Your’s is a good lesson for others, too. Paddlers shouldn’t expect the “perfect” boat without doing some modification. I always modify my canoe thwarts to make them work double duty, and it takes me months and months of trial and error to get a kayak’s cockpit to the point where it’s perfect for me.

Seat position.

I don’t like sitting in the center of any boat. A canoe does not feel right under me if I am in the center. After padling my Magic for a few days, I got out the drill and moved the seat aft.

After removing the seat, I took the Magic out and paddled it kneeling until I liked the balance. I marked that and then put the seat in that position. Now the canoe paddles and handles like a canoe, and is perfectly balanced if I put a 50lb load up front or one of my two small boys. Even with my wife (135) up front it paddles fine, if a bit low in the bow.

I also ordered a portage yoke from Bell (in walnut) and installed that so that the canoe balances perfectly. This measurement had to be done by trail and error, clamping the yoke in place with rubber grip wood clamps.

That may sound like a lot of work to go to after having paid top dollar for what I consider the BEST canoe I’ve ever paddled or owned, but it was not much trouble and made the canoe perfect for me.

Anyone who owns a Magic will quickly wish (if you portage much) for a portage yoke. It is really impossible to install one unless the seat is moved back (knees won’t clear it otherwise). I don’t like to carry clamp on yokes. One more thing to carry, hassle to put on in the right spot every time, just my preferences.

One of my favorite passtimes is to explore slow, flat streams, going upstream until they peter out. That means lots of tight turns. I’ve found the Magic to be maneuverable and clean in streams only a few feet wide. If the bend is not tighter than the length of the canoe, I’ve had no trouble making the turn.

On open water, I can keep the Magic going with most Kayakers as this canoe is so sleek and fast it calls to mind the Voyager’s Birch canoe owned by Bill Bonhome in Mosher’s Disaparences; it sometimes appears to have a motive power drawn out of the water itself. A desire to travel so strong it can do so on its own.

Well, thanks again for the writup. If you’ve not moved the seat in your Magic, try it. You will have to cut the seat width a bit so will have to purchase a replacement if you don’t like it, but I’ll bet you won’t need to do that once you’ve tried it.

Enjoy the water,

Ben

I tend to wedge my knees under the inwales and sit cross legged most of the time when I’m in a canoe.

I think you’ll like the 4″ seat drops. When I compared a Merlin and Yellowstone Solo with the different height drops, they felt like much different boats. The lower drops made both much much more stable. I used the same length paddle for both heights and didn’t really notice much of a difference.

It doesn’t sound as if you have any difficulty paddling from a lower position either. I am 180 pds. at 6′ 2″ – not a real big guy, but it doesn’t sound as if my armpits will be brushing the gunnels when I lower the seats. Now if it just would stop snowing and get warmer, I can try out the lower seat drops.

Do you use foot braces and, if so, what kind?