Pointing you to (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) & (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) where YC/LRC can be found.  A wealth of info on the area and smart about canoes.

I thought that design looked familiar.
Now I see the legendary canoeist/adventure Verlen Kruger was his teacher and mentor. He's carrying on the tradition it seems.
Never paddled one, but if you see where Verlen went in his, I think that will tell you all you need to know.
Not very portage friendly, but for your needs and in severe conditions, I don't think you could do better.

Google Verlen Kruger and you''ll see tons of info and video of his incredible paddling feats, many of them solo. I believe he paddled the equivalent of 4 times around the globe in his lifetime

Just messin with you Preachy old buddy

I did some lookin as per ST suggestion and what he says is right on. This boat seems to be designed after Krugers sea wind except it is a little longer (finer entry?) a tad lighter (a little less strength?)  and less expensive.

I bet a fellow could do some fine adventures with it. How about circumnavigate Isle Royale? I bet that north shore would be fantastic.

Now I just have to figure out how to afford one. When I told my wife I was considering a 10 day trip doing the wilderness waterway the first thing she said was...."what do you have to buy now" . She knows me better than I know myself! She's gonna have a fit .

solotripper wrote on Jan 12^th, 2011 at 11:04pm:



Dude, your livin in the past................don't you know nerdy is now the new cool?  

Hopefully by spring I can be svelte and nerdy instead of chunky and nerdy. Workouts going good......Arms, chest and legs gettin bigger but my stomach doesn't seem to want to be left behind and is keepin right up!!

while that decked boat would be a better open water boat, its hard to see if it would be more stable than a Merlin ?

   
if it were me, I'd think up a better system for loading or unloading than just standing in a boat -  maybe a loop of rope around the packs that you could use to haul them up from the platform ?  or maybe set up a pulley system - maybe a loop of webbing with a pulley that you could set up on the top of the ladder, then be sitting or kneeling while hauling the pack up to the pulley ? 

One thing about loading and unloading gear, that cockpit width is less than the open Merlin's width, so it may be harder to get big packs to go in and out easily ?


I'd rethink the packing strategy - rather than big heavy packs, I'd probably go with more smaller bags, that would be easier to move from the boat to the chikee - maybe a duffle with just your tent and sleeping bag and pad, for one bag,  another with jsut stove and cook kit and one days food - something like that, so it would be easier to transfer stuff from the boat to the platform - you won't be portaging



and of course, all that water to haul - gallon a day at least