Canoe? Kayak? Rowboat? NuCanoe!

http://blog.nucanoe.com/2014/02/row-row-row-your-frontier-rowing-system.html



Thoughts?

-Allen

If the hull can handle a river, it would be pretty badass for a drifter, but I kinda doubt it.  If that hull can't handle a river run, it's just a fun pond toy.

I'd hit that!

-Allen

The seat is located so high that it looks like the boat would be pretty tippy.  I'm not a fan of the high seats found in many fishing kayaks, because they reduce the stability of the kayaks.  I like my butt to be as close as possible to the bottom of a kayak.

The seat is located so high that it looks like the boat would be pretty tippy.  I'm not a fan of the high seats found in many fishing kayaks, because they reduce the stability of the kayaks.  I like my butt to be as close as possible to the bottom of a kayak.

At 41" wide, the Frontier 12 is super stable.  And with the flat bottom it has, this thing will spin on a dime with the oar kit.

-Allen

At 41" wide, the Frontier 12 is super stable.  And with the flat bottom it has, this thing will spin on a dime with the oar kit.

That's pretty wide.  I have a 15' Mad River Explorer canoe which is 33.75" wide.  Although the seats of the canoe are several inches below its gunwales, when the water gets interesting I kneel on the bottom of the canoe to keep its center of gravity low and to help me control the rolling of the canoe.

The seat in the picture is a deluxe seat. There are other seating options that are probably 3-4" lower.

-Allen

Let me know if you need a crash-test dummy to give it a test run on one of the coastal rivers!   

I'd love to see just a little more kick front and back and a softer nose but I think that dog would hunt.

-Spot-

Let me know if you need a crash-test dummy to give it a test run on one of the coastal rivers!   

I'd love to see just a little more kick front and back and a softer nose but I think that dog would hunt.

-Spot-

How about just add a bow cover to shed water should you bury the nose?  Actually, you'd probably paddle facing downriver with the bow upriver, so how about bow and stern covers (or float bags).  Whatever makes it through will drain out the scuppers.

-Allen

The Salem dealer has been at the NW Sportsman show, so you might see them there this weekend again.  The boat has a bunch of configurations for seats (solo or tandem), rowing or kayak paddle style, motor mount, and can carry lots of stuff. 

It looks like it would be a great ride to take down a river as long as the bottom will hold up to the rocks.

Seems to me that when someone designs a rig that is a compromise of several possible designs it usually turns out to be the worst of all worlds.  Take the motor-sailor for example, no good as a power vessel and they sail like a manatee.  They're not really very good at either.  I would be hesitant to take it out on the ocean as it has little freeboard.  As a river runner, again little freeboard and it looks like it would swamp easily and require constant bailing. Maybe on nice flat calm water it would be OK.       

I would be hesitant to take it out on the ocean as it has little freeboard.  As a river runner, again little freeboard and it looks like it would swamp easily and require constant bailing. Maybe on nice flat calm water it would be OK.       

The Nucanoe Frontier 12 is a self-bailing boat like a sit-on-top kayak, not a rowboat.  Consequently, its low freeboard is less of an issue.  After all, most sit-on-top kayaks have little freeboard.  However, because the Frontier has a much larger area inside its gunwales than most sit-on-top kayaks, and it only has two scupper holes in the rear, if waves wash into the boat, the water could stay there for a while and make the boat unstable, despite its width.  Anybody who has ever tried to paddle a canoe or a kayak which is full of water knows that it isn't any fun, because the canoe or kayak becomes difficult to move and tends to lurch from side to side as water sloshes around inside the boat.

Nucanoe seems to like really high seats.  For example, a video on its website shows a Frontier with a heavy padded pedestal seat so high that it hits the paddler behind his knees when he stands up.  That's kind of spooky, particularly if you imagine the boat full of water and rolling heavily because waves are hitting it and washing over it. The high seat would also make this wide boat harder to turn upright if you managed to roll it over.

It looks like it would be a great ride to take down a river as long as the bottom will hold up to the rocks.

It's rotomolded poly, and should hold up as well as any other kayaks of similar construction.

-Allen

I would be hesitant to take it out on the ocean as it has little freeboard.  As a river runner, again little freeboard and it looks like it would swamp easily and require constant bailing. Maybe on nice flat calm water it would be OK.       

The Nucanoe Frontier 12 is a self-bailing boat like a sit-on-top kayak, not a rowboat.  Consequently, its low freeboard is less of an issue.  After all, most sit-on-top kayaks have little freeboard.  However, because the Frontier has a much larger area inside its gunwales than most sit-on-top kayaks, and it only has two scupper holes in the rear, if waves wash into the boat, the water could stay there for a while and make the boat unstable, despite its width.  Anybody who has ever tried to paddle a canoe or a kayak which is full of water knows that it isn't any fun, because the canoe or kayak becomes difficult to move and tends to lurch from side to side as water sloshes around inside the boat.

Nucanoe seems to like really high seats.  For example, a video on its website shows a Frontier with a heavy padded pedestal seat so high that it hits the paddler behind his knees when he stands up.  That's kind of spooky, particularly if you imagine the boat full of water and rolling heavily because waves are hitting it and washing over it. The high seat would also make this wide boat harder to turn upright if you managed to roll it over.

Don't roll it or get water in it.  Simple as that. Or, when you are not on a flat lake and decide to go out into rough water choose the appropriate seat.