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Sending Maverick to dog college

You''ll enjoy the boat but I swear Joe told me the blue ones are faster than the green. Still remember where I put the first small scratch on it, Stony Creek with the temperature in the 40's after sleeping in a tent at Axton Landing. Now my story is I collect scratches not patches since I love narrow winding streams. Ordered it in the fall for spring delivery which worked out well for me. The first time the wife saw it was when I drove home with it, from Lake Placid, she asked where that canoe came from. Told her "oh, don't you remember I bought it last year." I figure that first trip in the RF cost about $300 per paddling mile -- I'm now down to roughly $1.25 per mile. I'll probably stop in to say hello to Joe next week and will check to see if Maverick has moved to a different spot in the showroom.
 
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Waterspyder said:
You''ll enjoy the boat but I swear Joe told me the blue ones are faster than the green.
Click to expand...

He had me look at the new purple ones but I wasn’t going to be fooled.

The first time the wife saw it was when I drove home with it, from Lake Placid, she asked where that canoe came from. Told her "oh, don't you remember I bought it last year."
Click to expand...

Ha! Yeah I actually vetted this purchase with my CFO first. But I‘m selling off the rest of my fleet to pay for this one. I’m selling the motorcycle, too, in anticipation of liking this one so much that I get another for when she or one of the kids wants to come along. Maybe that one will be purple. But only because Joe can’t fix me up with an orange tint yet.

I figure that first trip in the RF cost about $300 per paddling mile -- I'm now down to roughly $1.25 per mile. I'll probably stop in to say hello to Joe next week and will check to see if Maverick has moved to a different spot in the showroom.
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Ask him if my boat is done yet. :D

Magnus
 
If I get a chance I'll check to see if your boat is done. The ADK club paddle outing and WCHA assembly are both at Paul Smith college next week so it should be a fun week. I know a few years ago Joe made one orange boat but it was heavier due to the color not being mixed in as a tint. Don't recall if the boat was a RF or Spitfire.
 
I’m sure it’s not done yet. I’d only ordered it earlier this week, and the ETA was “before the end of the month”.

I’d be all about an orange tinted boat but don’t really want a gel coat weighing it down and hiding that gorgeous carbon fiber.
 
Hate to be the bearer of bad news. Placid uses a sturdy gel coat on all its boats.. Its a tint of a clear gel.. Not solid.. But its gel coat over the carbon fiber. For a while Placid used orange gel to indicate the boats they were making ( smaller boats like the Spit and Flash) out of recycled scraps. That idea was short lived.
 
That's my old man in my Old Town Pack. He stayed dry.

Getting in & out of this is definitely way more challenging so far than what I'm used to with the plastic barges. Even once I'm in it, I've constantly got the sensation that if I reach behind me for something or lean a little one way or the other, I'm going back in the lake again. Of course, she's much more narrow in beam than I'm used to. And I'm creating a very high center of gravity with my build.
 
Wow. I have no experience with narrow solo canoes like that so I was surprised to see you go over. You didn't seem to be that off center!
 
I've only ever had one other canoe dump me like that, the Wenonah Advantage (which has a higher seat, and I believe it is even narrower).

This might become my wife's boat and I might just give up and stick to the barges.
 
Magnus919 said:
I've only ever had one other canoe dump me like that, the Wenonah Advantage (which has a higher seat, and I believe it is even narrower).

This might become my wife's boat and I might just give up and stick to the barges.
Click to expand...

Magnus, don’t give it to the missus too fast. More entry/exit practice and seat time may be all you need. With a big boy load the RapidFire should be near the 27 ½” max beam, and with a low pack-style seat should be plenty stable, sitting arse below the waterline like a kayak.

Loose hips and head inside the gunwales or not, putting an edge under and having a couple gallons of water sloshing around in the hull never helps.

Give it some time and practice different entry and exit methods. And if you are not using the paddle as an entry/exit assist find some way to secure it (quickly accessible for a brace if needed) so you have both hands free.

I’m not using my long carbon double blades to help get in and out, but I always have a spare paddle straight stick, something beefy enough to use as an aid stuck in the mud or rocks.

Did you at least enjoy the RapidFire’s acceleration, speed and glide? How could you go back to a barge after that?

Last question – how was it getting back out?
 
I will give it some more time, sure. It does get up to speed better than any boats I've owned before, save maybe the Wenonah Advantage (I don't know which of the two would be faster but they are in the same ballpark).

Getting out was really precarious compared to what I'm used to. I didn't fall out but it was dang close.

I'm already in the low seat. The footpegs are extended all the way out and my legs & feet were falling asleep. And my knees were up against the gunwales getting awfully sore. My legs are really short so this setup is sort of surprising me right now... that there's not more room to extend my legs.

Though the OT Pack does give me more joy, if I'm honest. It only weighs a little more, and I feel quite stable in it. I think a lower seat and some foot pegs would make it just about perfect, even if it's not fast. But that was never the point of the Pack. I know OT makes the Next and I had it and sold it (godawful heavy boat, much heavier than advertised). But the Next seat & foot pegs in the Pack would make me pretty happy, I think.

The RapidFire is a really nicely made boat. I think for most thinner/smaller people it's probably just about perfect. My first impression, FOR ME, I'm not going to say I hate it but it's not love at first paddle. I probably need to stay away from narrow boats, forget about speed, and just enjoy the stability afforded by wider boats to someone of my size.
 
The Rapid Fire is for larger paddlers. The getting in technique demoed is all wrong and just inviting an upside down event. Because it is slimmer than the Pack it is faster but it requires good getting in technique..

https://paddling.com/learn/how-to-get-into-and-out-of-a-kayak-smoothly/

skip to 2:00.. You need to use the paddle as an outrigger and keep most weight on that side till you are in the seat.. The RF backband always seems to scooch under the butt on entry and you have to pull it out

Alternatively you can straddle the craft which is also demoed in the video.
 
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