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My wife and I are experienced paddlers. Our paddling is split between quiet rivers and streams and the more protected areas of Casco Bay (in Maine, USA). We don’t paddle whitewater. For us, the Aurora (Kevlar ultralight) is everything we hoped it would be.

Our primary canoe has been a 16-foot, narrow, fast, round-bottomed Nature Bound Whisper II that has served us well for 25+ years. But it is heavy (68 lbs) and hasn’t enough volume to ever feel comfortable loaded with camping gear or on Casco Bay once the wind comes up a bit. Our other tandem has been a Swift Algonquin 17 which we bought when we were camping with our kids. Also a bit heavy (65 lbs) in the glass layup we could afford at the time, but a nice, big, pleasant canoe. Now that the kids are grown it’s really a bit big for day tripping. We’re small folk, and with just us in it we get blown around more than we like. Neither canoe is exactly a joy to put up on the car.

Enter the Aurora — Super light weight, pleasantly stable, the right amount of volume, faster than the Algonquin 17 and, surprisingly, seems just as fast as our older 16-foot boat. It also turns more easily than our old 16-foot boat and more easily than the Algonquin 17 when it’s properly loaded. In both the twisty little places and the big Casco Bay waves the bit of rocker is nice. We don’t have any trouble keeping it going straight either — both my wife and I know our strokes well enough.

I have not paddled the Aurora solo, but I assume I’ll manage. For me, the skinny, round 16-foot is great for that, and we also have a little Old Town Pack, so solo paddling was never a factor when considering the Aurora.

The Aurora really seems like a perfect canoe for us. We feel safe and comfortable and fast enough. I have no doubt that camping from it will be fine. (Again, we’re small folk.) FYI, the runner-up in our search was the Nova Craft Pal, which was a lovely boat but lacking the volume we were looking for.

A note regarding materials and stability: We test paddled the Aurora in both T-Formex and Kevlar Ultralight, and they had a very different feel. The T-Formex boat (at least the one we tested) had more initial stability. We immediately dubbed the T-Formex Aurora “the SUV” as we test paddled different boats. There was no “oil canning” in the T-Formex boat but I suspect there’s just a little flex in the T-Formex hull that flattens the bottom a bit and reduces the rocker a bit once it’s in the water. In contrast, the Kevlar Ultralight Aurora was noticeably livelier, with less initial stability (though plenty enough for us, even unloaded). We liked both layups but chose the ultralight Kevlar both for the light weight and livelier feel.

A further note about our ocean paddling: Where and when we paddle in Casco Bay, the water is pretty warm, the wind is blowing on shore, the tides aren’t fast, and we’re protected from open ocean swells. We stick close to shorelines as much as possible, for the beauty as well as the security. If we capsize we won’t die from hypothermia, and we (or the boat) won’t be swept into open ocean. We also pay close attention to the weather. Casco Bay a beautiful place to paddle, but, as with any bigger water, you need to be careful and be prepared to extend your picnic as long as necessary until things calm down.