Re: Choosing a Mill Creek

Posted by Robert on Feb 17, 2006

As far as having room to take a small child along, that is the exact reason I enlarged the cockpit forward. Problem is, it still did not work - at least not with movable foot pedals for the rudder (not enough room accross for my feet and a small child). If you want a passenger, use a boat meant for more than one.

You mentioned about taking water on in rough weather. Do not worry. The raised combing on the Mill Creeks prevents almost all water from coming into the boat. (Plastic Kayaks like my Dagger seem to funnel it into the boat.) I mentioned the Ocean City, MD inlet before. What I did not elaborate on is that during an outgoing tide where the tidal waters meet the ocean in a narrow channel, I was in the middle of 4-6 foot white top breakers, felt like being in a real blender. The boat took on very little water and never felt tippy.

I already gave my impresions of the MC15 versus the MD13 and MC16.5. As far as other boats, the narrow and longer kayaks will definitely be faster, but have less room for using stuff while in the boat. I also own a plastic Dagger 11.5 (turns real easy). This boat is fun in the river but a real pain on flat water - the short and round hull has no reason whatsoever to go straight. I am suprised the Coast Guard has not checked me for sobriety.

Essentially, what do you want to do? If you want pasengers, try the Sassafras canoe. As a single, it is one of the sweetest boats in the CLC line I have paddled (and with a small child, it would be a single with some ballast up front). If you want to use "stuff" while on the boat (camera gear, fishing, etc), the open cockpit boats are great (MC, Sassafras). If you want to paddle here to there, the Chesapeake line is worth considering, I would make sure you like the keyhole cockpit. I was not ready for one and that was one reason I chose the MC15. The one message describing a Chesapeake with the Mill Creek cockpit sounds interesting. I have not tried the newer boats (Shearwater, Arctic Hawk) but plan on doing so this year.

Personally, I am trying to decide between the Annapolis Wherry and the Chester Yawl. Since my wife bought a tee shirt with the Wherry on it, I know what her vote is.

In Response to: Re: Choosing a Mill Creek by Ryan on Feb 17, 2006

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