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ISO: lightweight solo and tandem
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It just came up today, I didn't think it would last at the price it was listed, $350.
A nice boat but it is 45-50 lbs and a bit of a drive. Know anybody in Conn? He is willing to deliver, almost anywhere in CT.
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This one is even in PA. 40lbs. You may not be able to see the ad if you aren't on facebook and joined "Marketplace". Here are some details.
mad river conoe
Cherry, PA
mad river conoe
Cherry, PA
I can't even copy& paste the details. Anyway Mad River Malecite. 40 lbs. $1200 OBO & Negotiable
Dale Moser ( 570) 314 2018 Cherry PA.
Dale Moser ( 570) 314 2018 Cherry PA.
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So get one canoe like a Swift Prospector in 15 or 16'. It symmetrical so's you can use if as solo and it's makes a great tandem.
That would have been one of my suggestions too. The Malecite has 3 seats and can be paddled solo, but the one in PA it isn't an ultralight. The picture which I see looks like it is in excellent condition.
Another posting has more pictures of it. This boat looks gorgeous, Burgundy color. The location says "dushore pa 18614".
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I'm wondering why you are interested in a super lightweight tandem. IMHO, lightweight canoes are easier to portage, easier to load onto the car and accelerate more quickly when empty. However, when loaded, the difference in on-the-water speed between a 45 lb tandem and a 55-60lb tandem is negligible.
As you mentioned that you don't mind having your legs straight out front, I would recommend any flat-rockered canoe, about 17-18' long with tractor seats, a stern foot bar and thigh pads. The stern foot bar allows your legs to help you unwind your torso for more power with less arm effort and acts as a stabilizer. The thigh pads allow you to fully connect with the canoe to keep it stable. With both the stern bar and thigh pads, you get a very strong connection to the canoe.
I paddle a Kevlar Clipper Tripper with my partner -55lbs (it's like a sundowner) with the aforementioned features. We are very comfortable and the low seats, foot brace and thigh pads make it incredibly stable. She slides her bow seat forward so she can push off the floatation tanks for more power.
Good luck in your search!
As you mentioned that you don't mind having your legs straight out front, I would recommend any flat-rockered canoe, about 17-18' long with tractor seats, a stern foot bar and thigh pads. The stern foot bar allows your legs to help you unwind your torso for more power with less arm effort and acts as a stabilizer. The thigh pads allow you to fully connect with the canoe to keep it stable. With both the stern bar and thigh pads, you get a very strong connection to the canoe.
I paddle a Kevlar Clipper Tripper with my partner -55lbs (it's like a sundowner) with the aforementioned features. We are very comfortable and the low seats, foot brace and thigh pads make it incredibly stable. She slides her bow seat forward so she can push off the floatation tanks for more power.
Good luck in your search!
The bugaboo I have seen time and time again is that we get older. I have access to a hundred or more canoes that are not seeing the water ( they are cottage boats on our lake) cause they are too heavy. Were I interested I could probably acquire them all.
Cartopping is a big deal.. I am very glad our two big tandems ( 18 and 18.5 feet) come in at 43-45 lbs. They get lots of use on other bodies of water. Yes stern foot bar is a good idea but we have been going with packs that seem to work . We hate tractor seats as they are hard to kneel around when the S hits the Fan( one of our boats does have them and we are not going to saw them out and try to fasten alu brackets to the hull to put in web seats.. However seats are never the final answer. You can modify some seats very easy. Or live with them as we did with our Odyssey which is one fine boat super light but super seaworthy,
The Odyssey ought to be for sale but I can't. We have a Wilderness 18 that serves the same purpose.
Yellowcanoe ought to be for sale too but its a wild mustang solo with its round bottom.. 40 lbs. It likes to unseat the unwary seated soloist. Probably needs a seat lowering. We just did that for a WIldFire to combat wake boat wakes on our lake.
Both the boats are worth so little (30 years old) that it costs nothing to keep them.
The Malecite is a beautiful boat but soloing it has a challenge > Its a flared hull and wide at the center station. 34.5 inches requires a long armed soloist
If you want to steer from the bow seat backward you give up some control. You could be OK with that but its akin to steering a shopping cart from the front pushing backwards. I don't do that well though its interesting on Senior Days.
Cartopping is a big deal.. I am very glad our two big tandems ( 18 and 18.5 feet) come in at 43-45 lbs. They get lots of use on other bodies of water. Yes stern foot bar is a good idea but we have been going with packs that seem to work . We hate tractor seats as they are hard to kneel around when the S hits the Fan( one of our boats does have them and we are not going to saw them out and try to fasten alu brackets to the hull to put in web seats.. However seats are never the final answer. You can modify some seats very easy. Or live with them as we did with our Odyssey which is one fine boat super light but super seaworthy,
The Odyssey ought to be for sale but I can't. We have a Wilderness 18 that serves the same purpose.
Yellowcanoe ought to be for sale too but its a wild mustang solo with its round bottom.. 40 lbs. It likes to unseat the unwary seated soloist. Probably needs a seat lowering. We just did that for a WIldFire to combat wake boat wakes on our lake.
Both the boats are worth so little (30 years old) that it costs nothing to keep them.
The Malecite is a beautiful boat but soloing it has a challenge > Its a flared hull and wide at the center station. 34.5 inches requires a long armed soloist
If you want to steer from the bow seat backward you give up some control. You could be OK with that but its akin to steering a shopping cart from the front pushing backwards. I don't do that well though its interesting on Senior Days.
