C-Forum

I've recently moved to north wales, and my OC1 side is suffering, I paddle a CU Fly, and I'm confident on Grade 4, but the better rivers here are just too much for it.

I'm looking for a full on creekboat, OC1 stylee, do I have any options beyond the Taureau, I was thinking of the Mohawk Maxim?

(Being a UK boater, I'm limited to Esquif, Mohawk, Robson and Mad River.)

The spanish fly is being made by Esquif now...might be a good transition coming from the CU.

The SpanishFly could be a great choice
The Taureau is afun boat too!

If I'm correct the maxim is royalite, no good for creeking.

Did you consider a prelude? same material as buttboats, short, (tippy). But apparently you either love it or you hate it.

I'll be trying one out in a couple days. I hope I love it!

The Paddling guru who brought me over to the dark side paddles a prelude, I was never a huge fan, but I'll give it a try when I'm next at home.

I think I know a fellow with a Spanish Fly too, I'll have a try in both...

Trying to arrange a Taureau demo boat too, I think the importer is scared that it'll come back in pieces or something.

you might find a used Pyranha SpanishFly on that side of the pond... great as it's HDPE, like the CUFly... another choice is maybe the Robson Homes... haven't tired one, but looks REALLY good, like steep creek supreme - they're as rare as frog hair, in the U.S. - only know of one, and the owner has it pigeon holed in the basement and has never-EVER-never paddled it; (but) is constructed from the same stuff as twin-tex (think Zephyr), so repairing is a bit of a task ... as for the Dark-Side, you've now seen the light - almost anyone can paddle it, in a decked boat ... Good Luck

philcanoe wrote:you might find a used Pyranha SpanishFly on that side of the pond... great as it's HDPE.

That's what I thought, same for the prelude.

As for the Holmes, I know of 3 in the UK, one is in a paddling shop waiting for a buyer, one is in northern scotland, and one is the red one with wooden gunwales. I don't realy fancy one. TwinTex is fairly fragile and they are a touch long; given that the smallest creeks here are maybe 20 cfs and 10 feet wide at best.

The Prelude and the Spanish Fly both rock. The prelude is faster and dryer but is very unstable. The fly is an amazing all around boat. I've been paddling both since 2001. They are the best canoes for creeking.

I sold my Spanish Fly to buy my CU.......that was almost a year ago
and i still miss it.....!!!
The more time you spend in one the better it gets...

If i see another in good nick I will buy it..

Chris, I'm still thinking that the Taureau has something over it, and if the prelude is faster, and not too ungainly. It might own them both, or I might still find it too tippy.

I really must paddle all three.

You may well be right, it depends how much you want to spend.

I doubt you will find a one cheap in this country....but there is a good chance of finding a second hand Spanish Fly in good condition quite cheaply.

Or are you going to take the plunge and buy a new boat?...I know that Aaron at Square rock was still sitting on a new Detonator.

In my opinion i would try a conversion.I'm paddling a pyhrana h3 255.Love it,very stable and seems to stabalize more when paddling agressively.Rolls easy, seems fast and tracks very well.Can't say enough about it,i can't imagine why anyone who creeks wouldn't have one.I'm 6ft,200lbs and after working the outfitting,i'm very comfortable in it and i have bad knees to begin with.

I want an OC1, I have a converted river runner but i prefer the high seating position of the spec boat to the squashed in down low in the closed cockpit.

Unless you added a turret top to your H3, a la Nobby's astro, in which case pics please.

My seat is 7 inches high,could probably go 2 more.I'm not sure what you mean by a turret top,some of the cockpit plastic is cut away to make it larger and the spray skirt fits to keep 'er dry.

A turret top is the unsightly protrusion on boats like the Spanish fly, CU fly and Salsa used to keep the boat dryer.

My C1 river runner is a scud, great for some things, not so much for others.