Canoe advice, please

On Sat, 04 Aug 2007 21:01:07 -0000, wrote:

Hi boys and g... man, I miss Cyli.

On the way home from my bike ride today, a neighbor has his barely-
used We No Nah Adirondak canoe sitting in the front yard with a for
sale sign on it. Thing looks like it's barely been wet. I've never
owned a canoe, but am a pretty decent paddler. Is this a good rig?
It sure looks sweet. I've looked at the corp web site and new these
things are pretty spendy (to my eyes) and I have no idea how much the
owner is asking for it. Just looking for input from our resident
canoe guys, Ken, Myron (if you are out there) and any others. I
suppose I could ask over on a paddling newsgroup, but I don't know
those guys :-) and I know a few of you here will likely have
opinions. Even if they are unfounded. :-)

I would use it for still water, taking the kids out, fish from it,
unlikely to do any overnights but you never know.

Opinions welcome.

Bill

What's with the Wenonahs for sale lately? There are a couple down here
(the Gulf Coast) on the market. One is the Fisherman, which is great
(single or tandem) canoe for, well, fishing - stable, reasonably
well-handled, and great for kids, too. IMO, your "deal" would depend on
the deal - at a coupla-three hundred US or so, it'd be hard to go wrong.
At 10-20% off of regular ol' day-in, day-out retail, I'd pass.

If you're got the canoe itch, decide what features are really important
for your intended usage, and look for one that fits them. A shorter
tandem designed to be as maneuverable and speedy as possible really
isn't the ticket for a stillwater fishing/family usage canoe, especially
if kids will be using it alone, IMO.

If you just want an inexpensive, usable "family" canoe, look around for
a good-condition Coleman Ram-X - I've seen 'em well under $500.00 with a
rack, paddles, etc. in good condition. I have one, and while it ain't
anything special, it's a darned decent, surprisingly tough boat for the
money (mine was a "couldn't pass it up" deal - I found it "like new" for
something like $200USD). Pelican makes them, and so, they are probably
available under other names.

TC,
R