It has been 4 years since my last post. Maybe I'm taking this Kanjaku thing a little too far? Well, with my new canoe, and camera, and Wanda I headed north for our summer vacation. We stayed at the most excellent Cluxewe Resort and Campground in cabin #3. Excellent. Right on the beach. But I digress.
Sara Lake is a little lake a stones throw from the "Eastern tip" of Marble River Provincial Park. Most people going to the park are looking to kayak or canoe the ocean. Sara Lake is overlooked. But not by us.
I had scouted out places to paddle the day before and was delighted to find that some good soul had cut away the two large trees that previously has blocked access to the put in. The trail from the road is root-bound but easy to navigate and takes about 2 minutes to traverse. The put in is a typical muddy-bottom shallow space beside a small grounded - well what would you call it - raft? Not really a dock. But Wanda was able to get in without getting her feet wet.
On the water it is a short paddle to the two sheltered bays surrounded by lush water plants and Sweet Gale. We idled in and out of these bays, enjoying watching the thousands of tadpoles cruising along the copper coloured bottom in the shallows. White and black winged dragon flies rattled past us and we observed a dragon fly larva eating a tadpole. Then we watched a loon dive for fish.
A small beautiful piece of nature and calm which probably sees few visitors. A shame really, because it is a great place to while away a few hours.
Paul and I met with fellow paddler Greg at Dougan Lake to compare 3 popular solo canoes sold by Abbotsford based Clipper Canoes. Paul brought his Solitude and Betty's Packer, and Greg brought his newly purchased 14 Prospector.
Packer, 14 Prospector, Solitude
The boats measurements look like this:
Solitude
14 Prospector
Packer
Length
15 feet 6 inches
14 feet
14 feet
Width at Water Line
30 inches
29 inches
27.5 inches
Width at Gunwales
28 inches
29 inches
24 inches
Bow Height
16 inches
21 inches
16 inches
Centre Height
13 inches
15 inches
13 inches
Stern Height
14 inches
21 inches
16 inches
Rocker
Minimal
1.5 inches
1 to 1.5 inches
Clipper also makes two other solo canoes, the Freedom and the Sea-1, and also offers the Prospector 16 and Tripper in solo versions.
14 Prospector and Packer
The Prospector and the Packer are the same length but quite different in design. The Packer is a Gene Jenson creation with a modest (almost straight) shear line, narrow ends, and moderate tumblehome. The Prospector is a James van Nostrand design with traditional ends (fuller and higher than the Packer) a wider beam, and slightly more rocker.
Packer (closer to camera) and Solitude
The Solitude is a longer and slightly wider canoe than either the Prospector or Packer but with very fine ends and a low profile. The Solitude has a modest tumble-home located near the waterline and a pronounced plumb stern which, combined with it's minimal rocker, gives it great tracking. The Solitude's low profile also reduces windage and makes for a sleek, reasonably fast, all around solo canoe.
We brought along an assortment of paddles to try with each boat. Paul had his two bend shaft graphite paddles, two square-tipped Grey Owl paddles (one bent shaft), and his Nashwhack ottertail. I had my Larry Bowers Cree/Iroquois style single and my Alton Aluet double. Greg had a beautiful Grey Owl "Guide". I hadn't seen one of these higher end Grey Owl paddles and have to say I was impressed with the design and quality. The stunning colour of the cherry wood seemed to match the colours in the Packer extreamly well.
14 Prospector -- agile and maneuverable
The Prospector is an agile and maneuverable solo which is a delight to play in. It responds instantly to even modest paddle strokes and in the kneeling position you can lean out on your paddle and spin the canoe beneath you. It is easy to scull sidways as well as on an angle backwards and forwards. This hull is well suited for investigating nooks and crannies along any shoreline because of it's responsiveness and "turn-on-a-dime" characteristics.
Here is a video of Paul demonstrating how well it maneuvers:
Compared to the Packer the 14 Prospector feels much more spacious. It's more generous ends, higher gunwales, and wider beam all make for a roomy ride. By contrast the Packer feels close and narrow. Notice in the following photo how there is very little extra room between Paul and the gunwales.
Those who don't mind a tighter paddling station may not notice this aspect of the Packer and Greg said he found it to be adequately roomy.
We discussed the capacity of both boats, and while some claim the Packer to be fine for short tripping, I think this applies primarily to the "go light" crowd. The Packer supposedly has 7.3 inches of freeboard loaded to 400 pounds, while the Prospector can take another 200 pounds before reaching the equivalent amount of freeboard. It seems likely then that the Prospector would be much more comfortable on medium to long trips with more gear.
Solitude
The Solitude does not quite match the Prospector's ability to carry a load (The Solitude carries 600 pounds with 7 inches of freeboard) but the Solitude strikes me as being a more comfortable boat to paddle on long flatwater and mellow river trips. If even minimal whitewater is in the cards, the Packer's extra limited load carrying capacity might be offset by it's versatility, and make it a better choice over the Solitude.
The Solitude, with it's skeg-like stern and minimal rocker tracks well and has a much higher potential speed than either the Packer or the Prospector. But as many of us have concluded this "potential" for speed is seldom achieved by non-athletic paddlers and therefore I would say that for weekend and recreational paddlers shorter boats (12 to 15 feet) with lower surface areas (Packer, Rapidfire, Mist, etc.) give faster acceleration and an easier overall paddling experience.
Solitude
Interestingly I found the slightly narrower and longer blade of Greg's ottertail to work particularly well in the Solitude, even better than my beloved Cree/Iroquois. I practiced the slicing stroke Paul taught me on Buttle Lake and found I could go 5 or more strokes per side in the Solitude without switching or using a correction stroke. It seems to me this combination would allow a paddler to cover a lot of water.
