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Checking in from St Augustine, FL

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St Augustine, FL
Hello from NE Florida. I paddled outrigger canoes (OC-1 &OC-6) in Hawaii from 2004 thru 2020 before moving to Florida.

After a short stint of trying a motorized skiff for fishing I am now back to canoeing and actively looking for a classic canoe for fishing and taking my wife out on the water.

Looking at Wenonah (Fisherman or Kingfisher), Old Town, and Mad River canoes.

Not much luck on Facebook Marketplace in the southeast United States but continue to look. We will likely take a quick road trip to St Pete to check out Canoe Country Outfitters.

Not wedded to buying used but would like to try different brands and models to see which is the best fit for me.

Looking for stable but relatively light.

If y’all have any recommendations on brands, models, and where I could try out different canoe makes & models I would be grateful.

I look forward to learning and talking with y’all in the future.
 
Welcome to site membership, Orion!

I have an outrigger, a custom Huki V1B, which I bought in Sacramento, CA, and have paddled all over Florida in, but haven't used in a few years. Here it is at the outlet of Salt Springs into the St. Johns River, not far from you.

Huki on Salt Springs.JPG

I lived in Jacksonville about 15 years ago and there was a canoe store then that sold Wenonah and other brands. Our member here, Woodpuppy, is from Tallahassee and knows the canoe dealership situation in Georgia, I believe. You might try PMing him if he doesn't respond to this thread.

I haven't been in Canoe Country in St. Pete in about 16 years, a great shop then, but you might want to call ahead to see what canoes they have in stock, because they may primarily be "Kayak Country" these days.

For fishing and tandem day tripping with the wife there are any number of tandem canoes in the 16' range, which can also be outfitted for solo use, that would be satisfactory for those purposes. Inexpensive canoes will be made of heavy polyethylene plastics. Lightweight canoes made of Kevlar, carbon and other composites will be much more expensive, but if you can afford them, you will appreciate them exponentially as you age.

Old Town doesn't make composite canoes any more and Mad River is out of business, so you would have to look for used composite canoes from those brands. HERE is a used Old Town Canadienne in the Ocala area, which is 17' long but looks in good shape, which you might be able to negotiate down.

Current manufacturers who produce quality composite canoes include Wenonah, Swift, Nova Craft, Hemlock, Esquif and Northstar. Used Bell and Sawyer canoes can be available. Lots of folks on this site make their own canoes if that is of interest to you.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask any questions here. And post pictures for us when you do get your canoe.
 
Welcome! Tallahassee seems to be a dead zone for good canoes, although there was a Northstar Rob Roy on TLH Craigslist a little bit ago. It’s gone now.

https://www.seakayakgeorgia.com/ is the Northstar dealer closest to me, but it’s almost 2.5-3 hours closer to you! It’s on Tybee Island GA. The next closest Northstar dealer is in Knoxville, TN. I think Wenonah has dealers in Florida, St. Pete is probably the right track. All the others Glenn listed are going to go order down propositions, or go fetch. I ordered my Polaris from a dealer in Michigan because I was already up there visiting family, and the fetch it trip was an additional opportunity to see them.

With so many wonderful rivers, lakes, and springs here I’m saddened canoes aren’t more common.
 
Welcome, Orion.

I called Canoe Country a couple of years ago and they had few canoes and laughed at me when I ask about test paddling them. Their website is almost exclusively kayaks now.

I’m in Florida, a couple of hours south of Orlando.
 
Welcome to site membership, Orion!

I have an outrigger, a custom Huki V1B, which I bought in Sacramento, CA, and have paddled all over Florida in, but haven't used in a few years. Here it is at the outlet of Salt Springs into the St. Johns River, not far from you.

View attachment 130414

I lived in Jacksonville about 15 years ago and there was a canoe store then that sold Wenonah and other brands. Our member here, Woodpuppy, is from Tallahassee and knows the canoe dealership situation in Georgia, I believe. You might try PMing him if he doesn't respond to this thread.

I haven't been in Canoe Country in St. Pete in about 16 years, a great shop then, but you might want to call ahead to see what canoes they have in stock, because they may primarily be "Kayak Country" these days.

For fishing and tandem day tripping with the wife there are any number of tandem canoes in the 16' range, which can also be outfitted for solo use, that would be satisfactory for those purposes. Inexpensive canoes will be made of heavy polyethylene plastics. Lightweight canoes made of Kevlar, carbon and other composites will be much more expensive, but if you can afford them, you will appreciate them exponentially as you age.

Old Town doesn't make composite canoes any more and Mad River is out of business, so you would have to look for used composite canoes from those brands. HERE is a used Old Town Canadienne in the Ocala area, which is 17' long but looks in good shape, which you might be able to negotiate down.

Current manufacturers who produce quality composite canoes include Wenonah, Swift, Nova Craft, Hemlock, Esquif and Northstar. Used Bell and Sawyer canoes can be available. Lots of folks on this site make their own canoes if that is of interest to you.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask any questions here. And post pictures for us when you do get your canoe.
Thanks for the welcome and info Glenn! It warms my heart to see your Huki.
All the best!
 
Welcome! Tallahassee seems to be a dead zone for good canoes, although there was a Northstar Rob Roy on TLH Craigslist a little bit ago. It’s gone now.

https://www.seakayakgeorgia.com/ is the Northstar dealer closest to me, but it’s almost 2.5-3 hours closer to you! It’s on Tybee Island GA. The next closest Northstar dealer is in Knoxville, TN. I think Wenonah has dealers in Florida, St. Pete is probably the right track. All the others Glenn listed are going to go order down propositions, or go fetch. I ordered my Polaris from a dealer in Michigan because I was already up there visiting family, and the fetch it trip was an additional opportunity to see them.

With so many wonderful rivers, lakes, and springs here I’m saddened canoes aren’t more common.
Thank you for the info Woodpuppy! I am traveling up to Charleston in the next couple of weeks so Tybee Island will be an easy pitstop along the way.
 
Welcome, Orion.

I called Canoe Country a couple of years ago and they had few canoes and laughed at me when I ask about test paddling them. Their website is almost exclusively kayaks now.

I’m in Florida, a couple of hours south of Orlando.
Thx Erica! I talked to Tom at Canoe Country yesterday and intend to head over there next week. Very informative and knowledgeable. I look forward to talking to y'all in the future!
 
I hope you’ll let us know how it goes. It would be worth the trip if they have some good boats in stock.
 
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