On Oct 15, 8:40 pm, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:
riverman wrote:
wrote:
...
I'm looking at a 17 footer that is stable, light and capable of being
a tandem OR a solo canoe. Have any of you had experience (or heard
good or bad) about the Souris River Canoes? I'm looking at the
"Quetico 17". ...

...
For the intermediate caster/paddler, then you will need to compromise
somewhere....something flat bottomed (so it won't tilt side to side),
with little rocker (so it won't twist around), fairly long, in the 17
foot range (anything longer is a bear to paddle, anything shorter is
skittish to stand in), and BEAMY (that means wide...makes it more
stable). A flat-bottomed, rockerless, beamy 17 foot boat won't be a
Maserati on the water, but it will satisfy your 'peaceful flycasting'
requirement and still be paddleable. ...

I agree with everything except the 17' length. A 17' tandem
is more canoe than I care to paddle solo, I wouldn't buy a
tandem canoe much over 16' for solo paddling/fishing. Souris
River makes nice boats and if you have to have a foreign-made
boat instead of a better quality boat made in Winona, Minnesota
USA then I'd go with the Quetico 16 instead of the Quetico 17.

--
Ken Fortenberry- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yeah, I agree that there's some discussion on the 16' vs 17' length to
be had. I find a 16' boat a tad on the crowded side for tandem
tripping, but a 17' is certainly a bit long for a solo boat (although
my first love was a Blue Hole 17A that I put a lot of solo miles on).
I think the OP should put a lot of thought into how much solo vs
tandem paddling he is truly planning to do, and with how much gear.

--riverman