For obvious reasons, I get a lot of questions about canoes. One of the most common ones is “So, how many canoes do you own?”<\/div>\n

The honest answer is, I don’t know. \u00a0But by the end of this, I should have it figured out. \u00a0So here’s the fleet.<\/div>\n

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1) Curtis Companion<\/strong>: \u00a0This one is special. It was my first canoe. I was a whitewater kayaker up until that point. \u00a0I paddled it. \u00a0I fell in love. \u00a0It’s the one canoe of which Wife 1.2 has forbidden the sale. \u00a0Not that I would. \u00a0They’re no longer made, sadly.<\/div>\n
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2) Lotus Caper<\/strong>: Serial number 001, the first one Mike Galt ever made. \u00a014’8″ and beautiful, it technically belongs to Wife 1.2. \u00a0Lovely woodwork and detailing and a fascinating seat mechanism that hasn’t been copied yet. \u00a0Also no longer made, Mike died back in 2003 or 2004, I think. \u00a0A big loss to solo canoeing.<\/div>\n
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3) Wenonah Prism<\/strong>: This is one of my standby canoes. \u00a016’6″, Kevlar, ash gunwales, hanging seat \u00a0(a little custom addition of my own), \u00a0and 31 pounds of joy. \u00a0It’s pretty stock as far as the build, but has ash and spruce gunwales and I put in a custom hanging seat. \u00a0I like to kneel.<\/div>\n
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4) Lotus\/Moore Dandy:<\/strong> Designed by Mike Galt and built by Pat Moore, the Dandy is a sweet little 13’9″ solo that makes Son 1.0 smile (see above). \u00a0Pat’s construction is pretty rough compared to Mike’s, but it’s a Dandy. \u00a0When I can find a Galt Dandy I’ll buy it.<\/div>\n
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5) Wenonah Argosy<\/strong>: This is my other standby. Between the Prism and the Argosy, you can pretty much do anything you need to do solo, except run Class IV and up. Then again…if I threw some bags in there I bet I could run Class IV. \u00a0If I were limited to two boats, this would be one of them. \u00a0Luckily, I’m not.<\/div>\n
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6) Blackhawk Ariel<\/strong>: Built by the late Phil Siggelkow, the Ariel is a classic but less common boat than its smaller sibling, the Zephyr. \u00a0Incidentally, I owned a Zephyr 10 years ago and, in a fit of stupidity, sold it. \u00a0When I find another one, I’ll be buying it for the archives.<\/div>\n
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7) \u00a0Wenonah Minnesota II<\/strong>: \u00a0Wife 1.2’s favorite tandem tripping canoe of all time. \u00a0It is one of the prettier Wenonahs, I think. \u00a0At 43 pounds (I weighed it), and 18’6″ (I didn’t measure it), it’s fast, dry, and a joy to paddle in the Boundary Waters or anywhere else.<\/div>\n
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8 and 9) Moore and Blackhawk Proem(s)<\/strong>: I have two of these, one built by designer Pat Moore, and one built by Phil Siggelkow at Blackhawk, \u00a0The Blackhawk is heavier and less elegant, but the Moore is light, with beautifully laminated mahogany gunwales and a beautifully hand-built pedestal seat. \u00a0The B. Proem is used for actual river use; the M. Proem is for deepwater-only. \u00a0At 11’10”, they’re wee little canoes but they’re amazing designs.<\/div>\n
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10) Nova Craft Pal<\/strong>:\u00a0Another stand-by, 16 feet, two-toned gelcoat (olive and sand), paddled solo or tandem. \u00a0If paddling with the dog, it’s not really solo I suppose.<\/div>\n\n $\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n
11) Nova Craft Prospector 16 (Kevlar)<\/strong>:\u00a0This is my most recent adoption. A 1996 sweet, sweet canoe. Sand with cherry gunwales. It was traded in by a sweet older gentleman who traded it for something lighter. It lasted a day on the rack. \u00a0I did give the other staff a chance, but after 24 hours, it was mine.<\/div>\n
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12) Moore Reverie II<\/strong>: \u00a0Pat’s redesign of the Proem, it’s a beautiful evolution. \u00a0Mine is a one-off, dark green, a one-piece boat that has integrated gunwales and thwarts, all molded together. \u00a0It’s a stunning boat, but I paddle it little as it is a bit of a museum piece.<\/div>\n
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13) liquidlogic Hoss C-1. <\/strong> This is another weird boat. \u00a0It started life as a kayak, but Bernie from Whitewater Warehouse<\/a> in Dayton, Ohio worked his magic on it. Now it is a beautiful canoe.<\/div>\n
