First Paddle in My New Blue Steel Nova Craft Prospector 15'
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- Опубліковано 3 тра 2019
- Tori and I had to be in Toronto and we managed to fight traffic to meet up with Chris from Nova Craft who took time out of his very busy schedule to deliver this canoe to me. We met somewhere in Mississauga in rush hour in a parking lot, a little different than were you usually see me with a canoe. But the next day, I was home and slipped the beautiful canoe into the (finally) pean water in a bay behind my house. The Blue Steel material is very light, but also much more durable than ultralight canoes. It's even been proven on long, northern river trips. My plan is to use it on multi-day solo trips that involve a lot of lake paddling with big portages in between. I think it's about the perfect thing for trips like this, particularly when you may have some river paddling and the odd moderate rapid to contend with and I never like to be outgunned. In all, it felt magical on the water and I can't wait to take into the interior of Algonquin Park for my brook trout fishing trip with Shawn James of My Self Reliance and my brother Ted Baird next week.
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What beautiful boats Nova Craft makes for a big company. You can just see the excitement in your eyes, like a kid on Christmas morning haha. Love it
That’s a thing of beauty! Congratulations 🎉
Nova Craft makes very nice, quality canoes. You're going to love this one Jim!
Very nice canoe Jim. Handles nicely. Wesley will feel at home in it soon enough. Congratulations
Beautiful canoe, love the wood accents. Modern Technology with old world finishes, a perfect combination!!!
Great choice Jim! Excellent choice to go with wood gunwales! Wood gunwales provide permanent spring-tension shape to the boat, and actually contribute to that beautiful prospector shape, and if kept well oiled (I use boiled linseed oil), they will last a lifetime. Wood gunwales can take a beating on serious backcountry trips, and always retain shape, whereas aluminum gunwales will dent, bend and never return to original shape. Wood gunwales are really nice on the hands and the paddle shaft. If ever serious damaged (e.g. a rapids pin that snaps the gunwales), wood gunwales are easily repaired in the bush en route, whereas aluminum gunwales are a nightmare to fix. That Blue Steel 15 foot NC prospector is on my list to test paddle, as I need to find a lighter big capacity solo boat to replace my old small 16 Trailhead prospectors which I am finding a tad heavy in my older age :-) Thanks for showing it on the water, it looks like a superb big capacity solo tripping boat, and its on my list for potential future purchase. I am sure you will custom outfit it to your preference, e.g. glued in interior tie down loops and lashing points, foam knee pads, etc. Would like to see what you come up with in a future video. One thing I noticed was the painter line attachments. I don't know if its a strong bolt into the hull that will not pull out under extreme load when lining and tracking? (since I have not seen their boats up close). I drilled my kevlar boat through the flotation tanks (which of course voids the warranty!), and glued in a 1/2 inch PVC pipe for a "Tug Eyes" type of system. Its hard mentally to bring oneself to drill a boat like that, but my boat's hardware for lining was not strong enough. If NC's bolt system and backing of the bolts inside the hull for those painter line attachments is super-strong, then no worries. When lining or tracking, when accidents happen and the boat fills with water, suddenly there is a ton of weight that has to be hauled on, and one's entire life support system in the boat is dependent on the strength of the lines and the hardware attachment to the boat. :-)
Wow beautiful boat and I’m loving the color that wood grain brings it all together, and man was she smooth on that water looked like she went nice and straight
Beautiful canoe. Lovin'g your excitement in getting it..
Awesome boat and your gal felt so confident in it that she conquered her claustrophobia!!!!!
Thanks for not using the double blade paddle! What an awesome boat. Similar to the Northstar graphite. New owners of Nova Craft doing great things. Nice. Both of uou looked really good in that canoe.
Beautiful boat! It is always so exciting getting a new boat, also happy to see ice out up north!
Ash gunnels and black. Looks very similar to my boat. So pretty 👍
I love my nova craft canoe too.
Good to see you both out enjoying your new toy!!
Holy moly what a beaut. Looks like you know a thing or two about paddling it as well. Dang! I’m a bit jealous bud!!
The canoe color is really nice and the wood goes great with it, nice boat!
My 16’ prospector was stolen years ago and I still miss it. This looks like a great option to my current 16’ old town stillwater replacement!
I'm looking forward to your first adventure in the boat.
Congratulations!! Enjoy the new canoe 🚣
Super nice Jim...love the wood trim....congrats on your second baby! heh