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AT least once a year we like to hire a 2 seater canoe (6 YO daughter and I) when we go to the lake district to paddle for an hour or 2. She always enjoys this and expect it could become a regular adventure thing, and could extend to camping tricks. I'm reasonably competent in a double kayak(?) but have no experience of a proper canoe.
In the long run buying our own would be much cheaper and allow us to go on longer adventures, however I'm not sure whether to go for an inflatable canoe or a plastic canoe. My parents have a caravan in the northern lakes so could leave it there and use on Derwent and Ullswater.
As I see it the pros and cons (which may be entirely misplaced) are =
Plastic -
+ Virtually indestructible
+ Faster in the water / easier to manouvre
+ rigid
- Requires a roof rack and impairs fuel economy (marginal)
- expensive
Inflatable -
+ Easy to take anywhere
+ Cheap
- requires inflating / deflating each time its used
- Slower / less manoueverable
Any thoughts on my dilemna much appreciated. I'd really like a proper canadian canoe but these seem very expensive. Apart from ebay anywhere else to look? The hire places in the Lakes occassionally sell off old gear.
Inflatibles aren't good in anything but calm water & no wind
I have a Gumotex Helios 2 bought off Fleabay a few years ago for £150, it's around 10 years old & made of a rubberised Nitrylon material. Having paddled some pretty serious rivers in my "younger" days, this thing continues to amaze me with it's capabilities. Weighs around 13kg & packs into a 60litre rucksack so you can walk to or back from the water. Definitely one of my best acquisitions yet. Search around & see what you can find.
A 3rd option - a folding canoe:-
https://www.marsport.co.uk/mycanoe-folding-origami-canoe
Not cheap mind and possibly even more of a faff to put together.... But the performance will be better than the inflatable canoes.
If it was my I'd go for something rigid and big enough for two but only just so that solo adventures were still a thing - say 15ft long with a bit of rocker to make manoeuvring on your ow easier. Something from Old Town or Nova Craft.
I have a Gumotex Helios 2
Does the OP want a canoe or a kayak? That's a kayak. Usual confusion abounds.
Sounds like you have the pros and cons ok. We've got an inflatable and it's ok. Paddles well enough. We take it out in the sea. It's ok in a few waves and will even surf. We often chuck it in the car just in case. That means we take it places more often than we would take a rigid, but the nature of set up and take down means it sometimes stays in the car where a rigid would get thrown into the water.
As to whether I want a kayak or canoe I'm not sure, I think Kayak TBH, main criteria is it needs to be a 2 seater, maybe another pros and cons exercise is required on kayak's versus canoes? A canoe can carry far more I imagine.
Why are the inflatables more prone to wind than rigid ones?
Canoe vs Kayak - The different sitting position can make a big difference. My wife's dodgy back is fine in a canoe but rubbish on a sit on top kayak. Physiologically different - there is something a lot calmer about drifting along in a canadian canoe that paddling a sit on top kayak. Your head tends to be slightly higher up and you are more mobile to turn around so you have a different perspective on the world around you because of this. Obviously sit on top kayaks are basically unsinkable and are also easy for a novice on rough water than an open top canoe. Faced with a journey across a lakeland lake I'd go for an open top canoe every time. Faced with a beach launch into anything other than a calm sea I'd go sit on top kayak.
Inflatables suffer from windage more because they tend to have more surface area to catch the breeze and tend to be flatter bottomed with less boat below the surface and less of a keel*. They are not all the same mind. For me I hate what they do to my stroke - the extra width of the tubes over the conventional gunwales makes your stroke flat and wide. Combination of this and the lack of keel makes tracking (going in a straight line) harder.
*a lot of rigid open canoes are flat between the the bow and stern but you lock them in by paddling them on an edge (leaning them to one side) which is not really a thing on an inflatable.
We recently bought a double kayak and had the same kind of issues as you, in the end we went for a plastic one, pros for us were:
- We use it in rocky Cornish seaside areas
- Seating position seems far better (proper footrests etc)
- Our local lake has a no inflatables policy
- Rigidity
Cons of course:
- Storage! A double kayak is huge
- It's heavy, getting it onto the roof rack is a two person job, also make sure you get a trolley for getting it to the beach.
Recently did a 480 mile round trip to Cornwall and didn't notice any difference in fuel economy with it upside down on the roof, overall very glad we bought a plastic one, but it is a bit of a pain to store and move around.
