New Trip Report posted by OldGreyGoose

Trip Name: 1997 Trip Report. The wind did blow on Quetico . . ..

Entry Point: Quetico

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nice report Goose, and the pictures were very good
the bear sounds like he was not afraid of people and
had lots of experience getting his supper out of trees

Interesting trip, Goose. Sounds like a pretty good one, but could have had a nicer ending. I've fought the wind a lot in solo canoes. Do you think your problems with it were more related to design or you just didn't get it well trimmed.

Boonie, I don't know about the design being a problem other than it seemed very short to me. I have paddled "backwards" solo in both an old aluminum 17-footer and a Mad River Malachite and had better results than in the Osprey. One factor, I'm sure, was that I probably weighed about 155# at the time and was packed pretty light. (Wenonah Prism is the best solo I've tried.) --Goose

Thanks, Goose. I was curious because I go in Sept, often solo, and the wind is always a factor, sometimes a big one. I wasn't familiar with that canoe, but I looked up the specs on it and they were very similar to the Bell Magic I rented last fall. I liked it a lot better than others I've rented before, but didn't have quite as much wind as some other times. A foot shorter, a little wider, a bit more more stern rocker, a little higher bow, a little different shape than the Magic, but seem very similar and about the same volume. I weigh about 150# and don't take a real heavy load, so I was looking for a lower volume canoe with a little less presented to the wind to get pushed around. One thing that I think helped trim it last fall was using two packs and sometimes putting the heavier one in the front.