The Happy Camper: Nova Craft’s New 14-Foot Prospector
Nova Craft’s 16-foot Prospector has always been my preferred canoe.
It’s the closest to the original Chestnut Prospector made in the late 1890s in Fredericton, New Brunswick. It’s the perfect choice if you’re just going to have one boat. It has great carrying capacity, stability in whitewater and on big lakes and can be easily paddled solo if needed. You simply take advantage of its symmetrical design and paddle the canoe backwards by sitting in the front seat, placing my packs (and dog) up front to help keep my nose down. But for a solo boat, it is a tad slow.
I have used two other Nova Craft options for solo canoe tripping: the 14-foot Fox—a slick, asymmetrical, low-profile touring canoe—and their 15-foot Bob Special—more stable but still an incredibly fast and seaworthy canoe.
With three solo options stored on my backyard canoe rack, you might question why bother with getting a fourth. First, I am addicted to canoes. Second, I really like solo canoe trips. And third, I was more than a little intrigued by this particular new solo design. Who wouldn’t be?
After three back-to-back wilderness trips to test paddle it, I gotta say this is going to be one classic canoe for solo trippers. The Prospector 14 can definitely handle mixed conditions on a backcountry trip. It has incredible secondary stability and is very fast. The width measures a mere 32 inches, while the Prospector 16 measures 36 inches.
That, of course, means the initial stability is a little shaky, so you’ll need balance and good paddling skills. A larger person might want to keep with the Prospector 16. I single-bladed it, but by being one-and-a-half inches shallower than the Prospector 16 it would be possible to double-blade (just make sure you use a longer paddle to keep the water dripping down your arms). It handled big chop on the large lakes very well, and also managed up to class II rapids without any issue. And I absolutely loved maneuvering it through narrow creeks.
It took me a couple of days into the first trip to get used to the narrower width, but the shallow-arched haul gave it plenty of stability once my body became one with the canoe. Having a centre seat gave me so much more control, especially in heavy wind. I’d even recommend trying a bent-shaped paddle if that’s your paddling style. The seat is angled down, keeping you lower to the water, so I’d suggest adding knee pads, especially if you’re an older paddler like me.
At 13.5 inches deep and a carrying capacity of 550 pounds, the Prospector 14 holds true to the prospector design being labelled “the work horse of the north.” It still holds plenty of gear in the bow and the stern. The only issue I had was my dog wanting to come along. It worked out okay, but it meant I had to pack lighter to give her ample space.
I got the lightest canoe possible. The Aramid layup weighs 35 pounds, but with the clear colour, I knocked off five extra pounds. That might be too light. I made darn sure to tie it down at camp.
It still has that dreaded solo canoe issue of not having a permanent yoke system. It has to be removed each and every time you get out to portage. Nova Craft has a newer system that consists of steel brackets and a cotter pin located on each side.
It’s a simpler process than other systems I’ve tried. Frustration may mount while trying to push the cotter pin back in when thousands of mosquitoes are buzzing around you. Just say’n. And make sure to pack a couple extra cotter pins. There is a great chance you’ll lose one while on your trip. I ended up attaching the pins to the gunwales with a loose bungee cord (and also packed extras, just in case).
So how does the Prospector 14 differ from the other canoes I have used on past solo trips? It’s faster than the Prospector 16, more stable than the Fox 14, more versatile than the Bob Special 15 and it’s newer than all three with fewer scratches, which makes it better than all the rest.
