Review of Rhéaume 16' Explorer

Rhéaume Canoes of Quebec makes cedar-canvas and, more recently, composite canoes. Historically, the company made most of its canoes for other brand labels such as Old Town, L.L.Bean, Eddie Bauer and American Trader. Now, they sell more of their canoes direct to the public under their own brand name. Here is a magazine review of Rhéaume’s popular composite Explorer 16, which is 37-60 lbs. depending on the layup.

Saw their solo boat, a Rebel, at a nearby outfitters the other day. Looked enticing. If the outfitter has a demo day I might go up and paddle it.

If I recall correctly, Rhéaume bought out the leftovers of Mid-Canada Fibreglass (Scott, Bluewater, Impex Kayaks) plus private label work for various brands and that is how they got into the composite market. Prior to that acquisition they were strictly a niche w/c builder.

My wife and I tried one of their carbon prospectors - it weighed 32lbs. With only the 2 of us, it also seemed like it had about an inch of draft (it didn't - it just felt that way). What I thought was strange was that one could see a crease/line/indentation on the outside of the hull opposite to where the flotation tanks were fitted. Almost like the tank panels were too narrow and they squeezed the hull to close the gap. I'm not saying that's what they did, just a way for me to describe the "feature."

scratchypants said:

What I thought was strange was that one could see a crease/line/indentation on the outside of the hull opposite to where the flotation tanks were fitted. Almost like the tank panels were too narrow and they squeezed the hull to close the gap.

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My homebuilt composite canoes show the same thing and I've always wondered why. I fit my foam float tanks after the gunwales were installed. They were fit properly and epoxied/fiberglassed into place. Later I noticed the slight indentation showing from the outside. It's almost like they shrunk slightly and pulled the hull inward but I can't imagine how.

I suppose it's possible that, since my chambers are sealed, pressure has built up inside the chamber which is causing it to bulge but that seems doubtful.

Alan

scratchypants said:

one could see a crease/line/indentation on the outside of the hull opposite to where the flotation tanks were fitted.

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These are common from many different manufacturers. I've never analyzed the physics involved but they show up regularly.

Glenn MacGrady said:

Historically, the company made most of its canoes for other brand labels such as Old Town, L.L.Bean, Eddie Bauer and American Trader.

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I don't know about the other labels but Rhéaume only made the Koru and Stillwater models for Old Town from April of 2011 thru October of 2012.

Benson