Customer Reviews

• Hi Jim, Our Traveler arrived safely late Sunday afternoon. Modern Piano Moving had called us a couple of days ahead to schedule a time.  They were easy to deal with and very good about keeping us informed. Wow! The Traveler is incredible. We had high expectations because of all the great pictures on your web site but seeing the canoe in person just takes your breath away. The lines and craftsmanship are superb. And thanks for making this purchase such a positive experience. I’m sure we’ll get lots of interest as we paddle the Traveler around the Northwest and we won’t hesitate to give you and the Merrimack company a strong recommendation.

  Judy and John T. - Washington State

• Jim & Kathy, Bob delivered our canoe the other night as promised and we just wanted to thank you for all your help and the excellent customer service. This has truly been a wonderful experience. And the canoe is absolutely beautiful. We knew your canoes were very high quality based on all the reviews we read but we were still amazed at the craftsmanship and the attention given to every detail. Hats off to your master craftsmen. Please give them our regards. You may consider us to be a lifelong walking talking advertisement for Merrimack Canoes from this point forward; we could not be more pleased. Thanks again and Happy Canoeing! (Two weeks later):  “ We are just loving our Traveler; it paddles like a dream”

  Bob and Abby O. – Silverdale,WA

• This canoe is a perfect blend of traditional appearance with modern technology and performance! It was purchased new about two months ago, in a Kevlar lay-up, with Ivory gel-coat. The interior of the canoe is finished with cherry stips imbedded in a clear resin to give the appearance of a traditional wood strip canoe but without the maintenace. The decks and rails are mixed cherry and ash, without any imperfections. The seats are ash framed, with nylon lace webbing, generously sized, and very comfortable. All workmanship including wood/joinery, fabric lay-up, and the gelcoat finish is impeccable! The performance of this canoe on the water is not any different than it’s construction… perfect! My wife and I paddle together most times on several local lakes of various sizes and wind exposures. This canoe glides effortlessy with a minimum amount of effort on the paddler’s part and with good speed, due most likely to the shallow arc hull. The hull is of a very unique cross-section to provide a truly remarkable blend of performance, and stability,both initial and secondary. Any initial feeling of “wigglies” soon sudsides after a few minutes on the water. The tracking is excellent, with a minimum amount of corrective strokes being required to stay on course. I also paddle this canoe quite easily from the stern postion, while my wife sits back and relaxes without paddling! (This is her favorite way to canoe!) The canoe is also easily handled solo from the bow position, seated facing toward the middle, although a little balast on the opposite end of the canoe will make it easier, especially in a windy situation. Although this a a 17′ canoe you would never know it by the way it handles,and feels on the water. It has just enough rocker at the ends to keep it manueverable, but is still able to track very well. In our opinion the Traveler is an excellent all around canoe! Highly Recommended!

  John Magula

• I take several trips to Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario. For years, I rented aluminum canoes from local outfitters. I decided to find the “perfect” canoe that would cover over one hundred miles of lake with the least amount of effort. I found it in the Merrimack Traveler. I cannot say enough good things about this canoe. It handles beautifully and glides through the water with ease. As a bonus, I get a lot of “wows” from other canoeists when they see the detail and workmanship. I am extremely happy with my Traveler and I am happy that my money was well spent. I could have found a cheaper canoe if I was willing to sacrifice performance for dollars but I didn’t, and I’m so glad I spent the extra couple hundred of dollars to get what I was really looking for.

  F Carney

 

• This canoe is fun for a day paddle on the lake, tandem or solo.  At 17’, it has capacity for week-long canoe trips, but our favorite use for this canoe is sailing.  After attempting to restore a 1922 wood / canvas Old Town, I gave up as the wood was too brittle and we decided to rig this Traveler for sail.  We built and installed a mast seat from ash, then made the rest of the sail rig (rudder, mast shoe, leeboard. leeboard thwart, mast and spars) from mahogany to match the gunwales and decks.  With the cream colored sail and green Kevlar hull with cherry ribs, this boat really turns heads.  The performance is great and since the heyday of canoe sailing in the 1920’s, a sailing canoe is a rare sight.  Beyond sailing, the Traveler is probably our favorite canoe for tandem paddling.  Like the Pennichuck, it rides great in waves, it has good glide and paddled solo from the bow seat facing backwards, this also makes a great solo canoe.  If I could only have one canoe, this would be the canoe I would keep.  Fortunately, there are no restrictions and so I think I’ll keep looking for more to add to the fleet.

