Prospector update and first solo canoe experience.

[redoleary]

I lucked out and was able to get the 17' prospector canoe that I had wanted from the outfitter, it's built by Swift. We took it on a week long paddle in Algonquin and I have to say I really liked it. There is no doubt that it was slower out in the open water than my Spirit II, and my wife felt it was a touch more tippy initially but other than that it was great in every other regard. We were out on some pretty blustery days and in following seas I did a fair bit of ruddering to keep us strait but we still made good time having the wind at our backs, even semi-surfed a couple of waves. Going into the wind it seemed to ride over the waves plus stay really dry up front. We got into some pretty tight turns in the Petawawa river and this is where it really came into it's own. There is no "real" current in the river but the canoe seemed to speed up all the same and my Spirit II turns like a barge compared to the prospector. All in all, I now feel like I can't go on living without a prospector. I had no issue at all with the Swift quality etc but for some reason I still have my heart set on a Nova Craft, can't explain it, its just in my head, wish I could have rented on of those but alas it was not meant to be.

My friend who joined us on the trip rented a Swift Keewaydin 15 solo and I took it out a couple of times unloaded, once to get fire wood, so lightly loaded with an unbalance load sticking out all over the place. Long story short, that thing is tippy!! I paddled it with a single blade and my buddy used a kayak paddle. I'm not a fan of a kayak paddle as it had a few inches of water in it at the end of a long lake from his kayak paddle, even with the drip rings. Single blading I felt it did fine, and tracked well enough etc. I just don't think a dedicated solo is for me. I solo my Northland canoe all the time and paddle Canadian style and feel quite comfortable like that but if I ever get a "solo" canoe it will have to be a shorter tandem that I paddle solo, those skinny boats just don't fit my style.

 

[red langford]

When you were in Algonquin you should have stopped in Dwight and looked at the Langford Prospectors.

 

[redoleary]

I noted their shop as I drove by, of course it was the A.M. of the start of our trip and didn't have time to dally. Would loved to have stopped by their shop.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Langford is made by Quessy who makes the same hull for other brands

 

[redoleary]

According to THIS LINK they are out of business.

 

[Iskweo]

Sounds like a match made in heaven. We are happy with the Mattawa, and I can concur that swift makes a quality product that will stand up to the test of time. I do find the light kevlar boats to feel very twitchy and tippy at first until you get used to them. They are a totally different animal than a glass or wood boat. But it is mostly the vibrations that are transmitted throughout the hull so easily with kevlar. The canoe is not really unstable, it just feels like it. It takes some getting used to.
As for solo canoes, I also like to use a 15-16 foot tandem. Preferably a cruiser type that is a bit narrower. 15 foot Hurons are super good hulls. Not well built, but very nice design.

I have the same problem with using a double blade...the water that drips off them.... and was told it is because I dont use it correctly. Maybe YC can comment on this but I was told that I need to sweep the paddle at low angles as opposed to having the blade dip like a single blade does, with the resulting opposite end pointing towards the sky and showering water everywhere. It made sense to me but I am not really a kayak chic so this it foreign territory.

Christy

 

[yellowcanoe]

I'm too affected by wind to paddle a tandem solo. I like to be able to escape quick so prefer dedicated solos . Also keeps me on the water longer when the wind builds. But there is a psychology of soloing. Once you are used to a big boat, its a real leap to a small narrow one. So as in any pursuit its all about time spent.

Paddling with just any kayak blade sometimes doesn't work for avoiding the shower. I have used a long narrow blade and low angle for a while ( I really paddled more in a yak early on than in a solo canoe.. has reversed of course as I found my right mind) to avoid watering myself but honestly a little bent shaft that is light is a delightful single for hit and switch which gives the same power as a double blade. Of course with more practice and time on the water. Isn't that why we canoe?
I'm not understanding the vibrations allegory. Of course my solos are all really stiff. They have a lot of layers of various fabrics .
Writing this as we approach Newfoundland. The Rock is at sunrise...almost. I'd like to hear if anyone got pics of the blue moon especially on a canoe trip. I fear its too rough for us to paddle today....the ferry is rocking and rolling along with my tummy.

 

[charlie wilson]

While originally made in canvas on wood construction as river freighters, kinda deepish with 3" of symmetrical rocker, there are now an infinite variety of composite Prospector shapes; some with excessive cheek or stem hollow some without, some tumblehomed, some straight sided, some with lots of rocker carried to amidships, others minimally rockered, some with soft chines, others with hard chines and even V bottoms. Langfords are/were made in Trois Rivers QG, by either Elian, Mario or Pierre, three guys with competing boat shops. The last time I steamed past Langford's Dwight boat yard it was scantily clad in canoes.?

The Yost designed Swift Prospector is tumblehomed with soft chines and medium rocker. It is more seakindly than most and easier to solo than straight sided variants because the paddler has a closer reach across narrower rails. That said, it's a full width tandem. both length and width adding to skin friction and width eliminating about half the dedicated solo paddlers strokes and maneuvers so it will always be an issue solo. The best solo stance is Canadian "Style" with both knees in one chine just aft of the center thwart to roll the boat into a standing heel. Length in the water and wetted area are reduced to lower drag and the shorter length with increases rocker improves maneuverability. The high off side eliminates using a double paddle.

