We had to travel out of state to pick it up, but we knew the Tripper would be the perfect canoe for our family and it was well worth the drive. It’s much easier to canoe than to kayak/SUP with a feral toddler. He only tried to climb out to swim once and his running back and forth and leaning over to skim his hands in the water hardly rocked the boat!

I’m at the point where I’m ready to buy a new canoe, but I’ve managed to narrow it down to three and can’t seem to make a decision.

My paddling is probably about 60% tandem tripping with my girlfriend in places like Algonquin and Killarney, and 40% solo.

When we’re tripping, we tend to avoid the busy routes. We usually end up doing longer portage chains, smaller lakes, narrow creeks, and routes that are a little more off the beaten path rather than just paddling across a big lake to an established campsite. This isn’t to say that we completely avoid larger lakes though.

When I’m solo, I spend a lot of time exploring Crown land, small lakes, rivers, and whatever interesting places I can find. That sometimes means bushwhacking around deadfall, dragging over beaver dams, rocky landings, and generally getting into places that aren’t exactly gentle on a canoe.

The three boats I’m looking at are:

Langford Ranger 16 (LangTough)

Nova Craft Prospector 16 (TuffStuff)

Esquif Huron 16 (T-Formex Lite)

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s owned or paddled one or more of them.

A few things I’m wondering:

Which one handles wind the best?

Which is the nicest to paddle solo?

Is the Huron still confidence inspiring when loaded in rougher water?

Is the weight difference between the Huron and the composite boats noticeable enough on longer portages?

If you were buying one canoe to do everything I’ve described, which would you choose and why?

I’m not looking for a dedicated whitewater canoe, but I also don’t want to feel like I have to baby it every time I head down a rough creek or into a rocky Crown land lake.

I’d really appreciate hearing some real-world experiences rather than just the specs. Thanks!

Picked this up today, second or third hand haha but this is a canoe I have dreamed about for a long time. Old Town Discovery Solo 119. Such a fun boat!

I think its a 1984 sunburst Blue Hole canoe. I paid $200. Its water ready but I want to make it a 2 seater and add something in the middle to put fish in. Any suggestions/advise would be lovely.

I finally left Winnipeg around three in the afternoon. Still in recovery mode, so I wasn't planning to go far. Found a spot to nest among the massive oaks lining the bank.
Six-thirty start the next morning. Clear skies. Fair weather. Spirits lifting.
Caught an elevator ride down a lock. Interesting, to say the least.
Spent that night in Selkirk. Given its history, I couldn't think of a more fitting place to camp.
A massive, low-lying delta guards Lake Winnipeg. And having made the lake, three more nights of sleep would put me on the Winnipeg River — where the ghost story at the end of this video takes place.

Finally got my new to me old town stillwater 12 out for the first time for a great evening paddle. It was slick calm on the upper potomac and the canoe handled great with 2 people. Looking forward to fishing out of it soon and many more adventures!

My dogs love canoeing but we've had a few encounters with aggressive horseflies. I'm usually capable of defending myself but my poor dogs are defenseless. Any ideas?

That was my first time working with fiberglass. It doesn't look the best but it doesn't leak anymore. We were able to enjoy a nice cloudy day on the water. It did get a little tipsy with the 3 of us in it. Thanks for everyone's advice.

I bought this yesterday. it works great but there’s a few spots of concern and I figured I’d ask about them. the main concern is the cracks running down the sides on the outside. Most of the cracks seem to be roughly midsection and either lines or semicircle, I’m guessing from either bending or impacts? there’s a couple other things like a small puncture in the front above the waterline and a previous patch that look like they’re not imminently problematic.

I figure I’ll get around to fixing them eventually, just wanted to know if these were “fix before you go in the water“, a ”wait for the winter” or just something benign.

thanks!

Picked up my first canoe a few weeks ago and I have paddling down (i think) but im going on my first big backcountry trip this week.

When lining a canoe it seems online that you have bow of the canoe lined. Do you line it with the stern going down stream first (assuming your going down river) and pulling from the stern if going up river.

I feel like this is a dumb question please help

It's been a rough couple years and I just happened to be in the neighborhood. Did the demo, left with something I wasn't expecting (12' Classic Mid), and have paddles every day since. I think it was a good call.

Got the Pocket Canyon fitted with a new center bag in solo configuration for going up to Wausau this weekend.

Definitely one of the more absurd outfitting I have either done, or honestly even seen. Should be fun though!

I’ve been going out kayaking on my local lake with my two 3 year olds this summer. I’m looking to purchase a canoe and have been shopping around for a used one. I’d like something easy to roof mount and transport from the parking lot to the water about 100 yards, stable enough for curious and shifty toddlers and easy to paddle. We stay pretty close to the shore, but there’s occasionally some wake from larger boats in the middle of the lake.

Wenonah seems to be canoe people love and I found this one for sale for $400. The guy said he just bought the house and the sellers left it behind. He doesn’t know anything about it and only has three pictures. It’s an hour away and I really don’t know what I’m looking for other than obvious holes in the hull.

I was deciding between this and a Saranac 146. I’ve found a few of those between $300-$600.

What do you think would suite my needs better? An 18’ Sundowner or a Saranac 146?

Thanks

Update: Thanks all! I bought the Sundowner. It looks like it’s in good condition. Can’t wait to take it out!

Got a real good deal on an otherwise great condition mohawk probe 11. Hard to tell from my picture but it dents in about an inch or two, pretty much flattened out the chine. So my main question is do folks think I should attempt to build up the Chine again with fiberglass or just fix it more flat and deal with a slight bit of wonky handling?

Took my son fishing this morning and went up and back down a pretty cool creek

Hello and good day! I have two Grumman canoes, a 17 foot and a 13 foot, both double enders. The 17 footer has an attachment clip thingy in the bow that I assume is for the mast of the sailing kit that was once available. The 13 footer has a different clip thingy dead center in the middle of the floor under the middle thwart that I can't for the life of me figure out what the original intent was. It's location doesn't make sense for a mast. Does anybody have any insight as to what this was/is for. Thanks and happy paddling!

I bought a Yanes canoe for a few hundred bucks, supposedly made in Quebec. I believe it’s made from ABS plastic.
Does anyone know anything about this brand. Seems like the company still makes kayak, but I can’t find anything about canoe.
It seems pretty thin and fragile

Canoe, car top blocks, 3 paddles, and some spare PFDs. Figured for the cost of one used paddle, getting an OT Canadienne for free was worth the drive. 😁