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08/21/2014 05:46AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I wanted a solo that wasn't tippy to fish out of, handled any water I choose to paddle in , from sprawling wind blown lakes to twisting streams and would haul a good sized load. Blistering speed wasn't a great priority [any of you who know me know I'm built for comfort not speed] but didn't want a lead sled either. I choose the aforementioned canoe sight unseen, except on the internet. Here's the stats on the Dark Lady;;; length 16ft 6 in long, max width 16.5 in, gunwale width 32 in, height 18/14/17, weight 29 pounds. I special ordered mine in the Tex-Treme carbon kevlar lay up, extra kevlar in the bottom, wood gunwales [maple I think], large carbon decks, sliding contoured web seats, [ordered to my height specs] lining holes pre drilled. With this setup and 2 25ft lead ropes and 2 25 foot 1/2 inch lineing ropes bungeed under the decks the Dark Lady weighs in at 31 pounds. I've never had her out in really rough water but have paddled her in a good 8/10 inch chop loaded and empty with no worries, on a really narrow twisting stream control might suffer but on a stream like Moose River North, no bank crashing. My weight didn't include the Hidden Valley portable yoke nor the pads. Loaded or empty the Lady is super stable, great to fish out of. As for speed with a 260cm yak paddle I can cruise at 3.0 to 3.5 mph for 2 hours straight and not be really tired, I have gotten The Lady to 4.1 mph but you know what they say "speed kills" it also makes you tired. The 3.5 was against a light headwind. I ordered my canoe directly from John Diller in Maryland over the phone and they brought it with them to Canoecopia this spring and I picked it up there [saved around $300 shipping]. I think the only dealer is on the East coast and I don't know of anyone who rents them out...... but if anyone is in the Austin Minnesota area and would like to test paddle it give me a call at 507-696-5401 and we'll see what we can work out, oh yeah please bring your title for your truck and your house as a deposit so I make sure I get it back, insert silly grin here. Bottom line the more I paddle it the better I like it. FRED
 
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ozarkpaddler
distinguished member(5163)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
08/21/2014 08:52AM  
Those are intriguing looking boats and that weight.....WOW!
 
08/21/2014 09:50AM  
Thanks for the review.
 
08/21/2014 10:16AM  
I've been drooling over these at Canoecopia. They are different and they're gorgeous.
 
08/22/2014 10:20AM  
Thanks for the review! They are very nice looking rigs. I'm jealous!
 
wibowyer15
senior member (89)senior membersenior member
  
08/22/2014 05:00PM  
What no pictures ! ;)

Congratulations !
 
wifishncanoe
distinguished member (206)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
08/22/2014 10:15PM  
I have the two person Deep Creek. Great all around canoe. Light and sturdy, no more worrying about babying. Something no-one thinks about is that the packs are so much easier to unload from canoe because they don't catch on gunnels. There are so many different things that I like about this canoe. Family friendly, fishing friendly, tripping friendly and fun friendly. The only down fall to this canoe is that it's to new to find used, so you must save and save to get it.
 
Dilligaf0220
distinguished member (175)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
08/22/2014 10:59PM  
Just going by your original spec requests, I would have said Canak...but they weigh more and only look almost as cool. :D

I'd lean more towards the Blackwater...but if Dan Cooke loves his Deep Creek than there has to be something special.


And yeah....PICS!
 
jeffnson
member (36)member
  
08/23/2014 08:41PM  
Great to hear the two positive reviews. We are taking our first trip in our brand new Deep Creek this Wednesday. Shopped on line all last winter and finally decided to go for it. We ordered the carbon / kevlar lay up in March and picked it up in June. It came in at 33 pounds so now we are actually looking forward to that long first portage onto the Stuart River (EP19). John and Ben Dillar were great to work with and the canoe is a beaut.
 
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