...no, really.
I'm buying a canoe as a wedding gift for two good friends of mine. I would love to hear your ideas on which ones are good and which ones are not. I'm looking to spend around $500-$800 and I'll be needing oars too.
I want a modern boat, resinated fiberglass or whatever. Not looking for anything too beautiful to put in the water.
I'm also thinking a removable (strap down?) roof rack so he can carry it on his Civic Si-R might be a good idea. Sources?
Nothing says "love" like home made.
Partner at work hauls a canoe on the roof of a Kia. I'll look into it.
He says he likes his Yemkia roof rack. I think its on a Sonata.
N Sperlo wrote: He says he likes his Yemkia roof rack. I think its on a Sonata.
Me thinks you meant Yakima. Theyre good, but the "Name Brand" of racks. Thule is a good brand without as much markup...
bigdaddylee82 wrote: [Old Town](http://www.oldtowncanoe.com/) /Thread - Lee
Ditto. I have an Old Town Discovery 158. It is like the AK47 of canoes. Since it is under 16 ft, it also avoids a lot of watercraft registration requirements assuming it is not going to be motor powered. Anything with an electric or gas motor usually needs to be registered regardless of size, although it can vary by state.
Also, I prefer to canoe with a kayak paddle (blades on both ends) rather than a canoe paddle (one single blade). You may get more water in the boat with a kayak paddle but you can get that thing moving a lot quicker since you don't have to use some of your stroke for counter steering when using a J-stroke with a single paddle.
Old Town look like they have some nice boats but they don't have any Canadian distributor. 
There are a few used on Kijiji but I kinda wanted to buy new.
Don't know what part of Canada you're in, but I know that Dick's Sporting Goods, Cabelas, Bass Pro, and Gander Mountain carry some Old Towns. They all have online stores, shipping will probably be crazy expensive, but could you buy one online?
Otherwise, depending on how far north of the border you are, there's about eleventybillion Gander Mountain, and Dicks all over Yankeeville.
Forget Old Town.
Get a Raddison, called Sport Pal in Canada. It'll be lighter than a fiberglass model and they ride well in the water and have good primary and secondary stability due to the foam edge.
http://www.bwmarineproducts.com/canoes.htm
Go with a 12 footer.
Jay wrote: ...no, really. I'm buying a canoe as a wedding gift for two good friends of mine. I would love to hear your ideas on which ones are good and which ones are not. I'm looking to spend around $500-$800 and I'll be needing oars too. I want a modern boat, resinated fiberglass or whatever.
Old Town or Mowhawk are the brands worth considering.
I like fiberglass canoes with square chines. The the Mowhawk Blazer 16 or anything from Classic Five Boats. (Classic Five is to Mowhawk as Caterham is to Lotus; i.e. they own the rights, the molds and continue to produce tweaked versions of the old designs.)
Most modern boats are plastic. Fiberglass is not as scratch/ding resistant as plastic, but it is a LOT easier to patch/repair. Aluminum dents and leaks too easy for my tastes, and is a pain to repair.
Most modern boats have a V or modified V hull. They all, IMHO, suck. I like boats with square chines...slightly more stable on the water, and MUCH more stable for egress/exit when you have the bow on shore, or when you want to drag it across a log an hop back in to continue on your journey. The minor down side is that it takes a little more effort to paddle a square chined boat through the water than it does to paddle a V-hull.
Heavy boats are more stable, easier to control in the wind, and more of a pain to carry/transport. Pick your poison.
Mad River Canoe is another well-regarded brand.
As noted above, Yakima rack systems are well-made; and, yes, Thule is also another good brand. If your budget's tight after buying the boat/paddles, then you can buy used towers pretty easily. The towers tend to be car-specific, and are usually the most expensive component of the rack system. It's pretty easy to pick up a set after someone's sold a car and bought another, requiring new towers.
If your friends are new to canoeing, then this is a classic book that would nicely complement a boat gift:
http://www.amazon.com/Path-Paddle-Illustrated-Guide-Canoeing/dp/155209328X
Before you pull the trigger, you might do some recon on how they'll use the boat. For instance, the choice should be informed by whether they're just going to be tooling around for afternoons or doing multi-day trips, whether they'll be doing flatwater only or whitewater, etc.
+1 to the car specificity of rack systems. my thule rack was designed for my last DD, and the clamps would not fit the new DD. The two cars were the same make and model, but a few years apart. I asked thule if they would sell me new clamps, and they said I had to buy a whole new rack.
That sounded expensive, so I just modified the old clamps to fit the new car
(stock clamp on the left, modified one on the right)
It's getting close to renew time at the provincial parks...
Wifey and I bought a 16' Scott Prospector Kevlar canoe from Oastler Lake provincial Park, South of Parry Sound a few years ago for $800 that looked like it saw water maybe 3 or 4 times. Worth a phone call to your local park or parks....
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