I would be excited to hear a trip repot on some of your adventure.
 
Hello, I see the Northstar is gone from Dave’s website. Hope you picked it up and got out on the water. I would be excited to hear a trip repot on some of your adventure.
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We picked it up this past Wednesday on our way up to Saranac Lake for a short vacation. My wife and I have been out on Lower Saranac Lake getting familiar with the canoe. This trip was planned before we decided to purchase it, so we have our boat with us as well. The canoe has been a nice bonus. Hoping to get a dedicated canoe trip planned before long.

It was great chatting with Dave Curtis at his shop. Nice guy. This canoe looks brand new. Couldn’t be happier with the purchase.
 
She's a beauty. Good to see you've taken it out for a spin.

One suggestion I have is to install some foam padding on the portage yoke. It'll save some wear and tear on your shoulder blades and neck. You can buy a pre-formed pad but I took a spare block of mini-cell foam and cut it down to size and shaped it with a Surform shaver.
 
All,

I had an opportunity pop up a few weeks ago that allowed me to get the Curtis Northstar out on the Lower French River and Georgian Bay. I'd say I did somewhere between 40-50 miles of paddling and had some great fishing. I filmed the trip and am currently editing the footage. I will share when I get things wrapped up.
 
Here's the link to my trip video from the French River and Georgian Bay. I will post in the video section as well. It's a bit heavy on fishing, I noticed when my wife fell asleep during that part when we watched it together. Haha

 
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