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I’ve had this boat for a few years now. It is quite the canoe: fast, maneuverable, a friend in tough conditions and able to carry a reasonable tripping load. I have had it unloaded in lakes with big winds and felt comfortable. It has great glide, but it maneuvers expertly on quiet, tight, twisty creeks. This is one of those Jack of all Trades boats that does things really well. That is why it remains a favorite of solo canoeists.

The Colden layup is light enough to make carries comfortable, yet sturdy enough to instill wilderness confidence. I have the wood trim and it is beautiful cherry and snakewood with fine woodworking. His composite rails are maintenance free and handsome also.

This is a fine boat for the wilderness tripper, the day tripper and the lily dipper.

Oh my goodness, this is a fun boat! I had heard that it is squirrely with its narrow width and round bottom, but I paddle a couple of other so-called "squirrely" boats and found this was quite predictable. It isn’t a novice’s boat, but anyone with a lot of time in other solo sport boats should have little trouble adjusting. Ideal for kneeling –sitters might take issue with that statement.

The length to width ratio is 7, so this boat moves along nicely. With 2.5 inches of symmetrical rocker it turns on a dime. I paddled this boat for several days on tight, twisty streams in the NJ Pine Barrens. Even when I was going upstream I still had a smile on my face. An ideal tripping boat, it instills confidence in bad conditions. Fit and finish? It was built by Dave Curtis, one of the best detailers in the business.

Of course, there are only a few dozen of these originals around. The good news: Colden Canoe is building his Dragonfly from the same mold. I spent several days in the Colden, and it is every bit as fun and well built. Obviously, this boat isn't for everyone, but it is good at what it does – and it is fun.

Great Boat! Graceful. Beautiful. Wonderful workmanship. I originally purchased a used Baboosic because I wanted to experiment with freestyle canoeing. This is a great boat for freestyle, and I have since bought a second one. That should tell you how highly I think of this boat. The Baboosic is considered a big boat by a lot of freestylers, but I am 6 feet and 180# and have no problem getting a vertical paddle, even with cross strokes. I am able to kneel transversely, which lets me get both knees near the gunnels comfortably. This boat exudes confidence at the rails. On edge, I can do stem-to-stem sweeps and literally turn on a dime. I can take it past the rails and let water slip in with confidence.

My first Baboosic had been used on rivers quite a bit and has a few scars to prove it. It is an excellent creek boat. I now use that boat on any river where I don’t expect to bash into rocks. Because of its maneuverability, you can work around the obstacles, negating the need of a Royalex boat. I would think it ideal for small twisty streams like the Pine Barrens, I just haven’t paddled them. It is fun for eddy turns and peel outs. I kept my Royalex Bell Wildfire (with air bags) for Class II and rocks. Otherwise, moving water is a great place for the Baboosic.

I had read the reviews about how the Baboosic was surprisingly fast on flat water. I was skeptical, but was also surprised the first time I took it out on the lake with a kayaker. No, it won't set any speed records, and it won't glide like a dedicated lake boat; but for a jack-of-all-trades it is fast. A good forward stroke will pay dividends.

So now I have two Baboosics. One for moving water, and one for freestyle and lakes. If you want a great turning boat that travels across flat water and can carry a load, the Baboosic fits the bill.