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(4 posts) (4 voices) Started 12 months ago by summerpaddler Latest reply from crow

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summerpaddler
Member

One intersting thing about the Nova Craft Prospector . . . I initially got the 16ft Prospector because I thought it would be an all-around boat that I could do whitewater tripping with that would allow me to take on some rapids but still paddle flatwater in between the rapids fairly well.

I've greatly enjoyed paddling this boat in whitewater. It has good rocker (about 3 inches) and I've found it to be quite maneuverable for a non-dedicated whitewater boat. However, I've been very disappointed with the flatwater capabilities of the boat, especially when paddled empty. I've paddled lots of flatwater, but I can hardly make this canoe go straight when empty. Actually, it goes straight, but with the rocker the wind side-slips the boat and pushes it way off course, requiring tons of compensation and correction. I did greatly enjoy it on the whitewater, though, and will probably outfit it more specifically for that purpose. However, prior to a satisfactory performance on Class III water, I was actually considering selling the boat because it wasn't the all-around canoe that I was expecting and just getting a whitewater tandem canoe.

I am a little puzzled by everyone on these discussion pages who thinks that Prospectors are the greatest lake tripping canoes out there and that they are so fast. I wonder. . . have they not paddled a fast canoe or am I missing something? I'm used to paddling something like the Bell Northwind, Wenonah Sundowner, or Wenonah Spirit II and the occasional old Alumacraft. Any of them are hands down faster than my Nova Craft Prospector. I did not expect an all around canoe to perform as well as these other boats on flatwater, but it really doesn't perform very well at all. Certainly not as well as the advertisements and other people on discussio boards say they do. It certainly tracks better than a dedicated WW boat, but that's not saying much, really. Anyone have a comment for me?

Posted 12 months ago #
James
Class V

Summer-
I like the Prospector but I agree it’s not a fast lake boat. It is a very nice boat to paddle in most instances especially in white water or on our very crooked Missouri streams.

I’ve paddled mine around the lake a few times and if I had purchased it as a lake boat I’d want my money back. You’re right when you say it catches the wind and doesn’t track very well. I usually have mine loaded with a cooler and quite a bit more gear than anyone needs for an overnight or day trip. It seems to do much better on flat water when it has a couple hundred pounds of kit and paddlers in it.

In the first photo I have it heeled over canadian style without any gear. As you can see there’s a lot of boat out of the water to catch wind. However, paddling like this allows one to keep the boat moving in the right direction with minimal paddle input...still not fast though.

The second photo illustrates how we usually paddle the boat. My wife weighs 109 lbs so I pack most of the gear up front to help trim the boat out. The area immediately in front of me is usually empty and the dog occupies the area between the yoke and rear thwart. While I have never weighed the gear I can guess it’s around 80 lbs with another 60 for the cooler plus me at 260. Throw in a 20 pound dog and we’re pushing 529 pounds. This settles the Prospector quite well and allows us to cross the flatwater sections pretty quickly.

Here I am soloing the boat for some photos. No real gear except the Yeti cooler which weighs a ton. You can still see that most of the stem of the canoe is out of the water. It is easy to turn on a dime though.

I guess the real answer is that this boat is never going to be as fast as a kevlar Wenonah lake boat.

We buy our gear at Amazon, NRS, Altrec or Rock Creek. If you're in St. Louis visit the Alpine Shop.

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Posted 12 months ago #
Dennis
Photographer

It sounds like you have made up your mind based on the type of paddling that you do and that is the way it should be. Canoes come in different sizes and shapes just like shoes. You can't really expect one boat to excel at all tasks or for all canoeist to agree on which boat is best. Most people are going to talk up what they feel are the strong points of their boats while discounting the perceived flaws in others. Looking at specs doesn't always help much either. I suspect that a lot of people have actually only paddled (on average) three different models of canoes and for very short periods of time, making any sort of comparison pretty superficial.

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Posted 12 months ago #
crow
Member

Dennis - 2 hours ago »
It sounds like you have made up your mind based on the type of paddling that you do and that is the way it should be. Canoes come in different sizes and shapes just like shoes. You can't really expect one boat to excel at all tasks or for all canoeist to agree on which boat is best. Most people are going to talk up what they feel are the strong points of their boats while discounting the perceived flaws in others. Looking at specs doesn't always help much either. I suspect that a lot of people have actually only paddled (on average) three different models of canoes and for very short periods of time, making any sort of comparison pretty superficial.

I think you've hit the nail on the head, Dennis. Not many of us have the chance to try out lots of different canoes, so our judgement is pretty superficial.

I've recently bought a Bell Chestnut Prospector. The reasons for choosing this boat were:

- I wanted a lighter boat than my old heavy polyethylene Ranger

- I read lots of reviews and liked the sound of it

- there was a used one for sale in excellent condition at a good price from a forum member

- I liked the colour and the looks of it! (aesthetics do count, lol)

So far I'm very happy with it. Goes best when tandem with lots of gear. Solo and unladen it can catch the wind a bit on lakes. Had it on rivers but only very placid ones so far. I've still got to give it a good long run though. I tend to use my Pack when solo, partly because I'm to lazy to hoist the Prospector on top of the car by myself.

Posted 12 months ago #

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