  Larry Graubner

 

• I have paddled a lot of other canoes and find that I prefer those with symmetrical hulls and classic lines.   Probably my favorite tandem is the Merrimack Traveler.  I paddled a friend’s Traveler in the wilds of Northern Ontario–real canoe country–both tandem and solo.  It is by far my favorite tandem to paddle solo.  It is an elegant, classic canoe with excellent hull efficiency.

  Rex Benfield

• Thank you for such an awesome canoe! The Traveler paddles like a dream. Empty, loaded, tandem or solo. I love the way it paddles. The other two canoes on the trip could not even keep up with us, we were stroking and they were working. The 58 lb. weight makes it very easy to handle off the water as well. This canoe will see a lot of time in the water. Thank you again and Happy paddling!

  Syd Howell

Excerpted from CANOE & KAYAK MAGAZINE- “Boulevard Canoes” By Steve Salins

There are times to paddle for “go” and times to paddle for “show.” If you are portaging deep in Quetico, it won’t matter much what your boat looks like or what it is made of because it’s unlikely that there will be anyone around to take notice. But on a crowded sunny summer afternoon along the Charles River in Boston or any other waterway that is the aquatic equivalent of a tree-lined boulevard, there’s no experience quite like paddling along in a canoe designed and built to feature exceptional craftsmanship. We’re calling them “boulevard” canoes because they are all dressed up to demand admiration, and they get it. They are showy, functional, romantic, and collectible; these are canoes that carry champagne, Camembert, and caviar instead of beer, pretzels, and peanut butter.

My favorite Seattle showplace is the University of Washington Arboreturn, a gentle back-water of Lake Washington with a variety of wildlife and numerous comers to explore. On a nice day it becomes a fine boulevard because trails and a nearby museum bring out spectators, and the nearby canoe livery attracts a variety of paddler.

I often paddle in the Arboretum to relax. Sometimes I enjoy taking my solo Kevlar “rocket ship: with me to show off the speed and glide of my canoe. At other times, my beautifully trimmed contemporary canoe flaunts its sleek lines, wood trirn, and easy handling.

But to really feel proud, I paddle a wood canoe. Invariably someone walks up to say, “What a gorgeous boat!” Even before I put it in the water! Eyes and hands run along the lines of a boulevard canoe to fully absorb the quality, uniqueness, and finish. I’ll admit that I revel in the attention I get paddling one of these boats and appreciate the ego massage that comes with it.

Exclusivity comes at a price, though, given all the handwork required to build these craft. Finding builders with boats not already committed to customers proved difficult, and in the end only four were sent to us for the test, each one reflecting a different design philosophy. The Mallard from Woodstrip Watercraft uses the cedar strip method of construction. Two are technological hybrids; the Wave Dancer from Cascade Canoe uses birch veneer to support a fiberglass hull, and Merrimack’s Traveler uses cherry ribs to support a Kevlar skin. The Trader is a traditional cedar canoe using rib-and-plank construction. Many think a beautifully made canoe is not suitably tough for paddling. But, remember, there was a time when all canoes were boulevard canoes, and they proved their toughness and mettle over decades of use. Many owners of exquisitely made show canoes use them on a regular basis. For them, the additional maintenance and-extra care in loading, launching, and landing are a reflection of their pride in owning a beautiful and distinctive boat.

Merrimack Traveler

At a distance, a Merrimack Traveler looks like any fiberglass or Kevlar gelcoated wood-trim canoe. There is an elegance of line, but nothing out of the ordinary seems apparent. Close up, the special qualities of the Traveler become obvious, and the closer you look, the more special this canoe becomes. Cherry wood ribs give an impression of a classic rib-and-plank boat to the interior of the hull, yet it’s coupled with modem Kevlar and resin technology.

Once realizing that this is no ordinary canoe, a viewer’s eye is drawn to details, and it’s readily apparent that Merrimack pays close attention to construction details and makes a product of superior craftsmanship. For example, deck plates are perfectly fitted to the gunwales. All wood pieces are sanded absolutely smooth and given a natural finish to bring out the beauty of the wood and produce a soft feel to the hand. The seat frame is mortised together. Fasteners are evenly spaced and recessed. The 17-foot Traveler has a shallow-arch hull with a moderately fine entry line. It carries a hint of rocker, no keel, a slightly recurved bow, and a classic sheer line. With a 35-inch width and 12.5-inch center depth, the 6inch freeboard’ capacity lists at 850 pounds. The gel-coat exterior of the Traveler is well finished. At certain light angles, the rib skeleton shows through the layer of Kevlar skin. The effect is caused by skin shrinkage after molding, and although visible, the structural result is a tightly constructed hull. A good friend, looking at the Traveler tied to my van, remarked the rib marks “look kind of cool.” I’d agree that the lightweight and striking interior ribs more than compensate for the minimal visual imperfection.

