UKC

I've wanted a canoe for ages but having nowhere to store one or a motor capable of transporting one my usual reckless spending has been curbed a bit.

I'm sorely tempted to go out and get on the the 'blow-up' ones but don't actually want to shell out a fortune for something that might be rubbish and I use once.


Any recommendations?

In reply to Stevie989:

Rather than recommending a boat, have you thought of joining a club? The club that I joined has a huge fleet you can get out at any time, along with PFD's paddles and all the gear you need, they also supply coaches and get you up to a standard to be able to do WW, Sea kayaking , Canoeing.

You can buy an inflatable the cheap ones are crap... if you spend £300+ you would get something half decent

In reply to Stevie989:

I bought one from Decathlon like this:

http://www.decathlon.fr/kayak-tahiti-pro-3-places-id_8249798.html

I can't remember the exact model but its fine for mucking about on calm lakes - would be dubious about using it on anything more though. Get a 'skeg' as well to put on the back and it improves the steering as they sit too much on the water rather than sink in.

It packs downt to the size of a rucksack - the biggest problem is the paddles.

In reply to Stevie989:
lakeland toys in keswick, just around the corner from cornys new super wall, always has some of the cheaper ones on offer outside, been meaning to get one for the, <coughs>, kids

In reply to yorkshireman:

you can get split paddles for both WW and Canoes

In reply to Stevie989:

Borrowed a Sea Eagle inflatable ( about the same quality as the Sevylor boats mentioned in Yorkshireman's post) and took it down the Severn from Bridgnorth to Highley. I think they're about £250

It was far from being rubbish and we were extremely impressed by its build quality. Even the bloke from the local canoe trip company was complimentary about it. No white water on that stretch but we grounded it three times and the bottom was undamaged.

As for convenience - load it into your boot, and it takes about 5 mins to inflate.

In reply to Tom Valentine:

my mate has one - we used it on some sheltered sea lochs this summer and it was ace. Biggest problem is getting it properly dry afterwards

In reply to Stevie989:

Have a look at Maverick Outdoors (Mindwiseman) on youtube he uses a Sevylor canoe. I fancy buying one myself.

In reply to mike123:

We've got one if you want to test it out, with or without the kids.....

In reply to the OP:

Ours is a Sevylor Colorado - very robust, very stable, and a lot of fun for pottering about. Far better than I'd expected, really. Drying them out after use and before storage is a bit of a pain if you're short of space and don't like a living room full of outdoor kit.

In reply to Stevie989:

Sea eagle, no doubt certainly on price

In reply to Stevie989:

Borrowed a Sevylor back in April for a trip. It was pretty good and allowed a backpacking/paddling hybrid. I don't really have much to compare it to though. Mind you, not really designed for high winds:
http://www.scottishhills.com/html/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopi...

In reply to Stevie989:

Don´t do it. Most inflatables handle like a rubber duck. They are high in the water and extremely wind sensitive and only good for rafting rivers with strong currents (for this they are excellent, no rigid elements that break when you bump into submerged rocks...).

Folding canoes or kayaks are much better, and can be found used at reasonable prices. They also hold for ages, so buying used is much less of a risk than with inflatables. Both canoes and modern kayaks fold to something like 40 cm by 120cm, so can easily be carried in public transport (older folding kayaks often have very long frame packs, 1.50m or longer).

For folding canoes I can recommend Pakboat and Ally, both make versions ranging from easily portable singles to expedition size doubles. Pouch make a beautiful folding canoe with a wooden frame, but I liked the previous model even better than the current one.

Recommending a folding kayak is harder, as there really are huge differences in weight, performance, and style. At the cheaper end you could look at aluminium framed Triton kayaks from Russia which are reliable and fast but not very nice, while at a bit higher price there are lots of excellent wooden framed models e.g. from Klepper, Pouch or Nortik (and other companies).

My favourite boats are made by the Canadian company Feathercraft and are again aluminium framed, but they are unfortunately out of my price range.

Still, a nice Feathercraft Khatsalano, maybe when the kids will have oved out....

CB

In reply to Stevie989:

Depends what you want out of the canoe. For basically leisurely trips on still waters, something like the Sevylor Colorado would be fine. They lack storage space if there are 2 of you, are a bit slow and wind affected, but they're hard to capsize and pretty well made. I know people who've used them on moderate white water, but they're not easy to control once you need to be breaking in and out of eddies etc.

For more serious trips, Gumotex Palavas and the like are actually very good quality. If you could pick up one of these, it would give you excellent service. I've seen blogs of these being used on quite serious terrain, crossing wild bits of Scandinavia for instance, on small rivers and long portages. They're tough, and actually handle quite well.

Folding canoes are indeed much better to paddle, but there is a large price increase.

I started canoeing with a Sevylor Colorado 6 years ago, as I had nowhere to store a "proper" canoe. I loved it, the only problem being how slow it was compared with rigid hulls. After a few months, I knew I was hooked, and found a way round the storage issue, buying my first open canoe the following spring. Never looked back...and my parents still use my Colorado for canals and easy rivers (they're in their mid 70s!).

Joining a club is a great way to access boats, though they tend to be more kayak than canoe orientated so it depends a bit on what you want.