Hey Jim NoGa rivers are my home waters too. Have you paddled the Lola
below the hwy 53 bridge? If you've gone over Edge of the World on that
big ole Appy you're a better man than me ;+D

I own both an Appy and also an OT Cascade which is the same design as
the Appy cept 14'10" vs 16' for the Appy. Me and my buds like to ww
canoe camp and it's hard to beat the Appy and Cascade for whitewater
trippin'. From what I understand the Appy and Cascade are paterned
after the old tried and true old design of the Chestnut Prospector
which was a favorite of the well known canoeing author, film maker etc
etc Bill Mason. The Appy and Cascade can take a serious load and still
handle pretty durn good in Class III water . Check out a 4 day trip me
and a coupla buds did last fall on the New in Wva at:

http://www.mindspring.com/~pepe3/newriver/

I too am ready for a more playfull boat. My buddy owns a Whitesell
Decender and I store it for him and have tried it a coupla times. I
felt pretty comfortable in it right away given the wide classic
Whitesell middle. Last summer I got to try an Outrage and man after
driving my 2 big barges that thing felt like I was in a taco with
power steering ;+D What fun!!! I'm right at the edge of the weight
limit (190) for the Outrage so it felt a little small for me. I'm
aiming to buy an Outrage X by next summer. The X is a foot longer and
it should have enough room for overnight gear so that's a big plus for
me.

A few weekends ago I got to play a little in a Rival and again at my
size/weight (5'11" 190lbs) it sure felt like I was pushing its
capacity limits.

Next time you're up at the Nanny try out a Whitesell. Coming from a
big boat like the Appy it might be an easier transition cause of the
wider tubier middle design. At your weight range you have lots of
boats to choose from so try out as many as you can. I believe the NOC
will also let you demo some boats.

Since you're looking to be able to camp also check out the Dagger
Caption which I believe is 14 ft'er. Can't say anything about it from
personal experience other than what I've read and what folks have told
me. It's a decent sized boat that still fun and playfull in white
water. I've heard rumors that Dagger is not gonna make any more WW
canoes. Anybody know if this is true?


Good luck!








(Jim) wrote in message . com...
About a year ago, I bought an Old Town Appalachian. My "home river"
is a steep creek in north GA called Amicalola creek, which has about
3.5 miles of arguably the the best whitewater in north GA. I've
paddled section III of the Chatooga on an overnighter, the Telico, and
the Nantahala with this boat and have become quite competent with very
heavy overnight loads and of course with no load.

I am 5'9" 160lb, and one day, on the Amicalola, i asked my common
paddling buddy, who paddles a Dagger Ovation, if he would let me
paddle his boat. I loved it! I swam in one rapid, but I was totally
sold (and haven't been able to think about much else since) when I
maneuvered through rock gardens with such ease.

Now I'm on the serious search for a WW canoe...either a Probe12, a
Probe 12 II, or an Outrage. I would like to still be able to load up
for an overnighter, but I also look forward to those day trips with no
loads.

Suggestions would be very much appreciated.