Its Magic

[Holmes375]

Got a call Friday morning from my dealer in Colorado sayin' he'd be coming through Wyoming that evening with my boat. Very cool - Friday happened to be my birthday. Picked her up about 7:00 PM, daylight was all but gone. Drove straight from our meeting place to my local pond. I was gonna get this baby wet on my birthday even if only for a few minutes.

Took her down from the rack. ripped off the bag. No moon, no clouds... kinda hard to see a black canoe Grabbed my vest & paddle and popped her in the water. Can't see where I'm going but I'm going. Sweet. Can't get my feet under the seat with the 4" drops thus paddled from the seat. Inky black air above, inky black liquid below. I catch a glimpse of bats flyin' around me. Cool. The Grey Owl enters and exits the water silently, the Magic glides through the water wrapped all but invisible. A Great Horned owl somewhere in the trees gives me a whoo - I believe it was a note of appreciation for the boat. After 30 minutes my feet are cold and I can't see exactly where the shoreline is. Familiarity with the pond allows me to side slip the canoe up and gently rest her to a nice soft landing. I hop out and climb up to my truck and turn on the lamps. Load up and head home. Totally jazzed and know its going to be hard getting to sleep tonight in anticipation of tomorrow's paddle at the lake. Best birthday ever.

Saturday at the lake:

 

[Conk]

[FONT=&quot]Happy Birthday and congratulations on the canoe![/FONT]

 

[Robin]

Congratulations on the new boat and Happy Birthday, very nice gift. It looks great in that picture, as does the landscape, here's an easterner who would like to see more of that environment.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Northstar Canoe Magic or Bell? I can't quite see. The seat looks like it needs work. If you want to kneel you don't want a flat seat. But those drops are easy to alter!

 

[Hanz]

Happy Birthday!

Nice to see a new Northstar Canoe.

I'm glad you're taking care of #1. Congrats on the purchase.

 

[Alan Gage]

Congratulations on the new canoe and great choice! Your story reminds me of driving to SE Iowa with a friend to pick up a used Sawyer Cruiser a few years back. It was late in the day when we started heading home so we found a small campground along the Mississippi to hang a couple hammocks for the night. And it was a good thing we had hammocks since the river was recently back in its banks and all the ground was soggy and muddy. We threw the boat in the water just before sunset and headed upstream. Stopped on a large sandbar for some exploration and to let the dog run around and then paddled back in darkness not quite knowing where we were or how we would recognize our landing area when we reached it. This was mid-summer and the bats were thicker than I'd ever seen. They were all skimming the surface of the water and were invisible until they got about 6 feet in front of the boat. I was paddling stern and with every stroke I expected to hear a "thunk" from the bow paddlers blade as it whopped a bat, but every time they'd manage to hit the brakes and swerve to avoid it.

Enjoy the new ride, I think you'll like it.

Alan

 

[Odyssey]

Happy Birthday Holmes. That was a nice way to celebrate with your new canoe. Black is an interesting colour choice. Cool.

 

[Guest]

I'm guessing the black is clear coat over carbon fiber?

Happy birthday! What seat did you put in?

 

[Holmes375]

[FONT=&quot]Happy Birthday and congratulations on the canoe![/FONT]

Thank you, sir! I ordered one of your seats from Dave last week, he got it in the post on Friday thus headed my way.

Congratulations on the new boat and Happy Birthday, very nice gift. It looks great in that picture, as does the landscape, here's an easterner who would like to see more of that environment.

Thank you. This is Alcova reservoir, a small body on the North Platte river about 30 miles from my home (central Wyoming). Good practice and exercise lake with lots of rainbow and walleye for the after paddle dining. I'll post a few more later tonight.

Northstar Canoe Magic or Bell? I can't quite see. The seat looks like it needs work. If you want to kneel you don't want a flat seat. But those drops are easy to alter!

Its the Northstar. I'll post pics later showing his new decals. The seat is a contour and I strapped on one of my CCS seat pads to get a bit of height for the Saturday paddle. I cut the drops from 4" to 3" late Friday night so I could get my bare feet under the seat but I'm going to definitely need to raise the seat another inch. I have a Conk seat on the way and don't want to alter the drops any further until I receive it so I can determine my final angle and height. I thought I could use the drops I have on hand but the Bell drops are thinner than my stock. I need a planer

Happy Birthday!

Nice to see a new Northstar Canoe.

I'm glad you're taking care of #1. Congrats on the purchase.

Thank you!

