This is a combination paddling report and report on how the Sasquatch 14 x 30 handles.
Arrived at Fort McAllister State Park and set up camp. The camp sites are rather large since I was in a RV Site , all the tent sites were taken so I lucked out on this RV site.
Five of us meet up in Rincon , GA to paddle the Ebenezer Creek, We meet at the Mickey D's in Rincon and left from there for the creek. I arrived at the Mickey D's to see Oldyaker standing in the parking lot next to a pickup with a canoe on the top. I parked next to him and we went in for some breakfast.
Next thing we knew a lady was asking us if we were with the canoes (I swear we did not look that bad) We said we were and she introduced her self as Nancy and will be part of the folks paddling.
The three of us are sitting there and in comes a Jeep with a kayak on the top, It's John and he is going. In comes another vehicle with a 21 foot kayak and it turns out to be Paddling Dave who is heading up the trip since Frankie suffered some back injuries and could not make it.
Mickey D's was starting to look like a paddling boat convention.
After Howdies all around we made a convoy by following Paddling Dave to the put in for the trip.
Dropped the boats in the water and took out up stream.
Nancy on the left , Paddling Dave in the center and John on the right.
Paddling Dave on the left and John on the right... Trying to get a picture of Nancy ... all I saw was the backside of her boat as she was always ahead of us , way down river.
Oldyaker doing what he always does and I am looking forward to seeing all his pictures.
After a while we came to a blockage of weeds across the creek and Paddling Dave and Nancy tried to make there way threw them, Nancy got stuck, the rudder on her kayak was down and she could not go forward or backward.
To help her out I paddled my canoe in past Paddling Dave ( he was in the weeds ) and unstuck her rudder so she could back out. That's the nice thing of having a shorter boat , mine was 14 and Paddling Dave's was 21 ... his would of never made it over to where she was stuck.
Nancy asked me if I could make it threw all of the weeds to the clear water and I told her ... without any problems but I don't think they can.
I have to say that the weeds and the rest of the junk in the water did not have any adverse effect on the canoes ability of getting in there and getting out. It was like the weeds were not there.
After Nancy got back in clear water we started back down stream, passed the put in and continued all the way to the Savanna River and pulled out there for a break. After the break we paddled a short way back up the Savanna River to Ebenezer Creek and then back up to the put in and our vehicles.
All in all the trip was about 5 hours long on one beautiful creek that is Cypress and Tupelo Tree lined and primitive. It is a really nice day paddling creek and a person sure can relax when on it.
By the way ... This is the creek all those slaves drowned in when tagging along behind the Union Forces on the march across Georgia. The General made a bridge for his troops to cross on and when they got across he ordered the bridge destroyed to the slaves could not go any further. The slaves did not want to stay on the one side with Confederate forces in the area so they chose to cross by swimming and drown then to be recaptured.
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The Sasquatch 14 x 30 is an easy to paddle canoe, it moves along with very little effort and with just myself in it (no camping gear) it floats high and dry.
The wind did affect it ( to a very small degree) and I corrected by paddling on the leeward side of the canoe which keep it going where I wanted it to go. The wind signature would decrease when it would be loaded with camping gear , as it would be sitting lower in the water and have less ability of weathercocking on me.
Getting in it, the initial stability is tipsy, ( It could of been partly me but not all of it ) it does want to rock a roll with you, when paddling it, it is as solid as a rock and just moves along. Again I think that is because all that was in it was me and my 212 pounds on this paddle. With camping gear and sitting lower in the water it would have more initial stability.
I have not paddled a boat since last November, the surgery in January would not let me paddle till the one led into the heart was completely secure (from the new defibrillator) so it has been 11 months since I paddled and this canoe did not tire me or cause any problems since it is such an easy paddling canoe. Just dip the paddle in and go, without working at it.
The canoe does have a large glide range to it , you don't have to paddle like a mad man to keep it going.
Overall.....
Speed .................. Really good for a canoe but nothing like a kayak will do.
Ease of paddling.... I would say extremely easy and fun to paddle.
Maneuverability..... It will turn around on itself without any effort when wanted.
Draft.....................A light draft and shallow boat , does not need a lot of water under it.
Tracking............... Holds true to the direction you want to go.
Wind Signature..... As light as it is there is a slight signature , like all canoes but not as bad.
Knuckle banging.... I had none during the whole trip on the creek.
Ease of Building..... Very easy , the kit goes together like a dream.
Weight..................It's the lightest boat I have with it at 30 pounds.
Looks.................. That is a problem , everyone who sees it has to ask about it. ***
***
One major problem with the Sasquatch I did find is where ever you are with it .... be ready to answer questions about it. Everywhere I stopped on this trip, someone would come up and ask about the canoe. No matter where I was, the campground, Mickey D's, Loves Seafood, Rest Stops, Gas stations ..... EVERYWHERE.
By the way ... Oldyaker was right , Loves Seafood is out of this world , I had the combo of the Catfish fillets with Ga White Shrimp and BOY were they GOOD and lots of both. Back at camp ... I was one stuffed puppy, but quite happy.
A nice trip , good company , a great canoe to paddle and beautiful scenery with out of this world chow , who could ask for anything more.
