Kayakers and Canoers need some advise

[duramax]

I've looked at the ones at Dick's. Is the Old Town with the coolers built in worth anything?

I bought one. The cooler I'm sure is not the best in the world, but it also works as a seat, and if you flip, you don't lose your cooler. Plus they have a dry storage thing for cell phones, keys, and wallet. I need that. Has rod/gun holders too. It was a steal for $350 when they put them on sale this spring.

[featherhead]

i have got a grumman sport boat that is 15.5 long and it is real easy to paddle.

[greenheadgrimreaper]

I saw what the rock dike on the Tallahega Canal will do to aluminum, not good. With that being said you can knock the aluminum out with a rubber hammer. A canoe is like a boat, whatever your primary use is buy with that in mind. Make do with the other occasional uses. It's safe to say big open water is not a factor. Neither is portaging. So a super lightweight canvas canoe isn't needed. Neither is a super fast, straight tracking canoe. You want maneuverability coupled with carrying capacity for float trips. Even an 80lb canoe is manageable. And longer is better on float trips. My canoe is 14 and a half feet long. It has a carrying capacity of 1000 lbs. What they fail to mention is how the hell you trim 1000 or even 600 pounds in a 14 foot canoe. It can't be done. We have had my canoe loaded with 500 lbs of gear and still maneuvered well in flood stage conditions on the Noxubee towards the Tombigbee. In this stretch the dredging effect of the Tombigbee really rears its head with superfast water, suck pools that'll zap any watercrafts ability to maneuver or even float and high jagged banks where portaging is impossible. We still managed good maneuverability because we took extra care to trim the canoe correctly in anticipation of this stretch. In short, more length makes it much easier to trim and keep a canoe more stable if you want to load it down. It's all about knowing what your canoe can and cannot do.

[Jumpem]

http://nativewatercraft.com/boat_overview.cfm

I really think i'm about to order an ultimate 12 tegris. Pricey but these look like an awesome kayak/canoe hybrid.