Testing the Nova Craft Bob Special and Interview With Kevin Callan

[@novacraftcanoe]

Good times had by all. Great video Jim!

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Thanks a lot!

[@CanoeingTheEdgeOfTheWorld]

Great video. I really want a Nova Craft canoe to paddle through the swamps here in Florida. Soon, very soon!

[@brianspencer4220]

Hi Jim: I've had a Bob's Special (Blue Steel) since 2006. I cannot imagine a better canoe for me. My oldest grandson & I have had numerous adventures in the "beauty" & each year I solo for 2 weeks in the fall. I've always boasted that it will allow me to portage until I'n 85 & am getting closer to proving that. Take care, Brian 78

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Brian Spencer I think I may have to go with a P15 and I live the Blue Steel material. How durable do you find it?

[@brianspencer4220]

With all my drops & crunches the "beauty" has never needed a repair but at 11 years I replaced the wood gunnels with plastic material (work done by Nova Craft) & saved another pound. Brian 78

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

@@brianspencer4220 Good to know, I may get a P15 in that material

[@kevinpacker7805]

Looking forward to seeing the spring Algonquin trip!

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Ya, it's going to be a good one...now, if all this ice would get off the lakes.

[@suezaple4950]

Cool video Nova craft is just up the street from me, and Fanshawe about 20 minutes , two great places nice video

[@pacificbushcraftandfirecra6358]

Awesome! How cool was that? Checking out the factory and then getting to hang with Kevin... very cool. I would have never known about Nova Craft if you hadn't told me about them a couple years ago... and maybe someday I will be able to pull the trigger on one. Lucky guy to get some of your precious Canada juice. Cheers Jim TFS

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Triumph Screen Printing ya it was a fun day for sure. Thanks for checking it out. Nova Craft definitely makes great canoes.

[@DavidWillis]

Mixers with Jameson's and a double paddle, just as well you love the most wonderful canoes (smile)

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

agreed, and thanks a lot.

[@richardsolomon8076]

Good video Jim :-) I'll go check out the fireside chat

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Thanks, Richard. Hope you enjoy it. It's pretty funny.

[@richardsolomon8076]

Bro that was a cool chat, funny as :-) respect on the hard core survival stuff new sub there to now

[@andrewonthego3081]

Great video!, im from london , cant wait to get out on the water!

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Andrew On The Go nice 👍 thanks for checking it out. It definitely felt good to take a few strokes out on the pond.

[@TheRealTedBaird]

Great vid!

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Thank you, my brother. (On Deadly Ground)

[@libertyrogueoutdoors7369]

Hhahahaa! Loved it Jim...lol! Don't mix anything with Whiskey ...lol! Good video my friend!

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Liberty Rogue Outdoors thanks a lot for checking it out my man!

[@codybrooks2696]

Jim, is your Prospector 17 the SP3 material? I've been considering one, just wondering how the trade off of heavier weight for greater durability stacks up.

[@ralphwatten2426]

Jameson mixed is kind of bad but if you have some half and half with limeade and lots of ice it makes a great hot weather back yard kinda thing. What do you call a guy who uses a double bladed paddle? A guy whose learned to use a double bladed paddle. Like the fireside chat.

[@cjentertainmentcanada8623]

Great video.

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

CJ ENTERTAINMENT CANADA thanks a lot man. Good to get the chance to chat with you for a bit too.

[@alexs3447]

I've paddled an ultralight bob special since 1990 . I'm at least the size of Jim and never had a problem with capacity solo or tandem. Its best in the windy creeks of Algonquin where you also have long portages .

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Nice, ya you saw I didn’t have a ton of free board there and it felt tippy. The owner of Nova mentioned that a lot of larger guys find it to be that way so I went with a prospector

[@alexs3447]

@@JimBairdAdventurer Guess its a matter of personal feel. But i've had my bob in rough water with no problems. Now i'm loaning it out to someone who wants to solo down the French R. so i will see how that works out.

[@bigfatno]

Neat video. I'm heading over to Kevin's channel now. Thanks for the heads up.

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

No problem

[@jordanl7459]

I used to work there. I'm good friends with jeff. I wonder if you where at the wolf performance hall recently. Wish I could have met you.

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Nice! I had a good chat with Jeff, good guy.

[@fkngiver2525]

Just found your channel through Kevin's latest fireside chat.... Solid content bud, i'm all subbed up and ready to watch your channel grow. Good luck man!!