Double paddles are wet when used in efficient vertical strokes and dry when used with inefficient horizontal strokes which also increase yaw or fish tailing. The horizontal stroke needs a longer paddle which lowers cadence and forward speed. That said, I find myself wishing for a shortish double every so often when the wind and waves pickup because the higher cadence increases speed and stability.

 

[Guest]

Double paddles are wet when used in efficient vertical strokes and dry when used with inefficient horizontal strokes which also increase yaw or fish tailing. The horizontal stroke needs a longer paddle which lowers cadence and forward speed.

The right length double blade, especially when coupled with a bow spray, cover eliminates a lot of the wet. A double is gonna drip; but as long as it is dripping on the cover and not on me or in the boat, it doesn’t matter.

That said, I find myself wishing for a shortish double every so often when the wind and waves pickup.

And, truth be told, when you anticipate wind and wave do you bring a sized double blade? It’s just another tool.

The only Prospector that ever appealed to me was Clipper’s Solo 14. I don’t need to deal with the typical Prospector tandem depth and rocker as a solo canoe.

 

[Iskweo]

Hit and switch was my answer to the wet double blade too. With a carbon bent shaft. Once you get good at it, it works really well, even when the wind blows. I still want to experiment with the double blade though. Its ok being wet when its hot outside.

I am starting to get challenged by larger boats used as solos too. I dont have the power or stamina that I used to. I was actually wishing for a wind sock type of sail the last time I was out by myself. Or a 2 HP motor. Much to ponder.

Christy

 

[charlie wilson]

Clipper's Prospector 14 is pretty deep, 15" amidships, 20" in both stems. Nova's 16 tandem is 21/15/21, Swift's 16 specs 21/13.5/21. As Clipper does not post rocker specs it's hard to guess there but images do not indicate traditional rocker. Merrimack's Baboosic is a Prospector shape downsized to solo use at 14 ft, 22/13/22 with the traditional 3: or rocker symmetrically carried to center. Baboosic is more available on the East coast and can be had about half a kilo lighter. It's heroic stern rocker complicates bent paddle use.

 

[Canoeyak]

When I ordered my Clipper 14' Prospector this past winter I was told it had 1.5" rocker. I checked on Clipper's website and on the "overview section" of the 14' Prospector, it says that it is 1.5" rocker. I've found that it tracks very well, yet is very maneuverable. It also surprised me a bit on its ability to handle rough water so well for a 14 footer, especially with the skirt on.

Perry

 

[red langford]

According to THIS LINK they are out of business.

Ouch, that sounded like a good dig at Langford and Swift. More so it sounded very Quebecois.

 

[redoleary]

Ouch, that sounded like a good dig at Langford and Swift. More so it sounded very Quebecois.

I thought it sounded rather finger pointy as well.

 

[charlie wilson]

The closure of a mid sized sub contractor has nothing to do with Swift. Composite Swifts are made exclusively in the Swift plant in South River Ontario by bacon and maple syrup eating Canadians. It is, for the paddlesports industry, a large and quite frenetic building where liquid smoke was formerly manufactured. The site selection was purposeful, so folks would think of Swift when they enjoy barbecue? I do wonder if the Canadian focus on bacon has any effect on the perverse tendency to not report on all hull specs or scatter the data around website?

 

[yellowcanoe]

keeping the double blade stroke well forward of you minimizes yaw. Just as cab forward minimizes the need for a j single blade. Ill keep my Langford experiences to myself.

 

[memaquay]

When one paddles a canoe using the Devil's tools (kayak paddle), the resultant wetness is actually tears from Heaven. The sorrow of seeing the Godly act of single blading defiled by Satan's instruments causes the Angels to weep, right through your wrist band, all the way to your arm pit.

 

[LF_tripper]

When one paddles a canoe using the Devil's tools (kayak paddle), the resultant wetness is actually tears from Heaven. The sorrow of seeing the Godly act of single blading defiled by Satan's instruments causes the Angels to weep, right through your wrist band, all the way to your arm pit.

So true. No amount of apologetics from the cult of the double blade will make this heresy orthodox in any way.

 

[Alan Gage]

When one paddles a canoe using the Devil's tools (kayak paddle), the resultant wetness is actually tears from Heaven. The sorrow of seeing the Godly act of single blading defiled by Satan's instruments causes the Angels to weep, right through your wrist band, all the way to your arm pit.

HA!

Alan

 

[yellowcanoe]

So true. No amount of apologetics from the cult of the double blade will make this heresy orthodox in any way.

LOL.. but look at canoe history. Recreational canoeing started back in the late 1800's with craft propelled by double blades. This of course was the white mans way..
Thank the Brits for that too. The cult is getting pretty darned old and periodically the ghosts reemerge.