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Hey guys,
I am considering buying my first canoe and these are my options at this point. Both are in great condition and only a couple years old. The swift will be around $1700 and the Souris around $2300. I am buying for the long term. I would like something versatile that will hold up on both lake and river tripping.
Any insight is greatly appreciated!
Liam
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I have a 7-year-old Souris Quetico 18. I've paddled a few Swifts. Huge fan of Souris, especially for the durability. The epoxy manufacturing is more durable than the gel coat IMO. Swift is lighter though.
I've soloed a swift prospector in Temagami, didn't find a big difference in speed between the two (yes, I've soloed the 18-footer on several trips).
Marko
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My first canoe was and Algonquin and I wish I would have kept it as a second boat for soloing purposes. The two boats a have now, A swift Mattawa and Wenonah escape. Both have sliding bow seats and require a 3 rd seat or kneeling thwart to solo. I miss the simplicity of just reversing in the bow seat. ITs was a very stable boat. My friend has a quetico 17. It has a thwart behind the bow seat so if you intend to solo take that in to consideration as well. Both are great. The Souris is likely a little more performance driven while the Algonquin, although a great boat more of a recreation based design. Great rental fleet boat for beginners. I guess it will really depend on you being able to justify the $600 difference IMO. I thought I was buying long term also but have had 4 canoes in as many years.
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Haven't paddled either... I agree that the Algonquin is more likely to be the most comfortable solo choice. I've spent many hours paddling symmetrical canoes reversed and having the ability to solo a tandem easily has been great over the years. IIRC the Algonquin's seats are set very low so if you're a kneeler when soloing they might need to be raised so you can get your feet underneath.
The larger Quetico seems to be the more serious tripping canoe, with the greater volume providing more capacity on long trips, and in cold weather, when more gear is needed. It might be made to solo more easily with the addition of a kneeling thwart but the larger size might make it more prone to being blown around by winds.
The thing that kills the Quetico for me is the partially flat-bottomed hull which I can't see being a good design feature... OTOH it might actually work out well if the hull is heavily loaded on a long trip... lots of good reviews for this one as a tripping canoe. The Algonquin OTOH was designed by David Yost, and his designs include good hull performance, in this case for novice paddlers, stability being a main requirement.
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Swift Kipawa for sale @$1000 in Ajax, listed 18 minutes ago. The fiberglass description doesn't make sense since IIRC Swift builds Kipawas either in kevlar or carbon... maybe the seller doesn't know what he's selling. Or maybe an old canoe built long ago.
This is a smaller hull that should have better performance for experienced paddlers but tippy for others... solos well with a kneeling thwart since it isn't too large.
There should be more used high-end canoes listed as paddling season winds down.
Last edited by frozentripper (8/31/2016 9:22 am)
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The main picture is of a Mattawa. Strange.The kipewa in the other pics needs some work but looks not too bad. Kipewa is a nice paddling hull.
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