G
Guest
Guest
I think you got a good deal on the Lamoille, and saved $750 and a long drive in the process. But if family paddling/tripping becomes something enjoyable with the kids also know that you have bought but the second in a line of canoes to come.
We started out with two young kids in a beamy 17 footer. It was OK, but boring for my sons to sit like sacks of flour amidships. That first wide tandem cost me all of $60 (it needed a lot of work) and we soon after bought two symmetrical canoes, a 15 footer and a 16.
We paddled those symmetrical canoes (demo OT Camper and Pathfinder bought at the end of a show) bow backwards for several years with the boys in the once-stern-now-bow seat, before turning them around bow forward when the kids got bigger, and got a few more years out of them in that guise.
The boys then went into age/size appropriate solo canoes on day trips and easy campers, OT Ruston ($100 used) and Dagger Tupelo ($200) while the wife and I bow backwards soloed the Old Towns with the gear load for a few more years. By the time the boys were young teenagers they were competent paddling larger solo canoes and carrying their own gear weight.
IIRC the Journey is symmetrical, no thwarts-just yoke and bench seated. dang near perfect as a backwards (and later forwards) young bowman canoe. The Lamoille’s length might be a handful with just a young/inexperienced bowman, but you won’t lose any money if you eventually resell it.
In kevlar that was a 2K canoe in the mid-90’s.If it is in decent shape with a little elbow grease cosmetics it could be a $1000 canoe OK, I have an affinity for some of Mad River’s discontinued Vermont era canoes. And I am not alone in that regard; there is both history and craftsmanship there.
Even the multi-canoe transition from midships toddlers to teenagers in solo canoes was a minor and oh-so-worth-it expense.
$60 beater barge. Gave it to another young family. I learned how to do canoe repairs and modifications on that canoe, and it fugly duckling showed. They eventually passed it on to yet another family and I think it finally ended its life as sacrificial pinned boat during a local club’s Z-drag rescue lessons. Way more than $60 of fun was had with that canoe.
OT Camper. Traded it after 10 years to another young family guy for a pristine and factory outfitted (air bag, D-rings, kneeling pads, etc ) Mohawk Odyssey 14. We still paddle that canoe, but its pristine condition lasted only a week. He was so proud showing me that nearly unscratched hull, and I immediately beat the snot out of it on an un-gauged shallow rocky river day trip. The Ody 14 is great shallow water canoe, it’ll dang near float across a dewy lawn.
OT Pathfinder. Sold it for about what we paid 10 years later to a guy who had to have a Pathfinder. His father and brother each had one, used them for fishing and no other canoe would do. Pathfinder or nothing. Easiest sale I ever made. I almost felt bad, so I threw in paddles and PFD and a useless to me mushroom anchor. He drove off like he stole it, so we were both happy.
OT Rushton. Gave it to a friend with a young son when my boys outgrew it. I still see it occasionally. Very cool little Hauthaway designed canoe. 18 lbs in the early 70’s with a lot of pack canoe history.
Dagger Tupelo. Sold it for the $100 cost I had in outfitting (better seat, foot brace, partial spray covers) to a friend with two young daughters coming of paddling age. Still going strong somewhere in Maryland. Also a great kid solo canoe.
If the kids enjoy tripping you have just started on a wonderful journey.
Hi Glenn, It will be an additional canoe to our MR Journey 156. I'm looking for something to that will fit our family of four and camping gear, so I don't think it would make sense to go smaller. If it were just the two of us I would definitely be looking at something closer to the 17' range. I am quite new to canoe tripping though, so I appreciate the input
We started out with two young kids in a beamy 17 footer. It was OK, but boring for my sons to sit like sacks of flour amidships. That first wide tandem cost me all of $60 (it needed a lot of work) and we soon after bought two symmetrical canoes, a 15 footer and a 16.
We paddled those symmetrical canoes (demo OT Camper and Pathfinder bought at the end of a show) bow backwards for several years with the boys in the once-stern-now-bow seat, before turning them around bow forward when the kids got bigger, and got a few more years out of them in that guise.
The boys then went into age/size appropriate solo canoes on day trips and easy campers, OT Ruston ($100 used) and Dagger Tupelo ($200) while the wife and I bow backwards soloed the Old Towns with the gear load for a few more years. By the time the boys were young teenagers they were competent paddling larger solo canoes and carrying their own gear weight.
IIRC the Journey is symmetrical, no thwarts-just yoke and bench seated. dang near perfect as a backwards (and later forwards) young bowman canoe. The Lamoille’s length might be a handful with just a young/inexperienced bowman, but you won’t lose any money if you eventually resell it.
In kevlar that was a 2K canoe in the mid-90’s.If it is in decent shape with a little elbow grease cosmetics it could be a $1000 canoe OK, I have an affinity for some of Mad River’s discontinued Vermont era canoes. And I am not alone in that regard; there is both history and craftsmanship there.
Even the multi-canoe transition from midships toddlers to teenagers in solo canoes was a minor and oh-so-worth-it expense.
$60 beater barge. Gave it to another young family. I learned how to do canoe repairs and modifications on that canoe, and it fugly duckling showed. They eventually passed it on to yet another family and I think it finally ended its life as sacrificial pinned boat during a local club’s Z-drag rescue lessons. Way more than $60 of fun was had with that canoe.
OT Camper. Traded it after 10 years to another young family guy for a pristine and factory outfitted (air bag, D-rings, kneeling pads, etc ) Mohawk Odyssey 14. We still paddle that canoe, but its pristine condition lasted only a week. He was so proud showing me that nearly unscratched hull, and I immediately beat the snot out of it on an un-gauged shallow rocky river day trip. The Ody 14 is great shallow water canoe, it’ll dang near float across a dewy lawn.
OT Pathfinder. Sold it for about what we paid 10 years later to a guy who had to have a Pathfinder. His father and brother each had one, used them for fishing and no other canoe would do. Pathfinder or nothing. Easiest sale I ever made. I almost felt bad, so I threw in paddles and PFD and a useless to me mushroom anchor. He drove off like he stole it, so we were both happy.
OT Rushton. Gave it to a friend with a young son when my boys outgrew it. I still see it occasionally. Very cool little Hauthaway designed canoe. 18 lbs in the early 70’s with a lot of pack canoe history.
Dagger Tupelo. Sold it for the $100 cost I had in outfitting (better seat, foot brace, partial spray covers) to a friend with two young daughters coming of paddling age. Still going strong somewhere in Maryland. Also a great kid solo canoe.
If the kids enjoy tripping you have just started on a wonderful journey.
