C-Forum

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I have beat up old Ocoee, but I am looking for another boat to use for creeks that are easy to find and won't cost one and arm and a leg. My Ocoee seems great but I would like to save it's last days on the water for racing.

I've been having very good luck with the Outrage. It has plenty of rocker for fast turns and just the right length to ride over stuff and keeping dry. The soft chines also help a great deal in allowing one to stay upright which is a major concern in steep, rocky creeks. The Outrage also rolls very easily.

I would also recommend installing twin bilge pumps. If you should fill up you can hang onto a rock while the boat empties then paddle off. You can also be emptying your boat while paddling the easier stretches. That way the kayakers don't have to keep waiting for you while you empty your boat.

Depending on how rocky and shallow the creeks you intend on running are, you might also consider getting a plastic instead of a royalex boat, as they tend to last longer particularly since the current royalex sheets do not seem to be as good any more as they used to be 10 years ago.
I personally love my Pyranha Prelude for creeking, although many people hate it because of it's limited primary stability.
My prelude has seen 4 seasons of creeking and it's still going strong.
Other options among plastic boats are the Esquif Taureau, the Dagger Quake or even the Pyranha Spanish Fly.


martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

Anybody creeking the Zephyr?

<Anybody>

Nobodys answer.
I guess nobodys use Zephyr for creeking

Buy an Esquif Spark! Awesome boat. Not the most stable, but that shouldn't matter. It's really fast--so you can make attainments and "must-make" moves, and surf to an exten (not as well as in the ocoee). Not quite as durable as royalex boats (it's royalite)--but a great design.

Nate

I'm not much of a creeker, but I have taken the Zephyr on Wilson and dropped right on to a rock from about 6' I thought it was going to crack the boat but it just left a scuff mark

Bill

NateOC wrote:Buy an Esquif Spark! Awesome boat. Not the most stable, but that shouldn't matter. It's really fast--so you can make attainments and "must-make" moves, and surf to an exten (not as well as in the ocoee). Not quite as durable as royalex boats (it's royalite)--but a great design.

Nate

Sure the Spark is a great boat, but I would never get one for creeking. Royalite is just not up to it durabilitywise when it comes to running shallow and rocky stuff, it's even worse than Royalex. I would probably wear it out in a single season.
Plastic is still the way to go, although Twintex has great potential, too, and might be even better.

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

Since mohawk is back in business, Id suggest a mohawk rodeo. At 10' 6" is short enough but still pretty fast. If they are still factory direct cost, ( 750.00) is very reasonable for hitting creeks..bag it out and get a pump kit.. The vipers are good too.

as I recall the rodeo was royalite

No matter what boat you chose, the mat'l HAS to be plastic. There was a group of us running the creeks in the Laurentians(QC) last weekend and it was a beautiful site. Toreau's Quakes and Spanish flies. All plastic open boats. The only way to go !

I dislocated my left shoulder(1st time) running a bony fall sunday late...I'm out for a while, but my plastic boat is OK

Some very good boaters such as Eli Helbert can paddle little short plastic boats off big drops and make it work. When I have tried it (Boxcar Falls, NF of the French Broad) I got backendered. At the other end of the spectrum you have these southeastern open boaters who paddle 14-foot Captions down steep creeks. Works for them, but seems like a lot of boat to get into small eddies.

The 12-foot length of the Outrage makes it very stable and fast for running big drops. I have not run anything really huge but it has done great on vertical drops up to 15 feet or so.

will probably want to get something else with an edge, as going back to a rounded hull may seem unresponsive. So once Mohawk starts making the new boats a viper would be a good choice. Or keep beating up your Ocoee and just get a new Bell version for racing.

Teaureau comes to mind for sure, If you have to have a long boat Zepher should hold up good or at least that is what a rocket scientis told me. Of course if money is no object for you you can get an Ocoee every four months.

Thanks yall, the Prelude looks fun, is it stable, the viper11 looks like my speed or just keep beating my Ocoee (The Greatest Boat Every Designed), the new bell are of a ligther layup and for the price I would be better off with a Spark for racing. The smaller plastic boats look fun but I yet have no roll and problaly won't with my shoulder problem I won't run things over class IV. Thanks again you all were a big help.
Kevin