Starfire

It took about 8yrs.of looking,test paddling,to find a boat that has a broad enough range of capabillites to to get me to buy another boat.The 1st time I saw the STARFIRE I knew I had to try it,and wasn't disapointed. I am an ACA TANDEM CANOE INSTRUCTOR but do most of my paddling solo,love canoe camping,and wild rivers.Trying to find a boat that can be paddled tandem or solo,carry a campers load,have good hull speed,the abillity to turn easily but still track straight,run whitewater while staying dry is not an easy thing to do. I have done all of this and have never been disapointed. I ordered the boat in BLACK GOLD layup(Kevlar& carbon fiber)setup as a combination boat (3 seats)so it could be paddled both tandem and solo,I also ordered 2 extra thwarts to replace the bow&stearn seats when being used as a solo camper. While the boat itself is wonderfull my experience with the company was NOT!The boat was ordered through a local dealer that gave me a very good price and went out of his way to be helpfull.The dealer called Bell in my presence on a speaker phone to place the order it was early spring and delivery was promised in 4-6 weeks.Plenty of time to get used to the boat and take a couple of weekend trips before my planned vacation on Canada's White River in Sept.after many calls wondering where the boat was it finnaly arrived less than 1week before my trip.I was less than impressed after waiting more than 2 months longer than it was to take I expected a custom ordered boat to be perfect SUPRISE! The extra thwarts that were ordered didn't come with it,the local dealer fitted an old set so I could use the boat for my trip.The gell coat had several imperfections such as waves,bubbles,and specks of red and blue under the clear gell coat,nothing that would harm the boat but would make it a blem if it were on a dealers floor.The boat would have been sent back if I hadn't wanted it so badly for the trip.When the extra seats were removed for the trip it became apparent that only the surfaces of the wood that were clearly visible had any oil on them the back side of the seat supports that weren't visible were bone dry,all the wood on the boat took at least 3 coats of oil after the trip.When the extra thwarts finally did arrive they were made of ASH not WALLNUT as they were to be and were the wrong size even though Bell had been given the exact demensions from the old set fitted by the dealer it took an additional 2 months to get the proper ones. I tell anyone who asks about the boat,I do get many admiring inquries,that the boat is wonderfull now that its the way it should have come and not to belive anything Bell has to say about delivery dates.