Canoes?

[Petescj]

Have you tried renting one two or three times?? Just to make sure you are committed to having a canoe in the back yard for the rest of your life? They are a great place for a dog to get out of the sun, if they are on horses. I have one that I have hauled around for about 40 years. It is setting on the bank of my stock pond, has been for 15 years or so. A canoe is forever pal.:laugh::laugh:

wouldn't be without one.

Yeah next campground we hit I'll rent one and see. I wont be buying one till next year now anyway since she said concentrate on Jeep parts.

I agree a canoe won't really sink and I have gotten in and out of one several times. I say one because many years ago a friend of mine brought one of those narrow plastic canoes to a pond. We played with the darned thing for a few hours. We must have flipped the darned thing a dozen times, it never sank. It was great fun to flip it, turn it over, refloat it and figure out how to climb back in, all while in deep water. I actually learned a lot about canoeing. Now while using a Grumman Aluminum canoe it took great deliberation to swamp it, I honestly can't remember swamping one at all and I've spend days and days in Grumman canoes.

It is interesting to talk with you northerners. Down here in Tucson the summer is not the time to play. We tend to play in the fall, spring and less so but definitely more than summer, in the winter. All but maybe a month and a half when it can be called cold.

Spent a little over 5 years in Casa Grande Az. I understand you totally. I never shouldve moved back here to Pa.

 

[Old Dog]

I'd like to have a clear one like that.

 

[Hedgehog]

The clear ones sure do look like it would be interesting, it's nice to see whats happening on the bottom.

Casa Grand/Eloy/Florence Junction - I'm a predator hunter. This is mostly what my jeep will be used for. A dedicated predator hunting machine along with some camping and fishing. Casa Grand is a predator producing machine. It's great fun watching a predator, mostly coyotes, responding from way across those big open fields. Hunting around the prisons was always interesting. Very productive, but also interesting.

 

[Petescj]

Hit Stanford then as well. IIRC thats right around Florence Junction. Years ago (my daughter was born at Chandler Memorial 17 yrs ago.) it was just scattered mobile homes on the desert. No cable,telephone nothing. Awesome.

The clear ones sure do look like it would be interesting, it's nice to see whats happening on the bottom.

Casa Grand/Eloy/Florence Junction - I'm a predator hunter. This is mostly what my jeep will be used for. A dedicated predator hunting machine along with some camping and fishing. Casa Grand is a predator producing machine. It's great fun watching a predator, mostly coyotes, responding from way across those big open fields. Hunting around the prisons was always interesting. Very productive, but also interesting.

 

[Hedgehog]

as I'm sure you know a few hundred miles is nothing out here in the west. There isn't much of the state of Arizona that hasn't heard me calling. When I was a moderator on "Predator Masters" we held our gathering in Globe Az. and did a lot of hunting on the San Carlos Indian Reservation. Without question the Reservation is an interesting place full of proud people. They were the last tribe in the US to be brought to the reservation and I can guarantee you that you can feel the presence of Cochise still alive and well. In an odd way I love those people.

 

[CJAKE7]

Don't mean to hijack your thread Pete, but all this talk of predator hunting is getting me excited. It is completely different here in Pa. I shot a coyote off my back porch a few weeks ago at 5:00 in the afternoon. He was biting the head off of a ground hog(you need to live in Lancaster Co. Pa to understand how unusual this it. My wife saw it and said "YOU SHOOT THAT THING".


As you can see had a bad case of mange - it needed to go.

 

[Hedgehog]

Mercy kiilling right there. Mange is a population disease, when a local population gets high enough mange is almost always the result. If the disease gets bad enough the coyote turns into what I call a blue coyote. The skin swells and the coyote becomes disfigured. The chupacobre (sp) legends in the west are mostly a coyote with bad mange. You did the right thing.

 

[Sasquach]

We just bought a used Sears/Gruman made aluminum 17 foot canoe off the C list and with having zero previous knowledge and watching a U tube video on canoe paddeling we were off, easy to stay upright and faster than I thought while being fairly effortless to paddle. It has seats and the thought of kneeling does not appeal to me at all. Paid $260 for it and another $50 for paddles at the sporting good store

 

[thescot]

How about a tandem kayak? Lighter, a sit on top wont sink if swamped, Hobie makes one with foot powered paddles so you can hands free trolling, they dont dent so you can lose one off the vehicle at 50+mph and it still will be usable, dont ask . There stealthy, & fast if you get the right type, have a nice padded back rest and seat for hours of fishing or paddling comfort and can store lots of stuff under the hatches for protection. I use my 14 footer in the ocean and lakes to fish and it works real well.

 

[Hedgehog]

How dry is a tandem kayak?

 

[thescot]

The sit on top ones will get your legs wet of its choppy, nuthin bad. They also have drain ports that work under venturi to suck the water out while moving forward, then plug when stopped. A sit inside I never tried as I launch off the beach typically and would likely flood it out first wave I bust thru. There is loads of rental places here but then I live on the coast in vacationville more less.

 

[Hedgehog]

Thats the thing. A Kayak looks like a lot of fun to play in and maybe some light fishing. Not something to be in all day during early spring or fall, besides for me at least, I'm getting old and the idea of being wet all day doesn't apeal to me the way it once did.

 

[CABBOTT]

I've got a one person fishing kayak, sit in style. It's very stable and very dry, even more so if you buy the skirt. I can stand and bow fish in mine it's a little tricky but doable in calm waters. Very light weight, floats in 4" of water and has dry storage. I had the bottom spray lined so I can drag it thru rock or what need be. Works great I highly recommend them.

 

[Billofthenorth]

Renting one first is definitely the way to go, make sure you get comfortable in them then research the desired features for your intended uses. There are also different paddling techniques to learn although just hopping in and going for it is part of the fun, as long as you aren't running rapids.

I've had this "plastic" Coleman canoe since '86, its made of Ram X or something, not sure if its any lighter than more traditional wood or aluminum canoes but it fits on my Patriot and also on top of my old CJ7. I can turn it around and sit in the 'front' seat for solo canoeing, it balances nicely, of course two can sit in it as intended with plenty of space between for packs or other gear or a third person. I also added a wooden yoke to the center to carry it on my shoulders for portaging (boundary waters vet here also) or just to get it on and off the vehicle.

Have fun.