Creeker wrote: Just curious are there any reluctant posters that didn't care for the SF(why?) or even L'edge(why?)
I had a Spanish Fly for a year and while I loved the boat and while I know many people love the boat for tight little low volume creeks, the boat just didnt perform the way I wanted for downriver hole dodging or downriver hole punching. What it did do well was tight technical little creeks and play, man that canoe just wanted to drop into a hole and stay there, but was edgy enough to get out when you wanted.
Sold the boat for the money and because all I wanted to use the boat for was playboating (Ottawa style), but I was sick of dumping water after every single surf.
The deck on the Teaurea have been a real bag saver, no UV damage, no stick pokein holes in it, no bags comin out of the boat in a big hole surf. That being said I am still goin to shorten the decks on my new Ledge to about 18 inches on each end.
Well 18" put you just behind the first little molded in ridge or step on the decks as they are now. This will keep the boat a little dryer than cuttin the deck complete out, provide a little more structural rigidy, and it will be open enought to keep the purest from given me large steaming pile of dog doo about bein in an decked boat. The Teaureau has spoilded me. I am also going to trace a design on the remainin deck and cut it out with a dremel tool, sorta of a customize touch, yet the deck will be short enought to still get under them to put on gunnels, That and a dye jobs should make it almost a one of a kind of a boat, and with the way this thing is sellin, it is goin to be like when the Ocoee came out, everyone will have one.
I think the prelude is not a bad choice. And yes, it might make you a class II swimmer. But hades you learn a lot in that boat. Stepping up to the harder stuff might take a bit longer. But if you can do the hard stuff on class III in a prelude, you're very likely to be able to run class IV in a prelude or a more stable boat.
It all depends on what you want to do and how you want to get there...
The review in Rapid mag said you could one 50/50, which I thinkwas a deck in front and no deck in back?, but apparently that's not the case.
I probably do something similar too Louie - loose some of the weight of the full deck, but keep some of the dryness of an oversized deck - and making it look more open than what the decked looks like.
surprised louie didn't point this out: the goal in creeking is not to roll!
usually depth of water is low to be rolling. never made sense to me to wear nose plugs on a creek... kind of implies that you intend to flip.so yes a great roll is a good thing, but so is a boat that stays upright.
quake= big,slowslow
spanish fly
taureau
L'edge- my vote for stability
"surprised louie didn't point this out: the goal in creeking is not to roll!
usually depth of water is low to be rolling."
Kinda of explaines why the American Kayakers instruction to float on your back with your feet down stream and wait on your kayak buddy to come rescue you is really pretty stupid....in 18 inch deep water "stand up" get your boat and get back in the dang thing, we ain't goin to put out a cig. or cut short a surf just to come after you when all you have to do is stand up.
wow...bad press on the prelude.
I'm learning to canoe on it and have tried nowt else! It does me fine. Ok I ain't particularly wordclass or stylish but I am NOT a swimming liability.
So either, you:
haven't given it a fair chance (put off by 4 swim in the first 1/4 hour?)
are very set in your ways (found your match and loyal forever...not letting your wife set eyes on your baby)
are a bunch of pansies (which I doubt in views of all the cool vids I see on this site)
I still need to step up and haven't really paddled proper sustained class III methinks. Yet, I don't swim that often these days!
The oncoming weekend should be an eye opener at the Highlands WW paddling gathering.
Krikkit will be there in an open, I hope many others besides. So I will be paddling with safety, on bigger rivers with loads of people to watch...and probably find out I'm total shite
I don't think the prelude is a bad boat - far from it. But if the poster wants to move from class II/III in a MR ME (look the specs on that puppy up) to technical IV/V creeks quickly, the prelude might not be the next step
