Canoe choices

wondering what some other people might do in my position deciding on a canoe solution for mainly day tripping but also doing weekend camping trips in creeks and rivers up to class 2. Half my paddling will be solo. The other half tandem adults + fishing/camping gear.

I was thinking about either buying a new Esquif prospecteur sport, which seems like a beautiful boat. More rocker/ more depth than the p16 (and presage)

Or I could buy used an old town tripper and Esquif presage together for the same price. Paddle the presage on day trips and the tripper on longer camping trips.

Buying a boat for each task seems more practical to me, but the prospecteur sport seems like it would be close to the perfect all around boat for my needs. Both used canoes are in good shape.

Appreciate any help!

Welcome to the forum!

I tend to go with the "right tool for the job" approach. I guess that is why I ended up with a garage full of canoes and then some.

If you are near a dealer who will let you test paddle a canoe that you are interested in that would be a big help in deciding. One nice thing about buying used is you can give it a thorough long term test and if it does not meet your expectations you can sell it, usually for about the same price, and try something else. But beware; playing with used canoes can be addictive.

Welcome! I'm a big advocate for having too many boats so I'd say to go for the used OT + Esquif option. As SK says, used boats can usually be resold for about what you have in them so there's often very little risk.

Whatever you decide, remember that few find their "forever" boat on the first try so be prepared to buy & sell, borrow / rent, paddle everything you can find and, possibly, build what you can't find. Best of luck & let us know where you wind up.

I bought a used Mad River Explorer for $400 last winter. With some elbow grease and about $100 I turned it into one of my family’s favorite canoes for the type of activities you describe. Worth looking into.

Used canoes all the way. Your needs are not that demanding. See what you can find.
I like length for speed, depth and rocker, lots of rocker.

Dylham said:

wondering what some other people might do in my position deciding on a canoe solution for mainly day tripping but also doing weekend camping trips in creeks and rivers up to class 2. Half my paddling will be solo. The other half tandem adults + fishing/camping gear.

I was thinking about either buying a new Esquif prospecteur sport, which seems like a beautiful boat. More rocker/ more depth than the p16 (and presage)

Or I could buy used an old town tripper and Esquif presage together for the same price. Paddle the presage on day trips and the tripper on longer camping trips.

Buying a boat for each task seems more practical to me, but the prospecteur sport seems like it would be close to the perfect all around boat for my needs. Both used canoes are in good shape.

Appreciate any help!

Click to expand...

I'd ask you a bunch of questions first...

Are you confident that you can lift and load any/all of them so you'll never hesitate to use them because of weight?

Are you paddling 100% on rivers going downstream or do you want lake capability too?

Do you sit or kneel. How much weight solo and tandem?

Overall I agree that used is best because even if you decide you want something different you won't lose much money selling it.

I also agree with more boats is better unless it creates some sort of conflict with storage space or spouse.

For your stated use you absolutely do not need more depth and rocker than the Prospector! More rocker could be a negative for fishing, especially if you don't kneel.

Curious why you aren't considering a solo for solo use.

Tripper has a fine reputation but does not seem like a hard core river boat like the others you are considering. If your conditions require a boat with high river capability then for me that would be even more critical tandem when I'm not fully in control of the boat.