I'm new to canoeing and was introduced to it about a year ago. I haven't been since, but a friend of mine reminded me of the trip and all the joy that I had on that trip came back.

I want to buy a canoe. BUT, I have some questions about weight, length, material differences, etc... that I need to answer before I spend the money.

I want a good boat, but not the best. I also don't want a crap shoot. What's a good entry boat length and weight?

Since I'm new at this, I don't have a clue where to start when it comes to the canoes. I found a good priced canoe with these basic specs:
* Impact-resistant RAM-X™ hull
* 2 molded seats with drink and rod holder
* Sturdy center thwart
* Sturdy aluminum gunnels with protective sleeves
* Length: 13 ft 6 in
* Beam: 37 in
* Seats: 2
* Weight: 57 lb
* Max. Capacity: 650 lb

The price is $369 and the type of boat is Pelican Navigator. Is this a horrible canoe?





I love the serenity of flat/open water canoeing and want to get into it. I'd go just about every weekend probably, AND during the work week when I could leave the office at a decent time. Any and all help is GREATLY APPRECIATED. Help a beginner out please.


Thanks!
Mike

Pelican's are not very nice canoe's. A decent canoe should cost you about 899$ Canadian new. Any less than that and you are gettiing what you paid for. I know that the pelican boats I have seen in Canada I do not think will float if they get full of water. At least that is what the math says on the subject.

huh, i never even thought about whether or not it would float if full of water.

It only is important if you tip over. If not then it does not matter.

Really unless its an old town or a mad river its not worth buying

[quote:1ec249cb4c]Really unless its an old town or a mad river its not worth buying[/quote:1ec249cb4c]

Thats rubbish there are many more boat manufacturers that make boat on par with mad river which i would place higher than the old town boats!

If you want to keep the cost down and are not sure what sort of paddling your doing then why not go for the boat you mentioned seems cheap add additional buoyancy bags front and back and centre if your doing white water.

Then once you have learnt the basics in the plastic tub you will apreciate the lovely world of roylex or composite canoes and also you will have a better understanding of what YOU want to use the boat for!

Mad river make very nice canoes but so do we nonah esquif, Venture Canoe (used to be Mobile adventure)
Old town are good aswell for flat water touring market and self supported wilderness trips

At the end of the day most manufacturers have several different designs for different types of paddling and several open canoeist i know have different boat for the different types of paddling (they just kept on adding to their fleets)


if you told me what sort of paddling you want to do i think we could all be a bit less vague and
Hope this helps

[quote:c5d2e51102="batman100"]Really unless its an old town or a mad river its not worth buying[/quote:c5d2e51102]

Yeah there are lots of other manufacturers that make a quiality boat. Swift out of Ontario and Clipper out of BC make nice boats as well. I know Appleseed and Langford out of Ontario are supposed to be nice I just haven't had a chance to paddle them.

Wow.. so I thought I did explain the type of paddling but I didn't!

OK... so basically here are the types of trips I'd take.

flat/open water (lakes, calm rivers)
very little white water. (quantity and size) (i.e. the Hiwasee in TN which feeds into the Ocoee River)


On the flat/open water I'd probably take a one night camping trip.



Is that what you're looking for?
I'm seriously thinking about just going ahead and buying the pelican international navigator for the time being. Then when I get deeper into the sport, I'll know more about what I want. Then I'll research a whole hell of a lot more before buying a quality boat. I research like crazy when it comes to spending that kind of money. I think I get it from my dad.

In response to your last post: You always get what you pay for with boats. If the price is really good it is usually really good because that is all that the canoe is worth. I work at a shop and we have many customers each week come in a say that they bought a boat at Costco or Canadian Tire (general hardware store and everything else) and say it paddled like a bath tub. Once we demo them in the cheapest boat we have they can't believe the difference. The usually sell to boat to some unsuspecting person and go off and paddle their new boat and have a great time. If there is one thing that you listen too it is [b:353e15abff]go to your local paddling shop and buy a boat from them[/b:353e15abff] Please you will do yourself a favour later and save money in the long run since you will only buy one boat.

As I said I work for a shop and I see this all the time. Please buy your boat from a paddling shop local to you.