River floaters

Rammer Jammer · Mar 13, 2023

I've got plenty of experience floating in kayaks and love it! Duck river is mostly all I float. My oldest son is 10 and he's not ready to float in his own kayak…. So I'm looking at a canoe so we can float together. Any of y'all have experience with old town saranac canoes? Would this be a good option for us?

BigCityBubba · Mar 13, 2023

I don't have the saranac but old town makes awesome canoes. I have a 16'9 and my family and friends all have old towns. I think there are probably around 7 old towns in our group. The only recommendation I can make is to get the smallest one you can get away with if the person in the front isn't going to be experienced. If its just you and your son, I would go with the 14'6. If you plan on putting 3 in the canoe, go longer.

Rammer Jammer · Mar 13, 2023

BigCityBubba said:
I don't have the saranac but old town makes awesome canoes. I have a 16'9 and my family and friends all have old towns. I think there are probably around 7 old towns in our group. The only recommendation I can make is to get the smallest one you can get away with if the person in the front isn't going to be experienced. If its just you and your son, I would go with the 14'6. If you plan on putting 3 in the canoe, go longer.

The 14'6" is the one I'm looking at. Thanks! My son would be at the front only fishing so all the control would be by me in the back.

Rammer Jammer · Mar 13, 2023

Also…. Would a kayak paddle do the job? I already have a couple of those.

BigCityBubba · Mar 13, 2023

I have never used a kayak paddle in a canoe. I have seen a few people use them but not many. I can see the ease and convenience for people who are new to canoeing because they keep switching sides with the paddle. With a paddle, once you learn the j stroke, you won't be switching sides very much. To me, a paddle will give you more control when you invariably come up on a bend in the river with a strainer in the middle of it and you have to make a quick hard turn to navigate through. Then again, I have never tried a kayak paddle and you may have enough experience that you could accomplish the same thing only better with the kayak paddle. I am not an expert by any means and know enough not to flip in fairly rough water. I have friends who have done allot of white water canoeing who could explain the benefits far better than me.