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jackmoran
  
07/05/2020 04:15PM  
I just wanted a canoe, on the longer end, (married with 2 teenaged boys + dog), saw a 17'9" canoe for sale on Facebook Marketplace and I picked it up for $250. Weights 68lbs.

Took it for a short ride with one of my sosn and it's a sweet ride.

Never heard of a Sawyer Canoe, I'm in Central Mass and we see Old Towns, some Grummans, Coleman's, etc. Tag says it's a Sawyer Cruiser, made in Oscoda MI. I've been reading some of the posts here, and I think I'm learning that this is a pretty special boat.

SAW000580873

Saw something about the Cruiser being a Lynn Tuttle design. I don't know anything about Canoes, who is Lynn Tuttle and what else can you tell me about my canoe?

 
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andym
distinguished member(5340)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
07/05/2020 06:12PM  
They are classic canoes. If you have read old posts, you probably ran into Hanssolo’s expertise on Sawyer canoes. I suggest exploring his photo album for info that can be gleaned from pictures of old Sawyer catalogs. There’s some interesting info in there on some models.
 
07/05/2020 08:55PM  
I have an old Cruiser in the garage that my wife and I paddle for exercise and the annual canoe marathon near us. It has portage pads and was used as a tripper by a previous owner.

It's a fast design and really slices through the water. It's also a shallow hull, stay out of any significant chop to avoid swamping. Have fun in your new ride, you got a great deal on a very enjoyable canoe to paddle.
 
07/18/2020 04:51PM  
You have yourself a great canoe there Jack!

Of all the canoes I own, have owned, or have paddled, the Sawyer Cruiser is still my favorite tandem canoe. A modern day classic in my opinion. Throughout much of the 1980's, it was our primary cruising, canoe-camping and Quetico/BWCAW tripping canoe.

As fadersup has mentioned though, the Cruiser is not particularly well suited for large waves, although it is better than a Jensen 18 in that regard. It's also not particularly suited to large, heavy loads either, because of it's low volume. For that reason, my primary big trip, big water tripping tandem canoe has been a Wenonah Odyssey. Nevertheless, the Cruiser is still an awesome canoe for most waters and our "go to" tandem canoe when we are not paddling our solos. In fact, my wife and I were out paddling our Sawyer Cruiser last Sunday.

The Cruiser is a beautiful paddling canoe that we use regularly on local lakes, rivers and on trips of a week or less, although we have done Quetico and BWCAW trip of up to two weeks in a Cruiser.

Enjoy!

Hans Solo

 
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