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I bought the Peregrine without a test paddle, something I was more than a little worried about but given the history of the design and knowing a few canoes of similar design I decided to go for it. Prior to this canoe, I've owned three Bell Magic's, a Mad River Independence, a Mad River Traveler, and Bell Morningstar. I currently also own a Swift Keewaydin 16 tandem. I had strongly considered buying another Magic as I do love the way they handle but don't love the aesthetics. Despite my changing my mind a few times on what options I wanted, Dave Curtis built the boat exactly as I had finally had settled on. I had two other canoes built from different manufactures where that was not the case. I met one of Dave's employees in Erie, PA to pick up the canoe which saved me six hours of driving. Unfortunately, the canoe was slightly damaged along the way. So, Dave rebuilt the canoe for me and the construction is rock solid, there appears to be zero flex in the hull and even tying it down on my car is a different experience from my past canoes. I use rope and do not over tighten my tie down. But, I don't think it really matters with the Hemlock build unless you use some type of lever you're not going to hurt this canoe. It's nice not having to worry about it. It also has the best woodwork I've ever seen. The slotted straight-grained ash gunwales and walnut decks are incredible.

The Peregrine has great secondary stability to the point where I really had to force the rail down to the water to test it. I find it a little tender when the rail is right on the water but that is likely a function of my stiff hips and the fact that the canoe is leaned over quite a bit when placed in this position (my dog is usually pressed hard against the side of the canoe when heeled over). I'm still learning about the Peregrine’s handling after having paddled it for only a few months. A feeling of stability is important to me because my 45-pound dog rides along with me. My dog often moves side to side, dips her head over for a drink and stands up and moves around even in waves. I’ve not had any problems with her moving around and shifting her weight, I do have to react to her movements to counterbalance sudden shifts but it has not been a challenge. The Peregrine also handles her weight well as she moves from being close to me to being closer toward the front thwart. Only when she rests on the front thwart do I have to lean back to adjust for her weight being too far forward.

I especially enjoy paddling when the wind is blowing in the mid twenty miles per hour range and the Peregrine handles winds in this range well when paddled into the wind. I found control strokes were needed only when paddling downwind when we would take the wind on a quarter. My downwind experience could be more challenging with my dog adding a little weight to the bow as she sits in front of me. So, my downwind experience may not be representative of the boat in general.

I’m very pleased with my Peregrine in Premium+ layup, it is light and fast. I typically use a bent shaft paddle and kneel and switch. My typical cruising pace by GPS is about 4 mph with my dog and about 4.5 mph without my dog.

I bought the Peregrine without a test paddle, something I was more than a little worried about but given the history of the design and knowing the many canoes of similar design I decided to go for it. Prior to this canoe, I've owned three Bell Magic's, a Mad River Independence, a Mad River Traveler, and Bell Morningstar. I currently also own a Swift Keewaydin 16 tandem. I had strongly considered buying another Magic as I do love the way they handle but don't love the aesthetics. Despite my changing my mind a few times on what options I wanted, Dave built the boat I finally had settled on. I had two other canoes built from different manufactures where that was not the case.

I met one of Dave's employees in Erie, PA to pick up the canoe which saved me six hours of driving. Unfortunately the canoe was damaged along the way. So, I'll have to make the eight hour round drive again to pick up the replacement canoe. I'm not excited about having to make the long drive but the silver lining is that I am changing the layup from Premium Plus to Premium Lite. I found that the Premium Plus is really built way stronger than I should ever need. It's construction is rock solid, there appears to be zero flex in the hull and even tying it down on my car is a different experience from my past canoes. I use rope and do not over tighten my tie down. But, I don't think it really matters with the Hemlock build unless you use some type of lever you're not going to hurt this canoe. It's nice not having to worry about it. It also has the best woodwork I've ever seen outside my 1980's built MR Indy. The ash gunwales and walnut decks are incredible. There are a few minor blemishes in the carbon Kevlar fabric but I think that's understandable in a hand layup.

The Peregrine has great secondary stability to the point where I really had to force the rail down to the water to test it. I find it a little tender when the rail is right on the water but that is likely a function of my stiff hips and the fact that the canoe is leaned over quite a bit when placed in this position. I'm still learning about the canoe and will update the review after my first loaded wilderness trip later this summer. It is a very dog friendly canoe.

Last year I test paddled the Keewaydin 16 with my wife and liked it enough to order one. I had the bow seat moved forward 2” to accommodate our weight difference and my wife is petite so the narrower paddling station works for her. I opted not to do the bow sliding seat because I didn’t want to add extra weight and I’ve never found that I’ve needed to trim a canoe this way. If I need to trim, I just lean forward more myself or lean back or put a full dromedary bag in the bow. I find the seats comfortable for sitting or kneeling. I did not order the kneeling thwart even though I love to solo this canoe. I have an otter box for my 35mm camera that I use to support myself while kneeling. It works well for me and does not cut the boat up as much as an additional thwart. I can easily carry my canoe barrel, my dog, and another large backpack style dry bag, but would be more limited with a kneeling thwart. Solo, I heal the boat over and paddle Canadian style with my dog comfy on the foam mat. Healed over, the canoe is stable enough to accommodate some movement from her, a 75 pound dog. The canoe really firms up when near the rail so going over is not much of a worry. A dedicated solo is easier to paddle solo and less likely to be affected by the wind but the Keewayin 16 is a very fine canoe for solo paddling. For the most part, I’ll choose this canoe over my dedicated solo because it is a little lighter. It’s a wonderful canoe to paddle tandem, which is what it was purchased for. I can control it very well from the stern and my wife has great control in the bow as well, especially with a cross bow draw which is her go to turning stroke. I’m not sure how David Yost manages to combine sea worthiness, initial stability, good tracking and turning all in one design. But, he did it again. I’m also very impressed with Swifts craftsmanship and customer service. Our Keewaydin 16 turned out perfectly.