Moving or Flat Water - This Canoe is for You
Written: May 14 '02 (Updated Jul 09 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great all around canoe
Cons: A little on the heavy side
The Bottom Line: If you want a canoe that will handle any type of water (up to class III white-water), this canoe is for you.
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| ir0nma1den's Full Review: Old Town Discovery Scout |
About a year ago, a co-worker of mine wanted to sell his Old Towne Discovery Scout. He normally went canoeing with his daughter, but she has since left the proverbial nest and gone to school. Although the canoe can be loaded and used by one person, it can be difficult, especially when loading the canoe on the roof of a car. He offered the canoe, which was four years old and had been out less than 30 times, for $450. I bought it and my wife and I have been enjoying it ever since.
The canoe is a 16-footer made out of Superlink 3- a fairly, light-weight yet durable material. It also is pretty straightforward to patch if you would ever put a hole in it. It weighs roughly 68lbs but has a carrying capacity of about 1100lbs. It also has three seats built in. The boat's shape is slightly rockered, so it has good primary stability but very good secondary stability. When the boat rolls, just when it feels like it will dump, it catches. The first time this happened I almost was tossed out of the boat because I wasn't ready for it.
It moves well on flat water. My wife and I use it at our favorite bass fishing ponds to get from place to place. For a 16-footer, it moves well through the wate and has a decent turning radius at the hands of a skilled paddler. I've taken it out by myself and it's still relatively easy to control in low-wind conditions. High wind conditions pose a problem. On one occasion, it took me about 25 minutes to get to the shore of a small pond due to 30 mph cross winds.
We've had the boat out twice on moving water. The first time was on South Anna river in Hanover county, VA. The water level was pretty low so we did quite a bit of pushing and walking. Unfortunately, due to the low water level, none of the rapids were really runnable. You would get halfway through it and would end up getting out of the boat. The second time was on tha Rappahanock River in Fredericksburg, VA (from Hole in the Wall to Motts Run Landing). It's a 6 mile stretch that has some nice class I/II water in sections. The river is suprisingly deep in sections - sometimes as much as 7 or 8 feet in places. There are also quite a few rocks that need to be maneuvered around. My wife was in the front of the boat and I was in the rear. We didn't have much gear - just flyrods and a cooler with food in it for the day. The boat moved well through the flat parts and responded quickly when in faster water. I'm a pretty novice canoer when it comes to river-tripping, but my wife and I had no problems maneuvering the boat even in faster water with light obstacles.
So far, I've been very impressed with the way it handles in the water. My only complaint is the weight - getting it on the roof of my car by myself is a feat of strength. Hopefully soon, I'll be able to update this review to include my river-tripping experiences.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ir0nma1den
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Member: Jonathan Jones
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Reviews written: 18
Trusted by: 2 members
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