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

fkngiver2525 thanks a lot and greet to have ya here! In my playlists there’s a few series you might like. That’s where Kevin Callan got all those excerpts he edited into the Whisky Fireside Chat

[@fkngiver2525]

@@JimBairdAdventurer

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

fkngiver2525 that’s the one, thanks for coming over

[@kevinelliott5823]

Does Kevin just drink whiskey and paddle all day every day??? What a life!💙🥃 🛶

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Hahah, well he also teaches at a community collage and is an author.....in his spare time.

[@kevinelliott5823]

Just ordered a 15’ prospector thanks in part to your (and others’) enthusiasm about them! Really excited!!!

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Awesome, enjoy it!

[@aarono7026]

great! did not know nova craft fixed their canoes- here's the part no one cares about but I feel compelled to write about it anyway- got a 14 year old prospector that has born the brunt of my whitewater learning curve, and taken me on numerous overnights in ontario, quebec, pennsylvania, virginia, west virginia! I LOVE that boat, but she's beat up and she just got crushed on a VERY inconsequential ledge- weird she'd get all mangled on a nothing ledge like that after all the big rapids she's done! OK, I'll email nova craft now. LOVE the prospector! There IS no other canoe!

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Oh man, though to see a good boat get beat up. I love the Prospector design too. Just soloed a 15’ down the Hess and Stewart Rivers in the Yukon

[@wingednomad8423]

Hey Jim! I am in the market for my first expedition boat. How to find soloing a 15 foot prospector compared to a 16 foot??

[@CanoehoundAdventures]

Great Video Jim. I too have a Nova Craft 17ft Prospector Royalite and it has held up to the test of time... just to show you that I was paying attention... you misspelled Kevins channel name... it is "KC" not "CK" Happy Camper... Thanks Man... Dennis, AKA, Canoehound

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Canoehound Adventures yes, kevin already pointed that out 😐

[@TheRealTedBaird]

U guys r hilarious

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Ya, I got a laugh out of this too.

[@geoffreycampitiello8439]

Nice video man. Out of curiosity , how large are you that the Bob Special seemed too small for you? I was thinking about one.

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Geoffrey Campitiello thanks a lot, I’m 6’5” about about 250. I think my higher centre of gravity could be part of the reason why.

[@Thestripper1]

Is the Bob Special a "shape replica" of Bill Masons red Prospector? (Edit: I now realize that Bill used two red canoes and in his movies he switches between the two regularly and it is then edited together so only the keen eye will register this. The one with caned seats is a Chestnut PAL, not a Bob Special, and the one with wooden slat seats is a prospector.)

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

No, its a different hull design, less rivker snd less carrying capacity thsn a prospector but lighter and less ricker so faster in flat water than the prospector

[@Thestripper1]

@@JimBairdAdventurer You are right. I now realize that Bill used two red canoes and in his movies he switches between the two regularly and it is then edited together so only the keen eye will register this. The one with caned seats is a Chestnut PAL and the one with wooden slat seats is a prospector.

[@finpainter1]

C ant wait for the brookies, Fished a tributary of the Albany 10 yrs ago caught a 5 lb brook.

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

finpainter1 wow! I’ve done well far up north like that too. It’s a lot to live up to for Algonquin but fish that size are caught there still.

[@h6wka]

So was this a whiskey chat or a canoe review 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

It’s what the title says

[@johnj620.]

👍👍🤠🥃

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

👍

[@shawnspringall]

Occasionally I'll use whiskey in my Cesar instead of vodka. I like it better, it has more of a bite lol.

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Nice, never hear of that one

[@shawnspringall]

@@JimBairdAdventurer you'll have to try it sometime, its delicious

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

I will

[@jordanl7459]

I have a bob

[@jimf1964]

Jameson isn't much of a whiskey anyway, at least not the regular stuff. The part of Ireland my dad grew up in, they consider light whiskeys like that to be for women, and mixing it isn't that bad.....except for coke.

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

That's what I figured. Haven't drunk Jameson much though, other than the odd shot. I remember now that I'd mixed it with coffee for an "Irish Coffee" a few times in the past.

[@rmacsrmaddog2192]

I like whiskey sours and the ganja.

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

I think the only time I've drunken Jameson is doing shots or in an Irish coffee.

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

....before this that is

[@jimjim7161]

Better title would omit the word testing with more emphasis on talking

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Jim Jim sorry for the blab-a-thon...nice name by the way

[@randyclement2687]

Congrats on getting your canoe repaired by NC. They have a bad reputation for not standing behind their products and providing warranty or repairs. Too bad, their canoes are good designs.

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

Thanks a lot, I haven’t heard that before as they actually replaced a seat for free for me on the first Nova craft bought back in 2008 and I was impressed...But now I’m an ambassador for them so I’m not sure if they’d do this repair for anyone for free on a canoe as well used as this one.