As I mentioned in What Are You Doing this Long Weekend I purchased a canoe from a river touring company and I have to say I am very pleased with my purchase. I had narrowed my choice down to two canoes, the Old Town Discovery 158 and the Nova Craft Prospector after reading some reviews.
When I met Adam from Heritage River Canoe & Kayak Company in Brantford Ontario he was able to provide a lot of information on the uses of the two types of canoes. Visually the Nova Craft looked better. It was newer, held it’s colour better, and had webbed seats as opposed to the Old Town’s plastic moulded seats. The Nova Craft was priced slightly higher then the Old Town. But the big thing that swayed me from the Nova Craft to the Old Town was when Adam told me the Nova Craft will take some getting used to for novice paddlers because of it’s curved hull. The Old Town had a flat hull making it stable which is good for a family and for fishing. It’s a little slower in the water, but my wife and I aren’t going to be in any races so it was perfect for us.
We took it to Lake Simcoe this weekend to test it out. My wife, dog and myself got in and the first thing we noticed is how stable it was. We were practically standing in the canoe with one hand on the dock. We were immediately at ease on the water even with my dog leaning over the edge drinking from the lake. The next thing I noticed was how comfortable the plastic moulded seats were. I was in the canoe for over an hour with no back pain or a sore butt.
I had a lot of fun out on the water this weekend practicing my J-stroke and C-stroke. I would like to thank Adam for his help with purchasing the canoe and getting it tied to the top of my car.
Leave a Reply