Happiness is a pond full of canoes.

[Erica]

We bought two "new to us" canoes last week and Brad set them all to sail, along with some others, on our little pond. They bobbed around and back and forth with the breeze; it was such a pleasure to watch. I couldn't have been happier.

Apparently, at least in our area, the Facebook Marketplace is getting more action than Craig's List. I don't go on Facebook, but Brad does and he came up with these, both great boats and we just drove all over East Florida one afternoon picking them up.

What we have here are a 13 ft Mohawk (probably that royalite stuff) white water boat with a half cover and a Mad River 14' Guide, I am guessing Royalex, but I really don't know how to tell the difference. I don't think they were using royalite when this boat was made. $250 and $200. Amazing. Both need a little work, but what else does Brad have to do on weekends? (Just teasing Brad in case you are reading this.)

In fact, Brad thinks he met the Mohawk before, he recognizes the canoe from the time he was taking white water lessons at Nantahala and learned the owner had been there during that time.

I don't know what the Mad River weighs, but I can heft it up and over, which is all that really matters. I may have my new favorite tripping boat. What I forgot in my eagerness to get a very light weight boat, is how much trouble they are to keep in good shape. My Mad River Royalex tandem, you can do anything to do, drag it over rocks, drag a short portage with the gear still in the boat. That royalex just slips over those "catchy" rocks in swift water.

My plan is to take Brad and both boats on a short trip on the Peace River or Fisheating Creek and trade off boats so we can both see what we like. I don't think the Mohawk would be good for long trips, but it would probably be great for the twisty creeks we have down here.

Erica

 

[yellowcanoe]

57lbs for the Guide
golly you're strong!
We are paddling Fisheating Creek this Sat or Sun

We have with us two boats. the 23 lb one and the 38 lb one
Neither are babied and one is 12 years old and the other 30

We did well on Halfway Creek Loop even though it needs more clearing post Irma
But i dont like getting facewhapped by spiders
Any particular direction to go on Fisheating Ck?
We seek birds and plants
BTW. Mad River never used Royalite

 

[pblanc]

I do not know of any quick and easy way to tell R84 from conventional Royalex visually. I believe that the Mohawk canoe is a Solo 13. Not really a whitewater model but still quite nimble, and I do know a few people who used Solo 13 and 14 canoes for easy whitewater.

The Solo 13 was molded in both R84 and Royalex. The advertised weights were 36 lbs for the R84 version and 41 lbs for the Royalex version. Mohawk Canoes whitewater boats in the 12.5-13.5' range were the XL 13 (13' 3"), Probe 13 (originally called the Probe 12 - 12' 8"), and Viper 12 (12' 6"). If I remember correctly Mohawk did mold some early Viper 12 hulls in R84 but I do not believe the XLs or Probes were ever molded in R84. The Royalex Probe 13, XL13, and Viper 12 all weighed 50 lbs or more.

If you can get an estimated weight of the red canoe you should be able to tell. If it weighs less than 40 lbs, it is a Solo 13 in R84. If it weighs is the low 40s it is a Royalex Solo 13.

Both the Solo 13 and Mad River Guide are great river boats.

 

[Erica]

57lbs for the Guide
golly you're strong!
We are paddling Fisheating Creek this Sat or Sun

We have with us two boats. the 23 lb one and the 38 lb one
Neither are babied and one is 12 years old and the other 30

We did well on Halfway Creek Loop even though it needs more clearing post Irma
But i dont like getting facewhapped by spiders
Any particular direction to go on Fisheating Ck?
We seek birds and plants
BTW. Mad River never used Royalite

Last we checked, Fisheating Creek is NOT running their shuttles. Fish and Game has shut it down due to low water levels, The creek above Burnt Bridge is still blocked from hurricane damage, by report. We haven't been there, but Brad checks frequently. If you really want to paddle, you will have to park at the campground and paddle upstream. Not impossible. There are some good campsites within relatively easy upstream paddling. I'll get Brad to do some more checking (he is better at some of this web stuff than I am) and give you an update.

Halfway Creek is always a bit cramped and full of creepy crawly things.

Have you paddled Fakahatchee River? It's a little further west off Rt 41. Used to be a croc hanging out near the gulf, I don't know if he is still there or not. Last I heard, the crocs have made a big comeback in this area.

Thanks for the info on the MR. I appreciate all the knowledge on this forum.

 

[Erica]

I do not know of any quick and easy way to tell R84 from conventional Royalex visually. I believe that the Mohawk canoe is a Solo 13. Not really a whitewater model but still quite nimble, and I do know a few people who used Solo 13 and 14 canoes for easy whitewater.

The Solo 13 was molded in both R84 and Royalex. The advertised weights were 36 lbs for the R84 version and 41 lbs for the Royalex version. Mohawk Canoes whitewater boats in the 12.5-13.5' range were the XL 13 (13' 3"), Probe 13 (originally called the Probe 12 - 12' 8"), and Viper 12 (12' 6"). If I remember correctly Mohawk did mold some early Viper 12 hulls in R84 but I do not believe the XLs or Probes were ever molded in R84. The Royalex Probe 13, XL13, and Viper 12 all weighed 50 lbs or more.

If you can get an estimated weight of the red canoe you should be able to tell. If it weighs less than 40 lbs, it is a Solo 13 in R84. If it weighs is the low 40s it is a Royalex Solo 13.

Both the Solo 13 and Mad River Guide are great river boats.

Good to see you again, pblanc, remember you from the Canadian forum. I really appreciate all your interest and information.

The Mohawk 13 is set up for white water and has a bit of rocker. I am wondering if it isn't so much that the Mohawk wasn't made for white water as it is the white water boats have moved so far beyond these.

