I’m a little short on time to put together a video post today, but I wanted to throw up a quick report from our test row of the largest canoe of the triple nesting set.
The short answer here is that this thing had us grinning from ear to ear the second we put it on the water and yanked on the oars.
The two smaller nesting canoes are also going to get set up this way but we thought we’d start with the largest of the three, which is 32 inches wide and 15‘6“ long and 13 inches deep.
I started paddling with a canoe paddle and the normal seat installed and unsurprisingly the canoe felt a bit sluggish due to its width and length. Then I uninstalled the seat and installed the outrigger where the seat was (while floating on the water), dropped in the oars and took off like a rocket with minimal effort. This makes me question why you would ever paddle a canoe in any space that’s wide enough to row one?
Liz got in the boat and immediately made me promise that I would build the frame for hers next.
I was pleasantly surprised that with nothing but a 3 inch thick boat cushion in the bottom and the heels of my feet reaching through the foam mat to find purchase on a rib I felt well connected to the boat in a way that I haven’t been in hard bottom boats without foot braces. This working out so well is a major win because additional contraptions would interfere with the nesting, the ability to switch from paddling to rowing on the water, and just the overall elegance of the experience.
Overall just a lovely little rower that can carry 1 or 2 people (there are two rigger mounting location) Sure it doesn’t have the hollow sections or the sexy sheer that you find in an Adirondack guideboat, but the quick build, the versatility, and ease of set up here is unbeatable.
I have to turn my attention for a few days to the catamaran and sail rig for the two smaller canoes, but after that we’ll come back to making frames and oars for those as well. I’ve already drawn a plan for the outrigger that is a bit more elegant looking.
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