For those interested, there is an outfitter in Ely with a couple of Savage River comoposite canoes in their livery this summer.  Williams & Hall Wilderness Guides and Outfitters on Moose Lake struck deal with Dave Diller at Savage River Boatworks at Canoecopia to stock some of their boats for rentals.  They do not have them listed on their website yet, so you have to call/email and ask.  The rate is $53 per day.  They have one 18' Blackhawk that lists at 34 pounds on the Savage River site.  The other one is a 16'6" Deep Creek model at 32 pounds.  That makes them around 25% lighter than a MinnII or a Spirit II of comparable size (42 lbs).  Rob Kesselring is a light weight proponent and has taken 23 BW/Q trips in his Deep Creek.  If you read the BWJ, you know he likes those canoes.  I thought some of the ultralight folks here would be interested to maybe try them out too.  Maybe someone going out this year would be interested?  Just don't look to reserve them between July 29 and August 7th.....   If you're in the Quetico on those dates, you just might see me paddling stern in one of them.   

pd

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I'd like that too. One thing about SR is that while they might not be the lightest, they are one of or the toughest canoe out there in Kevlar.

When I was on my spring trip, try as I might I put some serious abuse hull wise on that SR.
I was thinking about the QJ member who had posted he had bought a Carbon fiber canoe and would love to hear how he fared with that ultralight hull?

I know that the guys with those high-end canoes are usually "wet footers", but you can't do that when you have yds of rocks for a landing and then a steep drop-off without some serious acrobatics at the take-out/put-in.

  Solus wrote on Jul 3^rd, 2015 at 5:13pm:


I agree. Everybody's working with the same materials. The builder could have it flex more so it won't gouge so easy. But you'll have an oil canning boat and not as much fun to paddle.

There is definitely a difference between the two types of resin- but there is no significant increase in abrasion resistance (the difference in hardness is insignificant compared to the hardness of the native rock). Epoxy resin (SR uses this) is much better for repairing boats as the bond to a dry surface is stronger. In laying up a new canoe there is considerable dissent, many consider the bonds across layers of wet polyester to be stronger than the epoxy bonds, others say epoxy is stronger period. I've repaired lots of boats and I have not noted much difference. I think epoxy is more sensitive to UV degradation-  SR hulls that have been stored in the sun suffer from delamination  and deformation over the course of a couple of seasons.   SR boats are less likely to puncture because the  cross rib lay up allows more flex than a foam core. There is a tradeoff- more flex means less efficient for paddling and a greater tendency for the hulls to deform  (I've seen lots of hulls with waves or bends). I've seen few large punctures in any composite canoes from flat water use- and composites are really easy to fix.

I have a Savage River Blackhawk and compared to my previous MNII, the Blackhawk cuts through big waves compared to the front of the MNII bouncing up and down.  Also, I've banged into some rocks really hard and it seems to get less damage than the MNII