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14) Sawyer Summersong<\/strong>. \u00a0A Dave Yost design from back in the 1980s. \u00a0The first solo canoe I ever paddled, and recently I had the chance to grab a used Kevlar one in pretty decent shape. \u00a0It’s on loan to a friend for now (I trust this guy). \u00a0Sawyer’s long gone, at least in any recognizable form.<\/div>\n
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15) Moore Adventurer. <\/strong> Not really mine. \u00a0Belongs to Daughter 1.o, her birthday present when she was 4. \u00a0It is a beaut…lilac-colored with red oak trim. \u00a0It’ll be the grandkids’ solo canoe.<\/div>\n
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So I guess the number is fifteen, unless I missed one somewhere.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The next question I get, after “How many canoes do you have?” is “Why do you need so many canoes?”<\/div>\n
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The answer is both complex and simple.<\/div>\n
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First of all, I don’t strictly need any of them. \u00a0They aren’t food, clothing, shelter or love. \u00a0They’re just canoes. \u00a0That said, I really love canoes. \u00a0The only difference between me and a philatelist is that my collection is a) useful and b) takes up a helluva lot more space than a few 3-ring binders.<\/div>\n
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Furthermore, canoes are as different as shoes. \u00a0You wouldn’t go mountain biking in ballet slippers, climb Everest in Chuck Taylors or dance Swan Lake in a pair of Red Wing Irish Setters. \u00a0You might go for a bike ride in heels, but that’s only if you’re a gorgeous, immaculately-dressed Italiana<\/em> riding a sweet Eurostyle step-through around the Piazza Navona.<\/div>\n
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Lastly, there is something of a nostalgic archivist in me. \u00a0You may not have noticed, but only 4 of the 15 are tandem canoes. \u00a0The Companion is actually a solo-tandem, so you could say 3.5 are tandems. \u00a0So when I say I love solo canoes…well…quod erat demonstrandum.<\/em><\/div>\n
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There was a golden era of solo canoeing that lasted from sometime in the early 80s into the mid to late 90s. \u00a0A number of small companies were run by devoted paddlers who, like all devoted canoeists, love paddling solo. A number of great designers produced some of the prettiest and sweetest paddling solo canoes, but as the market turned its head to the emergence of recreational kayaks, the solo canoe took a series of\u00a0grievous\u00a0hits.<\/div>\n
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I have the space (my garage, and a row in one of the warehouses at my shop) to archive boats from this Golden Age of Solo Canoeing. As I find them, I buy them. \u00a0I still rotate them in and out of storage and they all get paddled regularly, so they don’t get lonely.<\/div>\n
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Respectfully and long-windedly submitted,<\/div>\n
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Canoelover<\/div>\n
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P.S. \u00a0I am still looking for the following boats:
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\nCurtis Dragonfly<\/strong> – This one is a top priority. I really want one of these. \u00a0Twitchy little dude, and there are probably quite a few in garages, purchased by hydrophobes who didn’t test-paddle first.
\nCurtis Ladybug<\/strong> – for Wife 1.2.
\nCurtis Nomad<\/strong> – I know it’s similar to the Bell Merlin II. \u00a0But that’s not the point.
\nLotus Dandy<\/strong> (I and II) – I have a Dandy but it wasn’t built by Mike Galt. Plus he had two iterations.
\nLotus BJX<\/strong> – Nice but not a must-have.
\nLotus Egret<\/strong> – Coulda bought one for $300…crap.Blackhawk Zephyr – owned serial number 001. \u00a0Sold it. \u00a0What was I thinking?
\nBlackhawk Starship<\/strong> – I sold mine two years ago…dumb.<\/em>
\nBlackhawk Covenant<\/strong> – I gave mine to a friend. Not sure if he paddles it much. Maybe I should buy it back? Dunno.
\nAlso, if you know of any other duplicates of the ones I already have, let me know; I have friends who paddle my boats and then really want one too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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