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First raft- is a 13' too small????

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rafting
9K views 22 replies 17 participants last post by  JHimick 
#1 ·
Good evening,
I'm looking at a Maravia Esprit 13'. I like the boat and accessories, but i'm a little nervous that the size is a bit small. I want to be able to do all the standard III-IV day runs in the northwest (which it could handle i think), but would also like to use my own boat for 5-7 day trips. Last year i used a 14' on the san juan with one passenger and it worked well. Any input would be really appreciated, especially from any other maravia owners. I have been finding it really difficult to find a good used boat i can afford until this one came along.....

kasper
 
#3 ·
Depends on how much you can live without. Can you leave the cooler and camp chairs behind? and filter most of your water? backpacking stove and freeze dried food?

A week can be done in a 13 footer, but the difference between 13 and 14 is huge.

I have an NRS E-136...13'-6" X 6'-5" and it's a bit cozy for a 3-4 day Rogue trip with me and a passenger. It would be plenty for solo trips of 4-6 days
 
#5 ·
Personally, I love my superpuma, which is an extra narrow 13'er. It carries plenty of gear, although not as much as a larger boat, obviously. I will say that going back and forth between a larger boat and my boat always makes me feeling like I'm going from a Suburban to a Corvette.
 
#7 ·
Jennifer brings up a good point. I bought my E136 because it's so much "sportier" than a typical 14 footer. Then I bought a play cat for solo day trips for an even sportier ride. That 13' Maravia is going to be a lot more fun than a 14 on most of your trips. Can you rent on the rare occasions you really need the extra space? Or get an IK for your passenger so you can carry more gear?
 
#10 ·
I have a 12 and a 14. I used my 12 footer for a couple of years for overnights and really didn't have a huge problem carrying enough gear. I could support at least four people for weekend trips comfortably carrying all of the gear. If you plan on having passengers on the boat you will probably want to go bigger, though. My 14 is just about the perfect size for a gear boat. However, the little boat is a hoot to paddle raft. Just depends on what you want to do.
 
#12 ·
wow everyone-thanks!

The thoughts and advice are very well received and appreciated! Hopefully folks keep responding for a bit as i am still a bit torn, but the consensus does seem to point to holding off for a 14'. JustKip-what is an IK?

awesome- hope to see some of you yahoos on the water!
kasper
 
#13 ·
JustKip-what is an IK?

kasper
Inflatible Kayak,
and I thought there were quite a few votes for the 13...no? For a first boat, there may well be things not being considered. That Maravia is light. A 14 foot Hyside or Avon, or E-series NRS weighs a ton in comparison. (My E-136 is 140 lbs) How many people will you be boating with most often? How much gear do you actually have? How much do you want to carry? If you're buying used you will be able to sell for most of what it will cost you and buy bigger later if you decide 13 is too small, but you should try packing it before you decide it's too small. And lastly, on every multi-day trip I've been on there have been at least 3 boats so nobody had to carry everything needed. ONE stove for the group, and one groover, one top-off pump...
My first Rogue trip there were 8 of us in two 13 footers and a 16 footer. We had a 4 burner Partner stove with 5 gal propane tank, groover as big as a real toilet, firepan, 8 chairs, 3 tablesm drybox, 2 very large coolers...paco pads...8 "bills Bag" 3.8 cf drybags.

EDIT; I just had a look at the specs on the boat you mentioned. 18" tubes mean it's a small 13 footer. It would be GREAT for 2 people to play in, and up to 4-5 as a paddle boat, but it really would be kinda small for 2 peeps for more than an overniter.
 
#14 ·
its a bit small in my opinion but could be done if you had a similar sized boat to split some of the gear.

my first boat was a 13' momentum, did about 38" wide drybox max. Was fun for tighter rivers.

Would work if you did very light backpack but don't expect to haul all your crap. A 14' boat gives you quite a bit more room for gear and to move around.
 
#15 ·
we've done numerous 2-6 day trips in our 13' Aire without really leaving anything behind. We usually go with other rafts, but I don't think we really skimp on carrying our share of the load either. It's usually 2 people to our boat, but there have been three. I think it's a matter of how efficiently you can rig and how big a gear mound you're okay with in the back.
 
#17 ·
a 13' boat is fine for 2 people and gear for a long trip or 3 on day fishing trips. i loved ours. we only sold it because we have a kiddo to bring along and moved up to a 14' boat. we came from the ultralight backpacking mindset, so we don't bring everything plus the kitchen sink on raft trips, but we do travel in complete comfort. plus the dog gets to ride on gear in the back of the boat. i say get it if the price is right.
 
#18 ·
I floated the grand canyon (17 days) In my buddies 13 ft tributary with he and my girlfriend. Granted we also had 3 16 ft sotars as well, but we carried almost all our own gear and a decent share of the food and group gear. If we had piled gear on the floor under our feet we could have brought even more. I say go for it if the price is right. Little rafts are a ton of fun in the big stuff!
 
#19 ·
Bought it!

Heya boaters,
so got out to missoula last week, scoped the boat, fell in love and pulled the trigger. It is noticeably smaller than the 20" 14's i've been on before (6'4"x 13'2"), but i feel it will force us to figure out a good system. So stoked to get it in the river- i'll post a report and picture soon.....
 
#20 ·
Heya boaters,
so got out to missoula last week, scoped the boat, fell in love and pulled the trigger. It is noticeably smaller than the 20" 14's i've been on before (6'4"x 13'2"), but i feel it will force us to figure out a good system. So stoked to get it in the river- i'll post a report and picture soon.....
glad it worked out. our 13' otter was smaller than that, and we managed more than fine with just the two of us and a dog. we camped and ate comfortably on 3 and 4 day trips no prob. you will too.
 
#22 ·
We LOVE our 13' Maravia Spider. Great for 2 on multi overnight, fishing craft AND we rocked the Ark at 4400 no problem R3. Super fun in the Numbers.
Paddled nearly every make out there, next boat would be a 15' cat for bigger water, longer trips...just depends what you want to do -
Any questions...?
 
#23 ·
I also have a 13' Maravia Spider. Two of us carried all of our gear and some of the trip gear/food on a 5 day Hell's Canyon trip. The boat is a little small for big water but if you're good on the oars you can handle it. We can also boat a lot of the narrow creeky runs. It's a good size if you can only have one boat.
 
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