Any Prospector drivers out there?

[ppine]

rpg,
Good words about w/c canoes. I like to hear them creak and grown like a ship in rough water. They feel alive and flexible while underway. They are definitely heavy, but I portage infrequently. The one thing I don't like is bailing them with a sponge and trying to remove the silt and grit between the ribs.

I have come close to ordering a Novacraft Prospector several times in my paddling career. It is heartwarming to hear the stories about them.

 

[redoleary]

I just purchased a Nova Craft Prospector 17 in RX this past fall. I had been watching them for many years (since they were going for about $900) and the fear of never getting a RX version pushed me to make the purchase as the first canoe I've every purchased new. Although I can't report back on it since It's been on the rack in the garage ever since. It's nice to see the discussion so I can compare when I finally get it out on the water. I can report that the carry thwart is very comfortable on the shoulders.

Good for you getting a sweet deal on the canoe, hope you get out in it soon. Looking fwd to a report on how she does.

 

[charlie wilson]

I was in a canoe yard last week and got to ogle a couple of 16 ft Prospectors. One was Vee bottomed, had hard chines, no tumblehome, excessive cheek and the traditional 3" rocker well carried into the center; designer unknown. The other, a Yost design, featured an elliptical bottom, minimal cheek, less rocker and significant tumblehome. Glen MacGrady did a Prospector comparison a couple years back that might be useful now.

Prospector's were riverene pickup trucks, rockered for maneuverability, wide to haul lots of gear and with the cheek and rounded stems the materials used suggested. More than 3/8 inch of cheek over three feet shortens effective waterline hull length, slowing the boat's theoretical forward speed as described by LaBrant in the late 60's. Paddlers learned to solo them at a standing heel to reduce wetted surface and drag; forward speed never approaching a two wave wash.

Prospectors feature those rounded stems and an emotional connection to WaterWalker, but it is worth noting that they aren't used much where big waves and long distance days combine. They are the 58 Ford pickups of the river, not efficient touring vessels. Then again, I have a pickup truck.

 

[ppine]

Great words by Charlie. Some durable and venerable pieces of equipment work better than expected in the outdoors and just won't go away. The OT Tripper is another boat that does not sound so good on paper, too beamy, too heavy and with full ends. But plenty of people still use them for the toughest expeditions. Their function makes them beautiful. After growing up with aluminum boats, all of the modern designs seem pretty fast, especially if they have length.

Charlie, please explain the concept of "cheek". I have been around boats all my life but do not know that term.

 

[charlie wilson]

Cheek, or Hollow is a relic of construction materials unfortunately carried through to composite construction. When widish wooden planks are bent from ~ flat along the hulls bottom to vertical orientation at the stems, a depression forms aft of the stem. The handed down theory is the hollow helps a hull ride over waves due to the volume above. In fact, the lack of volume lower to the water compromises stability and maneuverability as it partially skegs the stems. It also reduces effective waterline length because the volume to support the hull on a two wave wash, [theoretical hull speed], is moved towards center, significantly slowing forward progress.

Howie LaBrant wrote a piece on cheek/hollow for American Whitewater Alliance that can be found on line while he was designing for Moore Canoe of Indianapolis Indiana, well before their two fires. Yost thinks a little cheek is fine, Winter's claims more than 3/8" in three feet is a flaw. Hulls showing significant cheek include Hemlock's Pack series, older Hornbecks, Savage River and GR Newman Design's Wee Lassies, SlipStreams pack series and some older Prospector designs.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I think mention ought to be made that boats paddle very differently when solo than when tandem. Prospectors for one.. When you pin the ends with paddler weight you need more fullness at the ends.. Solo you can work the side of the boat more in a tandem and so bottom shape becomes less important and the ends will ride more over waves.
It'll be interesting comparing canoe anatomy at the Solo Canoe Rendezvous this weekend.

I like it when people say that they can paddle Prospectors solo but I would like to know more about the why they can. I can't in a wind unless I get way toward the front.. There is still too much skin for me to power over the skin friction.. Less wetted surfaces matches my horsepower better. Bill Mason probably felt so too.. Most of the time when you look at his pix its not a Prospector ( unless on rivers). It is a Pal.

If something works or doesn't I wanna know why.

The Tripper must have grown.. I had a Dumoine next to a bunch of Trippers on an Allagash trip a few years ago and that Dumoine was slow.. It is 37 inches wide at the gunwales. The Trippers all looked like they had been slimmed down below that. The Dumoine is narrower by two inches at the waterline..which is where fat matters.

Hands down the Tripper is one of the finest lake and river boats around for all facets of canoeing; its a favorite of polers.. I don't find them having overly full ends. It seems everyone here has one..xcept me.. I just have a NOB.

 

[yaricoy]

I didn't mean to mislead on my fall prospector purchase. I've been eyeing them since 2006 when they were $900. I spent $1800. Now of I could just get it in the water I could actually speak to how it paddles.

 

[tump_lion]

different strokes for different folks perhaps, i could paddle one of these things all day, indeed i try to as often as i can. this is a 5-day load-out, so maybe about 550lbs including me and the dog in a (novacraft) prospector 16 -- not the quickest boat by a long shot, but supremely adequate for its intended tasks. my cruising stroke is mostly pitch-stroke/knifing j, with more pitch than j, and generally an in-water recovery, mild ottertail paddle, my upper-hand rarely gets higher than my shoulders thru the stroke...works for me

 

[ppine]

Nice soundtrack.

 

[tump_lion]

-that- soundtrack is why i paddle...

 

[redoleary]

Look'n good tump_lion, smooth and peaceful.