So back in late July, I had decided on purchasing a Northstar Phoenix. I had test paddled a few contenders at Rutabaga and the Phoenix just felt very good for my uses. I was torn however between ordering the standard IXP, or the Ruby covered version. I had seen Jeremy Vore’s Ruby model at Canoecopia and it was awfully sharp looking. Plus, my Polaris is standard IXP with ash gunwales, so I already have that color scheme, and thought I might like something different for this one just so they didn’t look the same.
However, I have always been enamored by the old eggplant purple Mad River boats, both royalex and composite. It was a shame, I thought, that no one still makes a similar color. At some point in my thinking, I remembered that purple is a combination of blue and red, and also that overlaying translucent films of blue and red can create purple. And further, that the polyester fabric used by Northstar is translucent.
At this point, I decided to reach out to Northstar to see if anyone had ever overlain any of their polyester fabrics to create a new color. It just so happened that when I called, Charlie Thompson (their engineer/designer) answered the phone. We had a great conversation about different boats, designs, layups, etc. and apparently no one had ever overlain the different polyester color layers before. However, they were willing to humor me and create some test samples to see what it would look like, which was really cool of them. As it turned out, the blue/azure color is very strong, and when it’s on top of any other color it still looks blue. The red on the other hand, does change significantly when overlain on the blue. It does not make purple, per se, but rather a darker, more purple-y red. Like a burgundy/oxblood/black cherry color. They sent me some pictures, and then an actual sample coupon.
I was worried it might not look as good on a full boat, but I also really wanted to know how it would turn out. So after some hem hawing in my part, I decided to just go for it and ordered the Phoenix in the “burgundy”. In my humble opinion it turned out incredible. The color has a depth to it that’s hard to capture. It’s burgundy, but changes with the lighting and sometimes has a strong purple/black cherry undertone. In passing I had mentioned that if they had some cherry laying around for gunwales I’d be interested in some instead of ash. They said they don’t stock it normally, and their supplier only occasionally has it for them, so they never list it as an option because often it’s just not possible. I left it at that and figured I’d get ash and that would have been just fine. However, to my shock on seeing the boat for the first time, they were apparently able to get some in! And it looks better with the burgundy than I had hoped!
I’ve had the chance to paddle this boat a few times now and I am just so pleased with both how it performs and how it turned out aesthetically. It has really been a joy to paddle, and as of now it’s a one-off, which is pretty awesome. It’s also super cool that the guys at Northstar were open to trying something new from a random customer call. During this process I spoke to Charlie, Dan, Ted Bell, basically everyone but Bear (although I talked to him a lot previously, when I got my Polaris). All of them have given me more than my fair share of their time, and I appreciate that greatly. You just don’t see that much these days. Good group of folks to work with, and a heck of a good boat that I could not be more pleased with.
However, I have always been enamored by the old eggplant purple Mad River boats, both royalex and composite. It was a shame, I thought, that no one still makes a similar color. At some point in my thinking, I remembered that purple is a combination of blue and red, and also that overlaying translucent films of blue and red can create purple. And further, that the polyester fabric used by Northstar is translucent.
At this point, I decided to reach out to Northstar to see if anyone had ever overlain any of their polyester fabrics to create a new color. It just so happened that when I called, Charlie Thompson (their engineer/designer) answered the phone. We had a great conversation about different boats, designs, layups, etc. and apparently no one had ever overlain the different polyester color layers before. However, they were willing to humor me and create some test samples to see what it would look like, which was really cool of them. As it turned out, the blue/azure color is very strong, and when it’s on top of any other color it still looks blue. The red on the other hand, does change significantly when overlain on the blue. It does not make purple, per se, but rather a darker, more purple-y red. Like a burgundy/oxblood/black cherry color. They sent me some pictures, and then an actual sample coupon.
I was worried it might not look as good on a full boat, but I also really wanted to know how it would turn out. So after some hem hawing in my part, I decided to just go for it and ordered the Phoenix in the “burgundy”. In my humble opinion it turned out incredible. The color has a depth to it that’s hard to capture. It’s burgundy, but changes with the lighting and sometimes has a strong purple/black cherry undertone. In passing I had mentioned that if they had some cherry laying around for gunwales I’d be interested in some instead of ash. They said they don’t stock it normally, and their supplier only occasionally has it for them, so they never list it as an option because often it’s just not possible. I left it at that and figured I’d get ash and that would have been just fine. However, to my shock on seeing the boat for the first time, they were apparently able to get some in! And it looks better with the burgundy than I had hoped!
I’ve had the chance to paddle this boat a few times now and I am just so pleased with both how it performs and how it turned out aesthetically. It has really been a joy to paddle, and as of now it’s a one-off, which is pretty awesome. It’s also super cool that the guys at Northstar were open to trying something new from a random customer call. During this process I spoke to Charlie, Dan, Ted Bell, basically everyone but Bear (although I talked to him a lot previously, when I got my Polaris). All of them have given me more than my fair share of their time, and I appreciate that greatly. You just don’t see that much these days. Good group of folks to work with, and a heck of a good boat that I could not be more pleased with.
. Definitely something to consider for those that are shaving ounces for long portages though.
