I have finally gotten seriously interested in winter/spring paddling and tripping in everglades national park (ten thousand islands) and am trying to come up with a boat. It needs to be able to float shallow, handle big waves, and have enough stability to feel confident when standing (to load and unload gear off camping platforms).

My butt hurts after 5 hours in a kayak and I have considered putting a spray deck on my solo but I just can't picture climbing down a ladder and getting in my merlin without splashing.

I have only owned and paddled 3 canoes. A gruman, a plastic coleman and my Bell and I know there are a lot of boat gurus on this site so I thought I would fish for some comments. I'm thinking about one of these (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) (expedition model). Anybody have any experience or comments with this style of boat?

Preacher wrote on Jan 12^th, 2011 at 4:40pm:


Get thee behind me foul tempter......I'm a QJ man at heart.......these are my homeboys......... my peeps bro!  

mastertangler wrote on Jan 12^th, 2011 at 4:52pm:

Many apologies!   

Quote:


I suspect they went in that direction becasue the market for a canoe built for the conditions Kruger paddled in would be extremely small.

I bet only a handful of paddlers would push this current offering to it's limits.

I remember reading about his Sea Wind, it was built for conditions that only the truly skilled and risk taking would ever consider paddling in

I wonder if it's "crushproof"  Bad enough you have the gator situation out of control, now you have too worry about those damn Pythons gobbling you up  At least with that partially covered deck they can't drop out of low hanging limbs and get to you as easy
You might want to replace your little Q knife with a big old machete, just in case one of those big suckers decides chubby/nerdy looks good on the menu

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



Ryobi Chainsaw, machette not

I'm with you on all that you said Mat.

It's only been a few weeks since I decided to go for this and have been gleaning some tips from a paddlers forum that concentrates its activities in South Florida particularly Everglades National Park.

I could easily get by with my Merlin if I wanted to stay with just doing the wilderness waterway which is roughly 100 miles of backcountry mangroves laced with cuts and intersected by rivers. I have a strong suspicion, however, that I will eventually be drawn to the outside where a decked boat of some substance will be desirable. This will likely end up being an annual trip of sorts (Lord willing). Come on down if you want. Spring of 2012 is the plan. Going to pick the boat up this summer. They are just an hour from my house in Michigan......go figure! I'll drag my usual paddling partner along and I bet he will end up buying one to........LOL

Quote:


# 1- Rule of weight loss
First place ON, last place OFF
Building more muscle, increases metabolism, burns more calories, even at rest. Might have to tweak the daily calorie intake a little to get a jump start on your weight loss.

To lose 1 lb of body fat ( not just weight), you need to burn 3500 calories. If your already exercising regularly and with intensity, and can't or don't have the time/energy for more exercise, then you need to cut 500 calories a day out of your diet. 7 days you should lose 1 lb of body fat.

It take roughly 1600 calories a day to maintain healthy body function, so you don't want to go below that for any length of time. People do it, but over the long run it's harmful and you can't sustain it as a lifestyle.

Just got off the phone with Scott Smith the owner and builder of the expedition and sawyer canoe company. Nice guy.

So far he has built 10 of the expedition by himself. He lacks proper tooling for production purposes so the process is slow and not conducive for mass production. I tried to work a deal but right now he has orders for 6 more and he won't be done until July with those. Might be time to get on the list.

If I knew someone who plunked down a hefty deposit on a boat they had never seen first hand, not to mention even paddled in, I would say they were nuts. I wonder if my insurance covers psychiatric evaluations  .  

marlin55388 wrote on Jan 13^th, 2011 at 7:39pm:


I will probably spring for the mast. Sounds fun right? Rocker?..........heck if I know. The guy that Scott paid to write the evaluation ( I'm kidding!!) said the boat was nimble and fast despite being "huge." (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Some guy (I think Scott said Bill Morgan) is going to enter his boat in the everglades challenge (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

I think I want one.

An interesting evening. I took her to the nicest place in town. Within 5 minutes she figured out that I had bought something and then on the first guess figured out what it was. What a woman!

It went over like the proverbial lead balloon. I patiently listened for the next 45 minutes on various "improvements" that needed to be made (all legit) while I munched my surf and turf . Word of advice guys.......if they're sore at you just listen patiently.

So it all seems to have worked out. I get a new boat and she gets more quality time. How she puts up with me I'll never know.

Solus
what got me to pull the trigger so fast is thus.
I own and like kayaks. Their seaworthiness in rough water is something canoes can't compete with IMO. There are a few substantial drawbacks for me however. My rear starts hurting after half a day in one and I dislike the carrying capacity.....limited. That and they're not especially portage friendly. But I love the glide man.

So when I became interested in paddling the glades lots of factors went through my head. Big surf on the outside, nasty oyster bars, the super swift new and full moon tides, carrying capacity (water!!), stability to load and unload gear etc. I have spoken to several people who run carbon fiber boats with spray covers with good results but my heart wasn't in it. Besides I detest the thought of dragging my boat back and forth from Fl to MI every year.....hassle city with everything else I'm already pulling.

The biggest difference I can see with this boat as compared to the loon is size. Supposedly this boat can stuff a full sized deer in the hull with room to spare. A nice option should a man want to do a 10 day trip. I also suspect this vessel can handle considerably bigger water than the loon. That broadens paddling prospects considerably. While I may never be able to paddle South Island (tasmanian sea.....New Zealand) I might be able to swing a trip around Isle Royale. That was just fantasy land in the not so distant past. How cool would that be!     

The boat is in the works. I'll pick it up sometime this summer. Nightly "husband school" training sessions are also commencing. First 1/2 hour session was last night. Sort of fun actually Nice little break from the night shift.

One of the guys on the Everglades Exploration Network (who provided the blasted link in the first place) sent me a PM with a pic of the boat rigged as a catamaran. What a hoot that would be! He wants to paddle it when I get it in.

After I get this thing wired in the Ten Thousand Islands we should have a QJ rendezvous in sunny south florida. Come one come all sort of thing. Could be fun. I'll introduce you to some of my finny friends. You will like them .

Life is good....Thank you Lord!

marlin55388 wrote on Jan 19^th, 2011 at 7:41pm:


Your a camera guy. Check out some of these photos a guy took on a trip from the everglades and the ten thousand islands. He's a paddler out of Colorado. I might have to get some telephoto lenses for my SLR and get a pelican case .
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

I bet I would probably not want to come home except for the paddle season up here ...one lens MT one lens...And then a boat, or rather a spray cover. Your dangerous

Bad self