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Hey Tracker, if you are considering the Northwind 17 vs 18 then I hope you are able to test paddle them. I hope I get all the names right here; I think the NW 17 is same hull as the Bell Northwind and the NW 18 is same as Bell Northwoods...I'm not sure but the specs are identical. In my experience with Bells the bigger boat actually feels lighter and livelier on the water and is more special than the 17 (really 17.5). The 17.5 is a great family boat with huge capacity and superb maneuverability but in my mind it feels a bit sluggish like it's wide with a lot of skin friction....so I recently sold mine. But I do have a soft spot in my heart for the bigger Bell and every time I see a used one come up I'm tempted...even that 18.5 footer spins on a dime plus it's much faster than the 17.5. I now have a Northstar Polaris with a center (third) seat and just like my previous Bell Northstar it's a special boat that cruises great and turns great and is very stable for the performance it offers. Plus it's a decent solo and better than my Northstar probably because the third seat puts you more towards the middle than the kneeling thwart that Northstars came with. But the Polaris is not a true solo and it sounds like you need a bigger tandem.
Finally, Swift makes some very nice and very light boats. I don't think you could go wrong with a Kee 17.
Finally, Swift makes some very nice and very light boats. I don't think you could go wrong with a Kee 17.
Thanks for all the info and advice.
I definitely want a dedicated solo and a tandem.
The purpose of my trip to the canoe shop last weekend was to look for a solo. My wife was along and felt the weight of the tandem wenonah's and northstar's and said we need a lighter tandem. We are heading to the Adirondacks in August for 8 days and she remembers carrying one our royalex tandems we took a couple years ago. This trip two of our kids are going so we were planning on taking two of our Mad River Explorers (both royalex). Our youngest is 10 and my wife was thinking if we got the Northwind 18 (18'9") we could take most the gear and her. Our 15 year old boy wants to take his kayak or my solo canoe (also royalex). I'm hesitant because I'm thinking of other future trips. When it's just the two of us do we want a almost 19 foot canoe? Yeah its light but it's a big boat! I think we would be better off with a 16' wenonah or something similar.
Yellow canoe said a lot of things I was already thinking....I'm getting older so lighter is definitely better, and if it's a choir/hassle to use it won't get much use.
I definitely want a dedicated solo and a tandem.
The purpose of my trip to the canoe shop last weekend was to look for a solo. My wife was along and felt the weight of the tandem wenonah's and northstar's and said we need a lighter tandem. We are heading to the Adirondacks in August for 8 days and she remembers carrying one our royalex tandems we took a couple years ago. This trip two of our kids are going so we were planning on taking two of our Mad River Explorers (both royalex). Our youngest is 10 and my wife was thinking if we got the Northwind 18 (18'9") we could take most the gear and her. Our 15 year old boy wants to take his kayak or my solo canoe (also royalex). I'm hesitant because I'm thinking of other future trips. When it's just the two of us do we want a almost 19 foot canoe? Yeah its light but it's a big boat! I think we would be better off with a 16' wenonah or something similar.
Yellow canoe said a lot of things I was already thinking....I'm getting older so lighter is definitely better, and if it's a choir/hassle to use it won't get much use.
If you're planning to do any small meandering streams the 19 footer could be a pita. Other than that I like big boats.
There are two boats, a solo and a tandem listed on craigslist Baltimore, looks like the same seller. . The solo may bet more length than you wish but you may able to negotiate a deal for both.
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18 footer for two ? Yes on a trip. No if you are daypaddling
you can always rent in the Adirondacks before committing to an investment
You are lucky your 15 year old wants to trip
mine was working and trips stopped about then with her. Same for grandson
you can always rent in the Adirondacks before committing to an investment
You are lucky your 15 year old wants to trip
mine was working and trips stopped about then with her. Same for grandson
G
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Tracker, the kevlar Sundowner, in either 17 or 18 foot iteration, is a really nice canoe for a tandem pair hauling some gear. It is straight keeled little to no rocker like many Wenonahs.
Sundowner 18:
18 feet
13.5 inch center
20 inch bow
17 inch stern
Max width 35 inches
Max gunwale width 34.5 inches
Waterline width 33 inches
For what you have described, a 10 YO and most of the gear in one canoe, an 18 footer would beat anything shorter. And you do have two RX Explorers for rivers or daytripping with just the two of you.
given three people in a canoe 16 feet sinks lots lower in the water than an 18 so you lose some safety margin.. You might cram all in but then pack above the gunwales.. I have always kept the load below the gunwales
We started out 16 feet but it was cramped with a pack and a 60 liter barrel and a day pack.. So we went 18.5 and never regretted it. For some trips a shorter canoe with the two of us would have been impossible as we had to take a fire ring and a toilet and other times 20 gallons of fresh water. But don't buy on what you MIGHT do , buy for your immediate needs.
Just brought home a 15 and half foot day tripper. Yellowstone Tandem in RX.. It never ends.
We started out 16 feet but it was cramped with a pack and a 60 liter barrel and a day pack.. So we went 18.5 and never regretted it. For some trips a shorter canoe with the two of us would have been impossible as we had to take a fire ring and a toilet and other times 20 gallons of fresh water. But don't buy on what you MIGHT do , buy for your immediate needs.
Just brought home a 15 and half foot day tripper. Yellowstone Tandem in RX.. It never ends.
How goes the search Tracker?
Sawyer solo in Albany for a decent price, not too far from you...
