Idaho Boater seeking Canoe Advice

[Idahodawg]

I am an old C1 paddler living in Idaho, Ive been out of the sport for about 10 years. I am ready to jump back in and want to go with an open canoe. While i started out in an old bluehole solo canoe, i quickly transitioned to a dagger cascade and a later converted a wave sport z. i want a solid whitewater open canoe that can handle the variety of Idaho's whitewater. No steep creeking here for the most part, mostly big water which becomes more technical later in the summer. Dry, kind of fast, big wave surfer, and comfortable are some traits i am looking for. back in my days, i was paddling class IV and V whitewater. I have interest in getting there a gain. I am new to this web site and i am excited to find it. Not many c boaters in this state to bounce ideas off of. I look forward to your advice.

Idaho Dawg

[Shep]

Are you looking for OC or C1? Larry Horne is a dedicated C1er, and not that far from you (relatively). He might have some suggestions. Seems like there are tons of good options for conversions out there these days, and hulls can be found for cheap if you are patient.

Good Luck!
Shep

[Einar]

If you are looking for some OC company next summer post here in June, there is usually a small group 10+ of us wandering around Idaho doing somethin in July, somewhere between the Lochsa and
Payette, paddling 3-4.
e

[Smurfwarrior]

I have a shop in Ogden UT and we have OC1's in stock.... keep in touch and I'll let you know when I head up to Idaho to paddle next.

[valhallalongboats]

Fast and Dry, eh? Well, for big western whitewater, I would say a good bet would be to try an Outrage...or if you really want FAST, get an Outrage X (sacrificing turning, of course). Good big water boats....and they like surfing big, fast, waves. Good luck!

Rob

[mahyongg]

Hi Idahodawg,

great that you're wanting to go open.. as a suggestion, may I cite an earlier post..

"Seems like there are tons of good options (for conversions) out there these days..

If you like to go the fast and nimble route, you might also consider a Spark or some Millbrook flavor of the same style of boat.

.. or if you like to go all 1996, go Outrage, but no one will ever know why. It's fast in a straight line, so unless you like curves, or steering, it can really be a good idea.. But it's also wetter than all of the above and really, you wouldn't want it after what you've paddled in the past.

Oh, also, Smurf has that yellow L'Edge light, you should definitely try that one too.

Cheers, and maybe see you out west one day..

Jan

[ian123]

Like Jan said, you should try a l'edge or a light l'edge. It's not fast but it's still a pretty good big water boat because it's so incredibly dry and stable. It'll also out-play any of the others mentioned.

I d choose an ocoee over a spark.... almost as fast, quite a bit drier and better for surfing.

[Shep]

I d choose an ocoee over a spark.... almost as fast, quite a bit drier and better for surfing.

And quickly becoming almost impossible to find...

[ian123]

You can still get brand new sparks and nova craft ocoees... don't shop around too long though.

A zephyr might work!

[mahyongg]

I can second Ian on the Ocoee sentiment.. regarding the surfing, the near as fast I don't know but it never occured to me why it would be drier. Mind you, I'm paddling at 180+ pounds body weight so some boats are wetter for me than others.

If you can get one of the Royalite or Light layup Ocoees that have been made.. well that's another story. I would still call the L'ight quite fast.. at least compared to the L'Heavy.

Don't forget to sample any flavour of blackfly boat you come along, they tend to get rave reviews (of which I spare you my own, let me just state that I bought one after test paddling it for just 200 meters ending with baby falls on the tellico..) and that is not without reason, they're super fun boats with enough difference in the four of them that some people would love to own all of 'em, essentially Option = forgiving creeker, displacement Hull, some good Edges, more bulbous end than L'Edge, easy to roll, opinions differ but a lot of people say it's even drier than the L'Edge, while for me it paddles better than that.. Ion = Semi-planing hull downriver playboat with a capital P, easiest boat to roll I was ever in despite the high gunwales (Jeremy, how did you do that??), Octane 85= same in longer (faster), Octane 91/2 = Big guy/gal downriver bathtub or superfun tandem creekmachine..

Choose your flava.

Also, never look for one do-all boat, that's just not possible. You need at least 4 (I keep saying that to myself to justify.. ah forget about it.)

Cheers!

Jan

[Idahodawg]

some great information here. i really appreciate all of your input and am open to any more that you want to provide. Jan, thanks for your reference to the telico, that brings back old memories. i figured that thing would be lined with subdivisions by now. again, thanks to all of you and i look forward to chatting with you all on this board in the upcoming months.

[ezwater]

If you see a used Prodigy X, you might think about buying it.