This canoe is trimmed out in ash gunwales with cherry handles and decks. Gunwales are slightly edgerounded, and all of the stainless fasteners are recessed (comfortable to canoeists’ hands and fingers). Decks are perfectly fitted; no fillers are needed. The smooth cherry handles feel like satin to the touch, and one side of the handle is curved to visually match the curve of the adjacent deck. Nice touch!

One of the subtle appointments of this canoe is the very small piece of brass stem band covering about 4 inches of the deck and lapping over an inch or two onto the stem. I first though this piece was for show, but it’s clear that this small “bang- iron” protects the tip of the deck from damage as the canoe is
lifted or set on the ground. As I recall how many chewed-up deck ends (and end caps) I’ve seen, I have to salute Merrimack’s attention to detail. The bang iron also evokes memories of stem bands on classic wooden canoes, which is the heritage of this design. I like the touch.

Inside the hull, cherry-wood ribs span from gunwale to gunwale, with half ribs in the spaces along the bottom. The ribs are coated with rolled-on resin, which effectively seals them to be maintenance-free. The rib construction results in a slotted gunwale system very narrow slots, to be sure, but another practical reminder of ties to traditional rib canoe design.

Seats are strung with fine webbing, which is comfortable, cool, and durable. Ash frames reveal the mortise joint, and the hanger spaces are chamfered to smoothly blend to the gunwale. Given all the attention to detail, I can only ponder why the Merrimack elves don’t mount the seat with the joint ‘fastener underneath. Other than that, the seat design suggests care for comfort and craftsmanship. Seats are mounted at heights comfortable for either sitting or kneeling (10.75-inch bow / 11-inch stem).

Both yoke and thwart are tapered, slender, and finished to a soft satin touch. For me, the curve of the yoke is shallow and did not easily hang on my neck when I carried the canoe. The yoke is functional for normal use, but if I were to take the Traveler for lengthy portages, I’d reshape it to “bite” a little more readily into my shoulder, or replace it with one of a deeper cut.

A diamond-shaped laver of fiberglass mat is laid on the bottom to provide a nonslip surface and stiffen the hull. Mat is not a usual visible finish for a canoe, and I was initially disappointed to see a portion of the wood ribs cover by a translucent material. But the finish is not unattractive, and I’m not sure there is a better way to stiffen’ ‘ the bottom while allowing the wood ribs to show through a nonslip surface. The overall canoe is stiff, the Kevlar skin is thin, but the Merrimack folks have figured out how to make a stiff boat while maintaining lightweight (56 pounds).

This Traveler was first tested by a solo trip on a small, moderately windy lake. First paddle strokes always introduce a canoe in a way that is not easily forgotten. The Traveler’s first impression is one of smooth glide with responsive turning and control. Nothing in successive outings changed my mind, either solo or tandem. In my opinion, this canoe perfectly blends initial and final stability. On one trip I paddled with a friend who has minimal experience. Together we leaned the gunwale to the water, and the boat still felt secure. New canoeists may find initial stability a bit tender at first, but I would be surprised if the discomfort lasted more than a few hours. Once familiar with the Traveler, most new
paddlers will appreciate the fine handling characteristics, glide, and stability of this hull.

The Traveler feels like a deep canoe even though the center depth is only 12.5 inches. The boat handles well in wind; I found it easy to maintain course, as well as to turn or adjust course when needed.

We had an opportunity to paddle the Traveler in the cut at a time when a number of large powerboats went through, setting up significant wakes and reflected waves. As expected, it handled the waves well, keeping dry in the bow. In one particular instance, a steep, angular wake sent us surfing toward a concrete bulkhead. For a moment, I though we were going to scratch some gel-coat; we had no idea that the Traveler likes to surf! In subsequent wakes, there were no problems; the boat handled well at all angles to waves.

Overall, the Traveler would be an outstanding all-purpose family boat, suitable for paddling solo, very fine for general recreational use, and capable of hauling two paddlers and gear for a multi-day trip. All of this comes in a canoe that would invite attention along the show boulevard of waterways and launch points. The Traveler is a truly beautiful canoe, well crafted and functional, that paddles well. It carries all the hallmarks of a boulevard boat and easily fits on the list of canoes I’d want in my fleet.