Bought ours from Galaxy Kayaks, they had a deal on when we got it so all in was under £400.
We've tried a couple of inflatables. we borrowed an expensive one from a lovely friend top try the waters as it were, and really enjoyed it. We were then offered a cheap aldi canoe which we snapped up
The cheapo one from Aldi was abysmal. Having used it once to go up and down the local canal I sold it within an hour of getting home.
I'd go for a rigid if I had room to store one, but I don't. Still keeping an eye out for a quality inflatable
Nothing to add to the inflatable/rigid/collapsible debate. You understand the compromises, you'll have to roll the dice. 🙂
The one thing I would question is whether you really want a 2 man or not. A two man really isn't that future proof with a 6yo daughter who will already/soon be wanting to be master of her own vessel. Having said that, on longer paddles your muscle power will be required, so maybe not a clear cut decision.
If you're willing to have a Kayak, you'll no doubt be aware that SOTs work well with young kids. (At the expense of a load of other compromises!)
We were given a brand new one of these by a family who didn't have space to put into there Range Rover when returning home from hols.
It was useless couldn't really steer it apparently you need skeg. Which dampens down the rotation. Even so we had good fun in the campsite lake and around the shores of Lac Annecy but I think you'd need to spend a good amount to get a decent one.
Good reminder for me to order a skeg for the whit hols
You've summed up the advantages and disadvantages well.
We have two Nova Craft SP3 prospectors, a 16' and a 17'. Brilliant things we have some lovely adventures in. Fast, seaworthy, comfy, huge capacity for loads. Love them, as do the family.
But chuff me it's a heavy thing to get on the roof. I use good technique, but 17' and nearly 50kg on your shoulders takes effort...
I'm saving for lighter.
Again, think you have covered the +/-'s well.
A slightly different perspective on inflatables, depending on your budget. We have a Gumotex Seawave. Can be used with or without a deck, can be configured for 1-3 people, though 3 would require 1 to be a child I suspect (never tried), might be possible to get enough gear in with 2 people for an overnighter (again never tried).
We added a rudder, which means tracking is a doddle, and we've used it in a moderately choppy sea off Anglesey, where the tides can also run fairly rapidly at times, with no significant issues (bit of hard work required at times in a current, but never felt unsafe).
Packability was the no.1 requirement for us, hence the inflatable, but it's really not a big deal to get it in/deflated, though sometimes leave it inflated and lash to the car roof, if I'm being lazy.
I’ve got an inflatable kayak - Intex Explorer K2 Kayak
It was c£100 on amazon two summers ago and looks like it’s only £85 now.
You know what, it’s actually surprisingly good. Would be perfect for you and your 6 year old (with you providing most of the paddle power)
My 6’m4 partner and I use it quite comfortably, for good weather, flat water, low wind paddles.
We have done lots of paddles from the pub paddle book and a few longer ones.
For the price, convenience of transport and storage ease for an occasional user, I’m super happy.
Not all inflatables are equal. The cheap Aldi style things are just made of dinghy style PVC. You'll need something with an anti-stretch reinforced layer in the fabric that enables it to be more rigid when inflated.
I have a cheap 1 man Aquamarina inflatable kayak that I bought 2nd hand from Gumtree. It is essentially a fancy toy for my kids on a lake, but I have paddled Islamouth to Thistlebrig on the Tay, and my non-paddler brother paddled Rabioux to Embrun on the Durance. This was one of the funniest and most amazing things I have ever seen. He didn't even swim once, but it looked inevitable on every rapid.
A really important point is in an inflatable YOU WILL GET WET. We also have 2 16' Venture Rangers. We can paddle all day, fully loaded with camping gear, and be bone dry.
Have you considered a SUP?
If anyone has a decent inflatable to sell then please PM me
Cheers
(Boat, obvs) 🙂
A really important point is in an inflatable YOU WILL GET WET.
Not so, see Gumotex Seawave above, with optional cockpit(s) and spraydecks, it's as dry as any rigid kayak.
We've an inflatable Advanced Elements Firefly (?) in the loft. We used it for a couple of summers when our two girls were little - just about big enough for two adults + little kids + assorted stuff. Pretty well made and rigid when up. The usual caveats about inflatable vs. rigid and canoes vs. kayaks apply.
<not-so-stealth-ad>No idea what it's worth but if you'd be interested I can dig it out, take some pics etc.From memory it was pretty expensive new but TBH it's just taking up space now so happy to get rid if it's of use to someone</ad>