Left -- Solitude, Right -- Packer
On the topic of paddle match for canoe, I found the carbon bent shaft to be better when moving the Prospector across open water and I think it was primarily because of the larger blade surface. It dawned on me why people love their large surface paddles. In canoes like the Prospector that extra "bite" on the water allows you to keep it going in a straight line more easily. Probably any large surface paddle would do, and because the Prospector needs lots of correction in each stroke, a straight shaft might actually be more functional.
14 Prospector
I also tried the Aluet double in the Prospector and it worked reasonably well, but felt less pleasurable than with boats with a more narrow gunwale width. I was pleased to find that this corresponded to my experience in the Solo Plus, also 29 inches at the gunwales. The Prospector seemed even more awkward than the Solo Plus with the double blade because of the higher paddling station (thus further reach to the water) and near lack of tumblehome.
Packer
The Packer responds well to a variety of paddles. Greg seemed at home in the Packer with his ottertail and with the bend shaft carbon. I have enjoyed the Packer with my Aluet double blade, as well as traditional singles.
Discussing Canoes and Paddles
While all three boats have excellent qualities, of the three my favorite is the Packer.
Packer
It tracks reasonably well, accelerates quickly, and turns and maneuvers easily without the tendency to weathercock or wander. It's low profile means less windage and an easier reach to the water than in the Prospector, and it responds particularily well to shifting balast, making trimming easy.
I also like the look of the Packer, it is understated but clean and smooth. The tumble home is full and comfortable if lacking the sexiness of the Solitude and similar newer designs.
Dancing in the 14 Prospector
It is hard to beat the traditional look of the Prospector, but for me, the extra sail created by those classic ends is not worth their aesthetic value. Still, that elegant shearline is a pleasure to gaze upon.
14 Prospector
Also, for me, the extra capacity and maneuverability of the Prospector are features I would seldom take advantage of. The Packer has been outfitted by Clipper for some customers as river boats, but it seems to me that those fine lines, reflecting the designers love of racing, preclude it from serious whitewater.
Prospector (left) and Packer
At the End of the Day
14 Prospector -- Highly maneuverable solo best suited to the paddler wanting to take longer trips with lots of gear and a likely to encounter a variety of types of water (whitewater, rivers, flatwater). Challenging to keep going in a straight line, especially in wind and slower top end speed than the other boats tested.
Solitude -- Straight as an arrow flatwater cruiser. Well adapted to hit and switch with an ottertail or bent shaft single. Suited for tripping on lakes and easy rivers. Stable and comfortable for photography.
Packer -- Versatile and lively all around solo able to handle flatwater and some whitewater but best suited to lakes and easy rivers. Because of the superb way this hull managers to allow both reasonable tracking and good turning, I rank this canoe as the best match of the three tested hulls for Vancouver Island freshwater paddlers.
A few weeks ago my friend Paul took some photos of me trying out his Solitude and Rendezvous canoes when a few of us got together with different boats and paddles. I thought I would post a brief review of the two boats with some of Paul's photos.
Wenonah Solitude (now built by Clipper):
The Solitude is a classic Jensen design with minimal sheer and a low stern. The tumblehome is modest but pleasing and the boat paddles equally comfortably with a single or double paddle.
This is an efficient hull that feels slightly more zippy than my Solo Plus but with relatively similar glide and tracking. The Solitude is shorter (15.6 for the Solitude, 16.6 for the Solo Plus) and a bit closer across the beam (28" at the widest and 30" at the waterline compared to the Solo Plus at 29" and 31.75" at the water line). It turns a little easier that the Solo Plus, matching the exact depth at the paddling station but with a different shape in relation to the ends. The Solo Plus has a more pronounced sheer line making it seem lower to the water at the paddling station.
I would recommend this boat for the kind of day tripping I like to do on flat water. Short two or three day trips would also be quite comfortable in this craft.
The boat's most noteworthy quality, in my estimation, is it's clean lines and somewhat minimalist aesthetic quality. Here is a shot of Paul in the Solitude that accentuates the rich aged look of both the kevlar and wood gunwales. A genuinely pretty boat.
And also...
Wenonah Rendezvous
You can see three different paddles in this shot, and despite the look on my face I was happy with how this boat performed with each one. The bent shaft carbon fibre paddle of Paul's that I am using in the photo really accelerated this canoe nicely and I was surprised at how little effort it took to keep this moderately rockered boat on target. I'm generally not keen on bent shaft paddles for solo paddling, but because this boat is so easy to maneuver, it was actually almost effortless to paddle with a standard Canadian stroke.
My Cree/Iroquois style single blade was also comfortable, though slightly less enjoyable than it's performance in my Spitfire. I'm still mulling this over, but for some reason the Cree/Iroquois blade is perfectly suited for the little pack canoe, while in this boat if felt merely adequate.
The Greenland style double was also comfortable to use with this boat, perhaps surprisingly given the higher paddling station (15"). Our craftsman extraordinaire, Charles, subsequently designed and fashioned a longer Greenland style paddle (actually an Aluet design) for use with our solo canoes and I will be reviewing it in an upcoming post.
I have to confess that paddling the Rendezvous disrupted my long held beliefs about rockered boats. I had always considered them to be designed for, and best suited to, river travel. For the kind of flat water paddling I now do, I have been leaning toward minimally rockered racehorses like the Wenonah Advantage. Now I am not so sure. I have to take my hat off to the designer of this hull - maybe Mike Cichanowski? There is something magical about it.
It is nimble, easy to correct and keep on target, and amazingly exhilarating to paddle. It SEEMS to go faster with the same amount of effort I would put into paddling other boats. Next to the Rapidfire, this is the hull I am now most enamored with. Just a lot of fun to paddle.
So thanks Paul for letting me try out your boats, and for taking some shots of me in them. It was a great day and very educational.
