As those who have been following my travails know, the Dagger Encore
that I was going to look at was trash, and literally is now in the
landfill.

To review, I am looking for a semi-beginner solo whitewater canoe for a
200 pound person.

Possibilities:

The first is a Dagger Caption. Set up for tandem, it was originally set
up for solo. Well used but in fair/good condition. I have the bow and
stern bags too. (One of these has a slow leak)$550.00. There is enough
room between the front and rear pedestal to add a third pedestal for
solo use.

The other is an older Blue Hole. I think it is a sunburst, can
remember. 13' Not as rockered as the Caption. but certainly a good
beginner boat. Kneeling thwart, no pedestal, no outfitting, a few
D-rings. $250.00

A Mohawk Probe 14, $375, with the solo/tandem pedestals, outfitting and
float bags. Purple is not my favorite color, but that is not a huge deal.

A Dagger Genesis, 13.5 foot long, $500, Bob Foote saddle, flotation, 2
paddles, pump/bailer. minor dings. Great big water boat.

Dagger Impulse (he spelled it Implule), 13 feet long, fully outfitted
whitewater canoe: saddle, adjustable foot pegs, bow/stern airbags,
bow/stern lines. Great all-around whitewater boat. $500

There is an outrage RX for $850, probably out of my budget.

The only boats that I know for sure are still available are the first
two, the Caption and the Sunburst.

My thoughts:

$550 for an old Caption that I would need to add a pedestal to and
perhaps a float bag seems like too much money.

I know that Richard H. thinks that the Sunburst is a great boat with a
cult following. The price is right, and I could outfit it to my liking.
But complete outfitting is likely to be $200 or more and take a lot of
my time. Also, I am hardly an expert at outfitting, and would not say
that my first attempt was a great success.

The Probe 14 sounds like the best deal, if he still has the boat.

The Genesis is a possibility, sounds like it would be ready to use, but
a bit more money than the Probe, and my guess is that the Probe is newer.

One source makes the Dagger Impulse seem like a relatively stable boat,
beginners to experts.

I have not seen any of these boats yet. They are all within easy
driving distance, so that is not an issue.

How do the experts vote? Which is the best deal? Which ones should I
forget, and why?

Richard



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