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Listening Point - General Discussion

Aluminum Canoe

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Last Visit: 05/20/2013 02:27PM
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RaisedByBears99

08/13/2012 05:40PM

Just saw on Facebook - my kids are off the trail. Seems my nephew, Joseh, is not fond of portaging an aluminum canoe for a mile.

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housty9

08/15/2012 06:44PM

1/2 mile is about as far as i can go or it kills my shoulders, can't wait to get the solo canoe.

our we there yet

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bwcadan

08/15/2012 07:10PM

Sold my Grummon 11 years ago due to the weight and slow time made on water vs kevlar. Purchased a 50 lb SR and later a 40 lb SR to handle in the advancing years. They are both easily carried a mile or more without stopping before beginning our trips.

the greatest come backs are reserved for those with the greatest deficits.

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LuvMyBell

08/15/2012 07:45PM

Portaging aluminum canoes is a young man's game.

Paddle Faster....I hear banjo music

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walllee

08/16/2012 11:45AM

I used my old grumman for the first time in 15 years on a trip to some lakes just outside of the B.W.C.A. a week ago. The portages were short, and far between. I must say that I enjoyed the sound of the canoe bumping off trees and rock, and the memories it brought back of my youth.I was amazed at the difference in handling after using my Souris River. I don't think I will take it out again for awhile. I am spoiled by Kevlar.

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fitgers1

08/16/2012 12:11PM

My old Alumacraft tin can is like my affair with the Minnesota Vikings. I love it/I hate it.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Ralph Waldo Emerson...and...“Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".

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mooseplums

08/16/2012 12:26PM

my old alumacraft hasnt see the water in years...I think its at my brother in laws house...

portaging one of those IS a young mans game.

"I am haunted by waters"~Norman Maclean "A River Runs Through It"

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fitgers1

08/16/2012 12:34PM

That must mean I'm still young. Funny, I sure the hell don't feel young after this last trip.

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Mashuga

08/17/2012 10:54AM

I've taken the same aluminum canoe since my first trip in the early '80's. Nostalgic....yeah right. It wasn't so bad when there were canoe rests on the portages. It's even better now though...the last 4 trips my son has carried it. I tell him I carry the knowledge and he carries the tools.

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shock

08/17/2012 01:49PM

try bring in a coleman square stren scanoe 96lbs and like others have said that is when i was a younger man.....WHEW !! i'll bet there's still green on some of the rocks from clearwater to gogebic it was a beast but it's all i had :>)

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shock

08/17/2012 02:00PM

quote Mashuga: "I've taken the same aluminum canoe since my first trip in the early '80's. Nostalgic....yeah right. It wasn't so bad when there were canoe rests on the portages. It's even better now though...the last 4 trips my son has carried it. I tell him I carry the knowledge and he carries the tools." very nice thats what i keep telling my youngest son.

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buz

08/21/2012 08:42AM

When I was a young man we took trips into crooked lake with square stern 19' aluminum canoes, 6 hp motors, 10 gallons of gas, portaging them up the basswood river. The motor and gas, not so bad on portages, the 19' square stern on a portage, baddddd.

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RainGearRight

08/21/2012 09:27AM

My group had a square stern alumacraft on the bunch last spring into Tuscarora. Funny how no one wanted to pick it up after the first portage.

There's always money in the banana stand.

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Spartan2

08/21/2012 09:42AM

quote LuvMyBell: "Portaging aluminum canoes is a young man's game."

Our Grumman was last portaged on our Spring trip in 2004, when I was having knee problems and Spartan1 offered to take it (instead of the Bell) to make the trip more comfortable for me.

We bought a cottage on a little pond in Cass County, Michigan in 2005, and she retired to the cottage. She gets to be paddled around the lake, enjoyed by us, our children and grandchildren, and only portaged from the garage to the lakeshore in April and then back again in early November.

I still love that canoe. Lots of wonderful memories associated with her.

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brerud

08/23/2012 11:37AM

I've done many portages with grummans, alumacrafts, and the alumacraft ultralight. I will be doing it again in 2 days with the ultralight. It isn't that bad, but I am fairly young, in decent shape, and haven't let myself experience carrying a lighter boat for fear of finding a need to part with $2,000.

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ShakestheClown

08/24/2012 08:16PM

85 lb. 17' aluminum Lund canoe. Bring it! FWIW, I'm only 37

The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."

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hobbydog

08/24/2012 09:06PM

I am 55 and have done two solos in the last year with my 82# alumacraft I affectionately call the floating turd. :-)

On my solo last Sept I carried it 1.2 miles without putting it down. Long portaging heavy loads has always been a source of pride ......but

This summer I bought a Wilderness (Royalex) @ 49# for this Sept solo. I think I could go all day with that. I will miss the stability of the alumacraft on the water though. I put a lot of miles on that thing.

The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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arctic

08/24/2012 09:25PM

The only thing aluminum canoes excel at is bushwhacking. You can crash them through anything, and when your group gets separated you just pound on the bottom. The sound travels far through the deep forest, and soon your companions emerge from the trackless bush.

The weight is relative. I carried a 17' Grummon across the Grand Portage in less than 2 hours, years ago. My Old Town Tripper is even heavier, but I wouldn't travel in the Far North without it.

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bobbwca

08/24/2012 10:24PM

I bought my alumacraft ul voyager in 93. It's been on so many trips I can't see ever getting rid of it. I've upgraded to kevlar, but it still comes along with newbs.

Bob

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PlumberDave

08/25/2012 06:57PM

I have traveled over 30 years in BW with alumacraft and grumman. They keep getting lighter every year. HA HA

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