Chuck.
Arrived at Fort McAllister State Park and set up camp. The camp sites are rather large since I was in a RV Site , all the tent sites were taken so I lucked out on this RV site.
Five of us meet up in Rincon , GA to paddle the Ebenezer Creek, We meet at the Mickey D's in Rincon and left from there for the creek. I arrived at the Mickey D's to see Oldyaker standing in the parking lot next to a pickup with a canoe on the top. I parked next to him and we went in for some breakfast.
Next thing we knew a lady was asking us if we were with the canoes (I swear we did not look that bad) We said we were and she introduced her self as Nancy and will be part of the folks paddling.
The three of us are sitting there and in comes a Jeep with a kayak on the top, It's John and he is going. In comes another vehicle with a 21 foot kayak and it turns out to be Paddling Dave who is heading up the trip since Frankie suffered some back injuries and could not make it.
Mickey D's was starting to look like a paddling boat convention.
After Howdies all around we made a convoy by following Paddling Dave to the put in for the trip.
Dropped the boats in the water and took out up stream.
Nancy on the left , Paddling Dave in the center and John on the right.
Paddling Dave on the left and John on the right... Trying to get a picture of Nancy ... all I saw was the backside of her boat as she was always ahead of us , way down river.
Oldyaker doing what he always does and I am looking forward to seeing all his pictures.
After a while we came to a blockage of weeds across the creek and Paddling Dave and Nancy tried to make there way threw them, Nancy got stuck, the rudder on her kayak was down and she could not go forward or backward.
To help her out I paddled my canoe in past Paddling Dave ( he was in the weeds ) and unstuck her rudder so she could back out. That's the nice thing of having a shorter boat , mine was 14 and Paddling Dave's was 21 ... his would of never made it over to where she was stuck.
Nancy asked me if I could make it threw all of the weeds to the clear water and I told her ... without any problems but I don't think they can.
I have to say that the weeds and the rest of the junk in the water did not have any adverse effect on the canoes ability of getting in there and getting out. It was like the weeds were not there.
After Nancy got back in clear water we started back down stream, passed the put in and continued all the way to the Savanna River and pulled out there for a break. After the break we paddled a short way back up the Savanna River to Ebenezer Creek and then back up to the put in and our vehicles.
All in all the trip was about 5 hours long on one beautiful creek that is Cypress and Tupelo Tree lined and primitive. It is a really nice day paddling creek and a person sure can relax when on it.
By the way ... This is the creek all those slaves drowned in when tagging along behind the Union Forces on the march across Georgia. The General made a bridge for his troops to cross on and when they got across he ordered the bridge destroyed to the slaves could not go any further. The slaves did not want to stay on the one side with Confederate forces in the area so they chose to cross by swimming and drown then to be recaptured.
*************************************************************
The Sasquatch 14 x 30 is an easy to paddle canoe, it moves along with very little effort and with just myself in it (no camping gear) it floats high and dry.
The wind did affect it ( to a very small degree) and I corrected by paddling on the leeward side of the canoe which keep it going where I wanted it to go. The wind signature would decrease when it would be loaded with camping gear , as it would be sitting lower in the water and have less ability of weathercocking on me.
Getting in it, the initial stability is tipsy, ( It could of been partly me but not all of it ) it does want to rock a roll with you, when paddling it, it is as solid as a rock and just moves along. Again I think that is because all that was in it was me and my 212 pounds on this paddle. With camping gear and sitting lower in the water it would have more initial stability.
I have not paddled a boat since last November, the surgery in January would not let me paddle till the one led into the heart was completely secure (from the new defibrillator) so it has been 11 months since I paddled and this canoe did not tire me or cause any problems since it is such an easy paddling canoe. Just dip the paddle in and go, without working at it.
The canoe does have a large glide range to it , you don't have to paddle like a mad man to keep it going.
Overall.....
Speed .................. Really good for a canoe but nothing like a kayak will do.
Ease of paddling.... I would say extremely easy and fun to paddle.
Maneuverability..... It will turn around on itself without any effort when wanted.
Draft.....................A light draft and shallow boat , does not need a lot of water under it.
Tracking............... Holds true to the direction you want to go.
Wind Signature..... As light as it is there is a slight signature , like all canoes but not as bad.
Knuckle banging.... I had none during the whole trip on the creek.
Ease of Building..... Very easy , the kit goes together like a dream.
Weight..................It's the lightest boat I have with it at 30 pounds.
Looks.................. That is a problem , everyone who sees it has to ask about it. ***
***
One major problem with the Sasquatch I did find is where ever you are with it .... be ready to answer questions about it. Everywhere I stopped on this trip, someone would come up and ask about the canoe. No matter where I was, the campground, Mickey D's, Loves Seafood, Rest Stops, Gas stations ..... EVERYWHERE.
By the way ... Oldyaker was right , Loves Seafood is out of this world , I had the combo of the Catfish fillets with Ga White Shrimp and BOY were they GOOD and lots of both. Back at camp ... I was one stuffed puppy, but quite happy.
A nice trip , good company , a great canoe to paddle and beautiful scenery with out of this world chow , who could ask for anything more.
Chuck.
