C-Forum

I run a whitewater company in canada during the summer and we run paddling trips in Mexico during the winter. Last winter we ran our first season of open boat trips in Mexico and it was a huge success. We currently have a fleet of Outrages and Outrage X's and are looking at increasing our fleet with some additional models. trying to find consensus on what would be ideal has proven to be challenging. the rivers are continuous, technical, low volume (dry) runs and there is an awesome creeking day.

Some of the suggestions/comments I have been given are:

Ocoee's (everyone loves Ocoees)
Taureaus (if you had some Taureau's I'd come for sure)
Solitos (the folks at Evergreen are really nice)
Zephyrs (nobody would have a problem given a Zephyr)
More Outrages (as soon as there is a choice, nobody will be happy)

Any other suggestions?

Jim
Esprit Whitewater Worldwide

www.whitewater.ca

Tandems, don't forget Tandems!
Maybe a Esquif Blast would be a good idea.

This Trips look very interesting, I'll add them to my plans...

Florian

Oooops I forgot, we have 2 blasts as well.


jim

I paddle a Nitro, a great boat.Easy to surf,roll and keep dry.Relitively nimble,however a little big for smaller creeks.Also for the more advanced,the Zoom.A great o-c creeker and water-faller.Short,deep and easy to roll,and boof off ledges or rocks.By the way,your lifestyle sounds really crappy,i'd love to torture myself witchew sometime.Can always handle a break in Mexico,especially if there are boats there already.Cool!

I think your list is a pretty good one. Outrages and Zephyrs should keep most happy. Tareaus would be awesome value-added to try. Many love Ocoees. I find Solitos are a little on the small side for heavier paddlers.

Mohawk Vipers and Probes could be considered too.

Supporting an innovative Canadian company like Esquif would probably go over well though.

Of course, the most important opinions are those of the paddlers who actually come down for your trips (and of the suppliers that will be good to you).

I hope to see you in Mexico, PY.

here's a few websites as well.

http://www.bellcanoe.com/

http://www.evergreencanoe.com/

http://www.madrivercanoe.com/

Great question! However, I think it has less to do with the boat and more to do with the outfitting.

I cannot fit in the factory outfitting on the Esquif boats, and I am not that big (6’1” and 188 pounds). Therefore, having the boat is not the issue, getting in it is.

Even if you have the boats, there are some of us out here who would be cautious about committing to the trip until we know we could get in the boats.

Jim, given the describton of the runs, I would also consider the boats material ads an important factor in the choice, too.

Royalex would then not be my first choice if I was you, as at least as far as I have noticed, the material has been thinned out a lot, in an effort to make the boats lighter, over the last few years, and I have seen numerous newer Royalex boats that have been frequently paddled on the Gull essentially being done for after 2 seasons, in some cases even less.

I would for your purpose consider plastic boats, like the Zephyr, Taureau, Prelude and such. If you can get your hands on Robson boats, I would also consider the Homes. I have never paddlesd one myself, but it hab been described to me as essentially being a shortened Ocoee. And it's made in the same material as the Zephyr.

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

I second yarnellboat:

yarnellboat wrote:Supporting an innovative Canadian company like Esquif would probably go over well though.

Buy Esquif and support their ongoing innovations and involvement in the community.

A selection of their boats lets every paddler find a suitable canoe. Take Zephyrs, Nitros, a Zoom, Taureau, Prelude, one or two tandems and everyone will be happy.

I think.

I would take a (online/mail) survey of my clientele. It really doesn't matter what this group of yahoo's thinks, if they are not potential customers.

I've boating once in Mexico (private trip), and it's great done there!!!

The only boat I had was an Occoe, and was really disappointed. Ended up with a hurt back, the first day; after boofing flat in a Royalex (ABS) behemoth. If your business is made up of folks like me, well it needs to to be plastic. If it's made up of the Outrage set, well you might need a couple (there's no excuse for bad taste, but there's always a couple in every crowd).

The list so far is Zooms, Zephyrs, Tareaus ,Solitos, Vipers, Probes, Tandems, Blast, Outrages, OutrageX, Ocoee's (everybody loves Occoes/especially us who cut them in half), Taureaus ,Solitos, and Zephyrs.

As you can see, no list will satisfy everyone. So I'd try and satisfy the type that are spending money, forget us (mee2) fanatics that would only be satisfied with only this or that; or who would do their own trip.

One thing that might beneficial, would be to get a wide variety of lengths. With a mix of both rounded and flat bottomed hulls.

You might add the Mohawk Shaman to the list, as it is a good design and, theoretically, at least, is available new, depending on how Mohawk Canoes current travails sort themselves out. For the matter of that, if you are looking for something "stodgy" but forgiving, you might consider the Mohawk XL 12 and/or XL 13.

True, and if you can get one , a Mohawk boat is a lot cheaper and just as tough as the mad River or Esquif boats that are Royalex. The group I creek with use just about every type of boat / manufacturer out there and we have a blast in all of them. You can carry a lot of gear in the xl boats series too if your into tripping. good luck