New Swift Tandem - Lavieille 17-6

Not much to add except that Wenonah Spirit IIs could be had with a third seat at one point. Early 2000s I think. I always figured it was for family/kid use.

Pseudonym said:

I agree that I could imagine wanting to go a bit bigger yet than 17.5’ to “solve” for my family. Truth is, I also have a 4 year old boy too (so it’s three total) and he’ll come along soon. At some point my twins will paddle their own boat, but in the meantime these larger boats might hold a little more allure:



I’ve never paddled anything so large, save for war canoes, but those are a different breed entirely. How hard is it to turn these freighters, especially without a strong bow person?

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I have no problem soloing my 17,18, and 20 foot boats. With a bow light trim they all turn easy, with a flattish trim it depends on the boat.

Small families may very well be the target market. Our Malecite (16.5' for anyone who doesn't know) came with a center seat, which I always assumed was there for solo paddling. That's how I mostly used it before acquiring a solo canoe, but we've also put grandkids on that seat (one at a time) for day trips. Another foot would certainly buy some time.

Punkinhead said:

If that's their market then they're targeting some awfully wealthy young couples. When my wife and I were just starting out and had young kids there's no way we could have afforded a Swift canoe.

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A reasonably nice but nothing fancy 1 acre waterfront lot with a small cabin will run you about CA$2 Million in Muskoka, a bigger lot with a smallish all season house on a good lake will be in the 3 - 4 Million range.

If you want high end you are looking at 5+ Million in that area where Swift are located. Most people who have cottages there will have already dropped $20 - $100 Thousand on a motorboat so $5,000 for a family canoe is not out of range.

Five years ago, I built a nice new 3 bedroom cottage (plus a sleeping loft) on five dry wooded acres on a small private association owned no-motors allowed lake in the western Adirondacks. I have a good 40 year combined civilian government pension, a 22 year military pension, and social security as income. I have accumulated 13 high quality canoes in carbon, kevlar, or cedar (no kayaks). Raising two kids, my wife and I had carefully saved our pennies during my working career and have only about $300K, including 200' waterfront 5 acres fully paid cash invested in the cottage. With just a 3-mile perimeter to paddle, it is my canoe race training lake, but several other much larger lakes and rivers are not far away.