Congratulations on the new canoe and great choice! Your story reminds me of driving to SE Iowa with a friend to pick up a used Sawyer Cruiser a few years back. It was late in the day when we started heading home so we found a small campground along the Mississippi to hang a couple hammocks for the night. And it was a good thing we had hammocks since the river was recently back in its banks and all the ground was soggy and muddy. We threw the boat in the water just before sunset and headed upstream. Stopped on a large sandbar for some exploration and to let the dog run around and then paddled back in darkness not quite knowing where we were or how we would recognize our landing area when we reached it. This was mid-summer and the bats were thicker than I'd ever seen. They were all skimming the surface of the water and were invisible until they got about 6 feet in front of the boat. I was paddling stern and with every stroke I expected to hear a "thunk" from the bow paddlers blade as it whopped a bat, but every time they'd manage to hit the brakes and swerve to avoid it.

Enjoy the new ride, I think you'll like it.

Alan

Thank you, Alan. Great story - I can totally identify I spent 5 hours in the new boat yesterday and I couldn't be happier with it. Headed back out for an afternoon and evening paddle now.

Happy Birthday Holmes. That was a nice way to celebrate with your new canoe. Black is an interesting colour choice. Cool.

Thank you. The BlackLight construction is like the Model T - available in any color you want so long as its black

I'm guessing the black is clear coat over carbon fiber?

Happy birthday! What seat did you put in?

Thank you. Yes, clear over carbon & kevlar. It has the factory hung contour seat right now but I'll be installing a Conk next weekend.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Congrats and happy. I don't need another boat, but if I miraculously came into some money, a Magic would be near the top of my list.

I like to be low when I kneel -- probably an inveterate habit from my early whitewater days -- and can get my size 11 footwear out from under an 8.5" seat clearance pretty easily. The Conk 6C seat makes that a little easier because the front edge curve gives more clearance on the sides.

 

[daveo4]

There's nothing like having a new or new to you canoe to play with and modify and get used to. Have fun!!(and Happy Birthday!).
Dave

 

[charlie wilson]

Interesting exercise to convert a sit and switch designed and trimmed hull to a kneeler, especially with the same mfg making a kneeling lake tripper, NorthWind Solo. The Magic kneeling seat will need to index aft a few inches for trim, the normal being a sitting seat with front edge at longitudinal center for Swede Form hulls, almost four inches aft for kneelers. I'd try 2" aft for a compromise. Bon chance!

 

[cflcanoe]

Do not know how much kneeling Holmes planes to do. Any more any canoe I use needs to be able to handle some kneeling so I can change positions to keep from being sore.

Holmes can you please post more pictures?

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Happy birthday Holmes! What a nice birthday present.

 

[daveo4]

Charlie,
What would the seat placement be (in general) for a sitting seat in a symmetrical hull?
Dave

 

[charlie wilson]

After some additional thought, front bar roughly at longitudinal center for a symmetrical hull, an inch aft for Swede form. Depends a lot on the paddlers physiogomy; how far the paddlers CG is from his spine. Bigger guys guys need the seat further aft. To perfect placement, make flat, outward, extensions off the top of the seat drops with 1/2 in plywood to test longitudinal placement. A quart of water in the boat bottom should be pretty much under the seat at rest but take off aft as the hull comes up to speed. Then adjust for tracking/turning as desired. This is somewhat variable with paddler input/power; more umph further forward. Magic is alone as the sole S&S, Swede-Form, hull with rocker, which increases both speed and maneuverability.

 

[daveo4]

Thanks, Charlie.

 

[Holmes375]

I have the leading edge of the seat mounted 4" aft of center. I came up with this distance after measuring the differential from the small of my back to the rear thwart while sitting and then while kneeling. Not very scientific but it seems to work for me. I also carry a day duffel just in front of me with my photography kit and a 4L water bladder - about 15 pounds. I like the way the Magic paddles so configured but I'm not a sophisticated paddler by any means.

I have the original seat mounted on the original drops cut to 1.25" at the rear and 2" at the front. This mild rake is a good fit for my long leg angle when kneeling. I'm 6'-2" with a 35.5" inseam. This configuration gives me a 7.75" clearance under the seat at most points of measure. This lets me get my size 11s under without issue but heavy footwear will be different.

The original drops need to be re-shaped after being shortened to look good with the original seat. They look even worse with the Conk seat as its deeper front to rear than the original seat. I'll be making some nice ash lam drops for the Conk this winter. Since I have so little time left to paddle this year I'm leaving it as is for now.

Got my knee pads in and will have the ankle pads and knee bumpers in tonight. Probably will not do the foot braces until next spring.

 

[Jsaults]

No Title

I had Ed's Canoe make me a contoured seat frame with cross-arms at 16" centers instead of 8". My goal was to not need a seat pad for my less-than-skinny posterior. I originally fabricated a sliding setup, but soon discovered that I could just slide my butt fore and aft for trim. This seat is hung for sitting, but could be mounted high and/or canted for kneeling.
Jim

 

[Holmes375]

That is an interesting seat - looks rather comfy. Thank you for the picture and I'd be very interested in seeing close up pics of your sliding setup. You've done a nice job of it.