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This is an update from a previous review that I did on the 08-04-2016. Again everything about this canoe is fine except the seat arrangement. As previously noted I reconfigured the seating with a successful reset and was wondering about how to arrange a proper portage system. My first thought was to put a removable yoke in the center point of the canoe and that was exactly the solution I first attempted. The install was quite simple. A couple of new holes in the gunnels amidships and a couple of large bolt tees for ease of removal and I was good to go. But here's the bonus. Because I had moved the seat back to the rear position of the original placement I have lots of room to kneel in front of the seat and not be obstructed while paddling or just resting while seated on the seat. Ergo, no need to remove the yoke while canoeing.

So pushing my rating from a 7 to an 8 and would even consider a 9 because of it's superb handling but doing all the mods holds me back from that. Could have been a 9 if original seating arrangement had been more practical for canoeing as opposed to kayaking.

Canoe handles beautifully after seat modifications were made. Originally raised seat to gunnel level to enable my preferred kneeling position. Gives me more power in the stroke. But with the seat raised and kneeling in front of it, this throws off the centre of gravity of the canoe putting far too much weight forward for such a short/small canoe. After some jigging around I found that if I moved the seat back so that the front was attached were the back was originally this made the canoe sit perfectly on the water for my weight and size. (5'7" 175lbs). Problem then exists that there is no central yoke with which to portage this craft. Now if I install a yoke for the purpose of portaging, which I will frequently have to do, it will have to be removable in order to utilize the modified seat. No end to little issues. But I'll get that worked out eventually. Too bad the canoe designers didn't take that into consideration in the original design. Allowing these mods to be part of the design so that you could customize it to your own liking without adding holes and making other physical changes that can affect the aesthetics of this fine little canoe. Anyway it handles fine now that I've made the seat changes but still needs work to make it mine.

Stable enough if you know what you're doing but don't forget where you're at for a second. Tracks well enough for such a small canoe and handles great in tight spots.

Note: I also put a yoga type pad on the bottom to protect my "old" knees. All in all I think we'll get along fine. But being Canadian I envy all these folks who paid as little as 300.00. Price in Canada is, well let's just say way more.