Recped has posted some great video/trip report. He was paddling a Mohawk 14 XL and I believe he said it was a white water boat. He certainly was taking it through white water, at least some class III. It is certainly different from our Mohawk solo 14 (not pictured). Again, the older Mohawk boats for WW may just have been surpassed by all the newer models.

Erica

 

[Guest]

BTW. Mad River never used Royalite

Mad River at least briefly made canoes in (their term) “Rolayex Lite”.

The MRC Eclipse was essentially a plastic Malecite. Even in R-lite the Eclipse was 61 lbs. The material didn’t fare well, and with wood gunwales was susceptible to cold cracking.

Both the Solo 13 and Mad River Guide are great river boats.

Absolutely. The RX Guide was made from 1995 to 2002 and is a well loved design with semi-cult status.

$450 for both is the deal of the century.

 

[Swampdrummer]

The red boat is definately a solo 13, Its just been outfitted for whitewater. Yellow canoe. The creek is just above 2 feet and dropping quick. Doesn't matter which way you go from the campground you will need to do a little bit of dragging and walking. Not bad but not ideal. The outfitter won't be doing shuttles if the water does drop below 2 feet and even if it stays above, the last few weeks there has been vegetation built up to the point that the creek isn't passable below burnt bridge. The outfitter is dependent on FWC to provide the go ahead on shuttles. That being said. I paddled upstream about 4 miles, 3 weeks ago and camped overnight just below lemon lake.

 

[pblanc]

At one time (early 1990s) the Mohawk X 13 was one of the most popular whitewater open canoes in the Southeast. Mohawk actually made an XL11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. All were 2-3" longer in LOA than their nominal designations. The XL13 was very similar in length and beam to the Solo 13 but had significantly more rocker and end height. And I never saw any XL that came with a wood frame seat suspended on an aluminum hanger. They usually had two aluminum thwarts placed roughly 1/3 the overall length of the boat, and came either fully outfitted for whitewater, or bare with no seat installed.

Although the XL 13 was a very sea worthy whitewater canoe and an excellent side-surfer, it was a bit of a dog on flatwater or slackwater pools. For all but significant whitewater paddling, the Solo 13 is a much better river canoe.

 

[stripperguy]

This is my XL13....definitely not for flat water, it's really doggy.
In its element though, it's a ball to paddle and a pretty dry boat. My scale says it's close to 60 lbs!

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[Erica]

YELLOW CANOE: If you are camping at Fisheating Creek Campground this won't apply BUT...if you are somewhere else and want to get a good start in the morning (The campground doesn't open till 8 or 9 am, you can access Fisheating Creek without paying any fee. At the entrance BEFORE THE RAILROAD TRACKS there is a marked left hand turn. The sign says something like: Save Our Creeks. The road is quite bad, but passable. Take the road to the end, park your car and go. We do not know of any trouble at that parking spot. You can park along that road if there are already a lot of cars. Use your judgment about the dirt ramp to the creek. It could be very soft if it rains.

Go early in the morning for birds: great blues, white egrets, green herons, swallow tailed kites, warblers are probably migrating through, limpkins, night herons, osprey, etc. Turkeys are gobbling. The bull gators are probably bellowing and if two get into it near your camp, you will be serenaded all night long.

Plants: what are you looking for: lots of bromeliads, if you take pictures I can probably identify. I have butterfly orchids flowering at my location, so probably on the creek too. Spanish moss, water hyacinth (invasive), pickerel weed, wild iris may be blooming, back in the woods the Carolina jessamine is blooming like crazy, there may be some wild citrus blooming. Locate by smell. Cypress, of course. They are just starting to leaf out.

I don't recommend going downstream, it is overused there by locals. Go upstream, get past the live oak with the swing hanging over the water. People can actually walk in that far upstream.

Have a great time.!

Erica

 

[yellowcanoe]

We are camping at the campground
We have had pur best luck on rainy days for birds
Most of them seem to be hiding from the heat
Our aim is not so much to paddle but to notice
I want birds eating. and gators doing something for a change. I am
fond of gator babies and confused anhingas tryibg to get the fish pointed correctly


I have about 5000 pix of birds posing!!

And oh yes little white orchid like flowers
I have a terrible connection now and photo posting is not possible
I have some flowers that you could identify

 

[Swampdrummer]

The trick on FEC for me to see the most wildlife of all kinds is to be the first one up the creek for the day. All the critters are more active in the cooler morning air.I'm usually there and paddling with just enough light to see.
Enjoy

 

[Kayak_Ken]

Yellow canoe, I paddled on the Silver River not long ago and saw some monkeys and about a dozen manatees. Water level was about two feet higher than normal. On a related note I saw on the Juniper Springs Facebook page that the Juniper Springs canoe run was closed due to a bear. https://m.facebook.com/JuniperSprings/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=0
If your coming to the Ocala National Forest let me know and maybe we can do a little paddling.
Kayak_Ken (in a canoe)

 

[yellowcanoe]

We already went to Juniper and from there to Blue Springs where the manatees were wildly mating
We passed on Silver as it was a weekend and weve done it half a dozen times

 

[lowangle al]

Happiness is one thing Erica, but a pond full of wood canvas boats makes me ecstatic.

 

[Erica]

I love the wood canoes and wood/canvas boats and admire those who continue the tradition. Beautiful boats, Al.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Erica, you stole those boats! I thought I was getting the deal of the century at $350 for my Guide - but no.

Can't say much about the Solo 13, except that my experience with the Solo 14 and the Probe make me think it's probably a sweet boat. The Guide? That is currently my favorite solo for almost everything up to easy class 3. I can't say enough good about it. It just feels....right. I think you will enjoy both immensely.

 

[Erica]

Thanks, Steve. I don't plan to paddle anything above class iii. I am very excited about the guide.