Prospector 14 Pack

I rented a Prospector 14 Pack Boat one weekend and fell in love with this boat! Returned and ordered one for myself! Used for 4 canoe seasons now – many day paddles and back country excursions. It holds a lot and is so stable! Tracks best when loaded down on a breezy day. With a good set of arms on double paddle, you find yourself constantly leading the canoe group! The negative about it is: at put-in, portage trail heads, middle of a canoe route in the back country, or parking lot stops on the way to paddle, other canoeists want to stop and talk about your canoe! – this takes up your paddle time and annoys your friends that don’t have a Swift!

You are most likely asking yourself what do I mean by “the perfect solo tripping/dog boat with one modification”. If you are tripping or even day paddling with your furry partner, the question is where do you put them. The most common place is in front of you, between you and the front thwart. When you do this, you have control of the dog, but performing a low angle/relaxed paddle stroke, with a kayak paddle, is difficult. If you put them between the front thwart and the bow, that takes up space for gear. And if you have an English Springer like I do, they do not like having the front thwart between them and you. If you put them in the back of the canoe you can’t control them well and less room for gear.

The answer, move the front thwart up towards the bow to allow for extra room for the dog.

Working with Swift Manufacturing and Bill Swift, they were able to move the front thwart all the way up to the front of the kayak foot brackets. The result; great room for Reagan (see attached pictures), roomy paddling station, enough room between the front thwart and the bow for my 70-liter Seal Line Waterproof Pack and easier to swing your legs in/out of the boat. The only downside is if you like the use the front thwart to hang a bag or attach equipment. My fix was to attach some latching points inside the hull to clip in my water bottle and a dry bag for snacks and other stuff.

The Prospector 14 Pack is a dream boat. Not the fastest boat, but covers distances nicely, tracks well and is highly maneuverable. This is the same whether the boat is loaded with gear or just out for a day paddle. I have had this boat loaded for three to four days with Reagan in very high wind and waves in the ADK. Very stable and just eats up waves. The seat is a dream to sit on for hours at a time.

My Prospector Pack has the Expedition Carbon Layup, Carbon Trim Components and Skid Plates and comes in at 33.5#. Very manageable weight. I use a 260 cm paddle.

If you need the “Perfect Solo Tripping/Dog Boat”, this is the boat for you.

Had the boat for a full tripping season, now beginning another and cannot wait to dive in. I’ll start with the only negative, it’s not a whitewater boat in any way, do not do more than a swift/class 1 (if you know what you’re doing). This is a flat water boat. If that’s what you want, this is one of the best options you can get. Weighs nothing, and the more you put in it the better it handles. Extremely fast using a double blade paddle and unbelievably stable. Including myself and the dog, I load mine to about 380 lbs (depending on trip length/food) and travel across the lake country of the Northwest Territories regularly. Portaging is a dream, the boat is light enough to carry a heavy pack along with it and cut down on trips. I have expedition Kevlar, it is durable enough to handle any damage that would reasonably be expected in lake travel. You don’t have to baby it. I look forward to many years from this thing.

I just completed a Solo Big Trout Lake Loop. This boat gave me the performance and stability i needed. Great fishing platform. Very glad I picked this boat.

I bought my prospector 14 a year ago and absolutely love it for flatwater and fishing. Do not recommend if you are dealing with any rapids at all but it’s everything I wanted for my Algonquin backcountry portage rig.