We have a trip to Quetico in just about 3 weeks, it originally was a 4 person group, but recently became a 3 person group. Two of the paddlers are not experienced at steering and we are entering at Pickerel Lake. We just got an e-mail from our outfitter that told us he may not outfit us in one canoe as we have three people, our gear, and a dog (he wants us in a solo canoe and a Quetico 17). We are wondering if anyone has made a canoe trip in Quetico with 3 people in a canoe and the gear? Our outfitter uses Souris River and we would think he has a Quetico 18.5. Any suggestions/thoughts?

When we had one guy drop out at the last minute, we did the solo and a Q-17 though we had all experienced paddlers.If I were you, I'd go 3 in a Q-18.5 and leave the dog at home.If the dog has to go, the outfitter doesn't have a MN-4? 3 people fishing out of one canoe isn't much fun if you plan on doing alot of fishing.

The winds on Pickerel can be very challenging....a boat loaded with that much gear, people and dog wouldn't leave much draft....for safety sake, listen to your outfitter.

I too agree that trying to fit all of that into a three person canoe is not only unwise but probably not feasible. The dog is what breaks the camels back. Three people in a three person canoe with a proper load can be done, but if you are using an outfitter, he probably has a lot of creature comforts packed for you too so your load will be heavier and bulkier.

I've done several three person trips using a solo and a tandem canoe and it works. The only issue is no matter how strong your solo paddler is, he/she will not be able to keep up with the tandem canoe unless the tandem paddlers are lily dipping.

You mention that your group has inexperienced paddlers along and that in itself might present additional problems.

Final solution after thinking this over is, no dog, three people in a three person canoe, lighten the load by removing some of the luxury items. If I were in your group with your particular situation, that is what I would do.

Tom

Yep, I've done it, when we wanted to take my sister and her dog and didn't think a solo and tandem would work. We used an SRQ 18.5. It's a little snug for the middle person and dog - my sister is a pretty small person, so it worked fine for us. The canoe is incredibly stable so you don't have to worry about that. The only other problem would be if you bring a ton of gear. We had 4 Granite Gear packs - 2 big "Superior" size and 2 medium "Quetico" size. Here's a pic (lots of freeboard) -



By the way, when I asked this same question before that trip, a lot of people said "no way." They meant well, but it turned out they were wrong.

I was just going to say I thought HoHo had done this :)

If you are fishing I'd leave the dog at home though for more space.

Might want to compare weights/heights as well. 3 tall people would be way different than 3 people under 6 feet. I have done the latter in a Quetico 18.5 and it was fine.

T

Thanks for the advice. We'll be chatting with our outfitter tonight. Our dog has been on three canoe trips and been in a canoe several times. She moves a bit the first day, but after she's tired she basically sits there. We also have two large Duluth Packs and one small pack for our gear. We outfit ourselves except the canoe and shuttle. We are expecting our total load to be under 750 lbs. We are all under 6 feet and my wife is only 5 foot 3 inches tall. Our dog only weighs 59 lbs. She is a small British Lab. We are hoping things will work out!

quote Ho Ho: "Yep, I've done it, when we wanted to take my sister and her dog and didn't think a solo and tandem would work. We used an SRQ 18.5. It's a little snug for the middle person and dog - my sister is a pretty small person, so it worked fine for us. The canoe is incredibly stable so you don't have to worry about that. The only other problem would be if you bring a ton of gear. We had 4 Granite Gear packs - 2 big "Superior" size and 2 medium "Quetico" size. Here's a pic (lots of freeboard) -




By the way, when I asked this same question before that trip, a lot of people said "no way." They meant well, but it turned out they were wrong.



"

Ho Ho-which outfitter did you go through on this trip? Was it in Quetico?

quote Longpaddler: "The winds on Pickerel can be very challenging....a boat loaded with that much gear, people and dog wouldn't leave much draft....for safety sake, listen to your outfitter."

+1

Under 750 pounds? You will be fine in the Quetico 18.5. Max payload is 1300 pounds, anything under 850 should be fine for a trip though.

The canoe is made for 3 people and hauling big loads. It actually seems to handle better loaded up. I have used mine with 3 adults on at least 3 long trips with no issues. Check out HoHo's photo and see how much freeboard you still have, you will be fine in rough water.

T

quote Longpaddler: "The winds on Pickerel can be very challenging....a boat loaded with that much gear, people and dog wouldn't leave much draft....for safety sake, listen to your outfitter."

but possibly more challenging if theres someone soloing that never has before.

quote kanoes: "

quote Longpaddler: "The winds on Pickerel can be very challenging....a boat loaded with that much gear, people and dog wouldn't leave much draft....for safety sake, listen to your outfitter."

but possibly more challenging if theres someone soloing that never has before."

That's a good point.

T

McVacek, this was a BWCA trip and we rented the canoe from Red Rock outside Ely. But you should be able to rent it in Canada and if the one outfitter says no, call another one. Sounds like you all have similar or even lighter/smaller people, dogs and gear than we did. And we handled some very rough waves on Burntside - like I said, it's a stable canoe. And TimA is right, it handles well fully loaded. I would have felt far less secure if we had been split up in two canoes.

One minus to keep in mind about this canoe is that because it is very wide in the middle, it's hard for the person seated in the middle to paddle - especially a small person. That worked out okay for us, because my sister was generally busy keeping the dog in place (her dog was not an experienced canoeist) and checking out the birds and other naturalist stuff as we went, with some paddling when we wanted to make tracks. Just make sure your middle-person is fine with this, or plan on switching up.

that center position doesn't look like fun to me

so how many times did you hit her with the paddle? :)

quote ZaraSp00k: "that center position doesn't look like fun to me


so how many times did you hit her with the paddle? :)"

Only when you want to mess with them :)

T

Haha the paddle got nowhere near her. There was actually plenty of room for her when the dog was sitting properly (not that he was so great at that). My sister was happy.

Just a quick update, we are the proud renters of a Quetico 18.5. Spoke with two outfitters today and the one we originally worked with came through in the end. Took 1 and 1/2 hrs of my work time, but we have a canoe and that is all that counts! Once he understood we weren't canoe trip virgins with an unruly dog and heavy gear, he was ok with renting us a canoe. Thanks for everyone's advice and help. Now to start dehydrating our food....

On a side note, when we told both outfitters that we did a trip in the BWCA last year, same people, same dog, and same gear in a Langford canoe, they were amazed and realized we could probably handle the Quetico 18.5 after our successful experience in the most tippy canoe!

Great. Have a good trip!

Have fun.

T

When you're back from your trip, can you please post how it went and how the canoe worked out for you?

Thanks!!! And have a GREAT time. (perhaps you are there right now?)