Overview
When you purchase a canoe from H2O Canoe Company, you’re buying a boat with consistency, longevity, and value. Your canoe is processed in a system that ensures it will perform to its utmost potential. For repeat customers, you can be sure to get the same canoe time after time and be confident that each canoe will come with the same reliability and predictable results.
We believe that the construction of a quality canoe begins with the hull as the primary focus. With each canoe that we build, we ensure that specific targets are met regarding weight, strength, and appearance. Our focus is to achieve these ambitious targets while offering a large selection of canoes with remarkable value. We are always implementing changes to the construction of our canoes to pursue continuous improvement over time.
Our canoes are constructed in what we call a system. By system we refer to the choice of specific materials and finishes that complement and reenforce the quality of one another.
For example, gelcoat and vinyl ester resin are a match for each other and are used together in our Great White North series, while a clear skin coat exterior and epoxy resin are matched together for our Brute Force series. The Pro Lite series is unique and pushes many construction boundaries, using labour intensive and costly techniques that result in an ultralight canoe without sacrificing durability.
The systematic part of our construction is its totality. For example, solid foam core floors are combined with reinforced sides, and our Pro Lite series uses our Integral Composite Gunwale (ICG) to complement the lightweight hull so that weight is reduced throughout all stages of the build.
Each canoe is made within a master shape of the canoe called the mold, which is sealed and infused with resin to cure. Essentially, the hull is made in reverse, starting with the exterior surface against the mold, and then finishing with the inner fabric reinforcements. This process is consistent, reliable, and repeatable.
The infusion technique is done using vacuum pressure. Once full vacuum is achieved, every hull with the same laminate matrix requires the same amount of resin introduced under vacuum to saturate the matrix correctly. We use the precise amount of resin required to maintain consistency, resulting in accurate and predictable finish weights. The wood components of a canoe will often have more weight variability than the hull of the canoe.