On Fri, 8 Aug 2008 02:28:03 -0700 (PDT), Gazman <GazHolt DeleteThis @gmail.com>
wrote:
>Hi All,
>
>Im brand new to this so here goes.
>
>What i want to do is paddle predominatly in the lake district, whilst
>on holiday possible wild camping with boat & equipment. Also so river
>work & canals. Im not into whitewater stuff.
>
>I like the look of the Sevylor Rio Canoe, but i also think that
>perhaps it would not be as durable as a standard canoe?
>
>Can anyone give me opions of these boats?
>
>Thanks
>
>
>Gaz
I've got a Sevylor Colorado Canoe.
I love it.
I mostly paddle in and around South Florida on lakes, rivers and
canals.
I plan on taking it out in the ocean, but haven't yet and wouldn't
except on a very calm day.
Upsides to this canoe:
Setup is a breeze and so is storage. About 10 to 15 minutes from the
back of the SUV to getting it wet.
It's light - 32 pounds so it can go anywhere. If you've got to
portage across a road or through the woods it's a piece of cake.
I tossed around the idea of getting a kayak, but I also plan on taking
this down the Peace River or another 3 night trip where I will want to
store a lot of gear and probably including a small cooler with dry
ice. Plenty of room for dry bags and the cooler.
I do a lot of fishing in it, and it's great - provided you exercise
caution with your hooks.
One thing you will want to get right off the bat is a small anchor - I
got one that is designed for a canoe - it only weighs maybe 5 pounds
or so. It folds up and easily stores in a pouch. This boat will blow
around like any canoe in the wind and this one probably more so. If
you want to fish a particular spot, you'll need an anchor or you'll be
padding back to your spot more than fishing.
Downsides to an inflatable:
It isn't going to track as good as a regular canoe so get ready for a
bit of a workout if you're planning on a long day on the water.
Inflatable's must be absolutely dry before storing. I am meticulous
in drying mine before putting it back in it's storage bag. I have
zero problems with rot and that's why. I suspect that if you pack
this up and store it even damp, next season you'll open it up to a
rotted mildewed mess.
When I use mine, I usually inflate it from storage on a Saturday, then
when I'm done on Saturday either toss it in the backyard mostly
deflated or leave it in the SUV overnight. Then I go again on Sunday.
Sunday night I give it a good washing with soapy water and drain it
outside and let it air dry. Then I take it inside and let the A/C
have at it overnight so it's bone dry before packing it up for the
week in it's bag. This might be overkill, but I want mine to last.
I was talking to a woman the other day who kayaks quite a bit where I
live. We have an inlet where I live that's brackish but mostly salt
water. I've been thinking of taking it out there and she told me to
be careful with the oyster shells as they would slice up the bottom
pretty quick like. So think about where you're going to be beaching
it and if you plan on hitting shore where you might encounter anything
sharp. You can always hop out and walk it in, but it's just food for
thought.
Note that one of the reasons I got this boat was its weight. My back
isn't in the best shape, so hauling a 32 pound canoe versus something
around 70 pounds made all the difference in the world to me. If my
back wasn't an issue (and storage space), I probably would have opted
for a regular boat.
The other reason I picked this over a kayak was the room. You'll have
lots of room. One of the other things I'm planning on doing with this
is to do some close to the shore diving. It'll easily handle a couple
of tanks and scuba gear and I know I can just mount a dive flag off
the seat back as they are designed to hold fishing rods as well as be
beverage holders (that I've used 'em for!). Then I can just toss the
anchor in and voila - instant diving platform. Note that someone
makes a Diveyak I think it's called which is I believe a sit on top
kayak strictly for this purpose.
One of your concerns is durablity.
I've been out in a regular canoe when the Peace River is running
pretty high and seen a couple of people with cracked canoes who ran
them into rocks. I can't speak from experience, but the inflatable
would have probably bounced off. But that doesn't mean you aren't
going to run into things that will sink your boat. Like anything
sharp.
I always keep a repair kit in mine as well as a small hand pump - they
are cheap - I think I paid 15 or 20 bucks for one. Punctures are
always possible with an inflatable. I go out alone mostly and I don't
want to have walk back or get stuck in some place where I can't even
get out of the sawgrass and have to spend a night with the alligators.
Put yourself together a good emergency kit and always take it with
you.
All in all though, I'm really happy with it.
I just looked at the Rio, and it appears to be the one man version of
the Colorado.
Do yourself a favor and get the Colorado.
Even thought it's touted as a two person canoe, it would be very tight
with two people in it. I only use one of the seats when I go out as I
just toss my dry bags and gear in front of me so I've got plenty of
room. Oh yeah, then if I'm fishing and just want to lay back in and
catch some sun, I just let loose on the seat straps and lay back for a
while and float around. Very comfy.
It comes with a marginally useful gear bag that you'll notice clips
into the back. It's OK, but nothing goes in my canoe unless it goes
in a dry bag first - sooner or later you'll dump it and the dry bags
will just float and you can use them as a backup flotation device. I
never go out without a regular PFD by the way - too easy for things to
wrong.
Oh one other thing you'll like - it's got plenty of tie downs and D
rings to strap all your gear. I tie my dry bags to paracord and then
tie them to the D rings.
One last thing - don't trust the paddle clips to not come off even
though they look they will stay on. I lost one already. I stow the
rest of 'em now as I don't really ever clip the paddle to the side of
the boat - but you can if you want to.
One last thing (really, this time!):
This boat has a mount for an electric trolling motor (either side). I
don't have one, but I think Seyvelor sells one for around 100 bucks.
So if you do at some point want to gear up and get lazy and just troll
around, you can.
Good luck and enjoy your new boat!
Let us know how you like it or what you decided on.
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