What is the ultimate [insert piece of gear here]? Its the question asked by every enthusiast of every activity everywhere. Long hours of debate between friends can be spent critiquing the various attributes of nearly any piece of gear in nearly any sport or activity. Of course its a trick question! There is no ultimate [insert piece of gear here]. Finding the ultimate anything depends on your exact need from that [insert piece of gear here] at any one time. Every positive attribute of any piece of gear will come with sacrifices in some other attribute. There is no ultimate piece of gear, only ultimate gear for any one particular use by any particular user.

Canoes are no different. In the case of a canoe there are many things to consider. Are you canoeing solo, tandem, or floating a family? Are you day tripping or doing extended trips. Are you on flat water only or running rivers? How strong are you and how thick is your wallet?

Personally, the main use of our canoe is for extended expeditions with kids. This can be on freshwater lakes, rivers, saltwater or combinations of all three. This type of use makes certain canoe attributes more appealing than others. Here are some examples of what we would consider positive attributes for a canoe for family tripping:

Durability – Children and adults with children are hard on gear.

Stability – Children are inherently unpredictable creatures, especially when young, and tend to lean over the gunwales with no warning at the most inappropriate of times. Few children – or adults – enjoy capsizing in cold running water and almost certainly losing essential items for the remainder of the journey.

Payload – Children and the gear and food they require take up a lot of space and weigh a lot.

Dryness – In our experience children seldom enjoy sitting in cold water in the bottom of a canoe. Parents seldom enjoy listing to children whinge about this. High bow and stern flare and lots of freeboard help prevent this.

Versatility – We need a boat that can do it all which means it needs to be maneuverable with lots of rocker.

The sacrifices here may or may not be obvious. Durable = heavy. Payload = large and cumbersome. Stable = slow paddling because of width . Dry = prone to redirection from crosswinds because of more freeboard to catch wind. Maneuverable = difficult to track on chopped water. Rocker = slow on flat water.

But you’re a parent so you’re young and strong so portaging a heavy boat and paddling a wide boat with lots lots of rocker across an endless lake is still easy for you. Its far better than flipping a fast, narrow boat in a cold river or Canadian ocean or breaking your featherweight kevlar craft on an unseen rock 3 days from nowhere.

So, what are some examples of ultimate family canoes?

Hellman Slocan in Duratuff. Length: 17’9″. Width: 36″. Depth: 22″ at bow and stern, 15″ at centre. Rocker: A whopping 4″. Payload: 1200 lbs. Weight: 68lbs. This has been our family boat from the beginning and I’d buy it again without thinking. Handcrafted in Nelson, BC. Bob Hellman has been super helpful over the years answering questions and helping with maintenance and repairs.

Nova Craft Prospector 18 in Tuffstuff Expedition. Length 18′. Width: 36″. Depth: 23″ at bow and stern, 15″ at centre. Rocker: 2.5″. Payload 1400 lbs. Weight: 72lbs. Another good looking boat and available from MEC which makes it easy to purchase.