Savage River Blackwater solo canoe

[PortageW/Cerberus]

You might give Ben Diller at Savage River a call to discuss various strength and durability options of their layups. Last fall I received a new Blackwater solo canoe in Texreme Lite, promised at and measured at 19 pounds. it is to become my new flatwater and slow river tripping canoe. I have no intention of using it in fast water or being rough with it in any way. I am enjoying my first paddling this spring in it and I love it. Way more stable than a PB Shadow and just as fast, or faster, especially in wind. I also enjoyed working with Bill Swift a couple of years ago for a new carbon fusion Cruiser. with even greater stability for my daughter.

Can I ask more about your Blackwater?

Their layup pricing/weight spreadsheet shows the Textreme Ultralite as 19 lbs...Textreme Lite at 21.

Did you actually get the Ultralite, or did you get the Textreme Lite & make other selections (like the interior layer) to bring the weight down?

Carbon fiber thwarts & handles, or Aluminum? Stock seat? Foot brace? What else?

My Blackwater is great, but I do dream of getting a lighter one. 19 pounds is pretty sweet for such a rocket.

 

[yknpdlr]

Can I ask more about your Blackwater?

Their layup pricing/weight spreadsheet shows the Textreme Ultralite as 19 lbs...Textreme Lite at 21.

Did you actually get the Ultralite, or did you get the Textreme Lite & make other selections (like the interior layer) to bring the weight down?

Carbon fiber thwarts & handles, or Aluminum? Stock seat? Foot brace? What else?

My Blackwater is great, but I do dream of getting a lighter one. 19 pounds is pretty sweet for such a rocket.

Ben told me it would weigh in at 19 pounds and that is what I measure in the final product at home. Everything that can be carbon is carbon. Sliding race style seat with attqched sliding footbrace. A real joy to paddle and easy to carry.

Even without any significant rocker I am able to turn quite well, and I feel I would have no problem making a 180 degree buoy turn at speed. One difference I do notice is that unlike all of my other canoes and others I have paddled, that it best likes to carve a turn with an intsde heel lean, opposite all the others.

A sanitized version of my final invoice is attached.

 

[PortageW/Cerberus]

Ben told me it would weigh in at 19 pounds and that is what I measure in the final product at home. Everything that can be carbon is carbon. Sliding race style seat with attqched sliding footbrace. A real joy to paddle and easy to carry.

Even without any significant rocker I am able to turn quite well, and I feel I would have no problem making a 180 degree buoy turn at speed. One difference I do notice is that unlike all of my other canoes and others I have paddled, that it best likes to carve a turn with an intsde heel lean, opposite all the others.

A sanitized version of my final invoice is attached.
View attachment 146395

Cool! What is the 5” square gunwale??

Also, what do you do for a yoke?

 

[yknpdlr]

Cool! What is the 5” square gunwale??

Also, what do you do for a yoke?

Since the BW gunwales have no innwale for a yoke clamp to grip, I asked Ben to glue in small carbon blocks that my yoke would clamp to at the balance point. I also use a hand line at my waist attached bow to stern to control the up/down tip of the canoe while carrying. I remove the pads from the yoke when I portage using a Knupac system.

 

[PortageW/Cerberus]

Since. the BW gunwales have no innwale for a yoke clamp to grip, I asked Ben to glue in small carbon blocks that my yoke would clamp to at the balance point. I also use a hand line at my waist attached bow to stern to balance the tip of the canoe while carrying. I remove the pads from the yoke when I portage using a Knupac system.

Neat. I may need to sell some of my other boats to fund a new build.

How tough are the carbon fiber thwarts?

Would love to see more photos.

Would also love to hear your thoughts after you've taken it on a few wilderness trips. Wonder if the black interior will be hot (I trip with a dog - could be an issue); wonder how the sliding seat & footrest works in real life....etc.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[yknpdlr]

The sliding seat is not used as a dynamic slider while paddling. Although I can easily move it forward and back to fixed positions while on the water, its main purpose is to adjust trim for different wind and wave conditions. My PB Rapidfire and Shadow have similar movable seats, but with fixed foot rest blocks. Although I will use the BW for lightweight gear wilderness tripping, its primary use is for me to train single blade paddling at speed as I am training for racing in larger multi seat boats with my team, C2, C4, or voyageur. The BW does have plenty of capacity to carry normal camp tripping gear. My most recent camping trips have been with the Leanto Rescue work group (L2R), when I need to haul heavier and bulky loads of work plus camping gear, so I have other solo canoes such as a Swift Cruiser (also equipped with an integrated movable seat/footrest) better suited for that purpose. Unfortunately, the BW at 17 feet in length, is too long to be allowed to race in the Solo-Recreational class of official rules sanctioned canoe races.

I do not see the black interior to be any issue for my use. I do not have a dog anymore.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I'm going to move the discussion of the Savage River Blackwater solo canoe to its own thread—this one.

 

[PortageW/Cerberus]

The sliding seat is not used as a dynamic slider while paddling. Although I can easily move it forward and back to fixed positions while on the water, its main purpose is to adjust trim for different wind and wave conditions. My PB Rapidfire and Shadow have similar movable seats, but with fixed foot rest blocks. Although I will use the BW for lightweight gear wilderness tripping, its primary use is for me to train single blade paddling at speed as I am training for racing in larger multi seat boats with my team, C2, C4, or voyageur. The BW does have plenty of capacity to carry normal camp tripping gear. My most recent camping trips have been with the Leanto Rescue work group (L2R), when I need to haul heavier and bulky loads of work plus camping gear, so I have other solo canoes such as a Swift Cruiser (also equipped with an integrated movable seat/footrest) better suited for that purpose. Unfortunately, the BW at 17 feet in length, is too long to be allowed to race in the Solo-Recreational class of official rules sanctioned canoe races.

I do not see the black interior to be any issue for my use. I do not have a dog anymore.

Sounds like our uses are different.

On the seat, mine also came with a slider but mounted on an aluminum frame rather than the carbon fiber bulkheads. Can move on the fly but it is, as you say, not dynamic.

I have found that moving the seat alone sometimes does not change the trim enough. On lengthy trips I will have a spare dry bag to fill with water - in heavy winds & waves I've pulled over to make a more radical change in trim.

However more curious about how that works with the footrest - they are connected, right? Move one, move the other? My footrest is old-school.

The Blackwater has enough room for me to stay out for 60 days w/out resupply, easy...though I do pack light. That said, 60 days is theoretical and my trips are usually 8-11 days (however 14 days next month) in NW Ontario, beating across the Canadian Shield. Tough boat.

Any more pics you'd be willing to share - I would be more than happy to see your newest ride.


PS Thanks Glenn; sorry to have hijacked the other thread.