View this item on the web.
Price: $3,500.00
Unregistered recommends this item. 
Superior Expedition Review
Manufactured by Superior Sawyer Canoe Company
I test paddled a Superior Expedition canoe 2-10-09 in Portland, Mi on the Grand River one day after the ice went out. A little background is needed. The Expedition is a high volume tripping boat following the concept of the Kruger Sea Wind. It’s a canoe you can bet your life on in the most extreme and adventurist trips. The builder, Scott Smith, worked for Verlen Kruger for 7 years and has built over 100 Kruger boats with Verlen. Scott put together all the strengths of the Sea Wind design and improved all the weaknesses in a larger package. .
We did an upstream and back paddle on the Grand River which was high and flowing at a rate of 3 to 5 mph. At first sight my first impression of the Expedition was, “It’s huge”. After a few strokes my next impression was, “How could a boat this big be this fast”. Then I thought, “I can’t believe how nimble this thing is”. I couldn’t believe how responsive the boat was for such a large volume boat. It just took off like a racing hull up stream hopping from eddy to eddy with ease. In the fast water I had no problem scooting up the shoreline at will.
The other surprise was the stability. Since the hull shape, I believe, is modeled after a racing hull, I expected it to be tippy. An inexperienced paddler might think so but to me it felt rock solid and the secondary stability was superb. I was even able to lean steer the Expedition in a difficult eddy hop. I even stood up in the boat along the shore while Scott changed the seat height for me. I bet I could even stand and Pole this canoe!
This canoe has a rudder system that is designed to handle a shallow stream unlike anything I’ve ever used before. This rudder bounced over rocks and logs as we eddy hopped up the shoreline effortlessly. It has a design that is intended to keep sand from hanging up the rudder so easily, that’s pretty cool.
I can’t stress enough how cavernous (Mega Capacity) the hull is. I have read where some people have to take as long as 2 hours to load a Sea Wind every day to get all their supplies in the boat. I would guess those same supplies could be loaded in this boat in about 5 or 10 minutes with room for half again as much. Scott told me his intention for the larger size was to easily load a deer kill in the boat after a hunt and believe me, I’m sure he has no problem doing so.
The rigging on the boat came with everything you can dream of and then some. There’s a storage rack beside the seat to keep the clutter off the floor, dry and handy to reach. There’s a bungee on the front and back deck for a spare paddle. It’s got mounts to catamaran to another Expedition to handle the heaviest wave conditions or for sailing. The seat has a quick change feature to adjust to 2”, 4” or 6” in seconds. It’s even got a yoke built into it and for those of us who know solo boats, this is almost unheard of.
In talking with the owner of Superior Canoe Company, I was impressed with his business philosophy. He didn’t seem to be interested in just selling boats as much as he was in building a boat that you were so happy with you’d come to him for all your canoe needs. Scott also builds Sawyer Canoes. He showed us a few Sawyer Canoes he had built and I believe the workmanship is second to none.
Pros:
This boat is built tough enough to handle the most extreme expedition.
The seat flips upsidedown to be used as a yoke. And It can be placed in 3 different heights for maximum comfort.
Huge capacity! It was designed to have the most amount of room in it's class.
Ability to Catarman to another Expedition or a Sea Wind.
This Canoe can be sailed.
The Rudder works great in shallow rivers. It bounces over rocks and logs with ease.
The hull shape makes it a very fast boat.
Cons:
It's a huge boat as compared to the Standed Kruger Sea Wind or the Clipper Sea 1. That makes it a long reach to the water with the ajustable seat in the 4 inch up slot. The 6 inch slot did not have this problem for me but is less stable. It may be something I can get used to.
There is no way to pull this type of rudder down. It uses gravity to come down after you release it. It may hang up if there is sand in the hinge.
In my opinion the Superior Expedition, designed and built by Scott Smith, is a Home Run! In my opinion, if you’re looking for a high volume boat that can do it all and does it well, I would consider an “Expedition” by Scott Smith of Superior Sawyer Company in Portland, MI. I think it just may be a boat that may last you a lifetime.
|
